New walnut-stocked defense 870 coming from Remington

[Chief Brody]

Check this out:
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015 ... e-shotgun/

I predict these things will sell like hotcakes, $250-300+ LESS than a Police Magnum? That's huge. The article even says they're parkerized. This is very cool to see, too bad they weren't available when I bought my 870P 3 1/2 years ago, haha oh well! Let's hope big Green is also paying attention to customers' complaints about quality over the past few years. Hopefully, if they're readying a new line-up of 870s, they'll all run as they should out of the box. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.

Steve

[Holmes375]

This is great news. I may have to have one just because

[Banshee]

does it have the same horrible belt sander finish that the express models have??

[Chief Brody]

Time will tell. The article does say they're parkerized, hopefully that's accurate.

[rattlesnakedaddy]

I love the look, much like mine, but mine is over 25 years old and has rifle sights. As much as I like the look though, I've been eyeing a synthetic stock and magpul forend in order to better mount a light.

[Chief Brody]

There are several options available to mount a light to the magazine tube. Streamlight, CDM, and others. I'd bet this method is more popular than mounting the weapon light directly to the forend. MY only qualm about the wood forend on this new model is that it looks too long to accommodate a side saddle. But, hey - 'Keep It Simple, Stupid.'

[Synchronizor]

What I really like is that these are value-priced, bare-bones 870s with short barrels and standard mag tubes; not the specialty single-piece 6-round magazine tubes that have taken over the Express Tactical line. They're even available with a separate factory +2 extension, meaning no mag tube dimples (hopefully this goes for the 4+1 package as well). That makes them great base guns for custom builds, filling the niche that the older #25077 models left when Remington switched those to the long magazine tube a few years back. Even the wood furniture is arguably better for a build base gun than the synthetic stuff on the Express Tacticals. It's just as easy to replace if desired, but if you want to paint/refinish or modify it, the wood is easier to work with.

MY only qualm about the wood forend on this new model is that it looks too long to accommodate a side saddle. But, hey - 'Keep It Simple, Stupid.'

It's wood. If you want a 6- or 8-round sidesaddle, a hand saw and a sheet of sandpaper will take care of that in no time. Otherwise, I'm actually coming around to like the idea of a mid-length or long fore-end on a simple HD shotgun. Much less chance of the supporting hand slipping back or grabbing the wrong place, screwing up a pump in a frantic moment. Plus, users with shorter arms don't have to reach as far forward, which encourages better balance & stance. Helps protect the action bars & magazine tube against impacts, as well. As I understand it, the original reason for "tactical" short fore-ends on law enforcement guns was so that they'd fit in cruiser racks. Not applicable to HD really, unless you've got one of those racks bolted to your closet wall or headboard.

[Synchronizor]

Remington's website has gotten a 200th anniversary face-lift (and as usual for such make-overs, it's more complicated to use now), and there's now a product page for the new 870 Hardwood Home Defense models.



Details as per the site:

> 2 models; #25559 is the basic 4+1 with an MSRP of $420, and #81197 is the 6+1 (factory +2 extension) with an MSRP of $443. For comparison, the #25077 Express Synthetic Tactical (the one with the single-piece 6-round mag tube) also has an MSRP of $443, so expect similar street prices for the new Hardwood HD 6+1.

> Both come with 18.5" fixed cylinder-bore barrels with front bead sights (and they'll accept any other standard 12ga barrels), 14" LoP "hardwood" stocks & mid-length fore-ends with some token checkering, and matte blue (most likely the same as Expresses) finishes. The product image shows a front sling swivel (at least on the 6+1 version, though this pre-release image from TFB does show a sling swivel mag cap on the 4+1), but no rear swivel on the stock. Seems a bit of an oversight, but at least that's easily remedied with a wood stock.


I can't confirm obviously, but at these prices, I would expect the Hardwood HD guns to have the same polymer trigger plate and internals as other Expresses. Perfectly functional of course, and as with any 870, you can swap out the CDF spring & extractor for the Police versions if it'll let you sleep better at night.

Unanswered questions are whether or not the non-extended model has a dimpled magazine tube, and what recoil pad the stock comes with. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the recoil pad seems to be slightly different from what the other wood-stocked Expresses are wearing. If the Hardwood HDs come with a SuperCell or some other upgraded pad, that would be wonderful.


So far at least, it looks like these are about everything I was hoping for. Simple, basic, value-priced 870s built on standard receivers, and available with factory-installed magazine extensions. Nicely fills the gap in the 870 line for a good multi-use starter gun or a versatile build base. The hardwood furniture is a nice touch, too; it's better than the lightweight hollow plastic stuff for HD, and it's easy to modify if needed.

I know some of y'all were hoping for Parkerizing. It would have been nice, but the matte blue finish is just fine for most folks' needs, and it can always be re-finished later on. If you are willing and able to pay extra for a phosphate finish initially, the Police 870s aren't going anywhere.