Remington 870 History:
 The Remington Model 870 side-ejection slide-action shotgun was introduced to the public early in 1950 by Remington and were originally offered with fixed choke barrels. The model 870 was made available in 20 gauge, 16 gauge and 12 gauge with 2 3/4 inch chambers and 3 inch magnum chambers. Magnums offered a three shotshell magazine tube capacity and the 2 3/4 inch magazines would allow a four shotshell capacity.

 The 870 features a bottom-loading, all steel, side ejecting receiver, tubular magazine under the barrel, dual action bars, internal hammer, and a bolt which locks into an extension in the barrel and is very easy to disassemble for thorough cleaning after very heavy range or field use.

 Since the introduction of the Remington Model 870 it has gone on to become the worlds top selling shotgun with over ten million having been produced and sold. On April 13, 2009 the ten millionth Model 870 was produced. It is the most widely used shotgun by the public for sport shooting, hunting, home-defense and is also used by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide as well.

Remington 870 Improvements:
 The original Remington 870's were offered with fixed chokes. In 1986 Remington introduced the new Remington "Rem Choke" system of screw-in chokes.

 Early production 870s had a design flaw whereby a user could fail to push a shell all the way into the magazine when loading. This would cause the gun's action to bind. This issue was resolved with the introduction of the "Flexi Tab" carrier.

Remington 870 Versatility:
 Upland Bird Hunting: First and foremost the Remington 870 has always been an excellent wing-shooting shotgun with all the choices by Remington with barrels and Rem Chokes just add a barrel with a length of 26" to 30", some choke tubes of various constriction and your ready for a day of wing shooting in the hunting fields.
 Rule of thumb is that most upland bird shots fall within 30 yards of the gun. So a modified choke would be a good all around choice for upland bird hunting, with improved cylinder tubes for tight holding birds.

 Turkey Hunting: The Remington 870 excels in this configuration, with shorter barrel lengths of 26 inches and large chamber 12 gauge barrels, shotshells can be used that hold 2 ounces of shot or more for a very dense shot cluster. The Turkey Rem choke used in the Remington 870 takes that shot cluster and keeps it in a very tight shot pattern down range. These patterns are tight enough that a good scope that can be easily mounted on the Remington 870 is a real good idea so as not to hit the turkey in the body with shot, just the head.

 Deer Hunting: Adding a slug barrel to your Remington 870 shotgun and a good set of high visiblity sights like the Tru-Glo sights that come with most Remington 870 slug barrels and you have an effective deer hunting shotgun. and a scope if desired and your ready for deer hunting action out to around 125 yards.

 The first step in choosing a slug gun barrel for the Remington 870 is picking a barrel, smoothbore or rifled. Smoothbore slug barrels are capable of 3 to 4-inch groups at 50 yards with almost any ammo off the shelf, which puts their effective range at about 75 yards. Rifled barrels offer better performance. Modern saboted ammunition designed for rifled shotgun barrels generally include 1 ounce lead or copper slugs inside a plastic sabot. These easily deliver 3 to 4 inch groups at 100 yards, with an effective range stretching out to about 125 yards.

 By adding a good scope to the Remington 870 coupled with a good rifled slug barrel using specialized saboted ammunition with .45 or .50 caliber bullets set in thicker sabots the Remington 870 can yield an effective range of up to 200 yards for the deer hunter.

 Law Enforcement, Tactical and Home Defense: Remove the wood stock from the Remington 870 and add a tactical stock with pistol grip, extended magazine tube, flashlight extension for magazine tube, night vision scope, loaded with 00 buckshot or slugs and you have the ultimate short range defense weapon. Magazine extensions, add more rounds to the Remington 870's shotgun's, shotgun shell capacity. The Remington 18" extension adds 2 extra shots and the 20" extension adds 3 extra shots.

 After-market parts are available as well for the Remington 870, magazine extensions are larger capacity yet and after-market stocks are available in, pistol grip stocks, folding stocks, wood stocks, thumbhole stocks, camo stocks, trap stocks, youth stocks, synthetic stocks and fore ends.

 Competitive Shooting: The Remington 870 is a very good shotgun when configured properly for competition use. Add a 30 inch barrel, trap stock and the correct Remington trap Rem chokes for a day of trap shooting. There are three specialized trap Rem™ Choke tubes and they are singles, mid handicap, and long handicap for the Remington 870.

 Add a 26 inch barrel to your Remington 870 and Skeet Rem Choke which is designed to deliver optimum patterns for close-range skeet shooting and your ready for a day of skeet shooting.

Remington 870 Barrel Lengths:
 Barrel length is really a matter of personal preference and often depends on terrain and the type of game you are hunting. Generally, longer barrels aid in pointing and are often preferred for pass shooting waterfowl and shooting targets such as skeet, trap and sporting clays. Shorter, more compact barrels can provide faster handling and are often chosen for hunting upland birds, turkeys, deer with slugs and buckshot. Common barrel lengths for the Remington 870 include 20", 21", 23", 26", 28" and 30".

