And apart from the 870’s continuing enduring appeal the other reason this pumper continues to find favour is that there isn’t a shotgunning task it hasn’t been able to conquer the game, skeet, sporting and trap variations having over the years awarded their owners with the world’s highest shooting accolades. With sales still showing no signs of diminishing, who knows what the final total will eventually be, that’s if Remington ever actually stop manufacturing them. Pinckney who started work on the design in early 1947 and utilising parts from Remington’s then new 11-48 semi-auto, the idea was to give the all-round American shotgunner an ultra-reliable, unfailing single barrel repeater that would last for years on end. Ray Crittendon, Phillip Haskell, Ellis Hailston and G.E. It’s probably safe to say that when Remington, America’s oldest gunmaker, launched their 870 pump-action way back in 1951 as the replacement for their reliable but rather outdated Model 31, little did they think their all American single barrel smoothbore would become the world’s best seller, a total of ten million having found owners by the end of 2009.

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