Greetings! Here's my 870P Build, thoughts? opinions? Advice?

[Dr. Marneaus]

HI Everybody! (Hi. Dr. Marn).

I posted an intro thread, but figured I'd swing through here to get some thoughts/advice.

A while back (4-5 years?), I was looking to buy an 870, and ended up coming home with this SuperNova. It was CHEAP by comparison at the store I was at, and I liked the benelli stock.



Gun worked great, but I have a terrible affliction called "Gun A.D.D." and I have to change things out until I find the perfect item. Ended up trading a Ruger SP101 for a brand new Mossberg 930SPX. Woo! Semi auto! This should be fun!

I duracoated it, put together a scabbard so I wouldn't have to have shells on the gun, and had fun with it. I liked it, had zero issues with it, but it was time for something new, and I figured I might as well do it 100% right this time and have my "keeper" shotgun.


So, this is why I joined.

For some time, as long as I can remember being into guns, there is just something about a pump gun with wood furniture. And that being said, there is just something BETTER about a short pump gun, with police style furniture. To me, it seems to be the quintessential riot gun or combat shotgun. I had planned to pick up a used and abused 870 Express and swap on some police take off furniture.

Well, after looking around I decided "screw it" and started searching for an 870 Police. They are not too easy to come by with wood furniture! Found a new one, but couldnt find any with the extension installed.

So, placed my order, waited a week or two, and picked this up.


I must say, This one has some beautiful walnut on it!




Anyway, 100% stock at this point. I have a blank canvas. The idea here is Simplicity. KISS to the max. I'll be honest, aesthetics are important to me so I wanted to keep it clean. I'm not much of a fan of things that are all "tac'd out". I've done the whole AR thing and grew weary of it. We'll leave the accessories to those guns.

Ordered a Factory Remington +2 extension.

ahhhhh, much better.



I had a Spectre gear sling sitting around from that Mossberg, and I'm not sure if I'm going to stick with it. I like the 3 point ability but I'm not sure I'm feelin' the way it attaches on the stock. Maybe be a little too much. Might switch to something more standard, though this one does come off in a heart beat. It IS, however, a great product. I own a number of their items.


As much as I didn't want to, I did decide to add a side saddle. In order to be an effective fightin' gun, there needs to be extra shells at the ready. I labored over what to go with, and ended with a Mesa Tactical unit. I dont like the idea of the elastic loops, I've used slings and buttcuffs in the past that lose their elasticity. Picked one up at my preferred LGS and mounted it up.


That was it, so aside from the side saddle, htis is precisely the way it could have been shipped from remington. Only 2 things left that I dont like.

1. I'm a southpaw. That safety is TINY and is a pain to reach with my strong hand. I added a Vang Comp unit. (May just switch to lefty safety)


2. Magazine Follower. Doesnt make much sense to me to use that lil plastic dealy, so i picked up a stainless follower from brownells.


And there you have it.



So, as far as actual reliability, the only thing I changed out would be the mag follower. Other than that, I added the safety for ease of use, and the shell carrier (didn't really want to add the bulk/weight, but its preferable to having to carry shells on my person in an emergency situation). I didn't do a whole lot, and this is the reason I bought the Police over an express, I figure seeing as the differences are there, there isnt much I would HAVE TO do.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Did I do anything wrong, did I miss something important? I tried to do my homework and not do anything unnecessary or miss anything necessary.

[1Topp]

Looks Great ..........

[Gunny]

Certainly a Nice Build ..... Pretty Sharp

[ponycarman]

Very nice! Very clean. I love simple shotguns.

[Puinsai]

Very nice!

[Dr. Marneaus]

So I take it I'm not missing anything? Haha

Thanks for the kind words

[Synchronizor]

Looks like my kind of build - simple and functional. The one extra thing I'd recommend you do (if you haven't already) is take off your trigger plate pin detent springs. With the sidesaddle, they serve no function, and I've heard of people experiencing damaged or broken parts from the unneeded stress.

Other than that, there aren't really any mods or upgrades that I'd consider must-have. With the 870, aftermarket parts are all about added functionality or customization rather than "fixing" anything wrong with the original design (despite how they're marketed). But, if you're in a tinkering mood and looking for ideas:

There are aftermarket left-hand safety buttons for the right-hand-safety trigger plates. If you end up trying one of them out, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts, they don't normally get a lot of press. However, you may want to stick with the right-hand safety for a while and see if you get the hang of it. Crossbolt safety buttons are very common, and they're usually right-handed on guns that have them, so it may be nice in the long run to get comfortable with using a right-handed safety as long as it doesn't slow you down. Holding the gun left-handed (with a stock like yours), I find I can reach the safety pretty quickly by reaching underneath the trigger guard with my middle finger, or by reaching through the trigger guard with my index finger. Obviously, muzzle discipline is extremely critical with the latter method, but it's quick, and doesn't require me to shift my grip.

You could also try modifying your follower to make it easier to tell when the magazine is empty. To me, this is the best reason to upgrade from the factory follower. Though it's important to have a part you feel you can trust, your stainless steel follower is probably more difficult to tell apart from a shell base than the orange factory one. My preferred magazine follower is an S&J part made from a high-end, low-friction, brightly-colored polymer; and I've dished out the end so I can easily tell it apart from a shell by touch.

IMG_0710_cropped.JPG (77.35 KiB) Viewed 7409 times

If you have access to a drill press, you could try a similar mod. And if you want to make your follower stand out better, you could try painting the end.

Last I heard (though I've heard conflicting reports regarding current-production shotguns), the Police 870s came with a black-colored carrier dog follower spring which is heavier than the silver-colored ones used in normal 870s, and other Remington firearms that use variations of the same fire control design like the Remington 1100. As I understand it, these extra-heavy springs are used in police models to ensure proper function during heavy use, even if the gun is abused or not maintained properly. The downside is that the extra friction between moving parts makes the action noticeably stiffer (especially once the gun is broken in), and the extra spring tension makes the carrier stiffer to push up when the action is closed - which can be nice for keeping mud or snow out of the loading area, but for most people, it usually just makes it tougher or slower to load the magazine. It's been my experience that the 870 runs much smoother with the carrier dog follower spring weight that the gun was originally designed for, and it's no less reliable as long as the spring is in proper working condition.

Nothing really wrong with the heavier spring if you're the type who feels warm and fuzzy knowing you have the "genuine" LE part, but if you want to try the standard spring and see if you like it better, they're just $3-$4 from Remington (plus shipping, but you can toss these in as part of a larger part order). The standard CDFS is #F17415, but the one I use is the more corrosion-resistant Marine Magnum part, #F97566 (probably not a huge difference, but they're the same price, so why not?).

[Dr. Marneaus]

Thank you for the info and advice, sir!

[xridgelinerx]

Sync, love the "whitey tightey" cleaning rag in the above photo. I have a few of those.

[Pastor Doogie]

Nice Looking Build!!