870 Marine Magnum XCS

[Jawshua]

Can anyone confirm whether the XCS has police model guts or just a better coated express? Thanks

[Synchronizor]

First off, Express & Police 870s have all the same internals aside from two or three small parts.

As for the XCS though, I believe it was basically a Marine Magnum, just with the black PVD finish instead of (or maybe on top of) the nickel on the external metalwork. It was nickel-plated on the inside, and should have had all the same special plated/noncorrosive Marine Magnum internals, which are different from the common standard parts you get in normal Express/Police/Wingmaster models.

[Jawshua]

That's what I thought. It's just the literature for the XCS seemed to lead you to believe it may have special internals like the police model plus non corrosion. Expecially for the price they are asking for one. Thanks.

[Synchronizor]

Like I said, there's nothing really all that special about the internals on Police 870s compared to other models. The carrier dog follower & (maybe) sear springs may be heavier, but they're not better made, just tuned for close-range combat rather than hunting. You could make an argument for the machined vs. MIM extractor, but MIM is not the same thing as old-school sintered powder metallurgy, and I've honestly seen MIM extractors cause fewer problems than the machined ones during my time here. For everything else, you have the same parts with the same part numbers, aside from maybe a different finish on the bolt, trigger, or carrier - but that's pretty much just cosmetic.

If you had the option, I'd argue that the Marine Magnum/XCS internals are the "best" you can get, but only because they're more corrosion-resistant. From a functional standpoint, they're as good as what you get in any other model.