Remington 870's with built in locks.

R

Rail Gun

New member
I went to Wall-Mart today with the idea of buying a new 870 express. I noticed it had a hole in the saftey button in the shape of the letter J. I think this was the built in lock and also means the gun has the alterations that make it impossible to add an extended shot shell tube. Are they still available without the locks? If I call around to shops should I be able to find a new one without the blasted lock? This is frustrating, I just want a gun that's not intentionally enginered to not function with popular accesories. If I can't find one I'm thinking I'll get a new Benelli Nova pump instead. Any opinions on the NOVA?
 
I believe the Police versions lack those %^&**() "Improvements".

SO do older 870s. Look for a used one. With 8 million made, there should be one available nearby.

Then, call up Remington and let them know why you didn't buy a new one.
 
If you find a good deal on a castrated 870, the safety is readily swapped to a "safe" safety and the dimples that retrict capacity can be removed.
There are a ton of threads on this procedure.
Like Dave said, the used market is quite good on 870's and the Marine Magnum and Police models do not have these "features".
Do us all a favor and if you do not buy a new 870, please write or call Remington and tell them why.
Good luck,
Mike
 
Dave, Well, I guess I'll call around and see if any shop still has a new one left in stock without the saftey. I wasen't looking to spend the big money on a marine magnum and I'm not a police officer so the police models would probably be hard to find. If I can't find one I guess I'll have to go with a used one, I'll trey to find one that's not too beat up.

Mike, I don't know how to do any kind of gun smithing at all. The most I can do is disassemble a mossy 500 for cleaning. I don't know about the home smithing. If it's not too complicated to do I might do it. I really prefer to get things new, but I sure don't want one with a lock. Do you have a link to instructions to fix the flaws in the new ones?
 
My Remington 597 has the same lock and i just don't use it.I'm not really for or against it but it could have its purpose.
 
Railgun, the Archives here have lots on removing those dimples, and some stuff on retro fitting the old style safety. These were available from Wilson for a pittance and still may be.

As for used 870s,even a beater can be nearly new inside, and since it takes LOTS of round to wear an 870 to the point where small parts may need replacement, even that beater could be a multi- generational tool and toy.

HTH....
 
I bought an 870 yesterday that has the new safety lock, but it came with a mag tube extension. Am I missing something? Its not a MM, just a regular 870 Express Magnum.
 
I have an 870 I bought about 2yrs ago it has the locking safety and have put about 1500 shells through it and I have never had it accidently lock on me. I have even tried to make it lock and couldn't. I was gonna convert it over to the old style but never did. I don't use the lock, I unlocked it and left it like that.
 
I have a new Remington 870 Express that came with magazine tube dimples (little rectangular stakes that holds the spring retainer) and the new lockable safety.

The dimples drill out easily. It'll take about 20 minutes of work if you know what to do. Unscrew the magazine cap, take our your barrel, take out your pump and bolt, take out your spring retainer, spring, and follower. Put a layer of tape on your tube where it will touch your drill press table, or put a piece of wood between your gun and the table (to avoid scratching your finish up). You can use a 7/32 bit and drill into the dimple, flip over and do the other dimple. You won't need any fancy bit to do it, a normal split point high speed steel bit should work fine. Use a small 6" long chainsaw file (about 5/32" diameter) and get in the holes and clean it up, and then polish the inside of the tube with 120 or 220-grit sanding mandrel so the burr from drilling/filing doesn't jam your follower. Try to drop your follower down the tube without aligning the notches to the stakes and if it falls though, you did a good job. If not, file and sand a little bit more. Use a very light touch when polishing the inside of the tube, you don't want to thin the tube significantly.

As for the keyed safety, I really don't think its a problem. You'd have to try pretty hard to get it to lock without the key. You can do it if you grab it with a finger on each side and purposely try to twist, but its not something thats going to happen on accident. Its probably about as likely as having your magazine cap unscrew and your barrel fall off.
 
I was almost sold on that safety until that last post. The mere fact that it can EVER be engaged without the key would scare the heck outta me!
Shooting my 870's can cause things to move and/or rotate and I can not see any reason to assume that that lock could not / would not lock.
Please tell me it has to on "safe" before you can rotate it.
Mike
 
Mike, it would have to be on safe before it would be able to rotate. There is a ball detent or something that keeps it in place unless you really TRY to turn it or have the key inside it. You'd also have to turn it about 160-degrees around before it would lock. As I said earlier, your magazine cap would be more likely to fall out unless you tried to turn it.
 
Now I am confused too.

I bought a MM about 2 years ago that does have the locking safety.

I can load 6 shells into the tube. Is that normal? Can it be modified to take one or more additional shells?

Thanks.
 
DA: The Marine Magnum comes with an extended tube giving it 6+1 capacity. The standard Express and Wingmaster guns only come with 4+1. Since the magazine tube on the Marine Magnum already goes up to the 18" barrel, you probably shouldn't add a longer aftermarket tube extender, or it'll stick out past your barrel a good deal.
 
DA,
Since your MM comes with an extended tube from the factory, it does not have the PC dimples. You can not put any more shells into that SG without adding a longer extension which, as Chang mentioned, is probably not what you want to do.
Mike
 
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