Trading in Rem 870 express for.... Something tacticool

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Darebear

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I like my Rem 870 express. Brought it from Dicks for about 350 NIB, it's fun and I have no doubts it would serve me well if I had to use it in a defensive situation but I have that tactical bug. For the longest time I scoffed at all the "sooped" up shotguns because I just thought it was frills but I just shot my friends Rem tactical 870 (camo with pistol grip) and he had some other stuff on it, shell carrier, ghost ring sight, and I liked it alot.

Mossberg has the 590A1 and FNH is coming out with a new shotgun that is quite attractive. Does anyone know of any "tactical" shotguns I can buy straight from the manufacturer? Also I assume I'm going to lose money on the trade in so how much can I expect to lose on a Rem 870 express?
 
Your 870 is essentially the exact same gun as your friends....except for stock and a paint job.

Just buy an 18-20" bbl, a mag tube extension, aftermarket stock and a can of Krylon.
 
If you like the 870 why not look at picking up the parts you want for it? A new buttstock, a ghost ring rear, cut field barrel with front post silver soldered on, and a mag extension is about the same as buying tactical model. If it were my gun store, I wouldn't give you more than $100-$150 and put it on the rack for $200-$250. If that's all you get for an offer, upgrading what you have could quite easily be cheaper than swapping shotguns. Just a thought.

Quick edit: I'm too slow.
 
just change yours
with good research and savvy parts pricing, you could convert yours for not much more than the loss you would face trading it in
plus you would have both in the end
 
benzy2 said:
If you like the 870 why not look at picking up the parts you want for it? A new buttstock, a ghost ring rear, cut field barrel with front post silver soldered on, and a mag extension is about the same as buying tactical model. If it were my gun store, I wouldn't give you more than $100-$150 and put it on the rack for $200-$250. If that's all you get for an offer, upgrading what you have could quite easily be cheaper than swapping shotguns. Just a thought.

Quick edit: I'm too slow.
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I'd have to have a gunsmith drill sights into it right? All it came with was a front bead sight. How do I get sights on my shotgun?
 
I was in the same boat wanting a tacticool shotgun, but I couldn't part with my remmy and never will so I just made it tacticool :). I put the black hawk spec ops adjustable butstock and forend on it. The next thing is the tube extention, I think I'm going with the nordic. Extra shell holder won't fit over my butstock but I'm going to get one that snaps to the frame. So I got the best of both worlds....still got the trusty ole remmy and I'm freakin tacticool :)
In all seriousness if you don't want to part with what you have already, there are plenty of options out there for you.
 
thefamcnaj said:
I was in the same boat wanting a tacticool shotgun, but I couldn't part with my remmy and never will so I just made it tacticool :). I put the black hawk spec ops adjustable butstock and forend on it. The next thing is the tube extention, I think I'm going with the nordic. Extra shell holder won't fit over my butstock but I'm going to get one that snaps to the frame. So I got the best of both worlds....still got the trusty ole remmy and I'm freakin tacticool :)
In all seriousness if you don't want to part with what you have already, there are plenty of options out there for you.
Click to expand...
Now what did you do for sights? My receiver isn't drilled for the picatinny rail and I don't like rifle sights.
 
just have a smith drill and tap the receiver

any gunsmith worth his salt should be able to do that in short order for a nominal fee
 
And if you really don't want to modify your receiver, there's a bunch of companies that offer saddle rails that attach to the sides of the receiver using the trigger group pins.
 
Darebear said:
I'd have to have a gunsmith drill sights into it right? All it came with was a front bead sight. How do I get sights on my shotgun?
Click to expand...

The front sight would be silver soldered on to the barrel or a new barrel with front sight would have to be bought. For the rear you would have to drill and tap the receiver or have a gunsmith do so. If the gunsmith does it properly on a mill it may cost $20 or so for each hole to be drilled.

You should be able to pick up the rear sight for $60 or so +$40 for install. Remington sells a barrel with the front post for about $170. The stock would be $50-$100 depending which one you wanted. The magazine tube extension is about $45. So to upgrade what you have, you would be looking at $365-$445, depending on the parts, and you'd still have everything from the factory that you can either sell or keep and use. Looking at Budsgunshop for a price, a new tactical 870 with ghost ring but no pistol grip stock is $440 and around $500 with a pistol grip stock. If you sell your shotgun to the store, you would be looking at $350-$400 additional to get the 870 you want. If you keep yours, keep all original parts, and buy the aftermarket parts to convert, you'd spend about an additional $350-$400. If you sell the factory barrel and stock you would cut that price down some, but I have no idea what those parts are bringing used.
 
Think maybe you are obsessed with stuff [sights in particular] as a necessity on a tactical shotgun. From everything I've read and heard from experts, the "Kiss" principle should be in force here. Keep it simple, stupid!! Unless you are a member of the swat team, all you need is a short 18" barrel and you're pretty much ready to go. Add an extended mag tube if you must, but all the other stuff is just hollywood. An 870 or Moss 500 is about as good as it gets unless you're preparing for a war.
 
I have an 18 inch barrel Darebear so sights werent a big concern for me. Actually all I did was just dab the beed with orange paint. Its easy to pick up and it doesnt stand out or make it look stupid in anyway. I would put a picture on here of it for you to see, but to be honest I don't know how to put a picture on here, only know how to type.
You can get the three dot set up put on my a good smithy for 60 bux or order a barrel from remmington. Some one correct me if I'm wrong please but I think remmington puts the rear sights on rifled bores and the bead on smoothe bores.
 
