Freedom Group and Pre-Freedom Group Remington 870

**RebelRaider5** · March 3rd, 2018, 02:57 AM

Does anyone have any experience with the Freedom Group era Remington 870? Are they really as bad as they are made out to be?

Also on a side note, are their any easy ways to spot a pre freedom group 870?

**shiloh** · March 12th, 2018, 06:09 PM

I have two 870s, a 1965-vintage Wingmaster in 12 gauge that I bought used, and a 2015-vintage Express in 20 gauge that I bought new. I did have a problem with the Express - the magazine tube was slightly out of alignment and prevented being able to load shells in the mag. But Remington fixed it quickly under their warranty. It runs like a champ now. The Wingmaster also has been a great shottie for me.

As far as I know, the best way to ID older v. newer 870s is by serial number. More info here: http://www.rem870.com/gun-manufactur...number-lookup/

or you can contact Remington and they'll look it up for you.

**buckengr** · March 14th, 2018, 03:15 PM

If you buy a post-freedom group 870, good luck. I had 3 post-freedom group 870s, and only 1 would reliably extract even unfired low brass shells. Shells would regularly get hung up on a tool chatter mark just outside the chamber, locking up the action totally (at least 5-8 times in a 25 round box). You could feel it with your fingernail. This required either (sometimes multiple) hard slams of the butt on the ground, or a dowel rod down the barrel to pop the shell from the chamber. It was so bad, even an unfired shell would not drop free of the barrel when it wasn't even attached to the gun! Horrible QA.

One gun was returned to Remington twice and the other was returned once. They never fixed the problem. I was so frustrated, I also tried polishing the chamber and replacing the MIM extractor with a billet one, but these didn't solve the problem. Eventually, I polished the hell out of barrel extension myself and this allowed them to extract. I wouldn't trust my life to them though. Buyer beware.

**NathanB** · March 14th, 2018, 03:50 PM

My sawed off is a freedom group Remington. It runs perfectly fine

**Nickel Plated** · September 15th, 2018, 04:26 PM

Just recently (2018) bought a new 870 Express field model. Seems fine to me. I really don't see the issues people are claiming with the new Remingtons. The matte blue finish looks nice, smooth and even. Personally I think it looks pretty sharp. Sure it's not as nice as polished bluing but that's what the Wingmasters are for (which I read the new ones are even better than older models) and you pay the higher price accordingly. Doesn't seem to rust any easier than my matte blued Taurus 65 or my blued Ruger Mini-14, but then again I don't neglect my guns, I make sure I give them all at the very least a wipedown with an oily rag once a month to keep surface rust at bay. The wood to metal fit on the stock isn't as nice as my Winchester SXP but nowhere near as bad as my Mossberg 500.

In the end, the fact is the Express is the budget model and you won't get the nicest fit and finish on it, but in my experience you will get a perfectly functional shotgun. If you want a shotgun that's "built the way they used to build 'em" Go for a Wingmaster, new or old, but higher quality of course comes at a price.

Im currently downsizing my pump gun collection to just a "one and only" shotgun, and I think I'm gonna let the 870 Express go along with the Mossberg and Winchester and just replace all three with a new Wingmaster. I like the 870 design best and for a "one and only" shotgun I just want to go for the "classy" model.