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Thread: 870 express...how badly will this get my kilt in da skreetz?

  1. #11
    S.L.O.W. ASH556's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Redhat View Post
    OP, in the end it will either work or it won't. I would go for it even though for the versatility you want, I think the Mossberg 500 is a better deal. You can get the combo with 28" and 18.5" barrel. They even include a pistol grip if that's your thing.
    I've thought the same thing...I just HATE Mossbergs...always have. It's not really logical.
    Food Court Apprentice
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  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by ASH556 View Post
    I've thought the same thing...I just HATE Mossbergs...always have. It's not really logical.
    I get it, have the same problem with a couple brands of cars. Maybe a Benelli Nova is in your future.....I hear they work great

  3. #13
    Member Gray Ghost's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Redhat View Post
    I get it, have the same problem with a couple brands of cars. Maybe a Benelli Nova is in your future.....I hear they work great
    They are very nice guns and a great value. Just not as modular as the 870.

  4. #14
    Member Wake27's Avatar
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    Mine was absolute garbage. Even after trips to two different gun shops to fix, it would seize up like crazy. I have no plans to ever buy another Remington product and couldn’t care less if the brand ceases to exist. The fact that they took a basic pump gun that worked very well for decades and turned it into garbage that wouldn’t work from the factory, is embarrassing and they can go **** themselves.


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  5. #15
    Mine was ok, it would rust if you looked at it funny and needed to be re-finished, the chamber needed a lot of polishing to keep the hulls from sticking. I ended up putting a bunch of scatter-gun tech parts on it after getting it reliable. Oversized safety, ghost ring sights, +2 tube (drilled out the factory dimples), magpul stock, and a steel extractor from brownells. It works, but it does not see heavy use. It has survived a few classes, 2 gun matches and 3 years in a patrol car before I upgraded to a 1301.

  6. #16
    I was reading on this same topic a couple weeks ago as I have 2 18” Expresses in the safe and was wondering if I should do anything with them and wanted to get a DOB. I went deep into some shotgunning boards and the consensus was the expresses were decent pre 2004/2005 when Remington was operating at a loss and especially before Cerebus. The rust issues seem to be an artifact post Cerebus. I was trying to find the threads to link but no luck on the google.

  7. #17
    OP - I wouldn't be too concerned about the 'Express' shoguns, anything wrong with them can be fixed just the same as on a Wingmaster.

    I buy pawnshop 870's when I see a deal. I've built 20 gauges for both daughters and a 12 gauge for myself.

    Some of the problems you will encounter in putting together a used one for HD would include:

    1) No Flexi-Tab on older models. Needed for an HD 870 IMO. If this is the case you will need 3 parts - 1) a flexi-tab carrier; 2) a flex-tab bolt/breech block; 3) a flexi-tab slide plate. This article explains why:

    https://www.rem870.com/2017/05/26/wh...dentification/

    They (Remington) sell a conversion kit but I've heard it is unobtainium. This guy has one for 128.00 - https://tacticalgunslings.com/flex-t...remington-870/ The problem I foresee is that unless you are a gunsmith or old school Remington LE Armorer, you might have problems changing the shell-carrier. If I recall correctly, the flexi-tab system has been standard on 870's since the early 80's, all three of my pawnshop expresses have them.

    Contact me via PM if you want to explore ways to do a conversion, if needed.

    2) Extended Mag tubes require conversion of the Express magazine tube. Some of the 870 Express retain the magazine spring and the magazine tube end cap differently than the Wingmaster. On many of the Expresses the magazine spring is retained by a plastic cylinder which slides into the magazine tube past two extrusions/dimples in the tube. The cylinder is then turned and released, retaining the spring in the tube. Additionally, the barrel locator ring on Express barrels is not drilled for a spring loaded detent to retain the magazine end tube cap, instead teeth on the plastic cylinder retain the end cap on the Expresses.

