Why the 870 Express hate?

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wrapping a gun in a beach towel and letting it sit in a closet is a guaranteed easy way to make it rust....especially with that cheap matte finish...i would blame that one on the owner and not the gun.

towel probably sucked all the oil out and let it rust....i dont have a safe yet either, but i leave long guns propped up against the wall with the tip of the barrel resting on the drywall and the butt propped against the carpet, and i leave handguns on top of their hard cases, never inside.

my 870 only had one little rust spot start to pop up after i got it back from remington since they got it dirty and never cleaned it or anything....wiped some oil on it and the rust color went away....i was very meticulous with cleaning and oiling though, so that might be a factor in why mine never had rust issues (and i didnt have it long, 6 months)....my girls dad has a mossberg 500 that is like 10 years old and has never once been cleaned or oiled and it runs like a dream somehow...and not a spec of rust.....and it doesnt rattle like the new ones....i wholeheartedly believe its a QC issue with newer guns...i would feel better buying an older used rem 870 than a new one.
 
I don't know what y'all are talking about. I've had my 870 Express for about 5 years now, and I still love it.

I don't like the little twist button safety lock, so I just never use it, problem solved.

I think they are pretty good guns, and an increase in quality over a Mossy 500 (not that the mossy is a bad gun, just not as good fit and finish.)

Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson
 
I have three Express and two Wingmasters and have never had a problem with any of them. All have been used for duck hunting and general small game. I did go through a few barrels trying to find accurate slug barrel/slug brand combinations for deer hunting. I have no complaints.
 
I thought the very point of an 870 express was it might get into situation that causes rust. Wear it proudly, its part of the breaking in period. I have the 12 ga turkey, 20ga express, and the 410. Never so much as a hickup from any of em. the best way I've found to protect the stock is about a 1/16" of mud. Tips on picking one out: go to goose hill used rack find the one that has all the phosphate finish beat off of it. It got that way by being used, and they dont get used unless they work!
 
Hi guys, new member so sorry if I do something wrong...seems like the 870 express is one of those love it or hate guns with almost no middle ground. I have a new 870 express super mag, had one jam the first time out, field stripped it, cleaned it at the range 'by the book' and continued to shoot another 100 rounds with no further issues.

I also have a 20 ga 870 magnum that my father bought me the day I turned 10 (16 years ago). That has been my Go To gun my entire hunting life. I never had a problem with it.

As far as rust goes on the new 870, I had an issue 1 time because I forgot to clean it when I got home that.day and didnt get to it for about two weeks. BUT IF YOUR CLEAN YOUR GUN LIKE YOUR FATHERS TAUGHT YOU THERE WILL BE NO RUST...EVER. :p

All in all the 870 Express is (in my opinion) the perfect 'workin mans shotgun'. Affordable, reliable, and accurate.
 
It's mostly internet rumor and bull**** like that.

Mine and my friends' post - 08 or 09 870's have never experienced an issue. People love to hate.

I've got well over 500 rounds in my 870HD (bought in early 2010), and I use it pretty frequently. No rust, no extraction issues, no feeding issues. Solid as a rock. I clean mine after every use, so maybe that's the problem with all these 870's that seem to fail... poor ownership.
 
I think some folks THINK lightly wiping an express with an oily rag will protect the finish. The finish is so porous that such treatment may fail to get oil deep enough into the finish to offer good protection. I think that occassionally an express owner needs to absolutely satuate the finish with oil, let it soak in, and then wipe off the excess. Never seen rust occur on a rough finish after doing this.
 
I have a coated wire hook hanging on a pipe over a laundry tub so I can let my Express drip dry. I spray it with either Sheath/Barricade or plain old BreakFree. The gun has been used for saltwater duck hunts since 1993.

The only sane way to completely lube under the vented rib is to spray it.

If you hold a clean rag behind the gun while you spray you can catch enough of the overspray to wipe down the rest of your guns.
 
I've got an 870 Express for HD use. I've run a whole bunch of cheap 100-pack Wally World shells (Federal, Winchester, Remington) through it, about 100 rounds of 00 Buck, and a few 5-round boxes of slugs. I've not been diligent in cleaning, usually just wiping down external surfaces with a liberal application of 3 in 1 Oil after use.

I've not experienced one failure to extract, there's not been any evidence of external rust and, with use, the action has become rather slick. The gun certainly is "ugly" when compared to a Wingmaster, but I didn't buy the thing to fawn over; it serves a purpose, and does it with aplomb.
 
Unfortunately, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. I've owned over 300 firearms during my shooting and hunting career and have learned that with guns, probably more than any other commodity, that you get what you pay for (unless you stumble into a steal on a used one from a ninety year old widow with Alzheimer's).

Expecting a $300 Express to have the same quality, appearance, and reliability as a $700 Wingmaster is unrealistic. I've seldom owned a gun that failed to go boom if fed quality ammunition and was properly cleaned and cared for regardless of the brand.

Do I personally like Expresses? No, but primarily because I'm a sucker for figured walnut and deep rich bluing. Do Expresses, Mossbergs, and other inexpensive guns function and serve a purpose? Sure they do. I bought a new Express package deal (28" and 20" slug barrel) on a whim for $289 in 2002. I kept it for a week and couldn't stand to look at the birch stock and painted steel. I sold it to an 18 year old farm boy for 200 bucks and you'd have thought that he died and went to heaven. By now I'd imagine that that ugly gun has accounted for a pickup bed full of game...

Just remember that market forces, not manufactures preferences, determine what's on the market today. If not Remington would be making only Wingmasters and Winchester would still be in business building Pre-64 Model 70's.
 
