Anything wrong with 870 express?

[Mac Attack]

I would like to buy my first shotgun and decided to go with a Remington 870. I think for the price the 870 Express is a good deal and is readily available at Walmart or Dicks for around $300 - $350. I have read a lot of people who do not like the Express due to plastic parts and a finish that wears down very easily which leaves room for rust. My primary purpose for a shotgun would be for hunting so I was thinking about a 28 inch barrel but planned to buy a 18 barrel to switch out for around the house needs.

Is there anything wrong with the Express?

[Creampuff]

I would like to buy my first shotgun and decided to go with a Remington 870. I think for the price the 870 Express is a good deal and is readily available at Walmart or Dicks for around $300 - $350. I have read a lot of people who do not like the Express due to plastic parts and a finish that wears down very easily which leaves room for rust. My primary purpose for a shotgun would be for hunting so I was thinking about a 28 inch barrel but planned to buy a 18 barrel to switch out for around the house needs.

Is there anything wrong with the Express?

My only issue with the current Express packages being sold, is Remington's QC. There are a lot of ejection issues that are resolved by smoothing out the bore with a wad of steel wool. You would think Remington would have resolved that by now, but every month or two, this issue keeps popping up on this forum. You can tell by the title "My 870 won't eject properly"

[Jazeronthelaser]

The only issues I've had with mine was failure to eject, BUT that was only with the crappy winchester universal walmart special ammo. Once this happened it concerned me so I bought a bunch of other "primo" ammo and it ran like a top!! That's the only problem I've had with mine and am quite happy with my purchase. Never had to do any work like bore smoothing to mine. I just don't run that ammo anymore and I suggest you don't either if you make the buy.

[XVIga_Rob]

The 870 is a great platform. Nothing wrong with it or your planned use.
Keep it clean and oiled and you'll be fine. I would recommend lightly going over the action bars, bolt, and inside of the receiver with some 0000 steel wool soaked in oil. It will help it function a little smoother.
You could also do the rest of the gun too, if you want to remove some of the roughness of the finish.

[Jazeronthelaser]

Just my .02 cents.

[Ribkick]

I would like to buy my first shotgun and decided to go with a Remington 870. I think for the price the 870 Express is a good deal and is readily available at Walmart or Dicks for around $300 - $350. I have read a lot of people who do not like the Express due to plastic parts and a finish that wears down very easily which leaves room for rust. My primary purpose for a shotgun would be for hunting so I was thinking about a 28 inch barrel but planned to buy a 18 barrel to switch out for around the house needs.

Is there anything wrong with the Express?

I don't know what plastic parts you're talking about. The only parts that are plastic is the stock and trigger guard/floor plate and it has been ruled stronger than the metal one. The Mossburg uses plastic parts but not the Remington.

Just stay away from the two models with the fixed magazine extensions, you won't be able to swap barrels. This won't be a problem if you buy a 28" model.

Buy it, you'll be happy.

[Timbob55]

My son has a 870 and his only complaint is the receiver began corroding very quickly from his sweaty hands. Even with religious wiping/oiling.

Might I suggest a Mossberg? I have a 20 ga 500 I bought from Big-5 with two barrels for about what a 870 costs. Very reliable and the bluing is excellent, especially on the receiver.

Either way you'll be fine. They are both very good for the $$

[JavaBrewer]

The 870 express is a great gun. Search out member aippi for lots of quality 870 info.

After more than 1K rounds (mostly cheap Federal target from Walmart) of trap shooting we started experiencing some failure to eject (FTE). Following aippi's steel wool trick the gun is cycling like a champ again. After every use we wipe down with a rag and then lightly lube the rails and bolt/receiver, cycle a dozen times, and put it away.

My only gripe is that the finish on the receiver is pretty thin. I will address that by either parkerize or duracoat - someday.

Here is our 870 configured in a HD setup.

[pesty3782]

Well I have two of them and a few other shotguns...I always go back to the 870

Tony P.

[nothinghere2c]

I bought a new 870 express in 2011 and it had the dreaded failure to extract issue. 4/5 shots wouldn't extract. I swapped the crap extractor with a non-mim part and it improved but still had issues. I had he gun shop send it back to remington and remington polished the end of the barrel up and it worked flawlessly. But yea, older 870s had better quality control. Other than that, I love my 870 and it runs strong. I rarely clean it.

[Bull's_eye]

I'm happy with mine. I bought it used don't know how old it is but I haven't had any extraction issues.

[colddeadhands]

I have had my 870 express for ten years, I bought it from walmart when they still sold guns in California. I have never had a problem with it. I have slayed thousands of clays with it and a couple hundred birds. In my experience the just run. I think the 870 in like the 10/22, every gun lover should have one.

[paul0660]

crappy winchester universal walmart special ammo.

We have run thousands of rounds downrange of 7 1/2 win shot in youth groups without a problem, but every ammo has bad batches.

[brantly04]

I'm 26 and ive been hunting for most of my life. My first shotgun that wasn't a single shot was a 20 gauge 870 express. I'm now shooting a 12 gauge remington 870 and have experienced the ejection problem but it was a quick fix with polishing the barrel.

With that being said it kind of sounds like you're new to hunting. A pump is the perfect first gun to have, it teaches you how to manage your shots better in my opinion instead of just blasting away with an automatic.

Go with the 870, polish the barrel so you don't have ejection problems and go for it.

It's reliable(if you polish it right), i've had mine fall into the water and mud and it still functioned well, I rarely clean it and it does everything I've ever wanted it to do.

[Squid]

My Supermag has extraction issues with Fed low brass but does fine with Rem ammo.