Remington 870 Chamber Lengths:
 The chamber is the opening at the rear of the barrel where the shell is placed for firing. A standard length chamber is for 2 3/4" shells. A magnum length chamber is for 3" shells. In many cases, shotguns with 3" or 3 1/2" chambers also function with shorter shells like the "Remington Model 870ä Express Super Magnum". Shotguns with 2 3/4" chambers and barrels are designed for use with 2 3/4" shells only. Always match your shotgun shell with your barrel and receiver capacity.

Remington 870 Barrels:
 Remington 870 shotgun users have many barrel configurations available to them from the Remington factory for their Remington 870 shotguns which is another reason for the large popularity of the Remington model 870 shotgun. Model 870 Barrels with 3" chambers will fit both magnum and 2-3/4" receivers and will handle both 2-3/4" and 3" shells with a magnum receiver. (An M at the end of the serial number = magnum receiver.) Use only 2-3/4" shells when barrels are used on 2-3/4" receivers. Remington 870 Special Field barrels and other model 870 barrels are not interchangeable. The 20-ga. lightweight barrels will not fit 20-ga. standard guns. Listed below is a small example of just how many barrel configurations there are for the 870.
Remington Model 870 Factory Replacement Barrels, 3 inch Chambers:
Remington 870 Turkey Super Mag, With TruGlo Rifle Sights, 12 Gauge, 23" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster® Deer Barrel, Fully Rifled, Cantilever, 12Gauge, 20" Length.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Fully Rifled Deer Barrel, With Rifle Sights, 12 Gauge, 20" Length.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Deer Barrel, With Rifle Sights, 12 & 20 Gauge, 20" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Standard Contour Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 26" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Standard Contour Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 28" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Standard Contour Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 30" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Light Contour Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 26" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Light Contour Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 28" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Wingmaster Light Contour Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 30" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Special Purpose Deer Barrel, Fully Rifled, Cantilever, 12 Gauge, 20" Length.
Remington 870 Special Purpose Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 26" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Special Purpose, Fully Rifled, Cantilever, Scoped, 12 Gauge, 23" Length.
Remington 870 Special Purpose, Fully Rifled, Cantilever, Scoped, 20 Gauge, 18½" Length.
Remington 870 Express Deer Barrel, Fully Rifled, With Rifle Sights, 12 Gauge, 20" Length.
Remington 870 Express Deer Barrel, With Rifle Sights, 12 Gauge, Improved Cylinder, 20" Length.
Remington 870 Express Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 26" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Express Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 28" Length, Rem Choke.
Remington 870 Express Barrel, Vent Rib, 12 Gauge, 30" Length, Rem Choke.
Barrel Finishes:
Wingmaster Barrels- Polished Blue Finish.
Special Purpose barrels - Matte Finish.
Express barrels - Matte Finish.
Note: Model 870 Extra Barrels with 3" chambers will fit Super Magnum, Magnum, and 2-3/4" receivers. These barrels will handle both 2-3/4" and 3" shells when used on Magnum receivers. Use only 2-3/4" shells when these barrels are used on 2-3/4" receivers.

Remington 870 Rem Chokes:
 Rem Chokes are a system of interchangeable choke tubes that allow you to quickly and easily change the choke of your Remington 870 shotgun to match specific hunting conditions. Rem Choke tubes are made from the highest grade of heat-treated, seamless stainless steel, giving them the strength to handle steel or lead shot without wear or loss of constriction.

 Super-Full and Extra-Full Rem Chokes: Specialized chokes with extra-tight constrictions and the densest patterns, ideally suited for the head shots necessary in turkey hunting.

 Full Rem Choke: Tight constriction for dense pattern (approximately 70% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards). Best for trap shooting, pass shooting waterfowl, turkey hunting and shooting buckshot loads.

 Modified Rem Choke: Less constriction than full choke (approximately 60% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards). Excellent for all-around hunting of waterfowl, long-range flushing upland birds (such as late-season pheasant and sharptail grouse) as well as other small game. Also used for trap shooting.

 Improved Cylinder Rem Choke: Even less constriction than modified (approximately 50% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards). Ideal for close-in small game shooting, upland bird hunting (such as quail, grouse and pheasant) as well as hunting waterfowl close over decoys. Rifled slugs also perform very well from this choke.

 Cylinder Bore Rem Choke: No constriction (approximately 40% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 40 yards). Most often used by law enforcement for service shotguns.

 Skeet Rem Choke: a specialty choke (approximately 50% of a shell's total pellets in a 30" circle at 25 yards) designed to deliver optimum patterns for close-range skeet shooting.

Remington 870 Sights:
 Sights on a shotgun usually play a less important role than those on a rifle. However, there are several types of sights available to the Remington 870 shotgunner, including scopes and mounting equipment for deer and turkey hunting.

