Remington 870

H

HOGGHEAD

New member
I am going to buy a new shotgun. I have not done a lot of shotgun hunting in my life, but I want to buy a new shotgun for the upcoming seasons.

I am looking at the Remington 870 Express Shur Shot Synthetic Turkey. The shotgun is a 12 gauge, with a 21 inch barrel. It shoots 2-3/4 and 3 inch magnum. It does not shoot 3-1/2 inch shells.

IMO the 870 is hard to beat for a reasonable price for a beat around shotgun. What do you guys think??

I will be doing some predator hunting, crow hunting, and turkey hunting. Do you guys think I need the ability to shoot 3-1/2 inch shells??

I really like the Thumbhole design of this Remington. When I saw one on the net, I just figured I had to have one??

I have to do all my hunting off of my Kawasaki Mule. So I thought the 21" barrel would be nice to keep from clanging on the steel tubing cage around the Mule?? I do not think the shorter barrel should hamper the performance that much?? Will it??

Any body have one?? Tom.
 
I've had two of the 870 Express 12 gauges, none with the thumbhole stock though. One was a 3 inch black stocked gun, one was a 3.5 inch black stocked gun.

Both would rust if you left them in a barrel of oil. At present I have an Express 20 gauge Youth model I bought two years ago for my grand daughters to turkey hunt with. It has a 21 inch barrel with the interchangeable chokes.

The 3 inch 12 gauge wasn't to bad to shoot, but the 3.5 inch model simply beat me to death and I shoot an 8mm Remington mag for my deer gun.

I sold both after using my old hunting partners 3.5 inch Mossberg 835 and bought on of those with the 24 inch ported tube in camo. It's a much easier gun to shoot and I've killed turkeys out to 60 yards with the 3.5 inch loads and the Aimpoint red dot sight that's on it for turkey hunting.

I don't know what Remington dips those express shotguns in for their finish, but everyone I've had including the new 20 gauge seems to want to rust no matter what I oil it with.

If your set on a Remington do try to get one with a standard blue finish on it. I never had the problems with that finish and I did with the expresses.

I sure recommend the Mossy's for a turkey gun, the ergonomics seem better than the Remington and perhaps they are heavier, but they are much easier to shoot, for me at least, than the Rem Expresses. You can get them with a thumbhole stock now also. Oh I also like the tang safety much better than the Remmy's side push safety and they come with tru-glow sights.

Here's mine, it has an Aimpoint 5000 for turkey hunting and they come drilled and tapped for scope mounting where the Remmy does not.

Mossberg835-1.jpg


Mosberr835frontsight.jpg


Mosberg835-rearsight.jpg


This is the Remington 20 gauge. Keeping it from rusting is an ongoing problem.

20youth-1.jpg
 
I've used a 21" 11-87 Turkey Special SP 3" for waterfowl for quite a few years..its finish appears to be the same as the 870 Express and can rust. However I like the shorter barrel for the swing as mine has slowed with age.

I'd get some more feedback on thumbhole shotgun stocks..I remember when pistol grip stocks first came out on 870 patrol guns.. they were no walk in the park w/slugs/heavy loads for range work..may have just been new or different but not universally loved at that time.

I do like the fiber optic front sights like a TruGlo on the rib..I keep replacing my magnetic stick-ons..must be one of my duck hunting partners kicking my gun in the bottom of the duck boat,LOL.
 
I guess the rust issue depends on where you live.
In Colorado it is dry and I have a 1990 model 870 Express Magnum in 20 ga, my best friend has a 1991 model in 12 ga. Neither has any signs of rust.

They are field guns and both have over 5000 rounds out of them, so they are definately NOT safe queens. They have been snowed, rained, hailed and sleeted on.

For those that have rust issues, what have you been putting on the gun to prevent the rust?
All on my Remington Shotguns get Rem Oil as per their instructions. It is a gun oil that leaves a film of teflon where it is applied. It goes on the whole gun, inside and out.

The only gun out of the box that had rust that I have ever owned or seen was a Russian O/U and there was a light surface rust only at the muzzle that was easily removed without marring the finish with an oil cloth.

I too spray that gun with Rem Oil and it has never rusted again.... well it's only been 10 years though.
 
I don't know about rust.... I have a 11-87 handed down from my dad that I have owed for almost 10 years and I'm sure he had it more then 10 years before that and it doens't show a single sign of rust. I turkey hunt in the rain, and snow and mud this gun has never let me down...


The one thing I can tell you is every Mossburg I have picked up feels cheap compared to my Remington.
 
I have an 870 and I dont have a problem with rust at all..... I think the 870 is the greatest shotgun around...... I do like the new rememington lineup.
 
I bought an 870 last year from a guy that ran one box of shells through it. There was slight rust on the styrofoam packaging when I removed it. I've been using the new Lucas brand gun oil on it and have not had a rust problem. Goldenrod in the safe of course. It has never gotten wet so maybe that's a factor.
 
