New RemArms 870 review

[Appalachiannative]

It's funny what the OP called the "bowling ball finish" on the wood furniture of the old wingmasters is one of my favorite things about them. I personally like having the wood covered in all that protection from the elements, it's probably why my 70s model wingmaster still has its original furniture in such good shape, but to each his own. I'm just glad to see how the metal looks and the fact that a quality wood stock is still available even if my beloved bowling ball finish is gone. I'm gonna start using that in the positive ha ha ha. Hope the thing runs good kinda makes me want one!

 

[I6turbo]

Real walnut and real cut checkering.
View attachment 1139171

That laser-cut (laser-burned, actually) checkering could be easily re-cut using a checkering tool such as a Dem-Bart handle and F-1 cutter (only a few dollars cost). The result would be like old-school hand-cut checkering.

The laser-cut checkering is functional, but I've re-cut the checkering on several laser-cut stocks (mostly CZ and Ithaca 37) and it really makes them look better. I have a spare Ithaca 37 stock with the reverse-pressed checkering (even worse than regular pressed checkering) that they used for a few years in the late 1960s, and have been thinking about re-cutting it to see how it turns out, but haven't done it yet.

Here's a laser-cut stock after stripping:


Here's the same stock with the re-cut almost completed, prior to the application of the finish.


Refinish completed (bottom gun refinished, two laser-cut factory finish guns above).

 

[Random 8]

LGS has a couple of Field masters and a "tactical" shotgun on the rack. I was able to inspect one of the FMs closely. They are getting their $%^ together it appears. Action was smooth and crisp. No doubt would slick up nicely with some honest use or targeted polishing. Finish was good with no serious visible imperfections (given this is a budget gun). Wood/metal fit were also quite good for a low end shotgun. Decent actual walnut. Plain pieces, but good grain flow throughout and decently finished. You won't mistake it for a 1960's or 70s Wingmaster, but overall my impression was favorable to the good side compared to the 1990s SPs pre-Remeltdown. Now they need to bring back the 24" barrel option for us jump shooters. There was some confusion on the barrel marking. Marked 3 1/2" with Magnum something or other receiver only. Looking through their catalog, I could not find any model with that Magnum designation.??????

The real show stealer was Mossbergs "retro-tactical" offering though. Corn-cob style forend, smooth barrel with bead and a trench gun style heat shield along with extended magazine and a very discreet rail under the magazine for a light. I wish Rem would bring out a retro 870FM without vent rib on a 22-24" barrel and a corn-cob forend.

 

[roo_ster]

Not a Wingmaster, but the barrels on my 870 Express will work on either gun.

That is a good sign. I switch & swap 870 bbls without regard to WM or Express or whatever origin. I find them to be LEGO-like.

 

[.45Coltguy]

I wish they'd bring back a retro Wingmaster with no vent rib, a 22-24 " barrel, English stock and corncob forend

Mine[1975]WM 870 has the plain barrel, regular fore-end, glossy fleur de lis type stock, pistol grip with 28" fixed mod barrel. Came with a 26" fixed Imp Cyl barrel also. This only goes on the dove opener. Nicest looking shotgun I've ever owned. When and if I go after Chukar, one of the 500's gets the call. Those new FieldMaster's really seem to be mighty nice. Good on RemArms for making them right.

 

[Riomouse911]

I am driving over to my favorite FFL and plunking down some $$ on a 20 ga Rem Arms shotgun today. When I get back I will post my observations. (I can’t pick it up for at least 10 days tho .)

Stay safe.

 

[Riomouse911]

Went down and paid the gun off, now it’s just waiting time.

The wood is darker than the OP’s gun, it has a plain-grained walnut with a darker finish. The metal is an evenly applied matte, certainly not as appealing as a classic wingmaster but it looks like it should last a while.

It came with 3 choke tubes, which is always handy. Bore looked nice and smooth with no spots inside. The sling swivel studs in the buttstock and on the magazine tube cap were a nice touch. I will probably never use them on a field gun, but you never know.

The checkering is pretty smooth, as was posted above. One will never confuse laser or impressed checkering with cut checkering, that’s for sure.

Not a fan of polymer trigger guards, but so many guns use them now that I just accept that the gun will have one.

The brief time I played with the action it worked as expected; a bit stiff like almost all new pump shotguns are when fresh from the box. But it was positive and I am looking forward to running some shells through it.

Stay safe.

