Talk to me about the Remington 870

[GuitarDaddy]

For hunting and skeet/trap the 870 wingmaster is good the 1187 is better. And you definately want 12ga w/ changeable choke

Quail hunting = Improved cylinder
Dove hunting = modified
Duck hunting = full
skeet/trap = modified or full (matter of choice)

12ga = Mens gun
16/20ga = Seniors, women and adolecent boys
410ga = Kids, snake killing and plinking (normally only available in full choke)

 

[kage69]

An 870 won't let you down, ever. They always go bang, even when they've been slogged through days of wet and cold shitty weather.

An 870 Express Mag was my first shotgun, and to this day is still my go to bird gun. My only complaint is that it didn't come with peep sights and a more robust ant-rust/wear coating. Both of those are easy to remedy though.

Get one, you won't regret it.

 

[handyrandyrc]

Can't go wrong with any of the "Big 3" pump shotguns, in my mind. Remington 870, Mossberg 500, and the Winchester 1300. All are great.

 

[Fayd]

Ehh, for SkeetSkeetSkeet I'd go with a 1187 over a 870.

why would you want a semi-auto for skeet?

 

[paperfist]

Good to know there's at least one good product coming out of my neck of the woods

 

[GuitarDaddy]

why would you want a semi-auto for skeet?

Faster cycling = less time between shots = better hit % on doubles. Same thing in the field hunting, much easier to double or even triple with an auto.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

why would you want a semi-auto for skeet?

Hmm,
Can't short stroke a Semi-auto.
Faster follow up shots.
Less work on the shooters part, not having to manually load the weapon after every shot helps stay on target.

As far as reliability goes, Mossberg, Remington, and the Old Winchester are all equal.
For more coin, there are Benelli's and Beretta's ect.
The only shotgun I've had fail was an 870 that had a bent action bar.

 

[Fayd]

Faster cycling = less time between shots = better hit % on doubles. Same thing in the field hunting, much easier to double or even triple with an auto.

ah... maybe it's just the range i shoot at, but the skeet shooting there is 1 shot per bird, 1 bird per shooter per turn. so in that sense, a semi-auto just seemed like added complexity. i suppose if you're getting into more interesting shooting styles, like double birds, etc. then yeah, an auto would be a nice addition.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Have had my 870 Express for over 20 years now, has never let me down.

 

[duragezic]

Good review on 870 and Mossberg 590

 

[GuitarDaddy]

ah... maybe it's just the range i shoot at, but the skeet shooting there is 1 shot per bird, 1 bird per shooter per turn. so in that sense, a semi-auto just seemed like added complexity. i suppose if you're getting into more interesting shooting styles, like double birds, etc. then yeah, an auto would be a nice addition.

The standard skeet course has 8 positions from where you shoot 17 singles and 4 doubles for a total clay pigeon count of 25

Trap shooting has many variations with one of the most popular being double trap in which every shot is a double at various angles.

The choice gun for most professional skeet shooters is a $$$ high grade double barrel over/under with a 28-30in barrel and a "skeet" or "improved cylinder" choke", but you can score just as well with a poormans semi-auto or pump with a shorter barrel and a tighter choke. Longer barrel wider choke pattern, shorter barrel tighter choke pattern

Chokes from tighest to widest

Full
Modified
IC (Improved cylinder)
Skeet

 

[AlienCraft]

I've had my 870 Wingmaster since I was 14 years old, and I'm 52 now. Still racks as smooth as the first day I got it.
I bought an 870 Express for Turkey, and it seems to be as solid a gun as the Wingmaster. I'll let you know in 30 years.

 

[ISAslot]

Just bought a Wingmaster! Don't have it yet. 1952 model with 30" barrel.

 

[nick1985]

Just bought a Wingmaster! Don't have it yet. 1952 model with 30" barrel.

Nice.

I have a 1950 Winchester Model 12 with a 30" barrel. Love this thing

 

[brainhulk]

I just recently bought a benelli nova tactical pump. as usual I did the research on the interwebs. The shotguns i was looking were the mossberg 590a1, remington 870 express and the benelli nova. I repeatedly read posts about remington having issues recently about their guns going off without the trigger being pulled. So that ruled out remington.

So I shot a mossberg and benelli at the range. both fired fine, but i was turned off by the mossberg pump action. It felt very cheap, loose, and it rattled. I looked at a brand new mossberg in the store to confirm this and same cheap feeling pump action.

