870 Magnums - too much (mis)information

[Scotter260]

I picked up these two 870 Magnums on Monday and was told they were trade-ins from a local PD and are within 12 digits serial #-wise. Both were pretty rough finish-wise but one had the SpeedFeed and both had the WORKING Laser Products fore-ends. I called Remington today and they're 1988 guns. I also asked the gal who assisted me when they started marking them "Police Magnum". I had a PM in 1999 that was marked as such but I've also had access to a likely mid-70s 870 that's just marked 870 Magnum.

When did Remington start marking "Police Magnum"?

When did the Express come out? (I believe I asked and the gal said 1992.)







I KG GunKoted one in flat black to see how it'd turn out and it doesn't seem all that bad.

I paid less than $500 for both OTD - I thought I was doing pretty good but the whole Magnum/Police Magnum thing is making me wonder.

[Synchronizor]

870 engravings change all the time, I'd honestly be surprised if anyone (even Remington themselves) has ever documented them entirely. I have a 2011 870 Express #20577 receiver simply marked "Remington 870", while other similar guns from the same general production period could be called "Remington 870 Express", "Remington 870 Magnum", "Remington 870 Tactical", and so on.

Is there a reason you're concerned about this? Though there can be some differences like the finish, or drilling & tapping for sights or optic mounts; all 870 receivers are pretty much identical from functional and parts interchangeability standpoints. Even non-magnum receivers are identical aside from two parts riveted inside (which you can change to convert a non-magnum receiver to handle 3" shells).

[Scotter260]

I wouldn't say I'm concerned, just wondering. The Police models have a bit more of a following and if I decide to sell one, a Police model will go a lot quicker than an Express.

If this is what a Police Magnum was up until 19XX at which point they were actually marked as such, that's groovy - if it's what an Express was up until 19XX at which point they were actually marked as such, then crap.

The misinformation in the thread title stemmed from my searches which turned up a hundred different opinions in each search result and none of them seemed to coincide with another.

[Synchronizor]

Remington should have been able to tell you if they were originally 870Ps based on the serial numbers. All I can say is that these have police-style furniture, and even if they did start out as riot-configured Wingmasters or early Expresses (sources I refer to say that Express models were first introduced in 1987), they're too old to have the tell-tale parts like plastic spring retainers or polymer trigger plates that set current civilian 870s apart from 870Ps (not that those parts are inferior, mind you).

There's also the fact that if these spent the past several decades time in an armory, they've probably had a lot of parts changed out, replaced, or swapped with other guns anyway. I'm pretty darn sure those stocks and fore-ends are not genuine 1980s furniture.