jakerau
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1:1 in 08 Foaming at the Gills!
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Hi. I am buying my first shotgun in the very near future. I want the 870 Express 12 ga by Remington. I have heard it is a tough gun and a great first gun. Any comments or suggestions?
jake
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Jake
www.flytymes.blogspot.com
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Mojo
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Smarter than you are...
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I bought one about 13 years ago as a disposable duck gun so I didn't do any more damage to my 1100. It is still killing birds today. They are cheap and use cheap wood, but don't let that scare you off. They are easily field stripped in a duck blind. My dog knocked mine over in the mud once, then stepped on it for good measure. I literally unloaded it, sloshed it around in the river to wash the mud out, sprayed the whole thing off with WD-40, and shot 3 more ducks with it. They are reliable. I've never had mine jam, never had a shell stick in the magazine, never had a misfire. I'm talking literally 10's of thousands of rounds through it.
In my opinion, it is the best cheap gun out there. If I had to do it all over again, I'd put a synthetic stock on it though.
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Tight Lines,
Mojo
TEAM MOOSE DROOL
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fishdoc
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Thick Tail
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I'm with MOJO...we shoot 4 of them in this family without a hitch ever.
doc
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If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always gotten.
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Tony1831
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Native slab
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tough guns, I would also switch to a synthetic stock
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<---- "Jihad this!"
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fishhog
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Mining for steel
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Jaker... check out the Benelli Nova series scatterguns.
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Is my Red Neck showing?
Politically correct..... What's that?
Netting = extinction
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roach
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king
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my dad has been shooting an 870 wingmaster for about 30 years, and I have had my 870 express for 10 years. we both love them, very reliable tough and they shoot great. you can get an 870 3 1/2 mag camo synthetic for under 300 bucks. In mine opinion there is no better gun out there.
Roach
Edited by roach (10/23/06 09:00 PM)
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BallsT
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steelie
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Dude i would do it! i love them they never fail ( clean often)!!!!
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Team 1985 Clackacraft Drifter
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jakerau
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I have looked for the synth/camo model. Cant find it. Got a lead for me? Thanks,
Jake
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jakerau
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Everybody likes the synthetic stocks, huh? I am sure the durability far surpasses the cheap wood stocks, but dang that wood looks good. So wahts the story with the wood then? Is it breaking up a lot, splintering, screws stripping out, what? Give me a good reason to go sythetic and I'll do it. My reasons for liking the wood are purly cosmetic. If I could find the camo model, I'd be very close to making a purchase. Still shopping around.
Jake
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Jake
www.flytymes.blogspot.com
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Tony1831
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Just for the durability alone, the synthetic is much more forgiving when you drop it in the truck or it gets knocked over by the dog and falls off the bench, those annoying dents, dings and scratches won't be evident like they would in a wooden stock. Plus you can take the synthetic stock into the tub/shower if you need to really do some scrubbin.
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<---- "Jihad this!"
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Hatch
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silver
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You can always buy the standard wood stock and get an after market synthetic in black or camo later if you decide to go that way. I have 2 870's that I've done this with one with a ram-line and one with a hogue. Both were between $65 and $80. Never had a problem with my wood stocks but I'm not concerned with dents and scratches on an express. Like Mojo said they are the best disposable duck gun for the money.
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jakerau
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So I was poking around on Ebay to find replacement stocks and forarm peices and I came across a camo stock with a pistol grip. Anyone ever used a shotgun with a pistol grip? pros, cons?
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Jake
www.flytymes.blogspot.com
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jakerau
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http://cgi.ebay.com/REMINGTON-870-MOSSBE...1QQcmdZViewItem
COpy and paste the link for al look at the pistol grip for Rem870Exp
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Jake
www.flytymes.blogspot.com
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Steelheader15
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king
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cant go wrong with a mossberg 500 or 835 iv got both
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roach
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king
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you can special order one from walmart for the standard price I think it is 279 for a 12 guage 3.5 mag synth/camo
takes about 2 weeks no extra charge
Roach
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Gooose
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I can't see a need for a pistol grip stock for any hunting application. It does have it's place as defining the gun as an assault weapon in appearance. Synthetics have their place as does camo finishes but in probably 90% of hunting situations won't add to the guns or your abilty. Having a camo stock on a gun with a shiny blued barrel is down right meaningless for hunting from a blind for ducks. That half foot of shiny in the sun blued barrel sticking up over the top of your blind is what scares the birds every time you move it even a bit. For your first shotgun just get the basic wood stock. Take care of the gun by thoroughly cleaning it after every outing and it will last a lifetime. Pack a can of WD40 and a wipe rag in your vehicle and give it a quick spray and wipe for the ride home where you give it a more thorough treatment. Oh and pack a couple of soft nails in the field for removing the trigger assembly....eventually you'll need them right in the middle of the best flight of the day. Just my humble opinion after about 40 years of waterfowl hunting. 
