I have 2 used 870 Police models that are police trade ins and I was wondering if there are any common internal parts that fail that I should replace? Anything I should keep an eye out for? Any parts worth upgrading that are better than what comes from the factory?
So far they’ve both ran perfectly for the little bit I’ve shot them. Just curious if anything needs to be replaced or upgraded or anything that commonly breaks in these guns?
Also, is there anyone here that does custom checkering and refinishing of wooden stocks or knows of someone that does?
Depending in their age, I’d probably buy a carrier dog spring and replace that. Buy an extra extractor (non-mim) as well, as the only issues I’ve really had in a 870 were extractor.
You might want a new magazine spring, depends on what you’re going to do for extension. I REALLY recommend Nordic.
Most police guns have been carried and racked a lot, but shot very little. Under 1000 rounds for most departments I would guess, although some may look like they have had 20,000 down them
If they are 870P’s they will also have a heavier sear spring in them, it’s not that heavy but if you go side by side with another shotgun you might notice the difference. I’ve put the heavier sear spring in my personal 870’s because I’m used to them I guess.
We have over 20 ‘range’ 870’s that get at least 3000+ a year through them, a couple of them are pre-Police Wingmasters. They don’t breakdown a whole bunch, I’d also check:
the action bar lock spring to make sure it is not broken - if the action bar lock doesn’t want to return with good spring pressure when you depress it that is a good sign something is amiss. As Noodles mentioned, these guns most likely have chambered and then unloaded the chambered round more than they’ve been shot, so the action bar lock spring gets used a lot in that respect. Plus it is worked the other way each time the weapon is fired, so check it. This is one of our biggest issues.
police 870’s get banged around a bit more than the average 870, so also check to make sure the barrel locator tip (not correct terminology) is intact on the ejector.
check the action bars to make sure they aren’t cracked or warped. Police 870’s get handled by a lot of different folks who aren’t at all shotgun savvy, so they twist the forearm one way or another when cycling, or try to chamber a round in the midst of a huge adrenaline dump w/o depressing the action bar lock, so I’d check those.
All that considered, I would jump on any chance I got to buy a used870P at a good price.
Edited to add: If they are going to be your guns I’d also buy a good aluminum or stainless steel mag tube follower - the plastic ones are junk.
For the mag tubes the one I kept classic has the Remington +2 extension and the one I “tac up” I put a Wilson Combat tube on. I wanted the NC one but everybody was out of stock when I started purchasing.
Are both mag springs that came with the tubes good or should I upgrade to Wolff ones?
The action bars were the first things I checked. I too have seen some people do crazy shit to a pump gun :suicide:
Both were in great condition except for the wood fore end on one looked like it belonged to a K9 officer that let the dog use it as a chew toy so it got the MagPul love.
I got each gun for $200 a piece…:dirol:
I was just curious as to what parts might be good to have on hand in case something breaks. Kinda like how some folks recomend a spare bolt/extractor for ARs, I thought I’d apply the same reasoning to my shotguns.
Sorry, I just got lucky one day at a local Gander Mountain. They had about 10 PD trade ins. I had been wanting an 870P but wasn’t actively looking for one because I had a Mossberg 500. But for the price they wanted I wasn’t gonna pass them up. Wish I could have snagged a couple more at that price…
