Police trade-ins

[sdacbob]

A local gun shop has a pretty good selection of Mossberg 500 & 590's and Remington 870's in stock...both wood and synthetic stocks. A few have the 8rd tubes but most 5 to 7 rd tubes. What would be the best buy and what to look for? They are priced at $199.

[kmrtnsn]

Get an 870 "P" and then send it to Wilson Combat/Scattergun Tech.

[556A2]

Buy the 870 with the least amount of wear.

[TOrrock]

Buy the 870 with the least amount of wear.


Yup, especially if the receiver is marked "Wingmaster" or "Police". Both are equal in quality and are the Gold Standard of pump shotguns.

Capacity is not as big a deal as I once thought it was, unless you're using it in 3 Gun games. Rob Haught runs a 14" Scattergun Tech Remington 870 with a +1 mag extension.

[rob_s]

I'd love to find a shop with a good selection of used 870Ps. I had one years ago that got stolen and I've had an itch to replace it for several months now.

I would ignore the external appearance of the gun, beyond anything drastically wrong like major gouges in the steel. See if you can take them apart and look at the guts for signs of rust, pitting, excessive carbon build-up, etc. When I bought mine the outside looked like hell but the internals were only used to the point of having a very smooth action, probably from a lot of wracking, but no firing. I had the gun re-finished for $100 or so and IIRC the whole thing cost me $250.

[ThirdWatcher]

Buy the 870 with the least amount of wear.

+1 The worst part about retiring from my former agency was having to turn in my beloved 870 Police Magnum (parkerized w/ wood stock and fore end). That was a thing of beauty.

[SeriousStudent]

I agree with the above. I was able to snag a used 870 Police at a pawn shop that way, and turn it into a really nice HD shotty.

[LonghunterCO]

870 without a doubt.