Question Should i mod or restore my old Remington 870?

[DodoArms]

I have an old 870 Remington magnum that I received as a gift. It's got a lot of surface rust and is pretty worn out. My plan was to get it ceramic coated and add modern furniture. However, is there any reason I should just restore it and clean up the surface instead?

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

To me, half the fun is revitalizing an old worn firearm. I'd rather have a project than worry abour cost. I'm a tinkerer though.

 

[Funjeff]

Clean it up and shoot it. Plenty of YouTube videos to help, while learning about the venerable 870.

 

[Drivedabizness]

Unless you want to replace the barrel & action (which doesn't seems like your goal) clean it up (or have it cleaned up) and then blue/parkerize to suit your goals. I won an 870 Express "Tactical" in the CRPA calendar giveaway - I spent $$$ on magpul furniture, ghost ring sights, etc. Definitely like having it in the safe!

 

[Malibu]

Remington doesn't even exist as a firearms company anymore. The ammunition and gun manufacturing divisions of the company got divided up and sold off to different holding companies. The firearms division is RemArms now. Still same factory and people, but management and production has changed dramatically. Years of mismanagement by vulture capitalists that cared nothing for the brand or history, combined with crushing lawsuits from Sandy Hook put Remington in a hole they never recovered from. Most of the line has been discontinued, and what's left is getting made in limited batches. At the rate they're going I doubt they last another 10 years.

Imagine what an AWSOME comeback could be made if RUGER bought up the name, trademarks, assets, patents, etc., and brought the brand back to glory. They would absolutely fix it. They did it with Marlin, they could do it with big green. Not to thread drift too much, but look at how much better Marlin was for it. Decades of guns assembled ala Pick-A-Part junkyards, to products that actually work well.

 

[NATEWA]

Can’t wait to see the pics.

Years ago, I picked up a rusty 870 express. Stripped it down, media/bead blasted it and had my friend cerkote it. It’s currently my HD shotgun.

 

[BobGBA]

the past 20 years of 870s has been depressing and should be avoided. I've had more misfires and jams in my 2008 870 than all my semi autos combined.

Most, if not all of the complaints that I have read refer to problems with the 870 Express. I don't know if there are problems with the 870 Wingmaster, there very well could be, but no one ever mentions "Wingmaster."

I've heard a lot of complaints about 870s from past 20 years of production. But I have from around 2012 and it's worked fine since day one. I've shot it a lot, taken pheasant with it. 100% trust it.

Which model 870 do you have?

The firearms division is RemArms now. Still same factory and people, but management and production has changed dramatically.

The factory moved from Ilion, NY to La Grange, GA around March 2024.


I was a huge Remington shotgun (Wingmaster, 1100, 11-87 and Versa Max) fan.
I've owned a quite a few and I still like the older ones.

I bought a new 20 Gauge Rem Arms 870 Fieldmaster in 2022.
It ran perfect with Winchester AA's and Remington Gun Clubs.
Not so much with Fiocchi and even worse with Herter's. Had to mortar it to eject some shells.

My Benelli Nova 20 gauge had no problems with any of the ammo listed (from the same batch) above.

The Fieldmaster went back to Rem Arms (when it was still in NY) twice.
They evaluated it on the 2nd trip back and said there was nothing wrong with it.
When I got it back the 2nd time, it had the same ammo problems.
They never addressed my question as to why my Benelli had no issues with any ammo, unlike the Fieldmaster.

Needless to say, I got rid of the Fieldmaster.

 

[ChestnutBleach]

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Thanks, everyone. There's some sentimental value, so I might end up spending a bit of money on it. Also, what do these marks mean?

That’s a tuff one; sentimental value. That can really dictate the course of action. I’d probably lean towards stabilizing degradation than changing too many parts out.

In a similar situation. Have a Krag passed down from my grandpa, pop, to me. Rear site is bent and the stock was recoated badly at some point; has runs of varnish or other coating on the stock. To me, that’s part of the story of the rifle. So I’m looking to just stabilize it for future generations.

 

[Tere_Hanges]

Which model 870 do you have?

It's the express. It runs just fine. I guess I got lucky.

I'm not a shotgun snob, the only shotguns I've ever owned are the 870 and I had a 590A1 that I traded for a golden era M1A NM. I have zero interest in collecting shotguns. Same with .22s. One of each is enough for me. I'd rather stock pile 9mms and 45s.

 

[BigPimping]

I run an orphanage for neglectedRemington‘s. If you’re interested in selling, I’m interested in buying.

 

[AR15barrels]

I have completely refinished some 870's by blasting and parkerizing them and they come out great.
I also shorten barrels and solder on a heavy duty front sight when turning them into home defense guns.
Parkerizing holds oil far better than bluing and thats why it's the chosen finish for steel parts on many military guns.
I also do choke tube, backboring and long forcing cone work.

 

[joefrank64k]

@AR15barrels does great park work. I had him park a barrel for an M16A1 upper I was putting together. Looks fantastic.

 

[thelastmanonearth]

Wilson can offers services for this.