![]() The new 870 debuted in 1950, replacing The Model 31 (the 31 would come back ten years later as the inspiration for the Mossberg 500 but that’s a different story). The design was based on the receiver of a 16-gauge model 11-48. The receiver for the 870 is made from a solid block of steel. Finally, the 870′s designers made sure the gun fit as many shooters as possible, stocking it with enough drop and a thin comb that let almost anyone get their face down on the gun easily. With one gun and extra barrels, you could use the same 870 for long-range ducks and close-range quail. The result was a gun that was light and lively, affordable, easy to take apart and maintain, reliable, and versatile. They designed a trigger group that could be easily removed by popping out two pins, and a barrel that not only could be removed simply by unscrewing the magazine cap, but was also completely interchangeable without fitting. They connected the slide to the bolt with twin action bars in place of the single bar common to many pumps, reducing the possibility of twisting or binding the pumping stroke. First, they based the 12-gauge 870 around the receiver of the 16-gauge 11-48 semiauto, assuring that the gun would be trim and light, while cutting costs by using a shared part. The 870 could have been a cheapened shadow of the Model 31, but the Remington design team made a number of smart decisions that resulted in an all-new, great, mass-produced shotgun. ![]() As Remington engineers drew up the Model 31′s replacement, they envisioned it as part of a “family” of shotguns and rifles that would lower production costs through the use of common parts, many of which would be stamped, not machined, to save even more time and money. It took a total of 536 machining operations to make one, and World War II had shown gunmakers that reliable guns could be made through more economical manufacturing methods. Courtesy of the Rock Island Auction Companyīut, the Model 31′s slick-stroking action didn’t come cheap. The Remington Model 31 was Remington’s pump gun before the 870. Made of machined and hand-fitted parts, the gun was so smooth Remington marketed it as the “ball-bearing repeater.” It came in both an all-steel version and a lightweight alloy-frame model, and many believe it was every bit as good as its main competition, the famous Winchester Model 12. In the 1940s, Remington already had a great pump gun: the Model 31. This year the 870 turns 70 years old, and it’s a perfect time to look back at a gun that shouldn’t have been great, but turned out to be a classic. 450 Nitro double rifle for dangerous African game, sat the 870 that the owner shot every morning of the 60 day season. In the gun room, between a $100,000 Italian O/U for live pigeon competition and a. It was a duck camp in the same way that a diamond is, technically, a rock. ![]() Years ago I stayed at a mansion built amid three of the first Greentree reservoirs in Arkansas. Sometimes you’ll see 870s in places you wouldn’t expect to. In short, anywhere someone needs a rugged, no-nonsense shotgun, an 870 is probably there. My favorite place for an 870 is resting on my knee as I sit against a tree trunk in the turkey woods, but you will see them in duck blinds, cornfields, treestands, police cruisers, military armories, pickup trucks, and in the rack at gun clubs. With over 11,000,000 made, Remington 870s are everywhere. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.
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