Tactical Remington 870 Build

I have been an Remington 870 guy since I was 18-years old.  I had been saving up and finally bought a Remington 870 “Police Magnum” with top folding stock from my local dealer.  The 20-inch barrel with rifle sights were complimented nicely by the extended eight shot magazine and corn cob forearm.  My friend bought the exact same model, we had exquisite taste.

I remember the first time I shot it like it was yesterday.  At the time, the stamped metal folding stocking without a recoil pad and long length of pull seemed cool.  My buddy and I enjoyed bruised shoulders and cheeks.  We looked forward to saving up enough money to buy a case of cheap bird shot and heading out to the sand pit to shoot 250-rounds at a time.

Times have changed, I still own the same gun, however, it looks very different.  The stock has been replaced with a standard fiberglass model.  The 20-inch rifle sight barrel has been cut and crowned to 18.5″ and a set of ghost ring sights has been installed.  The gun shoots better and is a pleasure to own, but I held onto that folding stock and still pull it out from time to time.

If you stop by your dealer and price out an 870 today, you will be impressed with the wide range of models available.  The 870 Wingmasters, Police, Express and Express Tactical models make for an expansive line up.  You will also notice the relatively high premiums commanded by the Police guns.  These guns come off of a separate assembly line, use bar stock parts and are subject to extensive quality control inspections.

A while ago, I figured out it was cheaper and far more interesting to buy used 870s and rebuild them.   Sometimes I buy police department trade-ins from various online dealers, but the supply is intermittent.   Lacking patience, I also check local dealers looking for guns in poor condition for a fair price.  Recently I found one.

If you never rebuilt or customized a firearm, a shotgun is a great place to start.  Most of the upgrades are fairly simple to perform and cost less the tricking out an AR15.