Remington 870

Remington Arms Company developed the Model 870 in 1950 to replace the Model 31 shotgun. Designers L. Ray Crittendon, Phillip Haskell, Ellis Hailston, and G.E. Pinckney created the firearm to address the high production costs of the Model 31, which featured hand-fitted parts and struggled to compete commercially with the Winchester Model 12. The Model 870 utilized a construction designed for easier disassembly and maintenance. Remington commenced production in 1951. The manufacturer later introduced the Express line as a lower-cost companion to the original Wingmaster line.

The Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun utilizing a bottom-loading, side-ejecting receiver and an under-barrel tubular magazine. The mechanism operates with dual action bars, an internal hammer, and a bolt that locks into a barrel extension. The fire control group, action, receiver, safety catch, and slide release share design features with the Remington Model 7600 rifle series, while the basic fire control group design originated with the automatic 11-48. Select components, including buttstocks and magazine tubes, interchange with the semi-automatic Model 1100 and Model 11-87. Models produced after 1986 feature the Rem Choke system of screw-in chokes. To resolve a feed-binding issue where an improperly loaded shell could lock the action, Remington integrated the Flexi Tab carrier system, identifiable by a U-shaped cut-out on the carrier.

The firearm entered service in 1950 and has been deployed in conflicts including the Vietnam War, the Rhodesian Bush War, the Lebanese Civil War, and the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is utilized by international military forces, including the United States Military as the M870, the United Kingdom Special Forces as the L74A1, the Swiss Armed Forces as the MzGw 91, and the Swedish Armed Forces as the Förstärkningsvapen 870. Law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Border Patrol, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, also deploy the weapon. Factory variants include the Wingmaster, the Express Tactical, the Marine Magnum, and the Fieldmaster. Unlicensed copies of the design are manufactured by Norinco, designated as the Hawk Industries Type 97 and HP9-1.