Police?????

[dennisoates]

I just bought a 12 Remington 870 barrel , that was advertised as a Wingmaster Police , when it arrived it appeared to be an exprss barrel. There is no marking saying police, its a 2 3/4 only 18 1/2 inch with a bead site. I could not tell by the pic is was not blue in color when it arrived. Did Remington make a wingmaster police in black matte? or did i get screwed? thanks

[jpfrog]

The police version has always had a "less dressy" appearance than the Wingmaster, which has always been a highly polished blue finish with a checkered glossy walnut stock and forend. The police has typically been a dull finish with plain wood, as anything "dressy" would surely be ruined after the typical use from duty. I can't say whether or not matte black was standards, but it sounds about right. Not sure if it's parkerized or what, but it's definitely not supposed to be glossy.

[Chief Brody]

I own an 870 Police Magnum - There aren't any special markings on the barrel identifying it as a Police model. Same length as yours, same bead sight. 2 3/4" or 3" shells, Improved cylinder. Parkerized.

Maybe yours is an older barrel?

[bbull311]

If it is a police barrel it will have a detent on it.

[dennisoates]

thanks for the tips
no indent , Im selling it on ebay

[bbull311]

Most police departments use a mixture of standard 870s, wingmasters, with a mixture of police magnums thrown in. The barrel may have come off a police shotgun but is probably just a standard barrel. Like I said in my prior post, the only real difference in the police barrel is the detent. The detents purpose is to make sure the magazine cap doesn't come off at a most inopportune moment.

[Synchronizor]

I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to mention that Police 870s aren't the only ones with the ball detent. Some of my Express barrels have them installed as well.

[Kentactic]

My junk Express with a 18.5" has a detent aswell.