 

[SwampWolf]

It's funny what the OP called the "bowling ball finish" on the wood furniture of the old wingmasters is one of my favorite things about them. I personally like having the wood covered in all that protection from the elements

It was actually called a bowling pin finish. And good luck if you ever have to take the stuff off.

 

[Appalachiannative]

It was actually called a bowling pin finish. And good luck if you ever have to take the stuff off.

Well way I see is that finish is tuffer than nails. It has been on there for 50+ years despite the metal looking as good as a dry rotted tire the wood is spotless thanks to the thick clear coat. I imagine it would be hard to take off but can't see myself ever needing to take it off. Kinda like the engine in my truck. Has timing gears instead of a belt which means to change them you gotta do a full engine rebuild but the odds of them going out are so low that who cares.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

My new RemArms Police model was a dud.

It has rifle sights and they were canted, meaning the rear sight had to be drifted all the way to the left in order to hit POA/POI.

It’s currently back with them for repair. I’ll be sure to let everyone know my customer experience with the new RemArms.

I should have just bought a trade in police gun, not sure what I was thinking honestly,

 

[Appalachiannative]

My new RemArms Police model was a dud.

It has rifle sights and they were canted, meaning the rear sight had to be drifted all the way to the left in order to hit POA/POI.

It’s currently back with them for repair. I’ll be sure to let everyone know my customer experience with the new RemArms.

I should have just bought a trade in police gun, not sure what I was thinking honestly,

I feel your pain man. Police trade ins are sweets buys sometimes. I saw police trade in S&W model 10's for $300 at Bud's in Sieverville TN when they first opened it up. Didn't get one of course. I didn't know they sold off police shotguns too. I'll have to look for that

 

[Steve in NC]

Ongoing Report: Still no issues with mine.

Shot some more slug yesterday testing. Haven't been able to get ahold of any of the Brenekke THD slugs that I really like based on past experience. I found some Ficocchi 1150fps 1oz slugs that should hammer the heck out of you. Most of the Rem, Win, Fed deer slugs are rated at 1500fps and up and they are stout. Its not the recoil I can handle that, but for a defensive gun in my house, I didn't want to launch a cruise missle. I just want to poke several 3/4" holes in whatever needs to be stopped. So for HD I prefer to use the low recoil rounds.
Anyway those Fiocchi slugs shot very well!! So I'll probably run these until I can test out the Brenekke's when/if they become available.

I put the front bead dead center of the top bull for the 15yds (3) shot group. And same thing for the 30 yard shots on the lower bull to give you an idea of POA/POI relationship. The 15 yd group is 1" CtoC, and the 30 yd group is 4" CtoC.

Going out to 50, 75, and 100 yds to see if I keep at least B zone hits at that range next.

Steve

 

[Hookeye]

FWIW.....some of the old Express models had walnut. First yr or two of the Special Purpose was dark stained hardwood, then they went walnut. 870 Sp was same finish back then as Express, but the Express had just a flat on top.of receiver, the SP flat was recessed. 1100 SP was parkerized

I have a cheap 870 Express Supermagnum 23". Been a champ. Synthetic stock. I hunt it hard. Proly slap a 26" bbl.on it and take to trap range in a week.

That gun and an 870 Special Field 20 ga and id be content.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

My new RemArms Police model was a dud.

It has rifle sights and they were canted, meaning the rear sight had to be drifted all the way to the left in order to hit POA/POI.

It’s currently back with them for repair. I’ll be sure to let everyone know my customer experience with the new RemArms.

I should have just bought a trade in police gun, not sure what I was thinking honestly,

Who would have thought, sometimes you do need to mount darn optics on shotguns

 

[Micro]

From what I've seen, the new Remington (RemArms) 870s are very nice, indeed.

I will say the 870 with the cantilever slug barrels seem to have the cantilever very high over the receiver. I would prefer it lower over, but not touching, the receiver.
https://www.remarms.com/shotguns/pump-action/model-870/model-870-fieldmaster-fully-rifled-cantilever

To me, that's way, way too high, especially given the stock drop. You would have to put a fairly substantial cheek pad on that to get a proper view, or be content with resting your chin on the stock.

Browning does it right. Having the cantilever just over the receiver and contoured around it, all without touching the receiver.

 

[entropy]

So does Hastings, with their cantilever rifled 870 barrels. I had one for my 870 when the areas in MN and WI I lived in were shotgun zones. My Dad had the 1100 version. Very accurate, and sit low compared to the Remington or Mossberg versions.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

Still waiting on RemArms to ship back my 870 Police.

It’s been 3 weeks.

