Can someone help me figure out what I have??

[tkclow]

Hi all and sorry if this is a stupid question but I am new to the Remington and I just aquired an 870 in a trade. The guy told me is was a Super Magnum Police Magpul Edition and said it was factory Duracoated OD Green at the factory. It says it is an Express Super Magnum on the receiver but it has no front sight and has the rear sight removed but the mounting is on the barrel. When I emailed him about it he said he removed it because it was just a peep sight. It is also a rifled barrel. I attached some pics so if someone could help me out with what I really have I would really appreciate it. I got it for a home protection gun but did not notice the rifled barrel til after I got home, kinda eliminates 00buck now. Thank you for all the help

[Synchronizor]

The guy told me is was a Super Magnum Police Magpul Edition and said it was factory Duracoated OD Green at the factory.

Either the guy has no clue about the different 870 lines & models, or he was leading you on. Current Police 870s are all standard magnums (3" or shorter shells), and no Police 870 would have come with the stupid locking safety button. Super Magnums are Express-finished, and they're all hunting guns; no combat-oriented 870 model is built for heavy 3.5" magnums, for obvious reasons. The Express Tactical Magpul Editions are new packages introduced in just the last couple years (well after Remington dropped the locking safety button), and they are dedicated combat/defensive guns that are built on special receivers with single-piece 6-round magazine tubes. Of those three models, none are factory Duracoated; Police and Super Magnum models have common conversion coatings, and the Magpul Editions are Cerakoted, but only in black or FDE.

What you have appears to be a normal 870 Express Super Magnum from the early 2000s, judging by the serial number and the J-lock safety. To that has been added a Magpul SGA stock & fore-end, and a magazine extension of some kind (not enough detail in those pictures for me to determine the brand). The barrel is a fully-rifled heavy-weight slug barrel. That bit with the two screw holes is not for a peep sight, it's a base for a cantilever scope mount that positions a slug scope over the receiver, but keeps it attached directly to the barrel so that recoil-induced movement or changing barrels will not disrupt its zero.


As you said, a rifled shotgun barrel is only really good with slugs. Shot will tend to get thrown in a ring-shaped pattern that'll be pretty useless beyond absolute point-blank range. I would suggest buying yourself a normal smoothbore defensive barrel if this is supposed to be a HD gun. They're not very expensive, and if you don't want to keep the rifled barrel, you could sell that to pay for the new barrel. Even with its cantilever bar missing, that barrel should be worth at least $200 if it's in good shape; enough for a basic bead-sight riot barrel with some extra left over for a case or two of practice shells.

[tkclow]

Thank you very much for the response. I figured now I was lied to but I still like the shotgun. Action seems very smooth. I think I am just going to buy a 18.5 smooth bore barrel and a new magazine tube extension and call it good. I will worry about finish color later on and just keep the rifled barrel if I ever decided to use it. Cant have too many barrel options right, lol. Thank you again for the help. Seems like a good forum so far

[Synchronizor]

Sounds good. What extension(s) are you looking at?

[tkclow]

Im not really sure, do you have any recomendations? I kind of like the look of the ones with the stand off on the end like a breacher type. But not sure. I am all new to this 870 world.

[Synchronizor]

The Wilson Combat extensions are my go-to recommendation for tough, reliable, but inexpensive extensions. They also come with a wave washer that's useful when you switch the gun back to hunting/sporting configurations. You can get kits that are more refined and have more features, but you'll pay more for them, too.

[tkclow]

I was looking at the Wilson Combats and more than likely it will be the one I go with. Ordered my new barrel from Brownells which should be here Friday and it is threaded for choke tubes so I have more options. Thanks for the help and suggestions