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That Express guns are "Wingmasters" with different finishes is not accurate.

The 870 Express guns were never parkerized, Remington used a less expensive "matte blue" that didn't require the smoothing & polish of a traditional "Gloss Blue"...

Also instead of using Walnut wood with cut checkering (Wingmaster) they usually had a "hard wood" (Usually Birch) with pressed checkering.  The interior parts did not get the same level of polish, so an "express" is rarely as smooth as a Wingmaster or Police Magnum.

The Matte Blue Express guns sadly tend to rust very easily.  The Parkerizing on Police Magnum Guns is much more resistant because the "parkerize pores" hold oil.  

The 870 Police Guns were available either Blued or Parkerized.  They were built on a seperate line and had upgrades unique to the Police Magnum line.


Bonus is that over time the Parkerized guns take on a cool Olive Drab appearance as they age.

that said, my son shoots great with his 870 Express, and it has killed everything that he pointed it at without a jam or bobble, so the "Express" DOES get the job done!

BIGGER_HAMMER

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I heard the express had some plastic parts and was different.

I have an express BTW, I assumed the only difference was the finish and perhaps wood when I bought it circa '86.

The police model 870P is supposed to have some enhanced internals. I've heard it was the best of all 870s, always wanted one.

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@Dons

I believe you are correct when dealing with newer made Express guns. My trigger assembly is aluminum. Not sure when the transition was made to poly trigger groups. Perhaps someone can/will chime in with more details......

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Nice snag.

I have a pile of 870s and the last one I got was a 2013 Remington 870 Express 12ga. Paid $100 for it.

https://i.imgur.com/G4Xt1kN.jpg

It strangely is the only 12ga 870 in my collection that have removable chokes but it didn't come with all the chokes. I bought the missing chokes for $5 for the entire set. Local shop had one of those little choke tube carrying cases in the closeout box. They had all the chokes in them. I told the store owner, and he said fuck it. If it is marked $5, you get it for $5. What's funny is he had individually packaged choke tubes marked for $15 each.

All my other 870s in 12ga have fixed choked barrels. But they're all from the 70s or before.

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Quoting myself, but rechecked now I'm not sure when mine was made.  SN prefix is "S" and it has the older style fore end.  Lots of markings on barrel I've been unable to decipher thus far.

https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/44277/Screen_Shot_2020-04-22_at_8_32_39_AM_png-1380479.JPG
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/44277/Screen_Shot_2020-04-22_at_8_32_05_AM_png-1380481.JPG

Quoted:
Hard for many of the younger gun guys to believe but there was a time that most any Remington was built with quite a bit of pride by some skilled guys