In fact, more than 10-million of these guns have been made and they show no signs of stopping anytime soon. To put it in terms we can all relate to, there have been more 870 series shotguns produced than any other pump gun on the market. This was expensive for the time, being almost $700 in today’s money, but the public liked the guns. The 870 debuted in a standard grade in 1951 for a MSRP of $80.80 and a deluxe model for $12 more.

Whereas many shotguns of the day, like the Stevens 520/620 had only a single slide arm, the 870 had two which added strength and reliability while also ending binding and twisting. The action worked to provide positive extraction of a spent shell, replacing it with a new round with each pump of the slide. This also easily explains the similarity in profile of the 8 series almost sixty years later, even with much different internals. Taking this receiver and replacing the long-recoil operated semi-auto action with a manually thrown slide action led to a strong and easy to produce shotgun. This tube-fed shotgun with side ejection and bottom loading was the building block of the new 870.

The Model 11-48 replaced the old Browning Model 11 and did so with a smoothed out machined steel receiver with stamped internals. It was the age of the atom and no one wanted to hunt with their grandpa’s gun. In 1949, Remington was putting away its legacy guns and moving to a new generation of guns. 1951 advertisement showing a Remington side by side with the 11-48.

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