A couple weeks ago I was handling a new 870 express and something felt really weird about it, but I couldn't quite place it. I've been shooting Wingmasters for 25ish years, and my newest one was an early 1990s model my dad bought new.

What I realized was the slide release on the new express sticks out WAY past the trigger guard. On the old Wingmasters you basically have to push the release flush with the trigger guard to cycle the action - on this gun the release stays proud of the trigger guard probably 3/32" when fully depressed.

Is this a new vs old thing, an Express vs Wingmasters thing, or does Remington have an extended slide release that they use on certain models?