Other members have posted in the M4C Shotgun Forum that the current Model 870 produced by Remington has reliability issues. I own two trouble free Model 870 shotguns, the newest one produced in the early 1990’s.
Can anyone narrow down approximately what year the 870 began to have so many issues? If your 870 was/is problematic, what year was it purchased and/or produced?
I think I’m going out on a pretty sturdy limb, but I’d start my research after this date: April 5, 2007.
That was the date Ceberus announced they were buying Remington.
And maybe differentiate between the regular 870 and the Express.
Most of my experience is with the Remington 870 provided under contract to LE agencies and the two I purchased for myself. You make a good point that we should differentiate from the Express model.
There are actually 3 lines of 870s currently being produced: Wingmaster, Police and Express.
From what I’ve heard, polishing the chamber will cure some of the 870 Express issues.
Have had one since 2010, never any issues, express model.
They all break and have issues from what I understand. Even Battlefield LasVegas has stated that they got some older Police models, and they died in a few months as well. Might have run a little longer than current production civilian guns, but nothing super special.
Didn’t realize that 870’s had such a short service life.
I believe anything that suffers abuse and lack of prescribed maintenance will suffer a shorter service life. Not necessarily saying that about Battlefield Vegas, rather the previous police owners. Shotgun maintenance is not a major priority at most agencies.
On another thread I made the comment that we did not have FTE issues with Express’s specific, any shotgun generally, when using factory 00B or slugs (Federal to be brand specific, but really any quality brand in my expereince).
That got me to thinking, did the start of the 870 Express chamber issue begin just about the time Winchester was introducing their value-pack rounds?
I’m lucky enough to have two pre-80 Wingmasters. I will never sell them.
I have done that multiple times, after investing in a set of the proper hones, oil and a low-speed cordless drill. It does help a great deal.
People tend to shoot crappy ammo in a rough chamber, and never clean it. That frequently leads to extraction woes.
Polishing the chamber helps a great deal, as well as not shooting crappy ammo. I switched over to the Winchester AA loads for classes. It goes on sale for around $80 a case during bird season, and I grab a few cases then.
I’ve got two Wingmasters, two Police Magnums, and an Express that has been basically torn apart and rebuilt into a Wingmaster. The Express was free to me.
I’d never buy an Express when you can find a used Wingmaster or Police Magnum for under $300 if you look around just a little. I only buy used Remington Police Magnums or Wingmasters these days.
Hope that helps.
Is there a way to tell age? I own two police traded Police Magnums. I got them both for a great price and shotguns are low on my priority list. I may have shot a few boxes in the last few years but it would be nice to know the manufacturer date
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I believe you can do a serial number search.
I shall consult The Google.
My search fu is mighty today, I found this:
[i]DECODING REMINGTON SERIAL NUMBERS
Model 870 LETTER PREFIX
1950 TO APPROX 1968: NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX
1968 TO PRESENT: LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE)
S-68, T-74, V-78, W-84, X-90, A-91, B-94, C-97, D-01, AB-05
Model 870 LETTER SUFFIX (DESIGNATES GAUGE)
V 12 GA. (2 3/4”)
M 12 GA. MAGNUM (3”)
A 12 GA. “SUPER” MAGNUM (3 ½”)
W 16 GA. ( 2 ¾” )
X 20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME” (DISCONTINUED)
N 20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME MAGNUM” (DISCONTINUED)
K 20 GA. “LIGHT WEIGHT” (“LW”) (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”)
U 20 GA. LW MAGNUM (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”)
J 28 GA.
H .410 BORE (2 ½” OR 3”)
Model 1100 LETTER PREFIX
1963 TO APPROX. 1968: NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX
1968 TO PRESENT: LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE)
L-68, M-74, N-78, P-85, R-90
Model 1100 LETTER SUFFIX
SAME STRUCTURE AS THE Model 870
Model 1187 LETTER PREFIX
1987 TO PRESENT: “PC” 12 GA., 1999 “TL“ 20 GA.,
2000 “SM” SUPER MAG.
LETTER SUFFIX
NO LETTER SUFFIX ON THIS MODEL
Then look on the left side of the barrel near the receiver and look for a two letter date code stamp and follow this chart with the first letter being the month and the second being the year the barrel was made;
Month
B - Jan L - Feb A - Mar C - Apr K - May P - Jun
O - Jul W - Aug D - Sep E - Oct R - Nov X - Dec
Year
M - 1921 N - 1922 P - 1923 R - 1924 S - 1925
T - 1926 U - 1927 W - 1928 X - 1929 Y - 1930
Z - 1931 A - 1932 B - 1933 C - 1934 D - 1935
E - 1936 F - 1937 G - 1938 H - 1939 J - 1940
K - 1941 L - 1942 MM - 1943 NN - 1944 PP - 1945
RR - 1946 SS - 1947 TT - 1948 UU - 1949 WW - 1950
XX - 1951 YY - 1952 ZZ - 1953 A - 1954 B - 1955
C - 1956 D - 1957 E - 1958 F - 1959 G - 1960
H - 1961 J - 1962 K - 1963 L - 1964 M - 1965
N - 1966 P - 1967 R - 1968 S - 1969 T - 1970
U - 1971 W - 1972 X - 1973 Y - 1974 Z - 1975
I - 1976 O - 1977 Q - 1978 V - 1979 A - 1980
B - 1981 C - 1982 D - 1983 E - 1984 F - 1985
G - 1986 H - 1987 I - 1988 J - 1989 K - 1990
L - 1991 M - 1992 N - 1993 O - 1994 P - 1995
Q - 1996 R - 1997 S - 1998 T - 1999 () U - 2000 ()
V - 2001 (*) W - 2002 X - 2003 Y - 2004 Z - 2005
A - 2006 B - 2007 C - 2008 D - 2009 E - 2010
F - 2011 G - 2012 H - 2013[/i]
And this:
http://www.rem870.com/2012/01/19/remington-870-serial-number-lookup/
I know one guy that used oiled 0000 steel wool wrapped around a long drill bit to polish an 870 Express chamber. Sounds crude but he claimed it did the trick.
Thank you! Where do I send the beer?
1st one is 1984 Police Magnum
2nd is 1979 Wingmaster 12G 2 3/4
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I am thinking it likely would. I would be very careful to check the uniformity afterwards.
I went with these from Brownell’s:
I got the 12 gauge medium and the 12 gauge fine hones, along with a quart of their oil.
Then I made a point of very carefully cleaning the barrel several times, to make sure no grit remained to affect the trigger pack or action bars.
No worries, glad to be of assistance. It sounds like you have a very nice pair of shotguns there.
pretty much everything I’ve handled, shot, or dealt with over the past couple years has been crap from Remington. I would pursue a mid 90’s wingmaster before I thought about buying a new one. One of my buddys has an 870 express that would jam and have light primer strikes which I have never seen before in a shotgun. Makes for a real pain in the ass when hunting. I would steer clear.
Did anyone take the firing pin out and look at the firing pin spring. When we have had light firing pin strikes or failure to fire I pull the spring out. Most of the time the spring has broken in as much as four places which places the firing pin in a bind.