 Beads:
 Beads are the most commonly used sights on a Remington 870 shotgun. Most Remington 870 shotguns have a single bead placed at the end of the barrel, just above the muzzle. Sometimes, a second bead is placed near the center of the barrel to better facilitate alignment. Beads are most commonly steel or white, but are also available in other high-visibility colors such as orange.

 Scopes and Mounts:
 For those who hunt deer with slugs, shotgun scopes are readily available. In fact, many turkey hunters also prefer scopes on their turkey guns. Some Remington 870 deer barrels come equipped with a cantilever scope mount system that allows a scope to be attached directly to the barrel and extending back over the receiver for natural, quick-sighting eye relief. For Remington 870 shotguns without this pre-installed accessory, Remington offers a versatile, removable cantilever system that attaches directly to your shotgun's vent rib barrel to provide the same benefits with the additional advantage of not having to drill holes in your shotgun as with some scope mount systems.

Remington 870 Variants:
 The key reason for the Remington 870's popularity can be explained by it's simplistic conversion to many variants. The 870 is very easy to disassemble and add either after market gun parts or parts offered directly by Remington. Which allows it to be configured into any of the following model variants that are offered by Remington to date, depending on the receiver itself, ie; 2 3/4 inch, 3 inch or 3 1/2 inch most parts will interchange regardless.

Remington 870™ Express® Super Mag Turkey/Waterfowl
Remington 870™ SPS™ Super Mag Turkey/Predator w/Scope
Remington 870™ Express® Tactical A-TACS Camo
Remington 870™ Express®
Remington 870™ Express® Combos
Remington 870™ Express® Shurshot™ Synthetic Cantilever
Remington 870™ Express® Shurshot™ Synthetic Turkey
Remington 870™ Express® Slug
Remington 870™ Express® Super Magnum
Remington 870™ Express® Super Magnum Combo
Remington 870™ Express® Super Magnum Synthetic
Remington 870™ Express® Super Magnum Turkey Camo
Remington 870™ Express® Super Mag Waterfowl Camo
Remington 870™ Express® Synthetic 18"
Remington 870™ Express® Synthetic 7-Round
Remington 870™ Express® Synthetic Deer
Remington 870™ Express® Turkey
Remington 870™ Express® Tactical
Remington 870™ Express® Tactical Grey
Remington 870™ Express® Turkey Camo
Remington 870™ Special Purpose Marine Magnum™
Remington 870™ SPS™ Shurshot™ Synthetic Super Slug
Remington 870™ SPS™ Shurshot™ Synthetic Cantilever
Remington 870™ SPS™ Shurshot™ Synthetic Turkey
Remington 870™ TAC Desert Recon
Remington 870™ Wingmaster®
Remington 870™ Wingmaster® Classic Trap.

Remington 870 Disassembly:
 Disassembly of the Remington 870 is very simple and easy enough for most people to do without much instruction or extreme amounts of gunsmithing skills.

 Trigger Assembly: To remove the trigger assembly, you first set the safety to the safe position, then on the side of the receiver there are two pins, using a drift, remove the front and rear drift pins, lift the rear of the trigger assembly and slowly pull to the rear of the shotgun or towards the rear stock, slightly turning it clockwise to clear action bar lock, complete removal.

 Barrel: To remove the barrel make sure gun is cocked and safety on, then depress action lock and slide the fore-end halfway back to open the action, unscrew magazine cap nut at the end of the magazine tube and remove it, now remove the barrel.

 Breech Bolt: Now that you have removed the trigger assembly and the barrel removing the breech bolt is accomplished by depressing the left side shell latch which is visible while looking through the bottom of the receiver, depress shell latch and and slide breech bolt and assembly forward toward the magazine tube.

 Magazine Spring And Follower:
 To remove the magazine spring and follower care must be taken while performing this removal as the spring does have tension on it, use a flat blade screwdriver and insert it into the slit of the magazine spring retainer and slowly pry the retainer from the magazine tube keeping at least one hand over the magazine tube to keep the spring from launching itself from the magazine tube, remove the spring and follower.

 Reassemble in reverse order of disassembly.

Remington 870 Sponsor Messages:
 This quality information page on the Remington 870 pump shotgun is sponsored in part by;
 Impact Guns, for a listing of Remington 870's for sale online, check out this sites Shotguns For Sale page for our latest listing of Remington 870 variants for sale.
 Amazon.com, we have hundreds of retailers in Amazon store listings and many carry Remington 870 Accessories for the Remington 870 like the new Knoxx collapsible stock at very low prices.
 Cabela's, looking for a new Remington 870 barrel, we have them in stock right now, you can also check out our vast selection of choke tubes and if you have the time you can browse our selection of in-store pump-action shotguns including the Remington 870.

Remington 870 Webmaster Message:
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 Sincerely; Kim Lockhart, Master Gunsmith and Gunners Dens Webmaster!