Remington 870 express reliability

weix11 · September 24, 2009, 03:18 PM

I just bought a new remington 870 express 12 gauge with a 28 inch barrel. I was wondering on how to check the gun for any quality issues. I heard that the magazine spring retainer and the trigger plate assembly were made of plastic, so should I buy new metal parts for the gun? Or should I just leave it alone, and just assume that the gun was made with no problems. Does any of the "differences" between the express and the wingmaster matter? Do things like the rougher unpolished finish and burrs matter? What about the MIM issue and the "dimples?"

oneounceload · September 24, 2009, 03:27 PM

clean your gun very well - inside and out. Go shoot several boxes at some clay targets and have fun - if the gun doesn't give you any issues, don't worry about it.

Lee Lapin · September 24, 2009, 07:39 PM

Field strip it and clean out the packing preservative/grease thoroughly, especially out of the chamber. I've never worried about breaking things in an Express, and so far nothing has ever broken in one of mine. I'd say fix on failure, if anything ever breaks. Plastic, MIM, whatever.

As to dimples, don't try to put on a magazine extension and you won't have to worry about them. Getting rid of them opens up a whole new set of potential problems, if you just gotta gotta gotta have a magazine extension, find an older Express, a used Wingmaster or Police gun with no dimples to put one on.

If you'll shoot the gun a lot, it'll work polish just fine and the burrs and roughness will go away. Sit around when you have nothing better to do and pump it a few hundred times. It'll smooth up just fine. That even worked on the Chinese copy (Hawk 981) I bought a couple weeks ago just to see how comparable it was to a real 870. After a few thousand cycles, there's getting to be shiny spots on the bolt, action bars and magazine tube, and it's beginning to feel like a pumpgun should.

jmho, ymmv,

lpl

September 24, 2009, 03:18 PM	#1
weix11 Junior Member Join Date: September 22, 2009 Posts: 5	Remington 870 express reliability I just bought a new remington 870 express 12 gauge with a 28 inch barrel. I was wondering on how to check the gun for any quality issues. I heard that the magazine spring retainer and the trigger plate assembly were made of plastic, so should I buy new metal parts for the gun? Or should I just leave it alone, and just assume that the gun was made with no problems. Does any of the "differences" between the express and the wingmaster matter? Do things like the rougher unpolished finish and burrs matter? What about the MIM issue and the "dimples?"

September 24, 2009, 07:39 PM	#3
Lee Lapin Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2004 Location: SE NC Posts: 1,239	Field strip it and clean out the packing preservative/grease thoroughly, especially out of the chamber. I've never worried about breaking things in an Express, and so far nothing has ever broken in one of mine. I'd say fix on failure, if anything ever breaks. Plastic, MIM, whatever. As to dimples, don't try to put on a magazine extension and you won't have to worry about them. Getting rid of them opens up a whole new set of potential problems, if you just gotta gotta gotta have a magazine extension, find an older Express, a used Wingmaster or Police gun with no dimples to put one on. If you'll shoot the gun a lot, it'll work polish just fine and the burrs and roughness will go away. Sit around when you have nothing better to do and pump it a few hundred times. It'll smooth up just fine. That even worked on the Chinese copy (Hawk 981) I bought a couple weeks ago just to see how comparable it was to a real 870. After a few thousand cycles, there's getting to be shiny spots on the bolt, action bars and magazine tube, and it's beginning to feel like a pumpgun should. jmho, ymmv, lpl __________________ Mindset - Skillset - Toolset. In that order! Attitude and skill will get you through times of no gear, better than gear will get you through times of no attitude and no skill.

September 24, 2009, 03:27 PM	#2
oneounceload Junior member Join Date: April 18, 2008 Location: N. Central Florida Posts: 8,518	clean your gun very well - inside and out. Go shoot several boxes at some clay targets and have fun - if the gun doesn't give you any issues, don't worry about it.