Remington 870

I have been looking for a shotgun for my youngest brother. Found one of these from the link above,  that I can get for $230. It's in great shape.  Any downsides, cons?

To many variables to cover.  The world of 870s is vast and expansive.  The short anwer is if you are getting a 870 Super Magnum in good shape for $230 you are doing well.  Even if it's not a Super Magnum, most 870s these days are worth at least $230.

An 870 super mag is a good price. They run around $400 new.

If you do end up getting an express model, the first thing I would do is paint it, or have it coated. The matte "blue" finish is very prone to rusting.

If nothing else, rough it up with a scotchbrite pad, and shoot it with some black krylon.

Hmm thanks for the heads up. My father and he share a gun cabinet, and it seems like everything in there rusts. Maybe he'll get a shotgun and a dehumidifier for Christmas. lol

The description sounds like you'll be getting a fixed choke barrel.  You want a Rem Choke barrel with interchangeable tubes for versatility.  It might be just a poorly worded description, or that it only comes with one tube, but definitely check on that detail.

The description says "modified rem choke". I'm pretty sure that means it comes with a modified rem choke tube, as in the removable variety. Mine did but it's not a magnum.

This one is definitely already threaded for chokes. I didn't check to see what choke it came with though, as I have a couple of spare Rem Chokes. He has been using my Ithaca 37 that is a fixed IC until I get my stamp for my Form 1 back so anything is better. He wants to hunt turkey this spring and IC is far from the appropriate spread for turkey. lol

It has many things that I think he'll want in a gun (recoil pad, thread for chokes, longer barrel, Fiber optic instead of bead, vent rib)....Shit I might get this for myself. haha He has also expressed some interest in shooting 3 Gun and while I don't run a pump as my shotgun I think he could until he saves enough to buy his own auto-loader. Its primary use will be as a hunting shotgun (deer, turkey, occasional Dove hunt) so I think for that it will serve him great.  

Thanks for info guys. I think I'm going to FO on this one today.

I have that same shotgun, albeit mine is about 10 years old.  Great gun that does everything I need it to do.  I picked up an 18" police barrel for it for $125 new to have it as a backup HD gun during non-hunting season.

Ya I think he would want a similar set up as well. He would only look at 18.5" shotguns there for a while (he's 14), until I had him shoot a friend's HD 870. He found that shooting birds is slightly more difficult with a shorter barrel.

ETA - Thanks for another vote of confidence. This gun looks so clean, I almost couldn't pass it up based on that. And I'm a sucker for well done wood furniture on shotguns. I just really needed to hear from the crowd I guess. I have been looking for a decent buy for a while since he is saving up for one, and this just showed up out of the blue. I think my other siblings and I are going to go in on it for a Christmas present, and let him keep his money. He can use it to buy ammo, and maybe an extended mag tube if he decides to shoot some 3 gun with it.