You’ve heard the old saying “everything old is new again”. Well, that applies to the tried and true Remington 870 shotgun. The 870 is probably the most popular police shotgun ever. Remington has given the 870 a facelift with several new magazine fed models which would serve just about any shotgunners needs.

The recently released TAC14 will also be available in the magazine fed version. Each magazine holds six rounds of 12 gauge ammo in 2 3/4 as well as 3-inch shells.

Before going into the other models’ let’s talk about the version I was sent for testing. The version in the photos is the Remington 870 DM Magpul. This version comes with all Magpul furniture including the Magpul SGA stock with the Super Cell recoil pad. Magpul MOE M-Lok forend, 18.5 inch Rem Choke barrel with extended ported tactical choke, XS steel front sight with white dot as well as an XS Tactical Rail with a ghost ring rear sight (adjustable). Each 870DM Magpul shotgun comes with a choke tool so the user can remove the tactical choke and replace it with a choke of your choice. The MSRP for the Magpul model is $799.00. The Magpul model will be available shortly while the other models will be released over the next few months. Each shotgun comes with one magazine.

The design incorporates a magwell to feed the desired ammunition from the six round magazine. The magazine tubes only purpose is to mount the charging forend. The tube itself is hollow. The magazine comes with a bright orange follower which is very easily seen in low light.The magazine release is a steel large paddle which sits just in front of the magazine. Removing a magazine is easy with the user just grasping the mag and mag release paddle pulling the magazine from the magwell. Reloading is like an AR. The shooter inserts the magazine then slaps it straight up where it positively latches in place.

The main advantage of a magazine fed 870 is fast reloading since ammunition capacity is about the same as a regular 870 with a magazine extension tube. It also has the advantage of being easy to insert a magazine in low or no light as compared to loading one round at a time with a conventional shotgun.

All of my shooting on the range was done with Remington 2 3/4 Ultimate Defense Managed Recoil 00 Buck which contains 8 pellets. I fired a total of 25 boxes of 5 rounds per box in this ammunition. Feeding was very smooth and similar to a conventional shotgun feel. With the very nice Magpul buttstock recoil was much softer than using a standard buttstock. The Managed Recoil shells also contributed to less recoil and getting back on target quickly. Pellet velocity was 1200 FPS. The shotgun was very manageable with the Magpul buttstock and reduced recoil shells. This would be a good combination for home defence as well as ideal for someone of small stature or a person who is just recoil sensitive. During my range sessions, I experienced no malfunctions of any kind. Since I had two magazines I carried the spare in a .308 taco mag pouch which fit just fine. Reloading was certainly much faster using magazines.

Loading the magazines was a bit different than I expected. Shells are fed by pushing each shell straight down between the rear feed lips rather than depressing the follower with the brass rear of the shell and pushing the shell back to the rear of the magazine. Trying to load in that manner just doesn’t work. Not a big deal by any means just not what I expected.

The following models will be released in the coming months as I mentioned earlier.

Standard walnut furniture sporting version

870 DM (81350)
6 Round Detachable Magazine
Black Synthetic Stock with Super Cell Recoil Pad
Tactical “Corn Cob” Forend
18.5 Inch Fixed Cylinder Bore Barrel
MSRP $529.00

870 DM Tactical / Predator (81354)
3 and 6 Round Detachable Magazines
Over Molded ShurShot Thumbhole Stock with Super Cell Recoil Pad
Tactical “Corn Cob” Fore-end
18.5 Inch Rem Choke Barrel with two Trulock Extended Chokes (Boar Blaster and Turkey /Predator)
XS Steel Front Sight, XS Tactical Rail/Ghost Ring Rear Sight
Kryptek Highlander Camo MSRP $799.00

XS Steel Front Sight, XS Tactical Rail/Ghost Ring Rear Sight MSRP $799.00

I was very happy to finally be able to write this article on these new magazine fed 870’s. It’s been right at two years since I first saw the photo of the prototype of this new shotgun and I’ve been anxiously waiting to get my hands on one since then. They were first introduced to a group of writers/editors at Gunsite back in late August of this year.

I think those of you who have gunshops in your area that rent out new guns will be sold on this one after you shoot some rounds downrange. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you don’t see some of these other models at SHOT this coming January.

If your interested in watching the live introduction of the 870 DM Remington will have a live presentation tomorrow. Register here for the reveal at 6pm CST.