870/870P what's the difference?

L

LH2

New member
I'm looking to get a HD shotgun soon. The Win Defender, Mossberg 500 and 870 all look like safe bets.

Any difference between the 870 Express 18" synthetic shown on the regular Remington site, and the 870P shown on the Remington LE site?

Also, can anybody buy the 870P, or is it a LE only type deal?
 
IIRC: The police model has a factory magazine extension.

Anyone can legally buy it, but from what I hear remington is absolutely A.R. about selling it to non-L.E.O.s.
 
Once again, here's the differences between an Express and a Police 870:

The Express is Remington's "budget" gun, made to compete with the cheaper to make Winchester and Mossberg guns.

The Police is Remington's top-of-the-line defense gun.

How Remington lowered the price of the Express was to reduce hand labor to a bare minimum, to eliminate much of the polishing and de-burring the better quality Wingmaster and Police guns get, and to use some plastic parts.

The Express is basically the same forged and milled steel receiver and heavy-duty internals gun the better 870's are, just without the smooth, no burrs, no machine marks finish.

The Express Home Defense Model has:
A plastic trigger group.
The dimples in the mag tube and the new style magazine retention system, EXCEPT on the extended magazine version, which does NOT have the dimples.
A rougher finish inside and outside, with machine marks and some burrs left.
A rougher blue job.
A less polished bore.
A two piece barrel. (not 100% sure about this)
Hardwood or synthetic stock, with a sporting-length fore end.
An 18", cylinder bore barrel, with a bead sight.
Some Metal Injection Molded (MIM) parts, like the extractor.
Has the locking safety button, although Remington MAY have discontinued it.

The 870 Police has:
An aluminum trigger group.
The old style magazine retention system.
A much smoother finish inside and out, no machine marks or burrs.
The Police gun receives a higher level of inspection and finishing.
A military-grade parkerized finish.
A polished bore.
A one piece barrel.
Walnut or synthetic stock, with a short police-length fore end.
Choices in different stocks, including Speed-feed, and others.
18" to 20" improved cylinder barrel, with a wide choice in sights, including rifle, ghost ring, and luminous.
Heavy-duty magazine spring.
Heavy-duty trigger-sear spring.
Sling swivel mounts.
No use of MIM parts, the extractor is milled.
No lockable safety.

The Express is a budget gun, the Police is the top-of-the-line in quality.
The Police is generally considered to be the finest quality defense
pump gun made.

Any one can buy a Remington Police gun.
The problem is, Remington only sells Police guns through Remington factory authorized Law Enforcement Distributors.

MOST factory authorized distributors only stock sporting guns, due to the licensing and paperwork required for some police guns like 14" barrel shotguns.

Since most dealers don't normally buy from the LE distributors, this means they have to make a special order, and some just don't want to go to the trouble.

Some dealers will blow you off by telling you that Remington won't sell Police guns to "civilians".

To get a police gun, simply find a dealer who either buys from a LE distributor, or who will special order one for you.

The Police 870 is well worth the added trouble and expense. It is the Cadillac of pump guns.
 
Military type Not fancy

Thats it Dfariswheel you have posted the exact description of the 870 Police shotgun. One look tells you it's not for fun and games.:)
 
Thanks Dfariswheel. I found the same info after a quick search at THR.... I think it was you as well.

The comparison makes the Express sound pretty cheap, although I'm sure it's great for the intended use, civilian HD.
 
Sorry, that wasn't the intent.

The Express is basically the same gun as the more expensive Wingmaster and Police.

It's forged and milled steel receiver comes off the same forge as all other Remington guns.

It has basically the same heavy-duty internal parts and should last just as long as any other 870, which is about forever and two days.

Where Remington made the cuts was in the elimination of as much hand labor as possible, and in reducing the amount of polishing done internally and externally.

On the Express you'll see machine marks and some burrs, which you won't see on the Wingmaster or Police.

The Express was intended to be the rock bottom gun Remington could build but still have the steel receiver, and uphold the Remington reputation for quality.

The Police gets a lot more hand labor and inspection to make sure some cop doesn't have a gun problem in some dark alley.
 
Funny as the spring ejector on my Express has been ejecting for years, while on my police model the little rivet reared its head after about maybe fifty rounds and had to be restaked by an authorized repair center (Gander Mountain)

Just a fluke but had I been a PO, and the thing popped in the field, I guess I'd be mighty upset
 
I'll let you in on a little secret. Many, if not most, of the LE agencies I'm familiar with use the Express. They often last for decades with relatively little care and maintenance. We use Mossy 500's, which suits me just fine, I've also been a Mossberg man myself (just preference).
 
I'll let you in on a little secret. Many, if not most, of the LE agencies I'm familiar with use the Express. They often last for decades with relatively little care and maintenance. We use Mossy 500's, which suits me just fine, I've also been a Mossberg man myself (just preference).
Click to expand...

So it sounds like for Joe Citizen, the Express is more than adequate, and a couple hundred bucks less.

As far as Mossberg/Win/Rem, doesn't it just come down to where you want the safety & slide release? I guess once you're used to one, it's easy to stick with it.

What's wrong with the aluminum receiver? A bit less durable than steel if the gun is going to see some abuse?
 
For home defense or Police use

I agree having the Alloy receiver on the shotgun would not be a problem just like the many handguns using Alloy frames they have been proven to last for many thousands of rounds without any failures. I think it's just a matter of what people feel safe with excepting in firearm materials.;)
 
To the average "civilian" owner, there's no reason not to buy an aluminum receivered gun, unless you take into account the problem with getting it refinished if you wear the finish off.

Experienced clay bird shooters say most aluminum receivers will take upward at least 50,000 rounds before failing.
The Remington 870's steel receiver is reported to develop cracks somewhere around 250,000 rounds.

For whatever reason, whether it's the aluminum receiver or the lighter weight, cheaper internal parts, the Winchester 1300 and Mossberg 500 just didn't stand up in police use.

NO ONE is harder on a pump gun than a bunch of abusive street cops.
The guns are used by everyone, owned by no one, and like all things used by many people, they tend to get destroyed.

The 870 has a 50 year history of taking whatever the cops can dish out and still function, and last.
This is why Remington OWNS the police shotgun market with a 95% plus market share.

When Winchester dropped the all-steel Model 1912 and sold the police the new Model 1200, it failed badly.
When the police made it clear that they would buy no more Model 1200's, Winchester introduced the upgraded Model 1300.
It too failed, and today few, if any major police agencies will touch a Winchester shotgun.

Mossberg too tried to sell the police the aluminum Model 500 and it too fell apart, earning a bad reputation.
In an attempt to hold on, Mossberg introduced the upgraded, beefed-up Model 590-A1, which has managed to sell to a few departments, if only for the lower price.

Since the average home owner with a defense gun isn't going to shoot 50,000 rounds through his gun, aluminum works just fine.
 
LH2, you're right on the difference. I prefer to use my thumb rather than my index finger for the safety. Just never been a fan of the cross-bolt safety, even though I'm stuck with one on an SU 16.
 
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