Remington 8 Shot Security Shotgun Question

[RemingtonNewb]

Hello all. I was in the local Big 5 Sporting Goods store (I live in California) and I saw they have an 8 shot Remington with synthetic stocks. I asked to see the gun and when I looked at the side of the gun it only said "Remington 870" No word "Express". And then I noticed the barrel looked kind of..cheap, and only had "2 3/4" and 3"". I was just wondering if this is a bad shotgun? I have never seen a Remington that's new that didn't say 870 or Express, or Magnum. I was looking for something for home defense and the gun was on sale. Thanks.

[Tomcat088]

When you say, "side of the gun" so you mean on the receiver? I'm guessing that's what you mean. There are a couple of lines of 870's, the 870 express that you mention is the "cheaper" of the 870's that have a matte finish. They typically have a plastic trigger guard as well and not the fancy wood. The 870 magnums were made to chamber the magnum shotgun loads larger than 3". There are also 870 Wingmasters, which are the fancy 870's that have a glossy finish on the receiver, and also nicer or graded wood on the stock. Is the rifle new or is it used? I haven't looked at any 870's that were express in a while, so I'm not sure if they make a plain 870 that isn't a wingmaster or express that isn't chambered for magnum loads. Typically, the "magnum" differentiation will be on the barrel. If you are nervous about this rifle, you can look up the seriel number with remington and see if it's an older rifle that was outfitted with a different barrel, stock, etc. I'm thinking that it probably is a converted rifle. The only Remingtons that I've seen from the factory that come with the 8 shot magazine and synthetic stocks, have a 20" barrel that has fiber optic sights on them and are Remington 1300's. I might not be aware of something else that the currently offer because I don't play with shotguns much anymore because I already own all the ones I need. Hope this helps and maybe we can get to the bottom of this.

[fultonCoShooter]

was it new or used?

[dodge]

What is a Remington 1300? I think that you mean Winchester 1300. Remington does make a police model 870 that has the longer magazine tube on it. This maybe a police trade in.