Possible retired Texas DPS 870, real or clone?

[forza]

Hello 870 aficionados,

I have the opportunity to acquire a 870 that was supposedly a former Texas State Highway Patrol issued 870. It is a Wingmaster, the foregrip is serrated, and there is a number plate on the grip cap. It has an 18 1/4" smooth barrel with a bead front sight. Does anybody know anything about this 870? Is it real or a clone? Did DPS really sell retired firearms?

[Chief Brody]

Lots of people have 870s that were traded-in service weapons from various LE agencies. No reason to suspect this is a clone, unless a picture would suggest otherwise. They often make great as-is home defense guns, or a great place to start a project.

Welcome to the forum, too.
Steve

[gacton]

That's where mi e came from, a police trade in...departments do it all the time, have to and makes fiscal sense.

[jeffb1911]

Yes, it is probably real. Should have a little metal "sticker" on the bottom of the pistol grip on most, but some had them removed or they peeled off over the years. DPS did surplus many of them years ago, had a few of them over the years.

[DaveC]

Many of the currently available 870s are from Texas prisons.