Approximate age of 870 Express Magnum and your experiences with them ?

[geo57]

I just picked up an older, well used, 12 ga. Rem 870 Express Magnum for $ 150. The dealer, who I've known for almost 40 years, assured me it worked perfectly, so I took a chance on it, even though he advertised it as " it's seen a lot of use ", which is an accurate portrayal based on the outside wood & metal cosmetics and the normal places of wear on the metal. I've owned many 870 Wingmasters in the past, but this is my 1st Express. Once home, I took it down, including the mag tube internals & trigger assy. , cleaned & lightly lubed it. It's action now is as slick as any Wingmaster I had and it feeds, extracts, & ejects live shells well. I now read many owners think the older Express models were better made than the newer ones. I would appreciate hearing your 1st hand experiences with yours as far as age, reliability, durabilty, amount of use, etc. I tried to determine mine's age online, but had no luck and Rem's online site was down. Ser # is stated below and if anyone could tell me it's approximate age based on one you have & know it would be appreciated . Thanks.

BO880xxM

 

[turretG]

Ive owned one for at least 5 years and never had a problem with it. It's heavier than my Winchester 1300 but it's also more stout I think. I've had no problems with either at this point.

 

[JohnBT]

You'll need to google 'remington barrel codes' and check the chart for the age.

I bought an Express Magnum in 1993 and it's been trouble free. My uncle won one (in a VFD raffle) back in the '80s when they were new and just marked Express (but were 3" guns) and it still works fine.

John

 

[Liberty1776]

You. Can't. Wear. Out. An. 870....

but my express would turn orange on a humid day...

 

[geo57]

Thanks, fellas... JohnBT, you have a PM

 

[mingo]

Anyone who wants to know the age of their Remington....simply call their toll free#....have your serial # ready.... 1-800-243-9700...ext #7 Needs to be during normal working hours....it will be a live person on the line....
mingo

 

[Skyshot]

I bought a 12 ga express the 1st year I saw one back in the late 80's. I've never had any malfunctions with it. I also have one in 20 ga that is somewhat newer bought in the early 90's. It's not as slick as the older one but It's never gave me any malfuntions either.

 

[monkyboy1975]

Look at the barrel code on the side of the barrel,then go here:
http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/questions/barrelcodes
Had mine since 1992 and never had a problem with it. I keep reading here that other folks have rust issues with them, but even after being out in many down pours, haven't had any problems in that department either.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Remington barrels get swapped a lot, the most reliable source for a true born-on date will come from the serial number on the receiver and a phone call to the nice folks at Remington.

I like Expresses, and have several (ahem) of them. The oldest has matte finish plain grain walnut furniture, and I've never had a problem with any of them, save one time when I swapped out to a used Police gun (870P) barrel on one of them and it got sticky extracting some Fiocchi shells when it got hot.

IMHO the older the Express the better, as long as it's mechanically sound...

fwiw,

lpl

 

[geo57]

Do your Express models have 2 rows of codes on the rear of the barrel on the upper left hand side like mine or just one ? I'll try to describe them the best I can :

Top Row- * KO ( deep stamp ) then what looks like an upside down 7O ( might be part of a 4, but closer to an upside down 7 or part of a triangle ) These much lighter.

Bottom Row - PP ( very light stamps ) 3 M

As far as what looks like an upside down 7 or part of a triangle with the O, could it be a proofer stamped that upside down or inverted from the KO part ? Thoughts ?


The dealer I bought it from shot it with both 2 3/4 " and 3 " shells and says it shoots & works well . Thanks again.

 

[blackspyder]

I have 2 870 12ga. 's sitting across the room from me right now. One is older then me(27) and hasn't malfunctioned yet it shoots 2.75 and 3. The other is a new model for 3.5 shells and it works flawless too.

 

[Virginian]

Be advised that Remington's phone call service is somewhat less than 100% accurate. I love Remingtons, but this is a weak spot to me. I suppose they get tired of 10,000,000 870 owners and 4,000,000 1100 owners even caring when theirs was made; I admit I would too. According to them, two of my guns never existed.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Sometimes the records are spotty, from what I've been told. Which is one of the reasons there is no published/more easily accessible database re. Remington serial numbers...

For sure, a barrel code will tell you when a given barrel was made. Whether or not that barrel is original to the gun is a crap shoot.

lpl