[9mmMike]

Howdy team,

I've been searching (via SEARCH) and I have not seen this thread so here it is...

Can someone tell me when Remington first introduced the Express line of 870's?

Thanks,

Mike

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Thinkin somewhere around 1987 or '88---IIRC.

[JohnBT]

1987.

FWIW, the early ones were marked 870 Express on the receiver, but were 3" guns. I can't tell you when they started marking them 870 Express Magnum, but it was before I got mine in 1993.

JT

[Dave McCracken]

According to Kuhnhausen, 1989 twas the natal year for both 870 and 1100 Expresses. I do not recall ever seeing an 1100 Express, but I haven't been looking for them.

[9mmMike]

FWIW, the early ones were marked 870 Express on the receiver, but were 3" guns.

Interesting. Did the serial numbers still end in "M"?

Dave quoted Kuhnhausen for '89.
Omaha-BeenGlockin took his best guess.
JohnBT, where did you get 1987?

Thanks,

Mike

[Detritus]

don't know about first release, but....


the 870 "express" is a 3" chambered gun,

the 870 "express magnum" is a redesigned, 3 1/2" chambered gun that costs a slight bit more.

both are still available, and in all the stores i've been into that carry 870s the 3 and 3 1/2 inch version are sold side by side, seems as if the "magnum" tends to have darker finished wood.

[rugerfreak]

All 3in chambered guns will have Express Magnum on the side.

The 3.5in are refered to as Super Magnum.

[JohnBT]

Sorry, but the early 3-inch Express guns do not have the word Magnum on the side. My uncle owns one of them.

The 1987 came from the 23rd Edition of Fjestad's Blue Book, the 21st Ed. Gun Trader's Guide, the 1990 Gun Digest, the 1999 Standard Catalog of Firearms and a guy on a shotgun forum who bought one in 1987 when he was 16.

Not too long after they were introduced my uncle won an "870 Express" in a volunteer fire department raffle. It does not say Magnum on the receiver, but it is a 3-inch gun. After he used it for a few years he traded his minty Wingmaster on something else. With this recommendation I bought an "870 Express Magnum" in 1993 for duck hunting. Same gun, different marking. I'll have to ask him about the M in the serial number. I remember looking at the serial number in late '93 or early '94 because we were comparing guns and his receiver did not say Magnum. I'm thinking it did have an M, but I can't say for sure. How do I know his has a 3-inch chamber? I read the end of the box. :) All in all, our guns are the same except for the word Magnum and maybe the M. I'd call him and ask, but he's traveling.

I don't have any first-hand experience with the 3.5-inch Express Super Magnum, but there seems to have been a steady series of complaints posted about problems with loading and ejecting.

John

P.S. - An 1100 Express? That's interesting. My duck hunting buddy has a inexpensive Remington "Sportsman 12 Auto" from '86 that's an 1100 with cheap wood.

[9mmMike]

Thanks John. That's some good intel.
Mike

[dance varmint]

I think the shameless expose about the 870 in September's American Rifleman said 1988, if that helps muddy the waters at all. (That article mentioned every conceivable introduction in the 870 line except one that I can think of: the locking safety. Hmm, why would they omit such a fine innovation as that?)

[mnrivrat]

Sept Issue of American Rifleman had feature article (shameless ?) on the 870 by Roy Marcot. He has the express introduced in 1987 .

:cool: