Originally Posted by
Big Uncle
You don't miss too many chances to bash Remington.
The 870 Express is not intended to be a well finished gun (no pretty blued finish), but otherwise it is the same as every other 870 - old or new. It is my choice for duck hunting when I am either is a swamp or boat where guns tend to get beat up. They operate exactly the same as my Wingmaster models but do take a little more time to break in, I think due to the finish. I did have one Express model that had evidently been sent from the factory with some sort of gunk in the chamber but a couple of twists with a dowel wrapped with steel wool fixed that quickly.
I have both Wingmaster and Express models in both 12 ga and 20 ga. They are solid and reliable guns, the Express is obviously intended to be a lower priced version due to it's finish and type of wood in the stock. There is nothing at all wrong with them and their quality is just fine.
The "cutting corners" comment seems inappropriate to me.
When I see someone asking for information about Remington in general an 870s in particular, I don't think it's unreasonable to relate my experiences and dissatisfaction with my two Remington purchases. I do not think "bashing" is a fair characterization of what I am doing. I own some older Rems, which are just fine.
After my purchases, I originally questioned Remington's quality generally, but I've come to the conclusion that my experiences are probably limited to Rem's lower price point (although I don't own one, I've heard plenty of bad about the 770 series as well, which would fit with my experience with lower end Rems). The OP was asking about affordable shotguns, so I belivee my comments are pertinent to him.
Before giving Rem a pass simply because these are their cheaper lines, I'd point out that I buy other manufactures at this price point as well (mostly Savage) and don't have the same complaints.
My other Rem purchase was a low-end ML (Genesis) which suffers from some of the same problems.
Anyways, the OP asked about 870s and said "cheaper is better." That's what I bought, and I figured it would be good if he understood what he was thinking of buying.