Metal finish durability 870 vs 590 A1

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donvabeach

Inactive
I'm new to the board, and I hope I'm not duplicating something, but I keep hearing that the metal finish on the Remington 870 Express is not very durable....that it starts coming off after awhile, and/or rusting, unless you religiously oil it.

I haven't seen much talk about the Mossberg 590A1 having the same problems, with the parkerized finish.

Also, I've heard that the Marinecote on the 590A1 is an excellent, durable finish.

I'd appreciate comments from anyone who actually owns any of these shotguns. Thanks.
 
You're comparing Remington's budget line with Mossberg's top of the line shotgun. A better comparison would be the 870P parkerized finish.
 
The 870 Express has a bead blasted blued finish.
People often fail to apply a coat of a good rust preventing lube like CLP Breakfree, and they rust.

The better 870P Police gun uses a good parkerized finish that Remington says is 60% more rust resistant than bluing, BUT....like all blued or parkerized guns you do have to keep a lube on them or they'll all rust.

The Mossberg 590 series uses a parkerized finish, so of course it's more rust resistant then the Express blued finish.
As above, the Mossberg 590 series is Mossberg's top of the line gun. The Express is Remington's budget gun.
Comparing a Remington Police gun to a Mossberg 590 series, and the Remington Police model is a higher quality gun.

If you don't want either Remington or Mossberg shotguns to rust, you have to keep a coat of lube on them.
The 870 has one big advantage over the Mossberg.
The 870 receiver is steel. If the finish wears, it's easy to find someone to re-blue or parkerize it.
The Mossberg has an aluminum receiver. When the finish wears, you're only good choice is to apply one of the "paint type" finishes, since it's harder to find companies that will re-anodize an aluminum receiver and it costs more.
 
The thing that I have yet to understand is this. Why is the unbreakable polymer trigger guard a fatal flaw in the Remington 870, while an aluminum receiver is no problem at all in a Mossberg? :confused: :rolleyes:

I keep thinking that both Mossberg and Remington both make good shotguns, and I keep reading all the trashtalk here...and generally not believing a syllable of it, btw... ;)
 
I just tried to look it up on google and couldn't find much, but I don't think marinecote is as simple as "parkerized." My marinecote 500 finish is very rust resistant, and also very scratch/wear resistant. More so than I have heard of parkerized finishes where it seems the finish quickly wears off any points of contact.
 
The Parkerized finish of the 590A1 is superior in any case. This finish holds lube/resists corrosion like you would not believe.

Keep in mind, however, that the "Parkerized" finish will only adhere to steel...not aluminum. Hence, the main advantage here is the barrel finish...not the receiver as the receiver is aluminum.

Still, Mossberg shotguns seem to hold up well regardless of whether or not anything on the gun is Parkerized. But, this particular finish (on the A1 heavy walled barrel) only makes things that much better, IMHO.

Of course, as has been mentioned before, we are comparing apples to oranges here.

I love the 590/590A1...for various reasons. But, should you go with an 870 [Express], I would think about parkerizing both the barrel and the receiver, as the receiver (I believe) for the 870 is steel, not aluminum.

Comparing a Remington Police gun to a Mossberg 590 series, and the Remington Police model is a higher quality gun.
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This is debatable, if comparing the 870P to the 590A1. To me, the only real advantage here [regarding the 870P] is market share and a steel receiver. Outside of that, I see no obvious reasons whatsoever for the 870P to claim dominance over the 590A1.
 
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the "Parkerized" finish will only adhere to steel...not aluminum. Hence, the main advantage here is the barrel finish...not the receiver as the receiver is aluminum.
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*Hrmh??* *tilts head*

Uhh, it seems to have adhered fine to mine, and all the other 590's.... :rolleyes:
 
My guess is the receiver is aodnized on the Mossys as park does not stick to alum and will turn it to mush in the treating tank. As for "domanace" there are more 870s in the word then 590s as the 870 is the most produced shotgun model ever made.
 
This is debatable, if comparing the 870P to the 590A1. To me, the only real advantage here [regarding the 870P] is market share and a steel receiver. Outside of that, I see no obvious reasons whatsoever for the 870P to claim dominance over the 590A1.
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If we are talking quality between the two models I agree with you.

Functionally, I can think of two advantages of the 870P that apply under specific circumstances. First, it works better with pistol grip style stocks (Speedfeed, etc) due to its control placement. The other advantage of the 870P is that it is easier to SBS than a 590A1 due to the short mag tube.
 
johnwilliamson062 said:
I just tried to look it up on google and couldn't find much, but I don't think marinecote is as simple as "parkerized." ...
Click to expand...
the "Marinecote" finish is actually a nickel-plated finish....
 
I find the mosberg safety and slide release are more accessible on the full stock mossberg.Full stocks are preferred on shotguns over pistol grip only. I love the fit and finish on my 20" 590a1. I prefer over the 870's I've shot. The weapon is heavy but I appreciate that when I shoot 12 pellet 00 magnum buck. I'd recomend the 590a1 series shotguns (full stock form) to anyone for a good defense weapon.
 
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market share and a steel receiver.
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THere are still a lot of aftermarket accessories for the 590's, so I don't think market share is much of an adantage to the end user.
I personally don't find the aluminum receiver to be a disadvantage. It is significantly lighter and I would rather put a good recoil pad on a light gun than carry a heavier gun. The aluminum receivers seem to handle any KBs or wear just fine.

I also think the Mossberg ergonomics are much better than the Remington. Almost everyone who picks the two up without any pre-experiences seems to agree.
 
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