Rem 870 Express - What did I see?

[krept]

Folks,

Yes, I did search through the archives and didn't find exactly what I was looking for, so please forgive this perhaps billion-time-repeated question...

Went to a gunstore this weekend looking for 870s, saw a new Remington 870 Express HD model, will accept 2.75 and 3" shells. Didn't see the HD on the remington site, so it could be stock.

Some things I noticed that seemed odd:

- There was an orange follower

- There were no dimples on the mag tube unless they were very tiny? When the magazine cap was removed, the spring seemed to flow freely without binding... is this an indication that an extension can be used?

- I know what a blued finish looks like and what a park'ed finish looks like. Slim possibility it might have been a rough blued finish but I swear it looked and felt exactly like it was parkerized...

Didn't notice if the triggerguard was plastic or if the safety was keyed (didn't really realize these differences until the search)...

It looked br
OK, is this thing a standard 870 Express HD? Anyone like these things?

THANKS in advance for the input...

 

[Dave McC]

ANY short bbled 870 in good repair is a superb HD tool, in trained hands.Even the ones with the egregious keyed safety and "Dimples" are good tools, just needing a bit of rectification.

The matte blue finish is standard, but my guess is there's some Parkerized ones out there. Mostly aftermarket, and if the truth be told, oft used to hide dings.The one on Frankenstein, my over- publicized parts 870, qualifies.

The plastic follower is common, I prefer the metal ones BUT nobody has reported any FTFs or failures with the plastic ones.

And yes, I like them. They're 870s, with the same durability and reliability as the others. A few tweaks are needed, but that's all.

 

[JNewell]

Without trying to take anything away from Dave's post, Remington says the Express is bead-blasted, then blued. In addition to the other attributes Dave mentioned, it is cheap and quick. Though the surface is not as "open" as a parkerized finish, I would guess that it would hold more oil and therefore be at least a little more corrosion-resistant than polished bluing...not that that is saying much!