'X' scribed on 870 bolt

Avro125

Avro125

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Picked up a used 870 recently and in taking it apart to clean and lube it, I noticed that it had an 'X' scratched into the underside of the bolt - likely by hand with an electro-pencil. I thought it a one-off, but in checking my other 870 I found the same thing. The second gun was purchased 'new' but from a private seller at a gun show, so who knows. Either way, both guns appear to have seen very little use. A did a Google search on the 'X' thing and came up empty.

Anyone have anything similar or can shed light on why the bolt is marked like this?

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I worked on two of my 870s a couple of days ago and noticed the X as well on both bolts. Both are newer 870s ... one a Police and the other a Wingmaster.

I am pretty sure if I check my other 870s ... that they all have an X ....
 
It was subjected to additional testing and approved for use in a police model if need be. I guess checking for cracks etc, maybe hardness also God knows
Not uncommon to find in express
Easy quick ID for an assembly line worker. More like use up what we have in the bins when the next batch is being run and if all you have is police approved bolts use them
Cheers

Not my words

Bolt / carrier #1 is from an old well preserved Wingmaster that had a 28″ fixed choke (modified) ribbed barrel.
Bolt / carrier #2 is from an _old_ 870 that appears to have been used by an LE organization. It is a Wingmaster, not a Police model, however.
Bolt / carrier #3 is from a recent Police Magnum model which apparently came with the flex-tab conversion.
Bolt / carrier #4 is from a new (2015) 870 Express, added for comparison, a “flex-tab conversion baseline”.

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870 Police shotguns go thru a special 23 station check list – ranging from visual inspection, QA testing, functional testing, test firing, and final inspection.
 
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Avro125 said:
Mostly curiosity. I wonder what process they go through that results in them getting marked with an 'X'. When I'm sorting good parts from bad, an 'X' isn't exactly something I'd mark on the good stuff... Just seems weird that if these guns are as they came from the factory, why would they be marked like this?
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Yes I agree. It's rather crude. I wonder if it could it be a verification process indicator for the final assembly of the bolt?
But if so, as you mentioned, why do it this way?
 
madtrapper143 said:
I just checked my fairly recent production 16 gauge Express with Flexi tab. No X. I wonder if it is limited to 12 gauge guns?

Darryl
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If it is a police ID marking as they say it would be correct to be 12ga only
I have only seen it once myself on a 12ga express gun . I have no police models after 87 and they are all old wingmasters :)
Cheers
 
When I was on the Toronto Police Service ( Metro Police in those days) in the very early 1980's Remington Police Magnums started showing up replacing our stock of Model 12 Winchesters and Remington 870 Wingmasters. The Wingmasters all had rifle sighted slug barrels and the new magnums had plain riot type barrels. The Model 12's had plain riot barrels also. Funny one time while picking up a prisoner at a downtown division I noticed a model 97 Riot gun in the weapons rack. Even then that was an antique to see in active service. Long story short I believe Remington introduced the Police Magnum in the late 70's to early 80's. I cleaned hundreds of them but cannot recall if they were X marked.

Darryl
 
madtrapper143 said:
When I was on the Toronto Police Service ( Metro Police in those days) in the very early 1980's Remington Police Magnums started showing up replacing our stock of Model 12 Winchesters and Remington 870 Wingmasters. The Wingmasters all had rifle sighted slug barrels and the new magnums had plain riot type barrels. The Model 12's had plain riot barrels also. Funny one time while picking up a prisoner at a downtown division I noticed a model 97 Riot gun in the weapons rack. Even then that was an antique to see in active service. Long story short I believe Remington introduced the Police Magnum in the late 70's to early 80's. I cleaned hundreds of them but cannot recall if they were X marked.

Darryl
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They would have had chrome bolts did they not?? Way better than the black ones
The Model 870R Riot goes back to day one 1950
They did this special run in 2010 but I didnot get one :(
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I have a 70's wingmaster I haven't had apart in quite some time. This is as good excuse as any. I'll report back whether I find an X.

Edit: after finishing reading the rest of the thread I guess I likely won't find one... still gotta pull her apart now lol.
 
3macs1 said:
They would have had chrome bolts did they not?? Way better than the black ones
The Model 870R Riot goes back to day one 1950
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The Wingmasters were run of the mill hunting versions and they did have chrome bolts. The magnums had black bolts IIRC. Funny the new guns were all magnums but we stayed with Imperial SSG 2 3/4" loads for duty use. I remember watching recruits trying to qualify with those loads in a 25 shot requalification including 5 Imperial Poly Kor slugs. Lot's of flinching and whining.
Darryl
 
madtrapper143 said:
The Wingmasters were run of the mill hunting versions and they did have chrome bolts. The magnums had black bolts IIRC. Funny the new guns were all magnums but we stayed with Imperial SSG 2 3/4" loads for duty use. I remember watching recruits trying to qualify with those loads in a 25 shot requalification including 5 Imperial Poly Kor slugs. Lot's of flinching and whining.
Darryl
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Makes sense. I didnot see the black bolt until 87 with the express version but the same time all of my earlier police are 2 3/4 guns so chrome and the 87 on would be 3" as standard
Cheers
 
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