The Remington 870 may well be the best-selling shotgun in history, which should come as no surprise if you’ve ever handled one, let alone shot it.
The venerable 870 is reliable, consistent, and gets the job done. More importantly, the action is tight, solid, and smooth. Thanks to a steel receiver and bolt carrier mated to twin-action bars, the 870’s action is a thing of beauty.
Of course, this platform was intended to be a budget-friendly scattergun for the masses, so despite its legendary reliability and smooth-as-silk action, there are things that could be improved about it.
That being said, here are several shotgun parts to swap or upgrade on your 870.
The Stock and Forend
The newer 870 Fieldmasters are made with high-quality wooden stocks and forends, and the stock has a sling mount, which solves one headache. But the forend still has no attachment points.
The situation deteriorates further if you have an older 870, like a Wingmaster or an Express. Nothing against your beloved shotgun, but those older 870 models had stocks with no sling mounts and forends with no compatibility with attachments.
There are aftermarket stocks you can get that have sling mounts (so you don’t have to drill into your pretty walnut stock to add a stud) and forends you can get that have rail slots so you can add lights or other attachments if you so wish. Some even have integrated lights.
Either way, a stock and forend upgrade is one of the most important moves you can make with your 870.
The Firing Pin Spring
Your 870’s firing pin spring is fine, for now, but after a few thousand cycles, maybe a few tens of thousands, it’ll need to be replaced.
You can wait, or you can be proactive and replace it with a higher-strength aftermarket spring, enjoy longer lifespan, and keep the original as a spare.
The Mag Follower
The 870 has been made with a blaze orange plastic mag follower. It works, but only just so well, plus it’s cheap and relatively low quality.
If it does fail or it warps, your shotgun won’t feed. Get a steel follower and upgrade it. It’ll only cost you a few dollars and it will significantly boost the durability of your 870.
The Mag Spring
Your 870’s mag spring, like the firing pin spring, is only just so good, and it only has so many thousand cycles in it. There are much better, stronger, longer-lasting mag springs you can buy and install in a matter of seconds, quite affordably.
The Mag Cap
Lastly, consider swapping the mag cap on your 870 if the one your model came with didn’t have a sling stud. It’s a cheap, easy upgrade that will expand the functionality of your scattergun.
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