Surplus Remington 870 Police Magnum

[SwampDweller]

I received the 870 Police Magnum I ordered from The Castle Arms on Sunday. Pretty quick shipping. I didn't call to request any particular configuration, but I did put a request in the notes section to pick whichever one they thought was in the best shape. The one I got has a 20" barrel with rifle/slug (?) sights and black synthetic furniture. Improved Cylinder bore and 4-shell magazine tube. Definitely some patina/finish wear, and some minor rust specks here and there. I'm working on it with a brass brush and CLP and most are coming right off. I do plan to shoot it this weekend as it is, but I'm waiting to hear from Wilson Combat and Cotton Branch Customs via email on turnaround time.

If anyone has any input on what to do with it during the meantime, I'm all ears. Barrel prefix says its made in 1997 or 1977. I assume 1977 is more likely? Castle Arms says these are mostly from the 70s and 80s. Rack # is 6. This is my first shotgun that isn't a long barrel hunting shotgun. I'm pretty excited. Despite obvious finish wear, I can tell the quality of the small parts like the extractor look much better made than the 870 Express Magnums I've owned as a kid/teen.




(I also am still waiting on my Vang Comp Mossberg 590A1 "Standard" to ship that I ordered 1 week ago. Haven't heard anything but the FFL was confirmed received. I know they're at Shot Show right now.)

[DDTSGM]

Sometimes patrol shotguns are/were cleaned in batches. It's possible for the barrels to get switched around under those circumstances. For that reason we punched numbers on the upper rear of the receiver and on the barrel band.

IIRC correctly, Remington wasn't placing POLICE MAGNUM on the receiver until the 1980's so your shotgun may be a 1997 model.

[Elwin]

Interested to see what you hear back from Wilson - I have an 870 that I want to send in for the Remington Steal package, if only to get the Flex Tab cut done.

[SwampDweller]

Sometimes patrol shotguns are/were cleaned in batches. It's possible for the barrels to get switched around under those circumstances. For that reason we punched numbers on the upper rear of the receiver and on the barrel band.

IIRC correctly, Remington wasn't placing POLICE MAGNUM on the receiver until the 1980's so your shotgun may be a 1997 model.

The serial on the receiver is B619776M. Could that help pin it down? I don't see a number on the upper rear of the receiver or barrel band.
The extractor does seem to be machined compared to my Express, but I guess even late 90s ones were still made to that standard and beyond?

[SwampDweller]

Interested to see what you hear back from Wilson - I have an 870 that I want to send in for the Remington Steal package, if only to get the Flex Tab cut done.

I'll let you know what they say the turnaround time is. The basic Steal package with Parkerized finish costs $230. To get the Armor Tuff finish brings it to $385.

[shootist26]

rifle sight barrels are the best, but the stock Remington sights are too thin

I currently have a set of Truglo sights on mine, but might switch to Trijicon next time. 10 years ago I had a set of Ameriglo sights which I loved but they've been discontinued

I like the concept of the Truglo design but I went through 2 defective front sights (base cut too small, wouldn't even make contact in the dovetail) before the third set worked. Truglo is owned by some mega conglomerate and customer service was a little painful. I'd imagine Trijicon spends a little more time on QC

https://www.truglo.com/tfx-pro-sight...gton-shotguns/
https://www.trijicon.com/products/details/re01

[DDTSGM]

The serial on the receiver is B619776M. Could that help pin it down? I don't see a number on the upper rear of the receiver or barrel band.

The extractor does seem to be machined compared to my Express, but I guess even late 90s ones were still made to that standard and beyond?

We stamped those numbers in by hand, we had over two dozen 870's to keep track of; our student officers cleaned them every class and the range staff went through them about once a quarter.

I don't know when the mim parts started. This is what Remington said they did to make police shotguns of your shotgun's era:

870 Police shotguns go thru a special 23 station check list – ranging from visual inspection, functional testing, test firing, and final inspection.

All Police shotguns are assembled in a “special build area” at the plant in Ilion, NY. This section is secured and serves only to build LE and Military shotguns, with the same factory personnel working at that assignment each shift.

All parts that enter the “special build area” are visually inspected by hand to ensure top quality and functionality.

Due to heavy recoil in buck and slug loads, all 870 Police guns have a longer magazine spring which ensures positive feed and function.

A heavier sear spring is used to generate a reliable, positive trigger pull between 5 and 8 lbs.

A heavier carrier dog spring is used to ensure when the carrier elevates the shell, it will be held there until the bolt can push it into the chamber. This ensures positive feeding when using heavier payload rounds.

Police shotguns do not have an ISS (Integrated Safety System) which is a locking mechanism on the safety of commercial shotguns. This type of locking mechanism can cause delay to an officer who needs the weapon but does not have the appropriate key. LE shotguns have the standard, proven, cross bolt safety.

The Police shotguns utilize the heavy duty SPEEDFEED Stocks and Fore-ends. (In the 90's standard was probably wooden furniture and short forearms)

The receivers used in Police guns are “vibra honed” to smooth out rough finishes and remove burrs before parkerization or bluing.

