newbie with 870

[Catholic Damage]

First off, i'd like to say hi. Name is Ryan, i run a mechanic and performance shop in soutwest florida.
i just picked up a remington express 870 12ga for $200. everyone ive talked too said thats an average deal, then they see the gun. Now, i can shoot a gun just as good, if not better, than the average guy, and go shooting with my buddies once or twice a month, but dont know much about them. this one is in prestine condition with a "Modified Barrel" not sure what he modified...
anyway, ill be posting pics of my proud new addition to our house(my roomates have a total of 7 other shotguns, one of which is an 870 like mine, and i have a springfield XD9 and XD45).
my main question is this. are there any concerns, issues, or known problems with the gun i should be looking for? like i said earlier, the gun will be used for clay, deer, and maybe hog hunting at least once a month. so other than standard gun care and cleaning, is there anything i should pay close attention to?
thank you, and if any of you have an car related questions, i'd be ore than happy to help out!

[Catholic Damage]

nodboy?
so im guessing this is a pretty decent gun then.

[Claydust]

This site is more of a collector's site.

For questions regarding shooting and care for your 870, you might want to check this forum;

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewforum.php?f=55

Here is a link to the manual for an 870.

http://www.remington.com/pdfs/om/om_870.pdf

I am very fond of the 870, my oldest is an 870TB that I bought new in 1976. It has a minimum of 75,000 rounds through it now. I have a number of 870's in various target grades and Wingmaster field guns, the 20G is my favorite upland gun even though I can afford an of the decent o/u's.

Basically just follow the information in the manual link; hope that helps a bit

[The Rifleman]

Anything in question - take it to a gunsmith and have them look at it.

You could also look into having the steel in the barrel checked for it's heat treat. There was a issue with some of the older 870's.

I'm sure that your gunsmith can help you out with it - if there is any problems that might occure.

[Claydust]

You could also look into having the steel in the barrel checked for it's heat treat. There was a issue with some of the older 870's.

If this is refering to the class action suit regarding barrels from the 1990's, it involves anything made before June 1995.

IMHO, it is a non-issue, brought about by the very litigacious society we have today; the barrels are more than adequate for any factory shell or reload, loaded to proper specifications.

I hve been involved in compedative trapshooting since 1970 and have seen countless pre-1995 870's and 1100's in use in high volume shooting and never seen or heard of a failure or any issue with a barrel. My own 1976 870TB was made in the height of the time when the supposed issue was said to be present; it has a conservative estimate of 75,000+ rounds through it.

I have no qualms about shooting any of my 4 pre-1995 guns.

No, on second thought, it is a problem, especially on mint condition 870TC's, 30" full w/montecarlo stocks were the worst; please send any of these to me and I will keep them out of circulation as a public service

[Catholic Damage]

Thank you guys. I'll look into those sites. Took it out with some friends this weekend. My roomate has an origianl one with the original barrell(both are express 12ga), and mine is considerably lighter than his with this modified barrell. i love the way it shoots. the beretta 12 ga semi auto WAS my favorite untill now. I fired a good 200-250 rounds through it of Winchester Super-X targets shells. great gun, and i love it!
thanks again guys!