Found A 1974 Remington 870 12 Guage

[Dee]

About 10 years ago I gave most of my guns to my 2 boys. My youngest got my 1978 870 modified for police tactical work, and later I regretted letting it go.

Well Saturday, I ran across a 1974 870 with a ventilated rib that the owner said had feeding problems, and wanted to know if I could fix it. I told him I had an 1100 he'd like better, and traded with him gun for gun. He couldn't believe it since his gun had issues so he jumped on the deal.

Took about 10 minutes to fix the problem, and 2 hours to completely disassemble, and clean the 870. Parts will be here Thursday, and then it will be an exact copy of the one my son now owns. It will be my primary home defense, and travel gun.

I haven't had time to slick the action yet, but when my parts come in, I'll finish it. I love those older 870s, and there is nuthin I can't fix on'em.

[JBinMN]

I have one. A "Wing-master".

Chambered for 2-3/4"shells, and came as full choke originally, for lead only.

Got it as a "door prize" at a Ducks Unlimited convention, new in the box.

Used it for a while until they made us change over to Steel shot instead of lead for waterfowl hunting, in/around 1979/1980.

Changed over the barrel to a , IIRC, an aftermarket Mossberg smooth bore with iron sights about 1986-87, and started using it for deer hunting only.

I bought a couple other shotguns for waterfowl that had barrels suitable for steel. A couple of Mossbergs, one is a 500, and another Rem. 870 "Express", for back when we spent a LOT of time shooting ducks & geese.

Anyway, They are GREAT shotguns. At least those ones from the 70's.
Not so keen on the newer "Express" ones, 1980s and later.

Good you have one of the older ones. They are worth taking care of & passing on later to those who will appreciate them.

[Dee]

Duck and goose hunted back in the 60s before the government made it so expensive, and I came to the conclusion that I really didn't like eating either.
Dove and quail huntin down here was the big deal. September 1st was the super bowl of huntin better known as "dove day". It was ok to call in sick for work, or quit your job for opening day.

It wasn't unusual to see 40 or 50 birds in a covey of bobwhites, and I had a pen full of pointers.

Well, spray rigs for fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, came along, then South America sent us "fire ants", and there went the quail.
Wanna make a farmer mad? Tell him spraying quail and quail eggs with the aforementioned chemicals helped wipe out the Bob white quail population.

Old age, and expensive leases killed the dove hunting.

But, defending ones home, and family, here in Texas has become more popular (and necessary) than ever, and a cylinder bore doesn't care whether you shoot lead, or steel, so a #4 buck magnum still works splendidly in these old "Wingmasters", and thats about all this one will get as long as I'm capable.

Did I mention it was a 1974? Damn I like these old shotguns.

[Drilling Man]

  I like 870's too, I have three of them ready to go, around my house...

  DM

[gene_225]

I've had two 870, a 16 ga & a 12 ga. Sold the 16 and gave the 12 to my daughter.  And a 97 Win to each of my sons. Now I just keep single shot shotguns around.

[Ranger99]

The older ones are definitely better
and more reliable. A coworker bought
two different "newer " 870's , ( around
2000-2001) and they had all kinds of
problems. The first one would double
feed about every other shell and lock
up. It did it constantly during the first
dove hunt we went on, and we spent
as much time getting it unstuck as we
did popping shells at birds. I diddled
with it as much as I could in the middle
of a maize field, but afterwards he
ultimately had to send it back to Remington.
The second one had similar problems,
but somehow the magazine spring
would get past the follower and poke
up into the receiver and lock everything
up. I don't remember what the cause
of all that malarkey was and what
finally happened with the last gun.

The people I've known with the old
ones used em till they were worn
shiny and ready for the scrap barrel

I mostly used an Auto 5 and lastly
an M1 Super 90 for what dove birds
I had hostilities with.
A couple of years ago, most all of
the places I had to go dove hunt
started growing high rise office buildings
and condominiums and shopping malls,
so that fixed any bird hunting shotgun
malfunctions I may have had in the
future

[ulav8r]

Dad's 870 was a 1957 model, 12 ga 3" mag with full choke.  Before I was big enough to carry a gun hunting, I went with him on a deer hunt.  The dogs struck a trail at the far end of a field and went into the woods.  A minute later the deer came out of the woods and crossed the field.  the neighbor we were hunting with fired his 30-30 2 or 3 times and dad fired 2 or 3 times.   The deer never slowed down.  We went down and found the deer's tracks and no sign of blood.  However we did find evidence that dad was shooting low.  Right next to one of the tracks we found what looked to be where buck shot had hit right at the track.  It looked like 3 buck shot had hit within a two inch area.  Dad believed that was what had happened but I "know" that was not true.  I never patterned that gun but it did shoot tight patterns.  My sister has it now.

[nw_hunter]

Duck and goose hunted back in the 60s before the government made it so expensive, and I came to the conclusion that I really didn't like eating either.
Dove and quail huntin down here was the big deal. September 1st was the super bowl of huntin better known as "dove day". It was ok to call in sick for work, or quit your job for opening day.

