When I was in hi school my buddy got a Rem 870, 12g for
Christmas. He was really excited over his new gun. So that
afternoon his Dad took us on a short rabbit hunt in the River
bottom below town. We had a pleasant hunt shot a couple
rabbits, buddy got a few shots with new gun. We stopped at
greasy spoon on edge of town on way back. There were several
of our school buddies loafing there as well as others. Buddy was
bragging about his new 12g when a older guy ask him why in
the world would he want a twelve guage? At the same time he
rolled a 20guage shell out on the counter. He said, son there is
a shell for a gentlemans gun. With out blinking an eye my
buddie's dad said, if you were a gentleman you wouldn't have
said that. The "Gentleman" got laughed out of the joint.

My dad called his 12 ga 870 "meat & taters".

I'm not really a hunter, but is a 12ga the right tool for huntin' 'taters?

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

Absolutely. Especially when your sister sends you out to the new tire stack potato garden to harvest and on the 3rd or 4th tire down you find a 37' anaconda. (Well, OK, it was a 4' black snake. But the reaction was the same.)

__________________
James L. "Jim" Rhiner

The name was more about it being a reliable standard. Not much you can't do or solve with a 12 ga 870

It's not the best selling gun from a single manufacturer of all time for nothing.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

When I was a teenager two of the 1st new guns I bought were
Remingtons. A 870 & 742c. Both guns were kind of a "keep up
with the Jones" purchases. That's what most of the older guys
had. I didn't like the 742 after I got it. I already had some good
rifles and the 742 didn't make the grade with me. I sold it after
a couple seasons. The 870 is a slug gun, which I still have and
it looks brand new. I never could warm up to it either, don't
know why I still have it 50yrs later. My dad had m12 Wins and
the 870 seemed like a clapp trap compared to them. The reason
870s took the market was Win going under in 63, and 870 hadn't
much competition. The only milled pump gun left was Ithaca 37.
For some reason they weren't that popular. I think they got a
bad rep from paper shell days. They weren't as forgiving on ammo that was swelled a little from damp and less than perfect
handloads. Today the quality of 870s has slipped, and Mossberg
is taking a chunk out of their market. I think the 3 best pump
shotguns ever made were Win 12, Rem 31, Ithaca 37, and it
came off the Rem m10 and its updates. My dad and uncles told
me never to buy pumps with dual action bars. The said parts
were stamped and they needed two bars to take up the slop. I
believe their is some truth in this. Who would have believed that
Mossberg would be a leader in sales back in the 60s? If Rem
doesn't get their QC on the ball, the lowly Moss will be #1 in
sales.

When I saw the thread topic I thought it would be about this:


http://www.impactguns.com/data/defau...shorty_big.jpg

I have several 870's. A couple I hunt with and the others are mostly police riot guns I have picked up over the years. I've never had even a hint of trouble with any of these. However, I bought a new one a couple of years ago. The quality didn't look the same and was confirmed when the extractor broke on the third shell fired from it. I got it repaired and still have the gun but don't trust it like I do the older 870's. I picked up a Mossberg 590 at a police auction. It's the only Mossy I've ever owned and after running a few boxes of shells through it I kinda like it. It now serves as a home protection device. My favorite shotgun is an Ithaca 37, but only the older ones. I shoot long guns left handed and like the bottom ejection. Somebody is making them again somewhere in Ohio, along with an expensive 1911, but they are not as appealing as an older tried and true model 37. I was excited to find a long tube 37 recently that had been issued to my old PD back in the 70's while I was still working there. I paid $240 for the gun but it had a small problem. The magazine would not take more than one shell. I stripped it down and found the problem. Someone had used it for an ashtray a long time ago. A thorough cleaning and a new mag spring and it now looks and runs good. I also have a few Winnie riot guns, including a nickel marine model. I just like old riot guns.

Here's your short shotgun. A gunsmith friend of mine had one back in the '70's... an Ithaca Auto & Burglar 20 ga. Think it might qualify as a "Gentleman's Gun"? If only I had traded those two old Ford F-1's for it instead of a few others guns... Now, I wish I still had the pickups, too!

Attached Images

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My first shotgun was a 12-gauge Remington 870 "Wingmaster." A fine shotgun that got me started on my love of upland bird hunting. What could be more gentlemanly than that?

God bless,
Birdgun

Remington is too busy tarnishing the beloved Marlin brand to give its full attention to the 870.

Yup. Dad was right. Anyone that would criticize a young fellow's new shotgun, no matter what it was, is no gentleman - and probably not much of a shotgunner, too.