View Full Version : Remington 870 Tactical
"Tactical" in this case being just a cooler way to say "Express". Wal-Mart had these on sale (Black Friday) for $285, so I decided to roll the dice (I'm aware that this may need some chamber work. etc.).
Remington is billing this latest iteration as having a one-piece mag tube, and the first thing I noticed was the lack of Remington's familiar barrel clamp. Is this going to be the way forward for all Remington's Tactical/Police models, and is it any better than the previous magazine setup?
http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss158/5757_photos/001_zps41a832f1.jpg (http://s571.photobucket.com/user/5757_photos/media/001_zps41a832f1.jpg.html)
"Remington is billing this latest iteration as having a one-piece mag tube, and the first thing I noticed was the lack of Remington's familiar barrel clamp. Is this going to be the way forward for all Remington's Tactical/Police models, and is it any better than the previous magazine setup"
The long tube is probably a cost cutting maneuver by Remington but in the end better for the end user. It is a pain in the ass to remove the barrel when you have to first remove the clamp and extension on the earlier models. The downside is you are unable to multipurpose the gun with different barrels. Don't worry about the chamber issue that probably didn't effect many if any guns.
lightestfighter
11-29-14, 18:56
The long tube is probably a cost cutting maneuver by Remington but in the end better for the end user. It is a pain in the ass to remove the barrel when you have to first remove the clamp and extension on the earlier models. The downside is you are unable to multipurpose the gun with different barrels. Don't worry about the chamber issue that probably didn't effect many if any guns.
You can use regular style 870 barrels by cutting a piece of tubing to take up the space between the barrel ring and the magazine cap. People have been doing this for a long while with the 5-tube Pardner 870 clones.
You can use regular style 870 barrels by cutting a piece of tubing to take up the space between the barrel ring and the magazine cap. People have been doing this for a long while with the 5-tube Pardner 870 clones.
I understand and stand corrected. That makes perfect sense to me.
plouffedaddy
11-30-14, 20:52
Good luck OP. I hope it runs.
Good luck OP. I hope it runs.
Me too. I'm sure Remington sells thousands of these every year. You would think that someone would have taken notice of the issues by now (or maybe they have - I don't know).
Me too. I'm sure Remington sells thousands of these every year. You would think that someone would have taken notice of the issues by now (or maybe they have - I don't know).
I've got one of these with the longer mag tube, bought new in early 2012. Also have the earlier version(late 2011) with the standard shorter length mag tube and Remington's 2-shot extension. Both guns had extraction/ejection issues, with cheap steelhead birdshot loads (but little or no problem with brasshead shells, even after more than 1k rds through each). The problem was fixed after my local smith used a flexhone to polish the chambers and bores and replaced the MIM extrators with non-MIM ones. Also expect the finish to be prone to surface rust. Both are known issues with the Express models.
Re the newer style longer mag tube, I think it's a better arrangement overall than the earlier shorter tube, if that's used with Remington's 2-shot extension. I had issues with the Rem extension working loose after shot strings and there were some feed issues as well. I replaced the extension with a Wilson Combat 2-shot unit and both issues went away. I also like the Wilson integral sling mount better than Rem's swivel arrangement. One downside of the longer newer style mag tube is the front sling swivel. I don't like using the integral swivel stud in the mag cap; I'm concerned that I may end up shooting the sling because it's so close to the muzzle. I put a Mesa Tactical clamp with a QD swivel mount on that gun and it worked fine once I stopped it moving forward under recoil (used liquid electrical tape).
Also I recommend replacing the flimsy OEM magazine follower with a more sturdy one. There are lots of them on the market. If your gun is like mine, it has two stakes formed in the end of the mag tube to help retain the mag cap. If so, you'll need a follower with slots in the sides to allow it to move past the stakes.
Don't be surprised if your gun's operation seems rough at first. Both mine were; they get smoother as you work the action more.
What kind of chamber issues are we worried about?
What kind of chamber issues are we worried about?
Many complaints of Remington Expresses not liking any of the valu-pak type ammo. Some of them FTE with that ammo. Generally polishing the chamber corrects the problem. Armorer lore is that the Remington chambers are closer to minimum specs, the reality is probably that Remington isn't polishing and honing the chambers as they used to, especially on the express models.
Here is a link on fixing the problem: http://www.rem870.com/2012/10/14/remington-870-chamber-polishing/
Flex-Hone from brush research is a good resource - http://www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c2=6
Hope this answers your question.
What kind of chamber issues are we worried about?
I had sticky extraction(sometime resulting in ejection failures) and outright failures to extract with steel head shells on both my 870 Express guns prior to a local smith using the flexhone on them. Didn't have any issues with brass head shells. Each gun had over 1000 rds through it, and was still exhibiting the issues, so I'm not convinced that the problems will simply go away by running enough rds through the gun.
SpyderMan2k4
04-19-15, 22:46
I've seen shells get stuck in 870 chambers in each of the three classes I've been to since August. All were express models, none had any polishing our anything done. I had a friend a few years ago that had major issues with it as well. While I never had it happen to me personally, I saw enough to polish my chamber and replace the extractor.
Per the OP's gun, I hadn't realized they are now offering a one piece tube. That is awesome! I had loading issues from time to time as the rear of the follower would hang up on the extended tube seam with the factory follower as well as a GG&G follower (I then tried a delrin follower from S&J Hardware that would still hang up occasionally, but I contoured the rear of it enough that I no longer have issues).
Many complaints of Remington Expresses not liking any of the valu-pak type ammo. Some of them FTE with that ammo. Generally polishing the chamber corrects the problem. Armorer lore is that the Remington chambers are closer to minimum specs, the reality is probably that Remington isn't polishing and honing the chambers as they used to, especially on the express models.
Here is a link on fixing the problem: http://www.rem870.com/2012/10/14/remington-870-chamber-polishing/
Flex-Hone from brush research is a good resource - http://www.brushresearch.com/brushes.php?c2=6
Hope this answers your question.
Excellent! Thank you very much for the info. Sounds a bit like a pain in the butt!
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