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Posted: 3/16/2014 4:02:47 PM EDT
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Did any express models ever come from factory with metal trigger group? My pawn shop express magnum had aluminum trigger group installed, unknown if factory. Also anyone have experience with 870 forend appearing twisted where one side rubs barrel, possibly bent action bar? Action operates smoothly, wondering if someone bent it trying to release a jammed shell. Its new enough to have factory flexitab....Method to correct? |
| As far as I know all Express are polymer triggers for the last several years at least. As for rubbing on the barrel, check the nut that tightens the forend down. When they put it on could have been cocked a bit. Either that or aftermarket for end. I know when I put my surefire forend on it rubbed a bit on the barrel where it flairs near the receiver. Re centered the bars and re tightened the nut and it was fine. |
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Quoted: As far as I know all Express are polymer triggers for the last several years at least. As for rubbing on the barrel, check the nut that tightens the forend down. When they put it on could have been cocked a bit. Either that or aftermarket for end. I know when I put my surefire forend on it rubbed a bit on the barrel where it flairs near the receiver. Re centered the bars and re tightened the nut and it was fine. |
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I don't really recommend this, but some people have used the action slide as a fore end nut wrench.
I think the early Express came with the same compressed powdered aluminum trigger guard as the Wingmaster and Police models still do, then after a few years went to the polymer guard. |
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The Express I purchased around 1988 or so has a metal trigger guard and old style ratcheting fore end cap and stamped steel spring retainer. It also came with a smooth action.
I saw a friends newer Express with a plastic trigger guard, with trigger lock, and plastic spring retainer with dimpled tube and was like  WTF  . Granddad always said, "They just don't make 'em like they used to."
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barrel says '96. Finish on bbl and receiver seems to match the crappy gray factory paint that should be on it, same age. When I broke it down I found it had two mag springs, plug, metal retainer, plastic ratcheting retainer for use with dimpled tube, and metal end cap with teeth (Matches finish) all stuffed inside the same tube.. |
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MIM is Metal Injection Molding, in which powdered metal and a polymer is injected into a mold then heated.
The polymer vaporizes and the metal melts to a solid mass. The Remington aluminum trigger group is made by putting powdered aluminum in a mold and compressing it under tremendous pressure until it compacts to a solid mass. The plastic (polymer) group actually has some benefits over the aluminum. It has no finish to wear and get ratty looking. It will flex and bend instead of cracking and breaking like the aluminum. It's self lubricating. The polymer is not subject to electrolysis of steel against aluminum. The reason for the preference for the aluminum is mostly the feeling that the old aluminum is just somehow better. According to Remington, the polymer stands up and lasts as long as the aluminum. |
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Quoted:
According to Remington, the polymer stands up and lasts as long as the aluminum. While I don't want to argue the relative merits of the various materials, what would you expect Remington to say? It's more cost efficient to manufacture (cheaper) and that's why they moved in that direction. It was a decision that has met with a lot of resistance, warranted or not, so of course they have to defend their decision. Could we really expect them to say, "Well, no, actually our new product is inferior in every way to the old one, but it puts more money in our pockets so that's what you get. Take it or leave it". 
In some guns, synthetics have proven to be very good and have long term durability. In others that hasn't been the case. In some guns, synthetic FCG housing have been very precise and yielded consistently good factory trigger actions. In others, that has not been the case. Synthetics in general can either be good, or shitty, depending entirely on the chemistry involved, the manufacturing technology employed, and the conditions it is subjected to. Some synthetics are sensitive to cold or heat extremes. Some are vulnerable to certain solvents. Some degrade in time with exposure to ozone (think around electrical appliances and such). And some are vulnerable to UV radiation, and possibly other environmental factors. In some applications, plastics can give superior performance to metals. In some the opposite is true. The same arguements can be found regarding MIM vs. forged and milled parts. Not just with Remington but to many other manufacturers as well. Talk to a S&W enthusiast if you want to hear about MIM parts.... I have a few S&W revolvers, and while I have one that does contain MIM parts (it's my daily carry too) if given the choice I'd take forged and milled steel any day of the week over MIM.
Where does the Remington plastic fall in all this? I haven't the faintest idea.... It's purely personal preference perhaps, and maybe I'm just old school, IDK, but all the same, I'll take metal over plastic in this case. WIth that said, I was one of the early adopters of Glock pistols having bought my first one in 1988. I remember all the controversy surrounding them for YEARS, but damn near 30 years after they were introduced, plastic pistols are very common and accepted by a large number of organizations and individuals. So, yeah, it might all just be about the "traditionalist" view that guns should be made of metal..... |
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FWIW- Having owned guns with the solid Aluminum trigger guard, the sintered Aluminum trigger guard and the plastic trigger guard, I prefer the plastic for all the reason dfariswheel stated plus;
1) in the field on bitterly cold days, it is much more comfortable to rest your trigger finger on 2) while I have seen plastic parts break on other guns, I have never had a problem with a plastic trigger guard on an 870 and I don't expect to. They are pretty robust. |
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