PennsyPlinker
Member
Greetings all
I have just spent some time reading through quite a few 870 threads here. I bought one from my daughter's fiance this past weekend. He wanted $150 for it, and I paid it figuring it was politically good as well as a decent deal. For my money I got two barrels, the "regular" barrel with the bead sight on it (it is in a different building than I am right now and it is pouring rain) and a 20" slug barrel, both Remington. Everything has an even coating of surface rust on it. None of the rust seems to be very severe or deep.
Questions. I don't think the metal is blued, but perhaps it is Parkerized? I do not have the experience to tell if it is that or just a marginal bluing job. How do I tell, and what would be the best option for cleaning it up? I do not want to spend tons of money on it, and it is not real bad, but it is obvious that the gun was let go in a very humid environment for a while (his basement flooded a while ago).
The trigger guard looks to be aluminum. It is definitely not plastic, but the gun has 870 Remington Express Magnum written on the side. I thought that the Express model had a plastic guard. What variant might this be?
How troublesome is surface rust on the inside of the barrel? Will a couple of boxes of shells take care of the problem, or is there something else I should be doing with it? Again, it seems to be light surface rust only.
How about stock options? I picked up a folding stock at Cabelas but already plan to return it. I am a big beefy guy and it was no fun to shoot the very few rounds I did with the folder (no recoil pad). The current stock is, shall we say, sporting a distressed finish. Even if I took the time to strip it and sand it and finish it up, it is still a very mediocre walnut. Again, I am not looking to make a silk purse here, but would like it to be a little more attractive, so no one spends time making fun of me at the range.
Where can I find a manual for this, and how far should it be taken down for cleaning, both initially and on a regular basis?
I suspect there will be more questions coming, but this should keep me busy for a while.
Thanks.
I have just spent some time reading through quite a few 870 threads here. I bought one from my daughter's fiance this past weekend. He wanted $150 for it, and I paid it figuring it was politically good as well as a decent deal. For my money I got two barrels, the "regular" barrel with the bead sight on it (it is in a different building than I am right now and it is pouring rain) and a 20" slug barrel, both Remington. Everything has an even coating of surface rust on it. None of the rust seems to be very severe or deep.
Questions. I don't think the metal is blued, but perhaps it is Parkerized? I do not have the experience to tell if it is that or just a marginal bluing job. How do I tell, and what would be the best option for cleaning it up? I do not want to spend tons of money on it, and it is not real bad, but it is obvious that the gun was let go in a very humid environment for a while (his basement flooded a while ago).
The trigger guard looks to be aluminum. It is definitely not plastic, but the gun has 870 Remington Express Magnum written on the side. I thought that the Express model had a plastic guard. What variant might this be?
How troublesome is surface rust on the inside of the barrel? Will a couple of boxes of shells take care of the problem, or is there something else I should be doing with it? Again, it seems to be light surface rust only.
How about stock options? I picked up a folding stock at Cabelas but already plan to return it. I am a big beefy guy and it was no fun to shoot the very few rounds I did with the folder (no recoil pad). The current stock is, shall we say, sporting a distressed finish. Even if I took the time to strip it and sand it and finish it up, it is still a very mediocre walnut. Again, I am not looking to make a silk purse here, but would like it to be a little more attractive, so no one spends time making fun of me at the range.
Where can I find a manual for this, and how far should it be taken down for cleaning, both initially and on a regular basis?
I suspect there will be more questions coming, but this should keep me busy for a while.
Thanks.