Remington Police shotguns...

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Yeah, for what those are I wouldn't pay that. However, one of the stupidest things I ever did was trade off a really nice 870P. Old school wooden furniture, 4+1, 18" on the nose barrel, metal trigger guard, etc. I would pay what they are asking for that, I think.
 
Those are 870 Police models and are more akin to an 870 Wingmaster (minus the scroll work) than an 870 Express. Unlike the Express or the Mossberg 88 there will be no plastic parts in the fire-control of an 870 Police and no MIM parts. Only the synthetic furniture is going to be polymer. I would take a well used 870 Police over a new Mossberg 88 any day of the week and twice on home invasion day.
 
Those are 870 Police models and are more akin to an 870 Wingmaster (minus the scroll work) than an 870 Express. Unlike the Express or the Mossberg 88 there will be no plastic parts in the fire-control of an 870 Police and no MIM parts. Only the synthetic furniture is going to be polymer. I would take a well used 870 Police over a new Mossberg 88 any day of the week and twice on home invasion day.

This. mcb has the right of it.

If the image on the ad is correct, these are Police Magnums. The real deal, wood or synthetic stocks. Not some Express or Maverick.

$379 is not the best deal I have ever seen, but it is a good deal on a GREAT defense shotgun.

FTR, I own two of them and were not the wallet tight, I would buy another.
#1 Serves double-duty. During hunting season, it sports a 30" full choke plain bbl and is known--in the hands of my son--to be the doom of any pheasant in range. Off-season, it sports an 18" bbl + mag extension + Streamlight and is my truck gun. Here is where I could use another. Kinda like Lays tater chips.
#2 Serve my wife as her SD/HD shotgun. A hydraulic recoil-reducing+6-position stock + Streamlight and Fed Flite Control reduced recoil 00 buck tame the recoil for a 5'-nuthin, sub-100lb gal. That Fed FC 00 buck goes COM in her hands out past 15 yards.
 
I own 3 also. One is an 870 police. Very smooth to shoot. Improved cylinder is standard, so it’s fun for five stand and 30 bird. I get a few funny looks from SA boys, but when I nail all three on a true triple, they sing a different tune. I like my Wingmasters with slightly longer barrels for sporting clays.
 
No way I'd pay that for these. I think some people are just in love with the "police" heritage of some of these. Looking at used wood stocks on Ebay I've noticed that the plain-jane police stocks from the old guns sell for more than nicely figured wingmaster take-off stocks :eek:. I've only been looking because I have this crazy urge to strip the finish off of my 870 Express, slow rust blue it, and throw on a fancy set of wood :).
 
I think some people are just in love with the "police" heritage of some of these..

No. Function, quality, reliability.

Put simply, Police Magnums (and Wingmasters) are better finished and use better parts in some places than 870 Express shotguns. More hands-on labor (finishing), better processes [park (PM) or deep blue (WM) vs Express finish] and better/stronger/more expensive parts (metal vs plastic). Sure, an 870 Express can function, but it is not going to do so as smoothly out of the box Also, down the road, under hard use, I'd bet on the PM or WM.

My first "police" shotgun came to me built up on a Wingmaster receiver with orange furniture, indicating it was used as a "less-lethal" munition platform. Ugly furniture, but the receiver was oh-so-slick.

I keep my eye out for used PMs and WMs. I have come to appreciate non-ribbed bbls and fixed chokes, so there are lots of old WMs out there to be had for the price of a new Express or even less.

FTR, I don't have anything AGAINST the 870 Express line. I just prefer the PMs and WMs for their particular virtues. Neither WM/PM of mine is pretty. Both are rigged functionally for their tasks.
 
No. Function, quality, reliability.

Put simply, Police Magnums (and Wingmasters) are better finished and use better parts in some places than 870 Express shotguns. More hands-on labor (finishing), better processes [park (PM) or deep blue (WM) vs Express finish] and better/stronger/more expensive parts (metal vs plastic). Sure, an 870 Express can function, but it is not going to do so as smoothly out of the box Also, down the road, under hard use, I'd bet on the PM or WM.

My first "police" shotgun came to me built up on a Wingmaster receiver with orange furniture, indicating it was used as a "less-lethal" munition platform. Ugly furniture, but the receiver was oh-so-slick.