 

[Riomouse911]

I finally picked my 20 ga up. A few up-close observations as I haven’t had a chance to shoot it yet.

Plain old box. The little foam bb’s that flake off get stuck under the rib and insides, so look to clear those out when you put it together.


The walnut was very dark. The recoil pad is solid and well fitted to the stock. There is a sling swivel installed in the stock. The wood-to-receiver fit is a bit proud; a thumbnail certainly gets caught on the lip where the wood sticks up a bit on both sides. The matte finish is very uniform, no issues there. The trigger/guard set is polymer, like a lot of new guns, which I don’t like but at least it matches the finish well.



The checkering is like the 1980’s style; a fleur-de-lis with minimal grip. I could see this being a bit slippery on a damp day, but overall it’s clean. There was no real wobble or rattle in the fore end with or without the barrel installed. The magazine cap has a sling swivel, making for an easy sling mount if one is wanted.



Three Rem Chokes comes with it, F,M,IC. F says lead shot only, which is common. Chamber is 3” for those who use a 20 for waterfowl or turkey.



The rib is well installed and has a bit of grooving to keep reflection down. One bright white bead is at the muzzle, no center bead is mounted.



One thing I did not like is the mating between the barrel rib and receiver. The receiver is drilled/tapped for optic mounts which is great, and it has a bit of a swale down the middle as a sighing aid. But the swale is a bit wider and shallower than the butt end of the rib, so there is a step up that catches my eye that I don’t like.



The white bead is easy to see on a darker day, in bright light or against white clouds it may be tougher to spot.



Trigger pull was decent. Not much creep out of the box, consistent with a 5-pull average of about 3 3-/4 lbs.



I like it so far. It isn’t perfect, but for a field shotgun in 20 ga I can’t wait to shoot some clays and then hit the pheasant fields.

Next post compares it with my other 20 ga pumps.

Stay safe.

 

[Riomouse911]

My other 20 ga pumps are an unfired 1980’s era Ducks Unlimited Special banquet gun my Dad won and gave to me, and a BPS 23” that I bought used off GB a few years ago.

The DU gun is high gloss, high polish with deep bluing, great wood and the DuPont bowling pin finish that defines that era. The checkering is sort of close to the new gun in look and feel. A bit of gold-fill engraving is on the receiver and white spacers are at the grip cap and recoil pad. The gun is a 3”, but it is a fixed full choke only proposition.

The new 870 is rather plain in comparison.




The DU trigger pull crisp and is under 3.5 lbs for 5 tries.



The BPS is a tad chunkier, but it also had the Browning gloss blue/wood that is expected on most of their stuff. This gun has better checkering than either Remington does, it actually helps you grip the wood rather than (IMHO) just be there for looks. The barrel is 2” shorter than the 870’s, and it has a 3” chamber with Invector choke tubes as well.



The BPS had a smooth, but heavier, trigger by roughly a pound over the 870’s.



I added this post just for a quick comparison between the new 870 and these other guns that I have in the safe.

Stay safe.

 

[jmr40]

FWIW.....some of the old Express models had walnut. First yr or two of the Special Purpose was dark stained hardwood, then they went walnut. 870 Sp was same finish back then as Express, but the Express had just a flat on top.of receiver, the SP flat was recessed. 1100 SP was parkerized

I saw some 870 Express's sold at K-Mart back in the 90's or early 2000's with walnut. Must have been a special order just for K-Mart.

Prior to the Express Remington made what they called the Sportsman series. They had an 870 and a 700. Each had a cheap hardwood stock. The metal was blued, but it wasn't up to the same quality as the higher end guns.

Those morphed into the 870 Express within a few years. The 700 ADL's went to all synthetic with matte metal. The decline in the finish quality of the 870 Express is directly because of competition from the Mossberg 500. With a forged steel receiver it is simply impossible to make an 870 cheaper than a Mossberg with the alloy receiver. But to keep costs competitive Remington cut every corner possible. And at times went too far.

I really liked the Special Purpose line. The way I recall it they originally had real walnut with cut checkering and real parkerized metal. Some had synthetic stocks and were finished in full camo. They weren't cheap, about the same price as a Wingmaster at the time. I actually have an 870 Special Purpose that I gave to my son-in-law. The current production 870's remind me a lot of the Special Purpose guns. They aren't parkerized, but the metal finish is better than the Express.

They eventually drifted toward cheap wood and dropped the parkerized finish for matte blue. Most shooters can't tell the difference. In fact I'm amazed at how many people simply cannot tell the difference between walnut and cheap wood. To most shooters wood is wood.