[bootless]

I have this added to a shotgun post but it will probably be better here. So I'm looking at a used Remington 870 at a local shop. They say it is a "Police Magnum" but the receiver only says "870 Magnum." It is an older gun but I'm not sure the year, it has those white plastic spacers on the stock if that helps. Did the Police model ever not say "Police" on them? If they didn't how can I tell if it is a Police? By the way I am a bit skeptical because it has nice glossy wood and a deep blued finish.

[dfariswheel]

Probably not.

Over the years, Remington has used a number of receiver stamps on Police guns.
Older guns were simply marked as "Wingmaster".
Starting sometime in the late 1970's or so, they started marking guns with "Police" stamps.
Older Police guns were satin blued, with later guns offered in both satin blue and parkerized finishes.
This satin blue was slightly shinier than the current bead blast blue of the Express guns.

However, in this case, the glossy finish stock and white spacers indicates its probably not a police gun, since Police models had un-checkered, dull oil finished wood.
So, unless someone replaced the stock with a sporting model, its almost certainly NOT a real Police model.

These days, many sellers advertise standard 870 sporting guns with short barrels as "Police models", when they aren't.

[bootless]

Thank you for the info. I'll add this to my list when trying to negotiate a better deal.