I keep my eye out for used PMs and WMs. I have come to appreciate non-ribbed bbls and fixed chokes, so there are lots of old WMs out there to be had for the price of a new Express or even less.

FTR, I don't have anything AGAINST the 870 Express line. I just prefer the PMs and WMs for their particular virtues. Neither WM/PM of mine is pretty. Both are rigged functionally for their tasks.

I think I confused the issue by mentioning my Express :). You yourself are touting BOTH the police magnums and the Wingmasters. My comment is that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to see the Police Magnums selling for considerably more than even the Wingmasters, both in parts and in full guns. I can fully understand paying more for a Police Magnum than an Express, but more than a Wingmaster makes absolutely no sense unless they're just wanting the "police" heritage.
 
I think I confused the issue by mentioning my Express :). You yourself are touting BOTH the police magnums and the Wingmasters. My comment is that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to see the Police Magnums selling for considerably more than even the Wingmasters, both in parts and in full guns. I can fully understand paying more for a Police Magnum than an Express, but more than a Wingmaster makes absolutely no sense unless they're just wanting the "police" heritage.

Agreed. That said, those linked PMs were going for $379. Not great, but not a bad deal for Either PM or WM around here. I did better on my wife's PM, $300 OTD, but another $79 is not outrageous. And hte WMs sitting nearby were priced in the $300+ range.
 
Having helped run my agencies shotgun program, I would not buy a used police shotgun without personal inspection. They frequently are in very marginal mechanical condition, even worse finish, and oftentimes not worth the parts to restore them. Most of the time to get a shotgun to be released out of inventory for sale/auction means it's basically no longer functional to fire 6-8 rounds annually in qualification. In 5 years at the range we NEVER dead lined a shotgun, we just kept assembling franken guns out of ever increasing piles of broken shotguns.

Yes the 870P is a solid system, but police trade in's are like battlefield pickup Mosins. Not something I'd recommend unless you really want the provenance .
 
Too much money for used Express models. The wood stocked Wingmaster police guns were way better and iirc, were priced lower than that around here. I'd pass.
My bad. Not Express, just crapy finished police Wingmasters. Forgive me but I still think the blued, walnut stocked police models were classic. As a firearms luddite, if it isn't blue or walnut, I'm not lovin it. Some stainless, if well executed, like a model 60 is ok.
 
A long time ago, our Local Gunstore was selling Toledo Police Rem M870's. I went to the store and looked at the ones on the floor display. Some had low metal wear and were in good enough shape that the LGS put on new wood. Most were absolutely beat to heck. Lots of scratches, dents, finish gone from the wood and metal. They looked Stalingrad pickups.

I bought one that had a lot of finish, new wood. There was a noticeable wear band, supposedly from where the shotgun had been locked into a vehicle rack. I later found out why that shotgun had a lot of finish on the metal. It jammed! There was a gouge/notch on the lifter ramp. A shell would partially leave the magazine tube, the rim would go into the notch, and since some of the shell was still in the magazine, the mechanism jammed. I will bet that caused some excitement as that weapon could get the user killed.

It took a little stoning and grinding with a dremel tool to remove the gouge/notch, it was an easy fix once I figured out what was causing the jam. It surprised me that the Toledo Police Department had not fixed it. They should have had spare parts and replaced the lifter. Or, someone should have filed the gouge down. But it was evident the shotgun had been carried, which makes me wonder if anyone had fired the thing to determine its reliability before taking the weapon on patrol.

My advice about used Cop firearms, never buy one sight unseen. An ad showing a factory new weapon is probably not representative of what Department turned in. And then, a used weapon may have a flaw that Remington is not going to fix under warranty. That is a risk with all used weapons, but be prepared to fix it yourself. And beware the pretty shotgun out of a pile of beat up shotguns. Might be a reason that one was hardly used.
 
Yep, a lot of badly beaten up old police issue shotguns are around (and it was only later in my career that I finally was issued a personal shotgun, basic 870 Wingmaster in riot configuration, bead sight, 4 round tube, in really near new condition). In my younger years all we were issued was badly beaten up old Mossbergs and Remington shotguns. Not much to look at - but utterly reliable and brutally efficient for close quarters work, if needed....

