Remington 870

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Remington 870
Remington 870 Marine Magnum
Type	Shotgun
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States, Israel, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia
Production history
Manufacturer	Remington Arms
Specifications
Weight	7 pounds (3.2 kg)
Length	38.5 inches (978 mm)
Barrel length	18 inches (457 mm)

Cartridge	12 gauge, 16 gauge, 20 gauge, 28 gauge, and .410 bore
Action	pump-action
Feed system	4 round internal tube magazine specifications for 28", 12 ga Wingmaster

The Remington Model 870 is a U.S.-made pump-action shotgun. It is widely used by the public for target shooting, hunting, and self-defense. It is also commonly used by US law enforcement agencies as well as military groups such as Special Operations Command units of the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy.

1 Development
2 Design details
3 Variants
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Development

The Remington 870 was the fourth major design in a series of Remington pump shotguns. John Pedersen designed the fragile Model 10 (and later the improved model 29). Working with John Browning, Pedersen also helped design the Model 17^[1] which was adopted by Ithaca as the Ithaca 37 and also served as the basis for the Remington 31. The Model 31 was an excellent shotgun, but struggled for sales in the shadow of the Winchester Model 12. Remington sought to correct that by introducing in 1950 a modern, streamlined, rugged, reliable, and relatively inexpensive shotgun, the 870 Wingmaster.

Sales of the 870 have been steady. They reached 2 million guns by 1973 (ten times the number of Model 31 shotguns it replaced). By 1996, spurred by the basic "Express" model, sales topped seven million guns. The 870 holds the record for best-selling pump gun in U.S. history.^[2]

[edit] Design details

The 870 features a bottom-loading, side ejecting receiver, tubular magazine under the barrel, dual action bars, internal hammer, and a bolt which locks into an extension in the barrel. The action, receiver, trigger system, safety catch and slide release catch of the Remington Model 870 shotgun are similar to those used on the Remington Model 7600 series pump-action centrefire rifles and carbines. 20 gauge stocks will also interchange. Several parts of the 870 will interchange with the semi-automatic Remington model 1100 and 11-87. The main competitor of the Remington 870 is the Mossberg 500.

[edit] Variants

There are hundreds of variations of the Remington 870. From the original fifteen models offered, Remington currently produces dozens of models for civilian, law enforcement, and military sales. 870 variants can be grouped into:

The Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun loaded with pyrotechnical shells (blanks) is seen here used as a last resort to scare off unwanted birds in flight from the vicinity of Incirlik Air Base.

Wingmaster– Polished bluing and glossy wood finishes.
Express – Inexpensive bead blasted finish and satin wood or synthetic furniture. This model was created to compete with Mossberg.
Marine – synthetic stocks and nickel finishes.
Tactical - numerous versions and options intended for military and police markets.
Police Magnum (870P) – high luster blued or parkerized finish and satin wood or synthetic stocks.

[edit] See also

Norinco HP9-1, Remington 870 derivative.
List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces (Shotguns)
KAC Masterkey

[edit] References

^ Snyder, Walter C. Ithaca Featherlight Repeaters, The Best Gun Going. NC: Cook and Uline Pub, 1998. ISBN 0-9629469-1-5
^ Harold Murtz. Gun Digest Treasury (DBI Books, 1994), p.193