Extreme 870 makeover

[Guest 0down]

I have an older Remington 870 Express that has has been serving me well as a duck gun. 870s are great, they are inexpensive, reliable, durable and a old proven design. The 870 line has two classes, the Express and the Wingmaster. The Express is the cheaper line. It has some kind of crappy matte black finish on it and lacks some of the refinement of the wingmaster line. I call the finish crappy because it will rust easily. This is especially true if you use the gun to break ice in a frozen field, or use the gun as a paddle and forget to clean it before you put it up.

I wanted to clean up the gun, remove the rust, and give it a Walmart makeover. I also wanted to put it in more of a home defense configuration. Here was my gear list.

• 18.5" barrel (made by Mossberg, go figure)
  
• +2 Magazine Extention
  
• 4 shot side saddle
  
• Barrel Clamp
  
• Cheap fiber optic sight
  
• Krylon primer
  
• Krylon camo paint (khaki in my case)
  
• 220 Sandpaper
  
• Dremel tool with grinding wheel.
  
• Denatured alcohol

There are some really excellent gun finishes out there. They are also expensive and difficult to get right. Krylon, on the other hand, is cheap and reversible (in case this project starts to go south).

The first thing I did was to completely strip down and sand the gun. After I got all of the rust off, I very lightly smoothed some of the sharp edges on the receiver. The barrel appeared to be blued and I wanted everything to match, so I sanded that too. The 870 Express is not designed to have a magazine extension added. There are 2 stamped divots at the end of the magazine that need to be removed. This is what the Dremel is for. Just take it easy and remember the old addage: "A dremel does not a gunsmith make"

After all of the sanding and Dremel work, I degreased everything with denatured alcohol. I then stuffed everything with paper towels to stop overspray. We do not want to paint inside the receiver or barrel. I then sprayed a coat of primer on everything and let it dry in the sun. It occurred to me to start taking pictures at this point.

After priming came paint. It said on the can to allow the paint a week to become fully hardened. I like instant gratification and Mrs. 0down wasn't around so I figured 250 degrees for about 90 minutes.

After cooling that paint felt cured, it was not at all soft. All that is left is final assembly.

I am really pleased with the way this turned out. The primer and paint will really protect the gun and it is really easy to change. Now I just need to shoot it.

* These pictures make it look lighter than it really is the oven shot is the closest to the actual color.

[Guest utarch00]

Very nice looking.

[TGO David]

Good work!

[Guest Fuel]

Nice. I was considering selling my 870 but maybe modding it is a better idea!

[Guest macho999]

Where'd you get the 18" barrel? I have an 870 express with a 24" and inherited a wingmaster with a 24" so it seems redundant to me to have two like that. Obviously the cheaper one needs a new purpose to exist.

[Guest db99wj]

Very nice. I'm sure the Mrs. Odown won't ever know .

....must....resist......urge......to.......transform.....mine......

[Guest Hyaloid]

Great work!

[fury2neon]

Looks Great!

[bteague2]

wow, that's a great looking shotgun. you might have to do a write up or at least post your supply list.

[The Rabbi]

Nice job.

What did all of that cost, not counting time and the original 870?

[wrenchhead97]

Nice work!!! Really nice functional looking gun you have there. It screams all business.

[Guest ETS_Inc]

I liiiike. Very sexy.

The 870 just happens to be my favorite shotgun. It's as tough as they come, and ultra-reliable.

[wrenchhead97]

I liiiike. Very sexy.

The 870 just happens to be my favorite shotgun. It's as tough as they come, and ultra-reliable.

I would say the same about the 870, but I just happen to be in love with my ancient Rem Model 31 pump gun. (Predecessor to the 870.)

[Guest 0down]

I kept the original barrel instead of cutting it down. I wasn't 100% sure about the legal way to measure it and did not want to risk jail. I also wanted to keep the other barrel for hunting. I thought about getting a used 870 at at pawn shop but couldn't find any bargins. The 870 parts came from Guns and Ammo in Memphis.

• The barrel was a little over 100 bucks, the most expensive and unnecessary part if you have the guts to cut yours. I bet you could find a used 870 for near this.
  
• The mag extension and spring was 30ish.
  
• The barrel clamp was around 10.
  
• The side saddle was 30ish.
  
• The fiber optic bead sight was $5. The Krylon was $4 bucks a can and I have enough for a lifetime of touch ups. Both came from Walmart.
  
• As far as time, prepping the metal took the most time, maybe an hour. Painting took 45 minutes, I really took my time. The biggest part was the waiting.
  
• The nice thing about this project was that is is reversible. I can change barrels back, strip paint, and take off extra parts and be pretty close to box stock.

I bought a sling from Walmart but it didn't work out. These instructions on ar15.com on how to make a 3point sling from webbing looks like the ticket. I am going to try that.

http://www.ar15.com/lite/topic.html?b=3&f=19&t=252462

[TGO David]

This is some really good stuff (link to molyresin finish) if you want to make it a bit more permanent and rugged than Krylon.

[Guest Phantom6]

That's plumb pretty.