So I went with the benelli. A little more expensive, but the action felt very solid to me. This is for home defense use, so i went with the tactical. It's not threaded for choke tubes, so if you want those, dont get the tactical. mods are ridiculously expensive. even my aftermarket extended mag tube was $90. I think from benelli they are at least a couple bills.

Oh and I also shot my friends semi-auto benelli m4. very nice, but it had a couple of fte's. I was thinking the range shells we were using were to weak maybe? the pump shotguns you don't have to worry because you manually eject them.

 

[rudeguy]

870 Express Combo is a great hunting gun. With as long as that thing has been out and as many have been made, you would think that it was a Kmart special but its not.

I definitely would not go tactical or even synthetic stock. I had a synthetic and every time I held it I wished I had gotten the wood.

There is no reason not to get an 870.

 

[gorcorps]

So pretty much everybody ignored my question earlier:
What's the difference between the 870 and 870 express?

The 12 gauge I found doesn't have express written anywhere on the gun. It's wood, and shoots 2 3/4" and 3". It's $300 used with a modified choke I believe.

 

[rudeguy]

So pretty much everybody ignored my question earlier:
What's the difference between the 870 and 870 express?

The 12 gauge I found doesn't have express written anywhere on the gun. It's wood, and shoots 2 3/4" and 3". It's $300 used with a modified choke I believe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_870

It sounds like you are looking at a Wingmaster.

 

[reallyscrued]

I shoot skeet on a regular basis....

Awww yeahhh.

...Yeah I have nothing to contribute to this thread.

 

[HOOfan 1]

So pretty much everybody ignored my question earlier:
What's the difference between the 870 and 870 express?

The 12 gauge I found doesn't have express written anywhere on the gun. It's wood, and shoots 2 3/4" and 3". It's $300 used with a modified choke I believe.

I did answer it....the Express has a cheaper finish. Instead of polished bluing, it has a rough matte finish. The wood is not a high grain wood either, and the finish on the wood is not as good.

 

[gorcorps]

I did answer it....the Express has a cheaper finish. Instead of polished bluing, it has a rough matte finish. The wood is not a high grain wood either, and the finish on the wood is not as good.

Ah, gotcha. It sounded like you were answering somebody else there

 

[Sukhoi]

Faster cycling = less time between shots = better hit % on doubles. Same thing in the field hunting, much easier to double or even triple with an auto.

Yeah IMHO if you're focusing on skeet don't get a pump. I bought an 870 (for other purposes in addition to skeet) and I'm at a big disadvantage when I do skeet with my friends. I also have problems with cheap skeet loads jamming in the chamber during extraction. Apparently if I take some steel wool to the chamber it will help with that problem, but I haven't tried yet.

I'd look for a used over/under from someone that's upgrading, if you intend to focus on skeet.

 

[gorcorps]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_870

It sounds like you are looking at a Wingmaster.

See and I don't think that's it either. Wouldn't it say Wingmaster on the gun somewhere? This says nothing but "Remington 870" on it. It has a satin finish on the wood. Given that the current 870s all are either Wingmaster, Express, or SOMETHING it makes me think this is an older gun. However it also takes 3" shells which from what I read means it's newer.

:hmm: I may just buy it anyway. The Express is the cheapest model and I know it's not that so it should be a good buy.

 

[Sukhoi]

See and I don't think that's it either. Wouldn't it say Wingmaster on the gun somewhere? This says nothing but "Remington 870" on it. It has a satin finish on the wood. Given that the current 870s all are either Wingmaster, Express, or SOMETHING it makes me think this is an older gun. However it also takes 3" shells which from what I read means it's newer.

:hmm: I may just buy it anyway. The Express is the cheapest model and I know it's not that so it should be a good buy.

Just check the serial number. I think there's a website that will tell you the year it was made.

 

[Born2bwire]

See and I don't think that's it either. Wouldn't it say Wingmaster on the gun somewhere? This says nothing but "Remington 870" on it. It has a satin finish on the wood. Given that the current 870s all are either Wingmaster, Express, or SOMETHING it makes me think this is an older gun. However it also takes 3" shells which from what I read means it's newer.

:hmm: I may just buy it anyway. The Express is the cheapest model and I know it's not that so it should be a good buy.

It's my recollection that the Express was introduced much later than the original wingmaster. You're saying that this is a used one, it may have been produced before they introduced the express line.