Darebear....Now what did you do for sights? My receiver isn't drilled for the picatinny rail and I don't like rifle sights.
Click to expand...

IMHO the most "tactical" firearms are those that adhere to the KISS principle.

Features such as extended mag tubes, "door breacher" muzzle breaks, ghost ring sights, bipods, rails, side saddles, slings, buttstock shell carriers, bayonet lugs, heatshields, PGO's may individually be useful and have a function in a specific situation, but are usually chosen because some guy saw them on a shotgun in a video game.

The guys who use shotguns on duty don't hang all that crap off their guns....mall ninjas do.;)

Look at 870's issued by police depts.....99% are plain bead sights with an extended mag tube, nothing else.

I've held the 870 used by the US Secret Service....its a plain jane parkerized870 with a bead sight and 14" bbl. No ninjatastic accessories except for a little plate in front of the handguard (so you dont let your hand slip and shoot your fingers off)
 
My HD shotgun only has a extended magazine and rifle sights. Don't need all that stuff.
 
I've used my 870 pump bird gun for home defense duty before. Just take the plug out of the mag. Now, amongst other toys, the home defense shotgun is a Benelli M4 with all the evil features, but it's not needed.
 
It is easy to switch out most of the stuff you want.
Mine when I got it:
100_0596-1.jpg

How it is now:
100_0609.jpg

New stock with fore grip was like $60.
 
Drilling and tapping the receiver is extremely easy to do yourself if you have a drill press, if not it shouldn't be more than a 35-30 buck job.
 
I don't understand the dislike for sights. If all we're doing is tossing a cloud of bird shot in the air a bead is fine. If we want to shoot at any distance, conventional sights are a far better option. The house I'm in is roughly 100 feet long at it's longest. There is also a second building roughly 50 yards at the furthest from the house. At 33-50 yards the buckshot loads I have open up to the point I'd rather switch to a slug if I can. If I have to leave the house, I'm loading as many slugs into the shotgun as I can as I would prepare for the chance a shot would be taken the length of the house or more. The last few bead only barrels I've used have not shot slugs to point of aim at 25+ yards and would all require holding over, which I'd really not want to worry about on a two way range. If all you want to do is put lead into someone in the doorway, pointing with no bead will work just fine. If you have the possibility that you may be shooting a longer distance, sights are a better system than a bead. I can't say there has ever been a time shooting at anything without wings that I've wished for a bead only sighting system.
 
With the Remington 870 Express you already have an excellent, basic platform from which to build a tactical shotgun, as others have noted.

What are your needs? That should determine whether it's worth outfitting the current set up, or buying a separate piece altogether.

My guess is basic additions with a focus on home defense are the way to go, unless you're breaching doors and clearing rooms; I presume you're not.

So:

-- An 18" barrel with a bead sight or perhaps tritium dot (unless you're planning on putting lead on targets at outside-the-home distances, I don't see the need for rifle or ghost sites, and for me they get in the way at close quarters).
-- Synthetic stock with a reduced length of pull, and synthetic forend; shorter and lighter.
-- Side saddle for extra ammo.
-- Optional and debatable: magazine extension. I like them for the extra shots; some feel it unnecessarily adds weight and imbalances the gun.
-- Optional and debatable: a sling. To me they aren't needed for indoor work.
-- Optional and debatable: a light system. Cuts both ways; lights up the target and/or confirms a friendly, but also announces your position. Your call.

There's a place -- AI&P Tactical -- that deals only in tactical 870s. Haven't purchased from them but I intend to. I like the products, and really like the perspective of the armorer as it comes through on the site: http://www.aiptactical.com/

One of the things he does to all the 870 Expresses is outfit them with upgraded internals from the 870 Police model; that's something you also might consider.

All this to say, I don't think you need to buy a new piece, just modify the one you've got.

But your original question was about manufacturers offering tactical shotguns right out of the box. Remington does have the 870 Express Tactical; not for me (ghost sites, choke) but might be for you.

Or a Mossberg 500, which is also an excellent platform, and offers a much greater variety of options from the manufacturer, increasing the chance of finding one that is suited to you.

If you're not interested in modifying, the Mossy 500 in one of its tactical configurations is the way I'd go.
 
+1, your 870 is fine, and there are enough aftermarket accessories to trick it out to your liking.

Best thing about buying all the tactical stuff for your 870, when you get bored with it all, you can return your 870 to factory stock.

For sights, I have a saddle rail that mounts over the receiver and is held bu replacing the trigger and ejector screws (Mossberg/ Mav88 not Rem 870, though). Mounted a red dot on there.

I was bitten by the tacticool bug with my shotgun as well, but the ATI 6 point stock was uncomfortable to the point where I put the factory stock back on. My HD bbl (18.5") has a heat shield with integrated ghost ring sights installed, but it's probably coming off in favor of the red dot.

I ended up with the realization that my tacticool fever didn't last long, and my tricked out guns are slowly returning to normal piece by piece.
 
Trading an 870 for a Mossberg is a fool's errand. You're already doing just fine with the gun you have. Buy some bolt on goodies and be done with it.
 
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