No rust issues with my express - so far. The factory grease/oil they put on it to protect it during shipping does have a rust color when rubbed off. Once removed and replaced the color is no longer there.

I think one of the problems with the finish is that it has so much texture that rubbing it with a normally oiled rag often doesn't let the oil get to the bottom of all the pores. It even seems to shred the rag. Soon after I purchased mine, I took it outside and absolutely soaked it by spraying Breakfree on it and then wiping off the excess. No unfilled pores this way and no rust to date.

Since I intend my 21" express to also serve as a truck/camping gun, I decided to go one step further and have purchased a Duracoat finish kit for it. They even have a color called 'Remington 870 Black.' I am waiting for warmer weather to apply it, but I don't imagine it will look any different. I also think the rough texture will make a perfect Duracoat base.
 
Got a great 870 Express super mag a few years ago for a great deal at Walmart of all places. It came with a synthetic stock and the whole gun was dipped in RealTree Hardwood. not really the best camo for my area but whatever.
I only had one shot gun before this one, an OLD savage semi auto. It was so old I started feelin bad for shooting it, its really a beautiful gun. so I got me an 870 and had no desire to look for another. I want to get a SureShot stock for it but there isnt one in RealTree Hardwood that i can find.... might have to re-dip the gun..? or do custom paint job. havent decided yet...
 
The Remington QC with respect to it's shotguns is not the same as it was back in the late 80's and earlier. Burred chambers, out of round chambers, rough chambers, chokes reamed out of alignment with the bore, rusting finish, malfunctions with shell stops, all seem to be more commonly encountered now than before. If you want a good 870, get a Wingmaster model. If you are willing to take a chance on whether you get a good gun or a problem gun, get an Express. It's a crap shoot and it's your money being bet.
 
Both my 870's are almost 30 yrs old, no problems, and I take them out in some real bad weather, not express models, not much blue left either, only bad thing I can say is they'r all you'll ever need, no excuse to buy other shotguns.
 
I love the solid and proven Wingmaster 870. I have one that I started shooting as a 16 year old that is worn silver and I would not trade it for anything. IMHO the Wingmaster 870 is twice the shotgun the Express Model is. The Express Models do suffer from some QC problems. Shell stops, misaligned chokes, and rough chambers are common problem areas. Add to the fact the finish is so danged rough it'll shred a cloth used to wipe it down and as someone above pointed out the bottom of the craters from the rough bead blast doesn't get much lubricant way down in there. Then if exposed to any moisture the deep pits act as holding tanks for that moisture and rusting is severe and deep.

I’m not a fan of thumbhole stocks or pistol grips. Again IMHO, they are for very specialized task and do not work well in general use. I also do not like the 3 ½” .12 gauge for much of anything. If I want to shoot a 3 ½” shell it will be from a .10 gauge.
 
The rough finish on the Express 870's is perfect for painting with Krylon camo paint. Even if you have never painted a firearm before your first paint job will look better than the factory Express finish.
 
Ive had a Remington 870 Express Super Mag with the camo finish for about four years now and havnt had the slightest hint of rust ever. This gun is my primary turkey gun and spends several days hunting in the rain and still no rust. For the $300 i spent on it I cant find anything to complain about other than the fact it being chambered for 3 1/2 it tends to eject a 2 3/4 out the bottom every once in awhile while shooting clay pigions. Other than that great gun and has ended the lives of many turkey. Josh
 
Its tough to beat a 870! The 3" 12 ga is all you really need. Make sure you have a good choke, something in the .670" and you will be all set to go kill critters.

I have 3 870's, never had a problem with any of them. I also have an 11-87 Super Mag 12 ga 3.5" chamber. They both kill everything dead. Keep in mind that the 3" is cheaper to shoot and doesn't kick as hard.

JD338
 
My 870 Express 3" is about 14 years old and has fired literally thousands of shells. It has been used as a guide gun for goose and duck hunting as well as turkey, dove, cranes, quail, skeet, trap, sporting clays, coyotes, deer, and most anything else that can be thrown at it. It is uber tough and reliable.

The factory finish was terrible and after a season of hunting ducks over a brine lake it looked like a 50 year old rust bucket. As stated above it didn't matter how well I cleaned and oiled it the exterior finish would rust. I stripped it down and had the barrel and action sprayed down with a truckbed liner.

That has lasted 12 years until about 2 weeks ago I stripped it down with a drill mounted wire brush and shot a couple coats of duracoat on. It looks like it is ready to go another 14 years. We'll see..

For durability and reliability I'd put it up against anything out there without worry. They are a lot of bang for the buck.

.
 
I should have mentioned that I am looking for a knock around gun. A little rust will not ruin my day for a $400 shotgun. Now if I had that rust on my Beretta or Browning O/U's that would be a different subject. But those are target guns.

I am not new to shooting shotguns, I am new to hunting with them. Most of my hunting in the past has been with rifles. Most of my target shooting has been with shotguns.

I noticed that Remington offers 2 types of SurShot synthetic stocks. Does anyone know the difference. Tom.
 


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