In this series, we look at the classic, discontinued, or longstanding guns that hunters still use in the field today (hence the name). Whether they’re out of production or not, you can still find them at gun shops and hunting camps all across the states.
When most think of a pump shotgun, they picture a Remington 870. With over 13 million made, this is no mystery. An 870 was the first shotgun I ever shot and is still the gun I take duck hunting every year. When automatics start acting up, and low-quality pump actions stop working, the 870 keeps going.
Reliability isn’t the only reason why so many hunters keep reaching for an 870, even though most buy them from a used gun rack today. The Remington 870 strikes the perfect balance between affordability and quality. Remington did the work to figure out how to make a relatively cheap shotgun that people actually wanted to take hunting. My oldest 870 is from the 1960s, and it shows with most of its bluing gone. But it still works, season after season, and it’s still a joy to shoot.
If I were advising a new hunter on what shotgun they should buy, I’d suggest a used Remington 870. But they are just as appreciated in experienced hands for their smooth action and versatility.
What Gave the 870 Staying Power
Most shooters claim that nothing fits them like an 870 because Remington made them to fit just about everybody. The comb on an 870 is narrow, and there is just the right amount of drop in the stock to be forgiving to a variety of statures. This, unfailing reliability, and an affordable price let the 870 dominate the pump shotgun market for half of the 20th century.
When the 870 was released in 1950, it sold for around $70. That was nearly 18% cheaper than the leading pump gun of the time, the Winchester Model 12. Soon, 870s could be found everywhere, from duck blinds to grouse covers to treestands in shotgun-only deer hunting states. The gun also made its way into police armories and homes for self-defense.
Before the 870, and before World War II, Remington had the Model 31. If you’ve ever handled a 31, you’ve handled one of the greatest pump shotguns of all time. Its single action bar and hand-fitted parts gave it the nickname “the ball-bearing repeater.” To call the action smooth would be an understatement. It’s more like butter sliding off of a fresh pancake. But smooth comes at a price, and the Model 31 was too expensive to turn a profit.
The war showed Remington they could make guns more affordably, so they scrapped the Model 31 and built a new pump gun almost from the ground up. They borrowed the receiver from the Remington Model 11-48 automatic, and with it, they designed a family of firearms. Using the same receiver and a few other parts, Remington could make pump shotguns, semi-automatics, and rifles. The first of the family would be the 870, which debuted in 1950.
Remington released the guns in two grades, and hunters immediately started buying. The new gun was more reliable than the Model 31, with two action bars attaching the forend to the bolt instead of just one. It wasn’t necessarily as smooth cycling as its predecessor, but it was still a fine piece of machinery. And at a substantially lower cost than the competition, it flew off the shelves. The 870 would eventually be made in 12, 16, 20, 28, and .410 gauges with 2¾- up to 3½-inch chambers.
What Happened to the Remington 870
The Remington Arms Company did not prove to be as durable as the 870. It finally went bankrupt in 2020 and was sold to a group that renamed the company RemArms. RemArms still makes new Model 870s, and I’ve heard they are quality guns, though many say it’s hard to find them on gun store shelves. Under Remington, the 870 eventually fell victim to its own efficient means of production.
Other companies saw the success of a mass-produced shotgun with few hand-fitted parts and followed in Remington’s footsteps. Soon it was a race to the bottom for purchase price, and the 870 faced challenges with imported shotguns and ever-cheaper American pump guns. To compete, they began sacrificing quality in terms of fit and finish.
The Express model was released in 1987 as a bid to drop the price of a new 870. It lacked the polished blue finish and came with lower-quality wood. At first, Express quality was on par with the older Model 870s, but in the 2000s things started slipping with unpolished chambers and other small issues. This was bad news for Remington’s reputation, but hunters could still find quality 870s among the millions of used versions on the market.
How to Keep Your Remington 870 Running and What to Look For in a Used Gun
If you’re like me and still carry a Remington 870 in the field, you probably want to keep doing it for a long time. Model 870s are easy to take apart and service, with just two pins holding in the trigger group and a barrel that can be removed by simply unscrewing the magazine cap. I do this regularly during duck season to blast any moisture out of the gun with Rem Oil and swab out the barrel after shooting. If your gun has a removable choke, remove it after shooting and apply antiseize choke tube grease.
The best thing about many 870s is the ability to swap barrels without hand fitting. You can find a variety of used Remington 870 barrels online (for everything from slug barrels to home defense). Just make note of what chamber length your receiver was built for before running 3- or 3½-inch shells, and avoid using longer shells in guns with 2¾-inch receivers. To figure this out, the serial number is your best clue. For the 12 gauge, serial numbers that end with the letter “V” indicate the receiver was made for 2¾-inch shells. Numbers that end with “M” are for 3-inch barrels, and the suffix “A” was put on 3½-inch guns.
The best era for used Remington 870s is the early 1990s. The guns were built well, and their barrels have removable chokes, which give them a more modern feel. Rem870.com has a date-lookup guide where you can cross-reference the serial number to find the year of production.
You can also pick up an older Wingmaster and pair it with a modern barrel if you want the ability to swap chokes—though you’ll likely only be able to run 2¾-inch shells—which is exactly the 870 I hunt with. It gives me the quality of the Wingmaster parts and receiver, and I load 2¾-inch bismuth loads for waterfowl that perform better than 3-inch steel. Whichever Remington 870 you choose, it will probably still be in the field for generations to come.
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