In a world where a cell phone bought last week is already obsolete, it’s difficult to call something that has been around since 1951 “modern.” Although dozens of variations have helped the Remington 870 age well, terms like “high tech” and “cutting edge” just don’t apply. A “traditional” identity can pose a problem for a company seeking the attention of shooters who revel in the latest technology. For them, Remington needed a pump-action shotgun with new-millennium appeal. Something different than the 870. Something modern.

It may be an understatement to say that the company accomplished both goals with its new 12-ga., 31/2" Model 887 Nitro Mag. One glance across the counter of the local gun shop and it’s clear it is definitely not an 870. A closer look reveals construction and design characteristics advanced enough to put the 887 at the forefront of shotgun development. But lest one think Remington introduced the 887 solely to flaunt high-tech pizzazz, realize that this new pump comes with features many shooters will consider honest improvements over even the tried-and-true 870, and at a lower price to boot. The 887 is not a replacement for the 870, but for some field situations and budgets, it could be a better choice.

Donning Armor
More advanced than the 870, but less expensive? Thanks to the wonders of polymer, it is. The entire receiver and barrel of the 887 are covered in a shell of polymer—or more specifically, glass-filled nylon— material Remington calls ArmorLokt. The injection-molding process used to create these components results in a finished product that is quicker, easier and less expensive to manufacture.

Steel is still beneath the ArmorLokt overmold of both the receiver and the barrel. The receiver starts in Remington’s Ilion, N.Y., factory as a stamped-and-welded steel frame, which includes a barrel support, dual action bar channels and threads for attaching the magazine tube. Its general shape resembles that of the finished receiver, save for a portion missing from the rear of the frame along its top. The frame is placed into a mold, which is then injected with the ArmorLokt polymer material. Perforations in the frame, along with the mold design, allow the ArmorLokt material to completely encase both the exterior and interior steel surfaces and form the finished component.

This is not the first time Remington employed polymer in receiver construction. The Nylon series of rimfires and the 522 Viper—introduced in 1959 and 1993, respectively—both had receivers made using synthetic material. The 887’s receiver represents a new path for Remington: using steel along with polymer to withstand the operating pressures and stresses produced by 3½" 12-ga. shotshells. In a way, the 887 is like the Benelli SuperNova, which has a polymer-covered steel receiver independent of the buttstock.

Manufacturers have come up with a host of treatments to protect a gun’s metal surfaces, but overmolding the barrel with polymer is unique. Remington first cold hammer-forges the barrel blank from 4140 steel and, in a process similar to the 887’s receiver construction, then fuses the ArmorLokt to the finished barrel’s exterior via injection molding. The polymer envelops it in a 0.041"-thick shell, with the integral barrel rib and rectangular design impressions forming from polymer in the mold.

Remington offers two variations—black and Advantage Max-4 HD camo—of the 887 this year, both of which have 28" barrels. The 0.727"-bore barrel is threaded to accept Rem Chokes. A single modified Rem Choke comes with the black 887 Synthetic, and the camo 887 Waterfowl ships with an improved-cylinder tube. Shorter-barreled configurations of the 887 are planned for the future.

Besides giving the 887 a futuristic look, ArmorLokt provides a tough shield against corrosion, dings and scratches. Remington calls ArmorLokt impermeable and has test results to back it up. Company engineers subjected Model 887 barrels to salt-corrosion and submersion tests, cross-sectioning each test barrel after the trials to ensure the ArmorLokt had not leaked or separated from the steel. They also fired more than 10,000 rounds through a single barrel, again testing for separation. In all the tests, ArmorLokt withstood the abuse, making the 887 an ideal shotgun for less-than-ideal conditions—like lying in a muddy cornfield during a sleet storm or hunting honkers on the Chesapeake Bay....

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