3 New 870 Models for 2014

[Synchronizor]

Remington has recently updated the 870 page on their website with three new models.


Model 870 Express Tactical Magpul FDE
Order# 81226, MSRP $898

Feature-wise, this appears to be identical to last year's #81209 Express Tactical Magpul model, just with FDE furniture and Cerakote instead of black. With the following that FDE has acquired in recent years, this should be an eye-catcher in gun stores.


Model 870 Express Pistol Grip
Order# 81193, MSRP $497

Another new Express Tactical model to feature the single-piece 6-round magazine tube, this seems to be essentially a post-2012 #25077 model with a breacher choke and a pistol grip. Obviously this package would be better suited as a range toy than a serious defensive weapon with the pistol grip, but the threaded barrel is what strikes me. This is the first Rem Choke barrel for the long mag tube that comes with a front bead sight. Depending on local pricing, buying one of these pistol grip models and adding a proper stock may be cheaper than paying a gunsmith to cut choke tube threads into the barrel of a #25077 model.


Model 870 American Classic

A commemorative sporting model featuring an old-school vented recoil pad, Wingmaster-style bluing, dressed-up American Walnut furniture, and a special engraved receiver. I've yet to come across an order number, MSRP, or other details, but this and the sibling Model 1100 American Classic are apparently the start of a new series of Remington American Classic models.

[Zebra62]

Cool new models. Thanks for sharing Syncro.

[Dr. Marneaus]

Not bad.

I was never a fan of that weird pachmyer revolver looking grip though.

The FDE one looks like it'll be a big seller. Not my style but that stuff is all the rage these days

[oriyen]

the classic is very nice .

[keith44]

I've never cared much for pistol grips on shotguns, and that tactical model looks too different for me to want either of those. Now that sporting classic on the other hand I'd like to have. I wonder if the internals are as slick as the old wingmasters or if they have the gritty feeling of the express models.

[Synchronizor]

The American Classic seems to have the polished Wingmaster finish, so it should have the same out-of-the-box feel. Of course, it's use that really makes an 870 smooth, the finish doesn't mean much after the gun is properly run in. My Express is a lot slicker than any brand-new Wingmaster I've handled.

[EdC]

The American Classics look very nice.

I know that pistol grip only on a shotgun is disfavored by many, but I put a Hogue pistol grip on my Maverick 88 12 ga. and shooting it 00 buck wasn't that bad.

However, I couldn't really find a niche that it would fill. If I needed something short for home defense, I'd want a handgun anyway (based on my house layout, that's my go-to HD firearm), which I can control better than a pistol grip shotgun. If was going to hide behind cover in my house waiting for the police to come get the bad guy, then I'd want the shotty with a full stock in case the police didn't get there in time.

Maybe that's why they are considered range toys.

As far as FDE goes, I like guns in any color, as long as it's black, nickel or stainless.

[tekrsq]

I think that pistol grip looks like it would be a fun toy.

[keith44]

The American Classic seems to have the polished Wingmaster finish, so it should have the same out-of-the-box feel. Of course, it's use that really makes an 870 smooth, the finish doesn't mean much after the gun is properly run in. My Express is a lot slicker than any brand-new Wingmaster I've handled.

Oh mine are too, but out of the box the old (1970's vintage) Wingmasters were smooth, tight but smooth. Every new Express feels gritty and needs to be polished (the slots the action bars ride in, and the bolt carrier to hammer face junction) or needs about 2,000 cycles to burnish these areas.

[Synchronizor]

Well, Expresses are finished differently than Wingmasters. It's not surprising that a polished finish is smoother than a textured finish before being broken in. It would mean more to compare the out-of-the-box feel of a current Wingmaster model to that of an old Wingmaster, but I haven't been an 870 fan long enough to have experienced a 1970s Wingmaster when it was brand-new.