It wasn't unusual to see 40 or 50 birds in a covey of bobwhites, and I had a pen full of pointers.

Well, spray rigs for fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, came along, then South America sent us "fire ants", and there went the quail.
Wanna make a farmer mad? Tell him spraying quail and quail eggs with the aforementioned chemicals helped wipe out the Bob white quail population.

Old age, and expensive leases killed the dove hunting.

But, defending ones home, and family, here in Texas has become more popular (and necessary) than ever, and a cylinder bore doesn't care whether you shoot lead, or steel, so a #4 buck magnum still works splendidly in these old "Wingmasters", and thats about all this one will get as long as I'm capable.

Did I mention it was a 1974? Damn I like these old shotguns.

Spraying herbicides in Oregon has depleted our game as well. The Timber industry's bad practices  have decimated our wild life. They refuse to let anything grow back after clear cutting but Fir trees.
They spray the entire area after logging it, and take all hardwoods down when harvesting the fir trees. I hear that pine tree harvesting back east is doing the same thing. For the most part, game is now found in abundance in small privately owned parcels. Our small acreage has Turkey, Quail, Deer and lots of song birds. They have food here.

Back to the shotgun...Hard to beat an 870 or 500 Mossberg  around the house for SD or farm work.

[DDZ]

Back to the shotgun...Hard to beat an 870 or 500 Mossberg  around the house for SD or farm work.

I agree 100%!  When I was 16 years old in 1973, my dad bought me a 870 12 gauge wingmaster 3 inch chamber with a 30 inch full choke barrel. I used that shotgun for everything. It was great for duck and goose hunting, trap and skeet shooting pheasant hunting, crow hunting, turkey hunting, and even used it for rabbit and grouse hunting. Later I bought a 26 inch barrel with screw in choke tubes. Then I bought an 18 inch barrel and used the 870 for a home defense gun. I would take the plug out of it so I could stuff more rounds in it.  I got tired of changing the barrel and installing the plug every time I wanted to hunt with it, so I bought a weatherby pump 12G with a 18 inch tube, pistol grip, and ghost ring sights. It has a picatinny rail that I mounted a streamlight on, and that now is my home defense shotgun that I keep loaded with 2 3/4 inch #1BK. 
Almost 50 years later I still use my 870 for hunting purposes.  In fact its the only shotgun I have ever hunted with except when I was 12 to 16 years old I shot a single shot 20 gauge. I never had anything break or fail on the 870, after 50 years of using it for everything. In my opinion its the best shotgun ever made. 

[Dee]

I've since moved that shotgun out for a double barrel coach gun that proved to be a disaster.
I now have a Remington 870 "Tactical". 7 rounds with 1 in the  chamber, 3" chamber, and cylinder bore.

[Lloyd Smale]

i like to have a special field. it was the straight grip stock with a 20 inch barrel. i had a browning bps they called the upland special and it was a sweet little shotgun that also made for a good home defense gun. sadly that little sweetheart  had to be sold back in 1990 when i got divorced along with about 20 nice guns to pay the ex off. by the time i got around to replacing it browning and rem quit making them. 

[neckisred]

I have a 3" mag 870 12g that was made the first year Remington offered it in 3" mag. I bought it used in the mid 80's for $100 and it was well worn then. I couldn't even guess the amount of game I've taken with that old gun and it's never failed me. I also have a very early 20g 870 that has a serial on the barrel as well as the receiver. I'd say I've owned it for 30+ years and have never fired it. Looks brand new.....

[DDZ]

I have a 3" mag 870 12g that was made the first year Remington offered it in 3" mag.

That would have been 1955.

[neckisred]

I have a 3" mag 870 12g that was made the first year Remington offered it in 3" mag.

That would have been 1955.

Thanks. I researched it when I first bought it. Thought it was in the 50's, but anymore I'm surprised I remembered I own it 

[DDZ]

I have a 3" mag 870 12g that was made the first year Remington offered it in 3" mag.

That would have been 1955.

Thanks. I researched it when I first bought it. Thought it was in the 50's, but anymore I'm surprised I remembered I own it 

Not sure the value of your 870, but i figure its worth some money. Especially if its good condition.

https://www.remingtonsociety.org/collecting-870-shotguns/

[neckisred]

I have a 3" mag 870 12g that was made the first year Remington offered it in 3" mag.

That would have been 1955.

Thanks. I researched it when I first bought it. Thought it was in the 50's, but anymore I'm surprised I remembered I own it 

Not sure the value of your 870, but i figure its worth some money. Especially if its good condition.

https://www.remingtonsociety.org/collecting-870-shotguns/

Excellent link, thanks.  Both of my 870's are the ADL deluxe. The 12 is fair at best. No rust or pitting but very little bluing left. Also drilled and tapped for a scope. I know I have at least 2 barrels for it.

The 20 is not a mag, but near mint. It has the matte rib barrel which has a serial numbered barrel that matches the frame. I have an extra barrel for it as well, but the extra barrel does not have a serial number. Could never bring myself to hunt with it as it is just too nice. It should bring some decent money to a collector.