Remington 870 Pump Action Shotgun

This week for Firearm Friday is something for everyone to appreciate but might interest the shotgun shooting community. The Remington 870 Pump Action Shotgun.

The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.

The Remington 870 was the fourth major design in a series of Remington pump shotguns. John Pedersen designed the fragile Remington Model 10. John Browning designed the Remington Model 17 , which served as the basis for the Remington 31. To sell more units, Remington produced the Model 870 in 1950, which was more modern and reliable in its construction, easy to take apart and maintain, and relatively inexpensive.

The 870 was a commercial success. Remington sold two million guns by 1973. By the start of 1983, the 870 held the record for the best-selling shotgun in history, with three million sold. By 1996, the basic "Express" model was added as a lower-cost alternative to the original line, sales topped seven million guns. In 2009 the ten millionth Model 870 was produced. 

The 870 features a bottom-loading, side ejecting receiver and a tubular magazine under the barrel. The gun comes with a plug for migratory bird hunting which reduces the magazine's capacity to two rounds. It has dual action bars, internal hammer, and a bolt which locks into an extension in the barrel.

The action, receiver, fire control group, 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 centerfire rifles and carbines. Several parts of the 870, such as buttstocks and magazine tubes, will interchange with the semi-automatic Remington 1100 and 11–87.

The original 870 models were offered with fixed chokes. In 1986 Remington introduced the new Remington "Rem Choke" system of screw-in chokes. Initially, the Chokes were offered only in 12 gauge in barrel lengths of 21, 26 and 28 in. The following year the availability was expanded to the 20 gauge and included other barrel lengths.

The 870's production for over 30 years had a design flaw whereby a user could fail to press a shell all the way into the magazine when loading. This was caused by the shell slipping out of the magazine under the bolt in the receiver to bind the action, requiring rough treatment of the action or even disassembly.

There are hundreds of variations of the Remington 870 in 12, 16, 20, 28 gauges and .410 bore. All Remington 870 versions are built on the same platform and receiver, but there are small differences that can be more than just cosmetic. From the original fifteen models offered, Remington currently produces dozens of models for civilian, law enforcement, and military sales. 

We have some variants of Remington 870’s in our museum, being a restricted item we don't often see them for sale, however we have been fortunate to receive some from members of our local community.