Remington's 870 turns 70 with 11,000,000 units made

[dewman]

Mr. P.B. Over on Outdoorlife has an article on the 70th birthday of THE 870.
so, like the 30-06 post before, if you got one show us. If you have history with one tell us. Here's my favorite, circa '81 I believe. Fixed modified with smooth bore slug. There have been and are others.

[fitch270]

I've called in several turkeys that my cousin then killed with his 870 Express. Sad to say, that's the best I can do.

[FirstBubba]

Bought exactly O-N-E (1) Rem 870.
I needed a 12 bore and didn't have one. Found one "Express" Magnum on sale at Wally World about 1993/94. Out the door for less than $200. (see avatar) Turkey killin' dude!

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

I bought this 870 Wingmaster Magnum 12 gauge from a HS classmate in 1968. It was a pretty looking thing back then ... a couple thousand birds ago. Shot a ton of geese with it. After it broke two walnut butt stocks I switched to Remington synthetic. I'd probably still be shooting honkers with it today but my retinas started falling apart. Also, I took up trap shooting and wanted to move up to skeet or clays which requires something looser than fixed full choke. So about six years ago I retired the 870 for softer shooting A5 Magnum Twelve with choke tubes. It sits in the safe as backup for days when the weather is real nasty.

[jhjimbo]

I have had a couple over the years. now I have the Browning BPS.

[PigHunter]

I bought my 870 Express in July of 1991 for $215. Later I added a 20-inch Rifle-sighted barrel, threaded for choke tubes. With it I've killed ducks, squirrels, dove, deer, and pigs. Maybe someday I'll finally get a turkey with it...

Here it is fitted with a magazine tube extension and sling. It will hold 8 rounds of 2-3/4 in shells and is currently leaning against the head of my bed, filled with 00

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

Sad to see Remington filing for bankruptcy protection ... again. I wonder if they'll survive this time. Maybe we're looking at the end of the 870?

[dewman]

They are easy to fix & tough so it amazes me that there were over 11 million made. Extra barrels and choke tubes must be out there by the semi load. It boggles the mind. Wonder if eventually the express will outsell the wingmaster?

[FirstBubba]

Sadly, the Win M12 lasted a mere 51 years (1912-1963).
The biggest downfall of the M12 was it's hand fitted final assembly.
The Rem 870 is all stamped parts. I doubt seriously handfitting is (was?) encouraged on final assembly.
The 870, by no stretch of the imagination, is anything like the M12. But Rem dog gone sure came up with a winner in the 870.

[DakotaMan]

I got my 870 in the 1980s. At the time, I had several other shotguns, mostly auto-loaders. Over the years, I gradually quit using all the others and grabbed my 870 whenever I hit the field. It just felt comfortable in my hands and I can't remember ever having a malfunction with it. I've had the action loaded with blowing sand and frozen solid with freezing rain. I've used it in 110 degree weather and in 30 degree below zero weather. I harvested countless pheasants, quail, ducks, geese, foxes and coyotes. I've reloaded thousands of shells and this gun is the only one I've ever used that never has a problem chambering them flawlessly.

I have shot beautiful shotguns that cost several thousand more but when I hit the field, I still grab my trusty 870.

[Ontario Honker Hunter]

They are easy to fix & tough so it amazes me that there were over 11 million made. Extra barrels and choke tubes must be out there by the semi load. It boggles the mind. Wonder if eventually the express will outsell the wingmaster?

Sorry, but I do not agree with your "easy to fix" assertion. I had to make several (countless?) repairs to my A5 Frankengun. But I could do them myself here at home. Required making a pair of punches from the chuck end of a couple of broken drill bits to disassemble breech bolt and creating a magazine retrieving tool from a spent hull and piece of wooden dowel. But crucial components of 870's innards are peened or riveted to inside of receiver. They break (e.g. ejector) or become detached, it requires a factory rocket scientist to fix.

Even during the best years of production and top of the line models, the 870 was and still is a cheaply made gun. It just is. But it works (most of the time) and it's tough. Mine killed a ton of game, probably more than any of my other guns, and it has seen me through some incredible adventures ... including a couple that were hair-raising. But for some reason that is difficult to explain, I have never been in love with it. Kinda like a pair of boots that never wore out. A simple tool. Nothing more. My Springfield, on the other hand, I have a very deep attachment to. Perhaps the difference is Dad made it for me. Similarly, I can't help having developed an emotional attachment to the Frankengun A5 Magnum that's now my go to gun for birds and clays. It was near death when I bought it six years ago but after many workbench surgeries, half a dozen replaced parts, and lots of swearing, it is once again the robust shotgun it was in its youth. And magic in my hands both on the range and in the field. She mopped up at sporting clays again last night. Hard not to love it. Especially for an old guy trying hard to hang onto his own robustness.