    The Express magazine retainer is on the right, the Wingmaster retainer is the split ring on the left - https://cdn-fsly.yottaa.net/53ff2f50..._1.jpg?yocs=p_

    Express end cap: https://cdn-fsly.yottaa.net/53ff2f50..._4.jpg?yocs=p_

    Wingmaster end cap: https://cdn-fsly.yottaa.net/53ff2f50...5..jpg?yocs=p_

    Long story short, if you want to put an extended magazine tube on an Express, you'll need to get the extrusions/dimples out of the mag tube. The easiest way is to simply drill the dimples out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...ature=emb_logo The barrel locator ring will cover the holes, so it isn't noticeable. If you are staying with the old barrel, most extended mag tubes now come with a wave spring washer to retain the mag tube. If the extension you use doesn't simply order one online or go to a good hardware store.

    Of course if you put another barrel on it, the new barrel will likely have the detent spring and ball installed. I'm partial to these, and this company:

    https://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/F240333


    When you are looking at a used 870, one of the first things to check is to make sure the barrel locating finger is intact on the ejector. The ejector spring also needs to be in place and intact.

    This be okay: https://www.msgo.com/attachments/ejector-jpg.12557/

    This be broken: https://i.redd.it/3iiykhmadtf41.jpg

    Ejector springs, top broken: https://www.rem870.com/wp-content/up...tor_spring.jpg

    RE: Mossberg 500. Stay away if you are actually going to use it. The reason I say this is because of the magazine tube design. In order to clean the magazine tube, change the magazine spring or follower, you have to remove the magazine tube from the receiver, this is a PITA IMO.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Lehr View Post
    RE: Mossberg 500. Stay away if you are actually going to use it. The reason I say this is because of the magazine tube design. In order to clean the magazine tube, change the magazine spring or follower, you have to remove the magazine tube from the receiver, this is a PITA IMO.
    On this part I'd like to hear a little more explanation. It's obviously one of the best selling pumps of all time...so what gives?

  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Redhat View Post
    On this part I'd like to hear a little more explanation. It's obviously one of the best selling pumps of all time...so what gives?
    At some point in their production, Mossberg started putting threadlocker on the magazine tubes. I'm not really sure why.

    Ten years ago, I heated mine up with a heat gun, unscrewed the mag tube, replaced the magazine spring, and screwed it back in sans threadlocker. I've swapped out the mag spring a couple times since. I've never had a problem with the magazine tube backing out of the gun or anything.

    I prefer the location of the safety on the Mossberg guns, so that's what I run.
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  10. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Redhat View Post
    On this part I'd like to hear a little more explanation. It's obviously one of the best selling pumps of all time...so what gives?
    My experience is largely LE related. I bought a DU Mossberg 500 for my son almost 25 years ago and it has worked fine for him.

    My experience with Mossbergs is their magtube spring quality leaves something to be desired. We allowed student officers to bring and use their agency shotguns for training if they desired. Made sense.
    It was not at all unusual to have Mossbergs that had been sitting in the unit with the mag tube completely loaded dribble out rounds due to reduced spring tension. This was made more apparent due to the fact that we were trying to in-grain shotgun function, so most of our drills involved starting a couple rounds loaded, requiring the student to keep it loaded as the drill progressed. We replaced a lot of Mossberg springs with Remington springs on the Academy's dime. In reality, a fully loaded extended tube Mossy is likely to work through 5 or 6 rounds even with a weak spring, so it may not get you killed in da streetz.

    Our Academy had a mix of 500, 590. and 590A1's. We started with stainless 500's which were problematic from the get go. What I quickly noticed was that if you take a Remington 870 locked into battery and pull back against the forearm, the breech block/bolt stays pretty much stationary. Do the same thing with a Mossberg and you will see the breech block start to nose down. In the case of those 500's that resulted in light strikes when students would pull back on the forearm when firing. On the positive side, it was a good indicator to the instructors that the student was doing this and we could correct them.

    Our shotguns were exposed to all extremes of weather, and if a shotgun was used by multiple student each session, the rounds would ad up. This is where the magazine tubes became a PITA, they would get dirty and sluggish. Breaking them loose the first time was an adventure, after that it was just a paint busting loose the loctite. Why they thought that design was good IDK.

    Eventually we had tried all reasonable fixes and sent the stainless 500's back to Mossberg. Upon return, you guessed it. By that time we had enough 590 and 590A1's that we pretty much left the 500's in the arms room.

    I am a lefty, so I wanted to like the Mossbergs, and I do like the 590, but I got no love for the 500's. I also have a JM Pro 930 that I've upgraded and shoot a lot.

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