Remington 870

Remington 870
Remington 870 Marine Magnum
Type	pump-action shotgun
Land of Origin	USA
Specifications
Length	38.5 inches (978 mm)
Barrel length	18 inches (457 mm)
Weight	7 pounds (3.2 kg)
Cartridge	12, 16 , 20 & 28 gauge; .410 bore
Action	pump-action
Feed	4 round internal tube magazine
Service History
Used by	United States, Israel, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia
Production History
Designer	see Development
Design Date	late 1940s
Manufacturer	Remington Arms
Unit Cost	MSRP US$350-950, by variant
Produced	1950-present
No. Built	10,000,000+
Variants	see Variants
specifications are for 28", 12 ga Wingmaster

The Remington Model 870 is a U.S.-made pump-action shotgun. It is widely used by the public for target shooting, hunting, and self-defense. It is also commonly used by US law enforcement agencies as well as military groups such as Special Operations Command units of the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army Rangers and the U.S. Navy SEALs.

Development

The Remington 870 was the fourth major design in a series of Remington pump shotguns. John Pedersen designed the fragile Model 10 (and later the improved model 29). Working with John Browning, Pedersen also helped design the Model 17 which was adopted by Ithaca as the Ithaca 37 and also served as the basis for the Remington 31. The Model 31 was an excellent shotgun, but struggled for sales in the shadow of the Winchester Model 12. Remington sought to correct that by introducing in 1950 a modern, streamlined, rugged, reliable, and relatively inexpensive shotgun, the 870 Wingmaster.

Sales of the 870 have been steady. They reached 2 million guns by 1973 (ten times the number of Model 31 shotguns it replaced). By 1996, spurred by the basic "Express" model, sales topped seven million guns. The 870 holds the record for best-selling pump gun in U.S. history.

Design details

The 870 features a bottom-loading, side ejecting receiver, tubular magazine under the barrel, dual action bars, internal hammer, and a bolt which locks into an extension in the barrel. The action, receiver, trigger system, safety catch and slide release catch of the Remington Model 870 shotgun are similar to those used on the Remington Model 7600 series pump-action centrefire rifles and carbines. The basic trigger group design was first used in the automatic 11-48. 20 gauge stocks will also interchange. Several parts of the 870 will interchange with the semi-automatic Remington model 1100 and 11-87. The main competitor of the Remington 870 is the Mossberg 500.

The original 870 models were offered with fixed chokes. In 1986 Remington introduced the new Remington "Rem Choke" system of screw-in chokes (also fitted to Remington model 1100 auto-loading shotguns at the same time). Initially, the Rem Chokes were offered on barrel lengths of 21", 26" and 28". It was not offered on 30" barrels, deer guns, target guns or as a retrofit.

Production 870s for over 30 years had a design whereby a user could either "short stroke" the action - not pull the forearm all the way back while cycling the action as they should - or fail to press a shell all the way into the magazine when loading such that the shell latch did not engage the shell, and such actions could tie up the gun. This was caused by the shell which slipped out of the magazine under the bolt in the receiver to bind the action, requiring rough treatment of the action or even disassembly to clear by the uninitiated. The potential issue was resolved with the introduction of the "Flexi Tab" carrier. Guns with this modification can be identified by the "U"-shaped cut-out on the carrier, visible from below the gun. The cut-out allows the carrier to flex when the shell presses on it without binding the action.

Variants

There are hundreds of variations of the Remington 870. From the original fifteen models offered, Remington currently produces dozens of models for civilian, law enforcement, and military sales. 870 variants can be grouped into:

• Wingmaster– Polished bluing and glossy wood finishes.
• Express – Inexpensive bead blasted finish and satin wood or synthetic furniture. This model was created to compete with Mossberg.
• Marine – synthetic stocks and nickel finishes.
• Tactical - numerous versions and options intended for military and police markets.
• Police Magnum (870P) – high luster blued or parkerized finish and satin wood or synthetic stocks.

Remington 1740

MY PORCH — get the hell off it

For those with a sense of adventure, the Remington 1740 (870x2) is a SxS version of the 870 made by the mating of one left- and one right-ejecting model. No, Remington does not make these. You will have to build one yourself or buy one someone else has made (assuming that's legal where you live).

As the video shows, it's a long way from conventional but a great idea for when the zombies come.

Chinese M870

China has made unlicensed M870 copies by Norinco as the Norinco HP9-1 and used by the People's Liberation Army as the standard shotgun.

However, the M870 copy is a widely-distributed design no longer under patent protection, and most parts interchange freely. In the United States, where Norinco products are specifically non-importable, this gun is imported and sold under the names Norinco Hawk 982 and Interstate Hawk 982.

In gun culture

A few things gun owners have to say about the 870:

• The availability of a wide variety of accessories has led to the 870 being referred to as the "Mister Potato Head of guns."

Resources

Gun Owners' Resource has the following relevant documents available for free download for the Remington 870 and/or its variants:

• Owners Manual for 870 & 870 Super Magnum - 20 pages, .pdf file.

The following images are also available for reference:

Serial number Info
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 LETTER SUFFIX (DESIGNATES GAUGE)
Suffix	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”)

• 

  Exploded view

• 

  Exploded view of a left-ejecting variant

The Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun loaded with pyrotechnical shells (blanks) is seen here used to scare off unwanted birds in flight from the vicinity of Incirlik Air Base.

See also

• Norinco HP9-1, Remington 870 derivative.
• KAC Masterkey

External links

• Remington page for 870
• Remington page for 870 Tactical
• Remington Military MCS page
• Photos and specifications for Remington shotguns
• Modern Firearms
• Nazarian`s Gun`s Recognition Guide On Remington 870
• [1] Important differences between Remington 870 Police and 870 Express shotguns