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Gooose
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While I've never hunted with the 870 or any other pump action I have hunted next to them for those 40 years and they have an interesting fault with some ammo with the magazine feed. Occasionally a second rounds base will slide too far back and jam in the feed mechanism. Takes about 20 seconds to fix if you have the nails to punch out the 2 retaining pins holding the trigger assembly and feed mechanism.  Pop out the assembly ..pull the round and pop the assembly back in. Reload and get set for the birds in the dekes. 
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Independent Advocate For The Fish
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It's Gonna Be A Long Winter
There's lies, damned lies and then there are statistics......Mark Twain
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roach
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king
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actually goose the new ones have a camo barrel so there is nothing shiny to spook the birds.
Roach
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BobK
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Yeah, but 870 Express barrels aren't polished, so they are pretty dull and don't reflect light! That's why a lot of guys like them better than the 870 Wingmaster!
BobK
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imanate
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Most of the Wal-Mart stores in my area have them in stock, often both the express and super mag (3 1/2"). I like synthetics for field use because I just seem to beat up the wood too much and often go out in less than ideal conditions. I definitely appreciate the look and feel of a nice wood stock, but don't own very many.
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Long Distance Seat Whore!
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Rocket Red
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If you buy blued steel just let it rust. That way it won't spook birds. That is what I did!
The end of my gun also blew apart one day so maybe I'm not a good example. . .
In case you coudn't tell that was t.i.c.
Nearly all of my buds shoot 870 express. They seem to be pretty good all around duck guns, they are cheap and tough and you can't beat that. I shoot a Browning BPS and the action has been really dependable, but I don't think of it as a great duck gun (bluing is crap, and it is too fancy for the blind) The only thing that makes it a good duck gun is the bottom ejection so you don't eject your empties into your partners faces in the blind. 
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"Painter of light, my a$$!"
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Mojo
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Jake, my issues with the wood are, they use pine or some other soft wood in the 870 express, and the checkering is pressed in not cut checkered. They look cheap. The 870 Wingmaster has walnut and shiny blued finish on the metal. The 870 express has dull wood and a parkerized metal finish and it is a matte finish. Just buy the synthetic stock aftermarket.
One note on synthetic stiocks, check to make sure they don't make a loud hollow sound when you whack them with something. My bro-in-law showed me his .243 deer gun stock sounds like a hollow coconut when you flip it with your finger.
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Tight Lines,
Mojo
TEAM MOOSE DROOL
TEAM SMOKIN' MERC
TEAM JACKSON BALDWIN
Alaksa Nitro Baits Pro Staff
"It's Gonna Be A Long Winter"
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Gooose
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Ejecting empties into your partners face is a neccessity...makes up for the muzzle blasts next to my right ear. The retriever two dogs before Whitedog had a habit of nailing my ejected casings in mid air unless he saw a bird get hit. BadDawg! You really cannot reload casings with dog bite marks.
Mojo good info that I was unaware of. Soft pine is not gonna stand up to moisture real well. Checkering is not really a benefit in a low end utilitarian shotgun so I wouldn't care but issues with swelling, shrinkage and stock failure would be especially in the this era of higher velocity rounds. My first bad experiences with high velocity steel reloads was damage to the stocks on the guns. Forearm stocks on my Savage over/under and SKB side by side didn't hold up....real fun to have one of those seperate from the gun after a first shot and you are swinging thru for a second. The butt stock on my SKB auto loosened up and chipped also. So far my Beretta with higher quality tight grained walnut hasn't shown any damage.
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Independent Advocate For The Fish
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There's lies, damned lies and then there are statistics......Mark Twain
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jimh
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For sure the finish on Remington models vary a lot. The express stock is hardwood not pine, but it isn't walnut! There are few Remington shotguns that have real checkering. They like their coating that fills the checkering in any way on the standard Wingmaster and 1100.
One of the nicest finished Remingtons is the Special Field line. But, I suppose no enough people liked the straight stock because they don't make it any more. I wish I could have kept my Special Field auto which was one of the first in production, but I needed the money at the time! Oh well...
I agree that I'd go synthetic in the express.
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Wear a PFD if you want to live.
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Gooose
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Truthfully do you think checkering really makes any difference in regards to the effectiveness of a shotgun for hunting waterfowl? BTW due to the informative posts here I'd go with synthetic on my next shotgun.
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Independent Advocate For The Fish
Not Represented By Any Organization
It's Gonna Be A Long Winter
There's lies, damned lies and then there are statistics......Mark Twain
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jimh
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I don't think checkering helps much. I just never have much issue gripping the gun.
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Wear a PFD if you want to live.
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jakerau
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1:1 in 08 Foaming at the Gills!
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Anyuone know anything about Winchester shotguns? What is their cheap work horse?
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Jake
www.flytymes.blogspot.com
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KingFisher85
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I had good luck with the Winchester 1300 pump gun
Had bad luck with the Remington 870 express mag 3 1/2in gun tho..but the 3in 870 was a work horse!
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Keep it simple
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archy99
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Chromer
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