Remington 870 left-handed safety

[That Guy]

I'm in the process of acquiring an older 870 that's sold as a Police model but has Wingmaster on the receiver. At this point I do not know the exact serial number or the guns age. (It has, according to the seller seen very little use and is, according to the pictures absolutely gorgeous. :) )

Being left-handed, I would like the safety to be left-handed. In my previous Remington, I installed a Fortmann's left-handed safety, but unfortunately Midway has ceased to sell anything overseas. What other options do I have?

From some random web page I read old enough Remingtons may have had safeties that are reversible. Is there any truth to that? (If so, I'd like to avoid my Colt debacle where I had the safety of my LE6920 in the right-handed configuration for about three months while I was waiting for the ambi safety I ordered to arrive - and only after I was informed the shop was unable to deliver the ambi safety to me did I find out the original bloody safety is reversible... :p )

[farscott]

Not too many as the best way is a left-hand trigger plate assembly. Unfortunately that costs well over the $100 ITAR export limit at Brownell's.

Here is the stripped left-hand trigger plate, which can be exported as it is under $100, but Numrich will only ship to the USA and Canada. https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/818450

[Lon]

Im gonna get one of these for one of our Academy shotguns.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1005272566/fortmanns-left-hand-safety-conversion-remington-552-740-760-870-1100-11-87

[That Guy]

While doing web searches on this topic, I've several times run into the claim that in older 870's one can simply switch the safety around. What these claims never seem to accurately pin point is how old the gun needs to be before this is an option. Does anyone here know any specifics about whether the claim is accurate, and if so in what guns this is possible?

I'm looking at buying what is claimed to be, and according to my research genuinely appears to be, an older Police model with wood stock and a Wingmaster marked receiver. Would that help in determining the age of the firearm and whether or not it falls into the age bracket of reversible safety 870's (assuming those actually do exist)?

[willie]

Let me research this for you and get back in a couple days.


http://rem870.com

Check here. There is a forum also.

[Erick Gelhaus]

So, I have an 80s built (or older) gun. Its safety was reversed to be L/H by a competent gunsmith back in the early 00s. As you have heard, it could be done. And it has been reliable.

[That Guy]

Thanks!

Do you know what was involved in reversing the safety?

(That part, competent gunsmith, does worry me a bit... Those seem to be in short supply here.)

[That Guy]

"You can find anything on the Internet apart from the specific thing you're looking for."

I did a lot of research into possible upgrade parts for my future 870 today. At the end I was just goofing off, and looking at - of all possible things - bayonet mounts, when...

https://sjhardware.com/product/remington-870-jumbo-safety-left-hand/

I'll have to wait until December before ordering the part, so I don't know if that place charges ridiculous shipping costs like some U.S. shops. But it certainly looks promising!