BPS vrs. 870

[RWMC]

I am looking to buy a new shotgun. I have narrowed down the selection to the Remington 870 Express, 12 gauge, 3" chamber, with a 26" barrel, and the Browning BPS Stalker, 12 gauge, 3" chamber, also with a 26" barrel. I will be using the shotgun for deer, upland game, geese, and the occasional clay pigeon. I have neither owned nor shot any examples of the two models in question; so I am looking for feed-back on the pro's and con's of both models, and why you may think one is better than the other. There is a price difference of less than $50 between the two. Thanks for your advice in advance.

 

[Big Az Al]

I go 870 for many reasons.........

One of which is the owners manual for the BPS, it only reluctently admits you can take the barrel off the gun, and anything else is recommended to be done by a Browning certified smith. The shell stops in the BPS are a real pain, and practically come out with the trigger group.

The 870 is almost bullet, or maybe mechanically disinclined, PROOF. And there are more barrel choices, cheaper!

 

[Phyphor]

Go with the 870.

You won't regret it. Damned near bulletproof, mechanically.

 

[Mr Kablammo]

I vote for the BPS, it has more use for left-right hand switches. I like the tang safety and bottom eject.

 

[AJAX22]

Either one you will be hapy with.

If you like to accessorise or adjust your guns, the 870 is better.

the BPS is a browning design and... well... anything that browning worked on has a touch of the divine

 

[Fred Fuller]

We have one BPS here, in 12 ga.

And about a dozen 870s in varying formats in 12 and 20 ga.

Both are good solid shotgun designs, have great 'heft' and 'feel' and will do a workmanlike job at what pumpguns do.

But you can't fieldstrip a BPS. You can't swap out a bolt assembly if the firing pin breaks in the bolt that's in the gun, or if the extractor goes down or freezes up in a duck blind. You can't just swap out a trigger plate assembly if a small part in the fire control mechanism fails (though admittedly, both of these are low probability events in either of the guns). Spare barrels are everywhere for 870s- not so for Brownings. There are bunches of stocks, forearms and all manner of accessories necessary and useless for the 870- the market does not support the Browning in such a fashion. Remington's flexible tab lifter makes serious misfeeds unlikely, but if you manage to make a BPS hiccup by shortstroking it the gun is likely down till you can get the barrel off and clear it.

If you're the sort who never has to wash mud off legs and boots before your wife will let you inside her house (or worse, strip down outside first like a miscreant 5-year-old), you can get by with the Browning. If you never spend hours here and there working heavy cover behind a bird dog and the in-between times wading through waist-high broomsedge, filling all your pockets and every other recess on your person with leaves, twigs and enough seed fluff for a bird condominium, then the Browning will do you fine. If you never have to use your shotgun to paddle/pole your duckboat, get the Browning. If you are immune from gravity and never fall down into water/mud/sand or any combination thereof, or never let your gun escape from cold/wet/slippery/numbed fingers into such things, get the Browning.

But if you want a gun you can use HARD for whatever necessities come along, then drag home, hose off, strip down, clean up, relubricate and have it come out looking for more of the same, then you need an 870.

It's been that way for more than 50 years now, and it hasn't changed. I hope it never does.

Regards,

lpl/nc

 

[Regolith]

Lee....that's about the third time I've heard of someone using an 870 as a paddle; I've heard it twice on these forums and once from the guy that sold me my 870. Is this a common occurrence or something? Just curious.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Well...

Among folks silly enough to go out before daylight in freezing weather in small boats with dogs to chase ducks, it seems not to be too uncommon an occurrence.

But then, what else would you expect from duck hunters? 8^)

lpl/nc (Hey, look- some of my best friends are duck hunters- but I wouldn't want my sister to marry one- if I HAD a sister... 8^)

 

[Regolith]

Never duck hunted myself, I stick to upland game birds mostly.

 

[viking499]

Person preference. I have hunted with both. BPS fits me better. Which ever one you like the feel of the best, is the one.

 

[lev83]

I think you would be more pleased with the 870. I would select the wingmaster instead of the express model. These guns are just rock solid.

 

[Milkmaster]

BOth are good guns! Pick whichever gun "FITS" you best. If the gun doesn't fit you and is not comfortable, then all is naught!

A left handed shooter might be more inclined toward the BPS for bottom eject. I am a right handed shooter but have used an Ithaca 37 (BPS variant) to keep the shells out of the guy to my right's collar by having the bottom eject. All that being said, the 870 is simple and as durable as they come. Again I say pick the one that shoulders and fits you the best.

 

[Man With A Gun]

The ITHACA Mod 37 beats them both.

 

[Dave McCracken]

A Win-Win situation, both are fine shotguns. However....

