Thats this one is, an old wingmaster. Goes bang every time i pulled the trigger.

Would like to try one of newer auto loaders some day, i hear the recoil is tamed down a heck of lot for todays shooters!

My daughter's boy friend won all kinds of competitions shooting his 870 for trap and skeet. He loved to out-shoot some kid with a $3000 gun. I think that is why he used it.

Absolute night and day. The original Express were good guns back in the late 80's when they first started making them but not as good as the Wingmaster. The stock, finish and action are better on the Wingmaster.

My first gun was an 870 mag in college. My first shot ever hunting dropped a dove. I was on top of the world. Still took me 30 minutes to chase it down and rip its head off. That was its highlight. I started duck hunting after college and the gun just sucked. It could not hit anything. It would never work properly even though I was aimed perectly on my game. I am left handed and got a left handed SBE and made a world of difference. I bring that 870 hunting still but it just weighs the truck down 20 years later. It is killing my gas mileage but take it anyway... A guy from West Point borrowed it last weekend. He shot around 75 shells and not a single dove. Hate that thing but still bring it just in case. I had to borrow one for a dove hunt a few years ago. I swear I went 25 shells before hitting a bird. Pretty embarrassing for a gun to be so bad.

And I will bring it this weekend praying my SBE doesn't break.

I had this same conversation with a guy at work the other day. The 870 is proven to be one of the most effective and reliable shotguns ever designed. I deduced from our discussion that he was just the typical millennial; too young and inexperienced to be able to appreciate the genius of the simplicity. He will grow out of his brash ignorance, I'm sure. I just pray it doesn't take as long as it took me!

The next best thing is the BPS, and you can still get it in 16 gage

Got an 870 on my 16th birthday, never misfired until last season and I am 47. And the error was due to my poor cleaning over 31 years, broke it completely down and it is banging away just like it were new.

Mine is not a super mag.... 3 1/2 inch is silly

only shoot 2 3/4 out of mine

The new 870s are nothing like the older models.

The new ones feel cheap and rough. My dad's old 870 that's at least 30 years old is a much nicer gun.

Prayers up

Wood weighs more than plastic

Same here and it kills everything plenty dead.

My 870 (bitter sweet) was bought in 1969 by my friends father. My friend went down the wrong road and sold it to me for a $100 to support his habit. Haven't seen him since.

I have 7 pump shotguns....4 870's......they do for me everything I ask them to do.....just can't see spending several hundred to thousands of dollars to accomplish the same thing you can for a few hundred...

I bought an 870 Express when I was a poor graduate student back in 1994. It served me well for years as I used it for ducks, doves and clays. Didn’t matter if it was a cold, rainy, muddy morning, or a sweltering and dusty afternoon, the gun just performed flawlessly. Over time my shotgun preferences have taken a distinct turn towards those with two barrels, and I don’t remember shooting the 870 in over 15 years; however I have never considered parting ways with it, and don’t think I ever will. It’s in my safe, waiting to serve as needed as a foul weather gun, a loaner for a good friend, or maybe for my son to use if he decides to start hunting. It’s just too good of a gun to not keep.

I will never buy another EXPRESS again, however I'll buy Wingmasters all day long. Bought a new EXPRESS in the late 90s and it worked well for a short time, then starting having issues. Sold it and never looked back. I was in high school so I needed something cheap. My dad always had Wingmasters and so now that I can luckily afford to spend a few more bucks I buy them. Not sure I'd take a 870 out in the worst days though over my Xtrema duck hunting though.

The Remington 870s made today are not like the older models that were once made. The older models I agree were the best made pump shotguns. Remington in the past 4 years has changed factories several times and the QA on the products has been mediocre at best. I certainly would not recommend one for a first time shotgun buyer as their are better made models out there for roughly around the same price.

exactly

I have found a couple of really good older 870's at pawn shops for a good deal....

My 870 is 48 years old, and just about the only shotgun I have used in hat 48 years. There is no telling how many cases of shells that have been shot. I carried one for awhile in Vietnam, it went through mud, sand monsoons and everything else and kept on working.

its not fancy and its kind of heavy, but I bought my first 870 when I was 10yrs old. its got 25yrs of use on it now, its hunted every season i owned it and everything from dove/duck/quail/hogs with it. when I was younger and shot frequently and poorly I put cases of shells thru it. I might shoot a half case a year now.

I loaned mine out for a couple hunts so far this season. It lives up to its reputation. About 150 shells and a couple birds in the bag. I feel sorry who I loan it to next. Not really.

Hey Garrett, doesn't your younger brother shoot an 870?

one my hunting partners shot an 870 with Hevimetal shells and can kill most
any duck at any distance

thats the only gun he can do that with?