In my years of service, 22 all told, I was the only one on a 100 man department that ever used a shotgun in a shooting incident. I was six months in and out of court over it. Like I said all of them were in poor condition -but every one was utterly reliable for the use we needed them for.

Folks who use or collect older weapons will have a lot different standards for what they're wanting. I posted the original notice without the slightest recommendation.... By the way, long out of police work I finally bought a duplicate of what I used to carry on the street. It was a new Express with synthetic stocks, in riot configuration (as noted above). The only items I added were a sling and a butt cuff that holds five extra rounds - the exact way I've always set up my working shotguns...

One last thought about police shotguns... They were on the way out generally when I retired in 1995. The rise of female candidates for police work (and the rise in concern over public opinion...) had the writing on the wall. More than one police agency would later bring on board "police carbines" in 9mm instead. I have seen a fair number of used police shotguns on the market over the years - some that weren't the usual badly beaten up old poppers that you'd expect to see. We're at the far end of the spectrum with fewer and fewer old police shotguns coming to market for the first time. On more that one occasion I came to regret not having picked one up twenty or more years ago when there were a lot of them around that were coming from one department's inventory or other....
 
I suppose it depends on the gun and department on how trashed the guns are. The 870 I had was scuffed but slick as all get out. I have an old 8 shot Ithaca 37 DSPS that belonged to a WI department that a forum friend purchased back in the mid 90s when they had a sell off of old equipment. Like the 870, scuffed but slick and reliable. I'm sure it was produced no later than the 1960s or some such time as I can slam fire it should I choose so.

My first shotgun was an Express. I won't be buying one again. The shells got hung up in the tube more often than I would like, and I never warmed up to a polymer buttstock. It's one of the reasons I never picked up a Maverick 88. I'm sure that's more than enough gun for me, but I was still a bit gun shy after my Express. It may be the reason why I went the full 590a1 route when I bought my new shotgun.
 
My first shotgun was an Express. I won't be buying one again. The shells got hung up in the tube more often than I would like, and I never warmed up to a polymer buttstock. It's one of the reasons I never picked up a Maverick 88. I'm sure that's more than enough gun for me, but I was still a bit gun shy after my Express. It may be the reason why I went the full 590a1 route when I bought my new shotgun.

I like my Maverick 88 far more than I liked my 870 Express. Should fit me really well after I change out a few things on it.
 
Are they actually an Express model? I was under the impression that all the Police models were actually Wingmasters (the way they were years ago....). I'm all ears...

Nothing wrong with Express. LGS has couple of full conversion Scattergun Technologies in very good shape for $1100 each. The receiver is Express. They looked rugged and professional but fall short in handling department when compared to "Ole' Joe".>>>>>
 

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I have several 870's including one PM. Only thing I don't like about the PM is the incredibly stout magazine spring.
 
I had a polished blue Police Magnum (block lettering stamped low on receiver).
Walnut, buttplate, 2 3/4" rifle sighted bbl.
Nice gun.

Have also had Special Purpose (matte finish) 870 and Express models.
The diff there was the Express did not have a sight groove on the top of receiver, was just a milled flat.
If scoping one, an Express got you a thread or two more for screws.
Better yet, a Sportsman, which were round topped (even on the auto version).

Have had several 870 Express. When that line came out Remington standardized receivers, all 12 ga 870 Express were magnum receiver.
Check for the "M" at end of serial number.

IIRC some were sold w 2 3/4" bbls, some w 3", later all w 3".

Mine have run smooth, one actually was smoother than any Wingmaster I've had.

The 870 Special Fields, Wingmasters, Special Purposes, and Express are all gone now.............except for one.
A 23" Express Supermagnum Turkey gun.
Reg synth stock, matte finish, vent rib and Remchoke.
Yes the rib isn't perfectly straight, has slight wow to it. Better than most but not perfect like my older guns.
But the choketube is concentric and on the money impact wise.
And it's halfway smooth, and has been reliable.

It has limited out on doves when the over under purists nearby were not.

Now where is that super huge smiley emoticon?
 
My police magnum, after cut and recoil pad added.
Note the bbl was sloppy in the receiver, so I put some tape on it to tighten fit.
Even then it wasn't the best slug gun.
Bad enough I called it a 75 yard max rig.
Of course I shot my deer at 25

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