Would you trust your 870 express?

Do you trust your 870 Express?

  • Yes, right out of the box

    Votes: 287 73.4%

  • Yes, after tinkering with it a bit

    Votes: 55 14.1%

  • No, thats why I bought a Police/Wingmaster

    Votes: 49 12.5%
  • Total voters
    391
Dukeoflawnchair said:
I can't speak for the express, but I do have a sportsman 12 (80s version of the express). It's been beaten, caked in mud, abused, etc (carry rifle from tree-planting, mining exploration, and now forestry). Never FTF, FTE, jammed, hiccuped...even with my less than outstanding cleaning / maintenance of it.

I would trust it, and have, any day of the year.
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Me too. Bought it 24 years ago and it has never missed a beat with thousands of rounds through it in the rain, cold,heat etc.

A new Express, I would after I worked it in.
 
I think I would trust my buddy's 870. I have an older Wingmaster and I'd trust it too.
What are the differences (other than finish) between the 870, Wingmaster, and Police?
 
Besides cosmetic finish, Expresses differ from Wingmasters and Police models in the following ways:

-Plastic trigger group body
-Plastic magazine spring/endcap retainer, which uses a dimpled magazine tube, in lieu of a ball detent and sheet metal retainer on the barrel lug. This means that you will have to drill out the dimples and either install a ball detent on the barrel lug, or use blue Loctite if you want to fit a magazine extension. Besides, the old system is more robust.
-Additionally, Police models have heavier springs.

Some Expresses also have trouble extracting inexpensive shotshells. This can usually be fixed by polishing the chamber. Also, some users have found the matte blued finish unusually prone to rusting.

Personally, I prefer older Wingmasters to new Expresses if you are looking for an inexpensive shotgun. They are much smoother and don't have the manufacturing shortcuts mentioned above. They also often sell for less than a new Express.

If you want a new 870, buy a Wingmaster or Police model and stop encouraging Remington to produce shoddy products.
 
I think I should have reworded the first option to "yes, in factory configuration" as opposed to "yes, out of the box" I agree that nothing should be trusted without inspection/testing. But I have no idea how to edit a poll and now that it's started and has results that would kind of screw it up.
 
No having worked as a smith i would not trust an 870 or own one.As far as a hunting oor personal defense gun the mossberg is about the same dollar and far better quality.
 
Mine has a slug barrel on it, but otherwise is normal. Works like a dream. Two friends of mine have marine magnums and they work well too, despite having been so neglected that they were heavily rusted. Only time function hesitated was when the rusty chambered marine mag was fed really dirty cartridges. Then it became hard to pump the round out.

So, to recap, plain 870 expresses are quite reliable for me.
 
bushido said:
I work for an agency that the 870 is a general issue weapon and is signed out at the start of every shift. After a set of simple condition checks, into the car it goes for the shift and even after all the snow, rain and mud they get exposed to (as well as plain old rough handling) I have never had one fail on me when I need it. And when it is needed it is a life saving tool. The 870 is a solid work horse, I will let my life ride on it.
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I agree, some agencies don't put enough thought into their firearm selection process or in the up keep of those guns. The local RCMP here used to have a plain barrel 870 with a bead sight set down on the barrel with no pedestal. During their qualification shoot everyone shot high, and what hits were made, were peripheral. While this does not specifically reflect on the "reliability" of the gun, it does show that sometimes guns "as issued" have problems. Don't let your life ride on any gun that you have not proven reliable if you can help it. An 870 with a dented magazine tube is a clunky single shot if the dent is in the wrong place. Don't take anything for granted, especially with guns that see hard use.
 
TJhaile made some good points. I have been doing some thinking about getting a decent
all around 12 gauge for hunting as well as home defense and TJ has pretty much convinced me not to by a new express if I can find a nice used wingmaster.

For the sake of this thread lets say that "out of the box" means new but it has been checked that the action cycles properly and it prints OK.

Now that someone mentioned the Mossbergs I am curious about the Winchester?
The Winchester pump seems to be the most popular 12 gauge among the cheap farmers I know and am related to. For people who have experience with both or all 3 how do they compare as far as reliability and manufacturing?
 
I'd trust my life to an 870 express any day (given it's been test fired). However, based on personal experience I would much prefer to defend myself (with an 870) against a mossberg weilding adversary rather than have to trust it myself. My tactical shotgun is based on a 870 wingmaster action with a few small add ons but is mostly a stock gun with a police 18.5 barrel.
 
Unsub said:
TJhaile made some good points. I have been doing some thinking about getting a decent
all around 12 gauge for hunting as well as home defense and TJ has pretty much convinced me not to by a new express if I can find a nice used wingmaster.

For the sake of this thread lets say that "out of the box" means new but it has been checked that the action cycles properly and it prints OK.

Now that someone mentioned the Mossbergs I am curious about the Winchester?
The Winchester pump seems to be the most popular 12 gauge among the cheap farmers I know and am related to. For people who have experience with both or all 3 how do they compare as far as reliability and manufacturing?
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The winchester recievers are usualy alloy like the mossbergs.

I love winchester 1300s (or the older models with the same design), they are a light to carry, and fast to operate. But from personal experiance I honestly can't say that the one I have has proved to be as reliable as my 870. My 1300 defender dosn't like cheap winchester loads, and It's had some hiccups.
 
I love my rem 870 18.5" added knoxx recoil stock with pic rail ghost sights( have red dot not on at the moment though)! It has never jammed or ftf. I've fired approx 2500 birdshot, buckshot and slugs high and reduced velocity 2 3/4" & 3 ",it eats everything you put into it.I've never tried reloaded shotshells though. I have full confidence in the rem 870 and would trust it with my life. The only thing is after I clean it the mag spring doesn't always accept 6-2 3/4 rounds until i load the mag and test the feeding of the shells(the mag spring some times jams where it meets the 2 round mag ext. only after cleaning).just needs a little jiggling and the last 2 shells have no problem loading in the mag whenevr I take it for a spin!!
 
oh hell ya! the 870 is just badass! the police used the express since the 60s in standard configuration for many years no less!

and id not argue with every 870 armed redneck, old guy, farmer and avg joe that its anything but a pinnacle of simplicity and reliability!
 
mckee37 said:
No having worked as a smith i would not trust an 870 or own one.As far as a hunting oor personal defense gun the mossberg is about the same dollar and far better quality.
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out of box? maybe, but over time... mossberg aluminum melts and dies.

dont see many 20-25 year old mossbergs doo ya?
 
my brand new express magnum works just as good as my 20 year old wingmaster. ive never had issues with either. i have no idea how many thousands of boxes of shells ive put through the wingmaster with no issues, the express magnum has around 85 boxes of shells though it, same deal
 
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