Police shotguns use machined ejectors and extractors, as opposed to powdered metal cast which are utilized on the Express models

Differences between Express and Police:

The Express model will not allow for the addition of an extension tube without physical modification to the tube and barrel, which can nullify the warranty.

The Express model has a BEAD BLAST BLUE finish while the Police models utilize either High Luster bluing or Parkerization.

The Express model utilizes a synthetic trigger housing while the Police models use a compressed metal housing.

The Police shotgun barrel is locked down with a “ball detent” system in conjunction with the magazine cap vs. a lesser grade “synthetic magazine spring retainer” lock down as used on the Express system.

(All my armorer stuff is on a different drive so I copy/pasted from here: https://www.rem870.com/2013/08/13/10...ice-version-2/ )

[gato naranja]

I would be more inclined to send Wilson one of these previously enjoyed 870Ps than I would a new (ish) 870. It'll come back a no-nonsense "working gun" that won't look quite so forlorn.

Personally, I'd get the Remington Steal package, put Magpul furniture on it and call it good. YMMV. I suppose they could also work something out with you to turn it into a "Rob Haught Special" if you wanted the aperture rear receiver sight, sidesaddle, etc.

[SwampDweller]

We stamped those numbers in by hand, we had over two dozen 870's to keep track of; our student officers cleaned them every class and the range staff went through them about once a quarter.

I don't know when the mim parts started. This is what Remington said they did to make police shotguns of your shotgun's era:

870 Police shotguns go thru a special 23 station check list – ranging from visual inspection, functional testing, test firing, and final inspection.

All Police shotguns are assembled in a “special build area” at the plant in Ilion, NY. This section is secured and serves only to build LE and Military shotguns, with the same factory personnel working at that assignment each shift.

All parts that enter the “special build area” are visually inspected by hand to ensure top quality and functionality.

Due to heavy recoil in buck and slug loads, all 870 Police guns have a longer magazine spring which ensures positive feed and function.

A heavier sear spring is used to generate a reliable, positive trigger pull between 5 and 8 lbs.

A heavier carrier dog spring is used to ensure when the carrier elevates the shell, it will be held there until the bolt can push it into the chamber. This ensures positive feeding when using heavier payload rounds.

Police shotguns do not have an ISS (Integrated Safety System) which is a locking mechanism on the safety of commercial shotguns. This type of locking mechanism can cause delay to an officer who needs the weapon but does not have the appropriate key. LE shotguns have the standard, proven, cross bolt safety.

The Police shotguns utilize the heavy duty SPEEDFEED Stocks and Fore-ends. (In the 90's standard was probably wooden furniture and short forearms)

The receivers used in Police guns are “vibra honed” to smooth out rough finishes and remove burrs before parkerization or bluing.

Police shotguns use machined ejectors and extractors, as opposed to powdered metal cast which are utilized on the Express models

Differences between Express and Police:

The Express model will not allow for the addition of an extension tube without physical modification to the tube and barrel, which can nullify the warranty.

The Express model has a BEAD BLAST BLUE finish while the Police models utilize either High Luster bluing or Parkerization.

The Express model utilizes a synthetic trigger housing while the Police models use a compressed metal housing.

The Police shotgun barrel is locked down with a “ball detent” system in conjunction with the magazine cap vs. a lesser grade “synthetic magazine spring retainer” lock down as used on the Express system.

(All my armorer stuff is on a different drive so I copy/pasted from here: https://www.rem870.com/2013/08/13/10...ice-version-2/ )

Awesome, thank you. So even if this is a late 90s, it still has the machined extractor and ejector rather than powdered metal castings. Even the Marine Magnum of current production (which I don't think is an Express model?) has the MIM extractor and ejector just by looking at it. I can't wait to have this thing freshened up a little bit to become a true go-to shotgun. I'm going to take it shooting tomorrow with some target loads and buckshot.

[SwampDweller]

I would be more inclined to send Wilson one of these previously enjoyed 870Ps than I would a new (ish) 870. It'll come back a no-nonsense "working gun" that won't look quite so forlorn.

Personally, I'd get the Remington Steal package, put Magpul furniture on it and call it good. YMMV. I suppose they could also work something out with you to turn it into a "Rob Haught Special" if you wanted the aperture rear receiver sight, sidesaddle, etc.

I agree, I'd take this and a Steal package over a new 870 any day. Cotton Branch Custom isn't taking new work right now (though they referred me to RoseActionSports, who I'm waiting to hear a reply from on turnaround time and price). I'm waiting to hear from Wilson on turnaround time on the Steal Package with Armor Tuff finish (Item Code "SREBUILDA") which is $385. For just the parkerized version it's $230, but for the excellent Armor Tuff finish I don't mind paying another $155.

That said, I'm not going to wait until after that to shoot it. I'm going to take it out tomorrow and see how she runs. As far as I can tell, it seems to be in working mechanical condition. Other than finish wear I'm not seeing anything that jumps out. In fact, I don't even see any rust after a brief scrubbing with CLP. It seems like it was well-maintained (at least mechanically) by whatever LE was using it.