Gun Digest

RETRO REMINGTON 870 UPGRADE

The Remington 870 is one of the most widely recognized firearms in all history. Designed in the early 1950s, the 870 is a bottom-loading, side-ejecting, pump-action shotgun with a tubular magazine underneath the barrel. There are hundreds of variants of the 870 shotgun in 12-, 16-, 20- and 28-gauges and .410 bore. After its release, the 870 became an essential tool in hunting, as well as for police, military and home-defense use, with millions of them sold to date.

MY GUN

In the early 1990s, I was told that a local gun store in Mesa, Arizona, had received a large shipment of trade-in law enforcement Remington 870s, so I immediately paid it a visit. When I entered the store, I was greeted by a wall full of Remington 870s with wood stocks in various levels of cosmetic wear, both on the metal and the wood. I told the clerk I wanted to purchase one, but I wanted to shop around the store before doing

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