JohnBT said:
I have a coated wire hook hanging on a pipe over a laundry tub so I can let my Express drip dry. I spray it with either Sheath/Barricade or plain old BreakFree. The gun has been used for saltwater duck hunts since 1993.
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Then by definition your Express is not one of the recent batch that rusts. Not all Expresses ever made are prone to rust, but there was a batch (and some SPS rifles too) a couple of years ago that would rust inside an oil drum full of 90wt in the Mojave Desert. (Well, almost). Those are the ones that cause all the "hate".

Rust complaints seem to have tapered off a bit, so maybe Remington has fixed the problem.
 
the remington expresses i own go threw my rust prevention procedure, they get slardered with GI m-1 grease with the wood off and put out in the sun on a hot day untill the grease melts into the rough finish two times and then are covered with kroil after that they are wiped down and are ready to use in the field. one 28ga,one 16ga. three 12ga. expresses. eastbank.
 
Personal opinion a great pump for the price. I don't know anyone that had a problem and a great gun to hunt with and not worry about dings or scratches.
 
I do not hate the Express, but in 12-gauge, the used Wingmaster is the better choice for me. For example, my local shop has an older 2-3/4-inch gun with the twenty-inch barrel, a fixed Cylinder choke, and bead sights for $199. Yes, it has some wear/browning, but I rather have it than a new Express. If nothing else, I have a truck gun or a source of good spare parts. At best, I have a really nice HD gun.

In the smaller gauges, the Express may be a better deal as I have been unable to find many samples of the Wingmaster in 20-gauge and .410. Those I have found have been priced higher than I am willing to go. I lucked into a 28-gauge with two barrels, MOD and IC, years ago.
 
i bought this first year 870 in 12ga in super condition at a public auction,it look like it was never used. i will use it. eastbank.
 

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Im a mossy fan myself. Love my 500A. But i dont think the 870 express is junk either. and i have hesrd plenty of people say that at well.

A friend ofbmine thst i go clay shooting with owns one as well as a beretta silver pigeon IV. When we go shooting. He chooses the $300 express more then the $2500 beretta. We have swaped guns many times for un and i have had my share of time with the express. I prefer my mossy, of coarse. But its not a junk gun. It operates fine, every now and then it wont extract properly, but it thats generally if you pump it too slow. If you pump it at a normal rate its no issue.

As for rust. Well, i take my guns all the way down, or close to it. After every trip to clean them. He cleans his after every trip, but not like that. Usually just the barrel and what he can reach without taking it apart. He cleans it thourally after 500 rounds or so. He has had it for about 3 years i believe. No rust at all. Jist gotta take care of it. As you should any gun.
 
It's a once bitten twice shy sort of thing. You purchase a new gun (or recommend for your friend to purchase a new gun for home defense) and out of the box it won't cycle any fired hulls then you're less likely to ever recommend that purchase again.

You post on a forum about the problem, and Remington loyalists mark it up to operator error, poor cleaning, cheap hulls, etc...everything but the gun.

IMHO every express should come with a dowel and some steel wool and be labelled a kit gun until it's proven to be a reliable shooter with everything run through it. Or, Remington should like, you know...do their job, and box up a completed project with a smooth chamber in the first place.

Once bitten, twice shy...no hate, just not spending money or recommending others to spend money on green anymore.
 
"Then by definition your Express is not one of the recent batch that rusts. Not all Expresses ever made are prone to rust"

What definition? There were people complaining about the Expresses rusting easily when I bought mine in 1993. Friends bought Expresses after I did and they had some rust problems without ever going near saltwater or rain. The first-year Express my uncle won in a fire house raffle seems to be a much nicer gun, although still not Wingmaster quality.

Do they still ship them wet and dirty? I don't know if it was oil, grease, bluing or whatever, but the junk rubbed off on the inside of the packaging and it took some elbow grease to get the new guns clean enough to wipe down with oil. Heck, there was a one-inch-round patch of styrofoam stuck to the stock on mine.
 
JohnBT said:
"Then by definition your Express is not one of the recent batch that rusts. Not all Expresses ever made are prone to rust"

What definition? There were people complaining about the Expresses rusting easily when I bought mine in 1993. Friends bought Expresses after I did and they had some rust problems without ever going near saltwater or rain. The first-year Express my uncle won in a fire house raffle seems to be a much nicer gun, although still not Wingmaster quality.

Do they still ship them wet and dirty? I don't know if it was oil, grease, bluing or whatever, but the junk rubbed off on the inside of the packaging and it took some elbow grease to get the new guns clean enough to wipe down with oil. Heck, there was a one-inch-round patch of styrofoam stuck to the stock on mine.
Click to expand...
I should have been clearer. Yes, all Expresses have a finish that rusts somewhat more easily than some other finishes. A year or two ago Remington must have changed something in the finish, because Expresses and SPS rifles began rusting if you looked at them sideways. The complaints seem to have tapered off somewhat, so I'm guessing Remington changed the finish again.
 
Of course the brown stuff that folks see is factory preservative. It's messy and won't go away quickly without some serious solvent use. And then you really need to lube the metal to prevent rust.
 
i bought a used 870 express for a hundred bucks. functioned fine but was painted camo which i hated. i wanted a black finish so i media blasted it and cold blued it with oxpho blue. i oil with strait clp and never use any kind of grease on anything. im sure if i neglected my gun long enough it may rust up on me but i enjoy pulling the gun down and going through it and cleaning and func testing it. i put a cheap pistol grip and fab defense forend on it with a saw foregrip. its fun to shoot and never gives me any problems. its an older model so its got the metal spring retainer and alluminum trigger plate. the only problems i have with it is i dont shoot it enough. never had any problems regardless of ammo used and i only use the cheap walmart stuff. winchester 00 buck. id like an 18 inch i.c. barrel mag extension if anyone wants to donate one... haha
 
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