Ten minutes practice and even a ten thumbed, dyslexic, ADD afflicted dunce like me can strip and clean an 870 completely, probably blindfolded.

If your 870 doesn't quite do the mission you choose as it sets,(And more often it's pilot error rather than hardware) there's more accessories for them than Barbie. One can get barrels, for instance, from 18" to 36", stocks from plastic to marblecake Walnut sculpted by artists, and even whole TGs with match rifle type triggers.

That doesn't apply to the BPS.

 

[stevehaun]

I bought a BPS for two reasons:
1. I like the tang mounted safety. I think the safety location on the 870 is located in lousy position - perhaps its only downfall.
2. I shoot left-handed. The safety and the bottom eject make the BPS a truly ambidextrous firearm.
If the safety on the 870 were located in front of the trigger guard or on the tang - I would own one. I have completely detail-stripped my BPS (and put it back together) and it is not easy. This is the BPS's achilles heel. It is also heavier than the 870.

 

[waterhouse]

I own both. The BPS was my dad's.

Major differences in normal use to me are that the BPS has a bottom eject and a tang safety. People talk about the magazine cut off being a nice feature, and I guess it might be, but on the 870 you can press a finger against the first shell in the magazine and achieve the same result. If you are a lefty, or a lefty might borrow the gun, the BPS is lefty friendly.

I like the bottom eject, don't really care for the tang safety, and prefer the 870 mostly because of the ease of finding spare barrels/parts and ease of taking the thing apart.

Both great guns. Try and handle both, and pick the one you like more. If you can't decide, get the cheaper one and take the $50 you saved and spend it on ammo.

If you decide on the 870, and don't need a new gun, check your local pawn shop. You might save quite a bit.

 

[Sir Aardvark]

You can get more aftermarket supplies for the 870 than for any other shotgun on earth - add to that it's affordability, reputation for reliability, and ease of use and the choice is really simple.

 

[RWMC]

Thanks for all of the info. I am going to be a new 870 owner sometime in the near future! Which type of stocks are on the earlier Wingmasters; the checkered pattern grip and forearm, or the plain walnut stock and the forearm with the vertical cut grip lines. I'm talking Wingmaster, not 870 Express. Thanks again for all the help!

 

[Stuart C.]

The vertical cuts on the foreend were earlier. If you're looking that early, a Remington Model 31 is a dandy. Underrated compared to the model 12, these are very nice hand fitted guns. I once passed up a 20 ga mod 31 and I'm still kicking myself.

I've tried to fall in love with the BPS, but the 870 always wins out for me. But why Remington won't offer a 28 ga 870 with a 28" barrel is beyond me. They refuse to. Guess they're busy overselling the benefits of bottom eject.

 

[Dave McCracken]

R, the checkered stock/forearm was available from day one. The lower price models had plain wood.

 

[Big Az Al]

Anything touched Browning..........

If you mean anything touched by JOHN M BROWNING, I am there in my ALL IN ALL!

Growing up around GUN people that have been and are good to great Smiths the saying that comes up about all of the later Browning offerings is:

ONE More proof that John Browning is dead!!!!!!!

The BPS while a workable shootgun is the POSTER child for this saying!

MY Browning A5 while difficult to strip down in the field, it is not an issuee to do so! This same gun has parts made as large and as simple as possible, and if those can multi task to keep things even simpler they do!

To look at a J M Browning design is to see and know that J M Browning, lived and breathed the KISS principal!

Can you say that about the designs that the company has put out sense he passed away?

In working on firearms it is incredible the things that get into a shotgun, both at home and in the field, almost everything that I have removed from an 870 could have been removed in the field with a pocket screw driver and a pocket knife!

With the BPS you will have most or all of those same things happen, and the OWNERS manual says That, " Only a BROWNING certified smith should remove the trigger guard" !!!!!!

I can only answer for myself but I go hunting or shooting to have a good safe relaxing time! Being out there with a backup is nice, and I usually have one, but it's supposed to stay in the case, that is why it is called back up! (this is my take on those that do nut have my skills) and stressing over where on earth an I going to find a smith so that I can get my shotgun fixed so that I am able to shoot it this afternoon or tomorrow morning is not what I call Good or Relaxing

 

[stevehaun]

I do think the complexity of the BPS detail strip is overblown. I am minimally mechanically inclined and I have taken mine down (and put it back together) several times without weaping and gnashing of teeth. All that said, if the 870 had a tang-mounted safety, I would NOT own a BPS. The 870 is really the AK47 of shotguns and I respect that!

 

[Scoupe]

I've owned a nice BPS, still own a couple Wingmasters, and waterfowl almost exclusivley with an Ithaca M37. Tough choice for you there, but fortunately one that has no real downside.