Used Remington 870?

M

Mastrogiacomo

New member
I'm trying to downsize. At some point, I'd like to get into shooting clays but my Remy 870 home defender is not the gun for that. It's only been shot once, years ago, and stays in the safe. What does this gun generally sell for used? $200?
 
market

Short, tactical/defensive shotguns are in high demand at this time, along with other guns intended for similar use. I am not familiar with the "Defender" but I suspect it might bring twice that........ie, $400.

Try Gunbroker to see what that model is bringing currently.
 
With a Butler Creek folding stock/pistol grip and appropriate foregrip and 18” barrel, the 870 makes for a great close range car or house gun! Who knows, you might even fall in love with it. But yeah, two hundred sounds fair.
 
I know times change, but back in the day, the 870 could do it all. I've got half a dozen different barrels, running from a short as 18'' ("3 GUN" match) to as long as 30", some fixed & some with the different chokes tubes. I was always looking for another (Cheap) barrel. Butt stocks were the same. My first trap gun was my 870, with a 30" Fixed choke barrel, a butt stock from an 870 scope mounted slug gun. The barrel cost around $100.00, the stock another $50.00 and my first silver buckel (16yd first place) was worth $12.00. "Good Times"!

FITASC's advice is "Good", but I did find a Remington barrel 26" marked "Target" that I used to shoot Skeet with..
 
Last edited:
I bought my Remington 870 for bird hunting from a Thrifty Drug store in the late seventies. Can’t remember what I paid for it but it wasn’t much. Harvested many birds of peace (dove) with it in Imperial Valley before I started feeling guilty about killing nice little birdies. (Didn’t much like the taste of them either). Switched out the barrel with an 18” Mossberg, removed the mag plug, and made it into a self defense gun.
 
Used Rem. 870 BARRELS ONLY are selling for $ 200 around here, just saying.
And there ain't a decent 870 to be found.
 
The above advice is on the money......
Don't sell your Remington, just buy a suitable barrel for it.

The 870 is a "do it all" gun that can go from a home defense gun to a bird hunting gun to an anti-bear gun to a clay bird gun by just changing barrels.
 
Try a few pawn shops you may find a good shot gun at a decent price. I always figure two shotguns are better then one.
 
I have 2 shotguns. One is a Browning Superposed that I bought for shooting trap. The second shotgun is a Mossberg 500 Mariner with 18" barrel that I bought while living in FL and carried on the boat.

Last year a friend suggested we try Turkey shoots. At first I said "Hell no". After some thought I bought a 28" blued barrel for the Mossberg. Price was $145 and it came with 3 choke tubes.

If you can change the barrel you have a versatile shotgun. You got some good advice, buy another barrel.
 
I'm trying to downsize. At some point, I'd like to get into shooting clays but my Remy 870 home defender is not the gun for that.
Click to expand...

I guess what works for some doesn’t work for others. I love shooting clays with both of my home defenders..18.5 & 20 in barrels. I’ve virtually had no success with a full length barrel when shooting clays. Once I switched to my home defenders, I was able to find the target much quicker and have nearly 100% success each time.

I truly don’t think there’s any right or wrong here ..it’s really what you have success with. Does anyone else use their home defenders for shooting clays?:)


484e5896-50ac-4aa1-93eb-9ec76e2c614b.jpeg


6a05e460-18e1-4d15-a452-5b2af827b522.jpeg
 
100% success? Are you on the US Olympic team are you talking about shooting some hand-thrown in the backyard? The longer barrel helps with the swing dynamics which is important because you do not use this like a rifle - something you would do in a HD sense
 
Your pictures show you shooting in a backyard or not at a regular trap range.
You will find that things change quickly when shooting from the 16 yard line and
faster birds from electric traps.
By the way it's much nicer shooting longer barreled guns with much less
muzzle blast.
 
Your pictures show you shooting in a backyard or not at a regular trap range.
Click to expand...

100% success? Are you on the US Olympic team are you talking about shooting some hand-thrown in the backyard?
Click to expand...

Yes, I’m shooting on private property and not at a range. No ..not 100% success but probably 95%. The OP didn’t say anything about going to a range. I would assume there’s a fair amount of people that shoot as I do from private land. Again, you go with what works and are you having fun first in for most.:)

https://youtu.be/jS9brPBr0JQ
 
Go to a site like Gunbroker (and remember its an auction, so prices are inflated) and look at what your gun or one like to sold for. Not what's being asked, but what it sold for.

That's roughly what people are willing to pay, today.

I'd just keep the gun and get a suitable barrel. Maybe later a different stock, if you felt it needed.
 
Agreed. I shot trap for years, and always used a full choked 28 inch vent rib barrel, had two beads on it. Longer length of the barrel was necessary in order to swing thru the target. 16 yards behind a trap house with mechanical thrower is nothing like skeet in your back yard.
That being said, most of my trap years were with a Rem 870 Wingmaster with adjustable stock. Put over 50k shells thru that old gun. You cant beat an 870 for a do-all shotgun, just buy extra barrels.
I currently have a beautiful Mossberg 500a with 4 barrels, had it for years, can't hit a damn thing with it, shoulders and swings differently than an 870.
 
Some of the dedicated, 7-8 round shotguns are not adaptable to standard, sporting-length barrels without changing the magazine tube. The magazine tube on the 870 is soldered in place.

I suppose one could have the Defender's barrel threaded for choke tubes. If you've lived most of your adult life with 18-20 inch shotguns, you can make a respectable showing on clay birds with them. The vast majority of people will score better with longer barrels. A nice compromise is the 'Special Purpose' type of shotgun with 21-24 inch barrels. I've got an 8 shot, 22" Mossberg JM Pro and during the hunting season, I remove the Nordic extension and replace it with a standard spring and magazine cap.

20200910_101735.jpg


The 870 is an excellent pump and if that's what Mastrogiacomo is used to, there's no reason to change. I would expect a Defender in good condition to trade just about even for a used sporting length 870 Express with choke tubes.
 
Magazine tube soldiered in place ? I'll be darned. Brownells sells extended tubes for 870s, and 4 or 5 guys at my club, me included, ordered and installed em on our 870s [ without any soldiering ]. You just unscrew the nose cap on the end of the tube and screw on the new extended tube. Long barrel, short barrel, it makes no difference, they all have the ring that goes over the magazine tube the same distance out from the receiver. We had a pump gun Friday at SCs where 6 shots were required. It was fun learning how to pump a gun fast. I'd just shoot it as is and if you want a longer barrel, keep your " eyes out " looking for one. 870s are used for all the games. Your gun would work good for skeet, or any close in shooting. Find a Mod or IC barrel and you'll be good to go for any other game. And I personally think your gun is worth more. Any pump or semi auto shotgun today goes for inflated money - everybody wants one.
 
I could have been clearer. Remington has made a few shotguns (870 tactical) with a one-piece extended magazine tube. They will not accept standard 870 sporting barrels. I am told you can fashion a spacer tube to use a sporting barrel on a one-piece extended magazine tube. The prospect of that does not appeal to me.

The 870's magazine tube is soldered in place at the receiver.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top