Firearm Review: Remington 870 Marine Magnum 12 Gauge Shotgun

The choice to buy a marine magnum is a diffcult one.  It is a "niche" weapon in its stock form and while easy to modify, it can suffer from over modification.  My 870 MM came from my local dealer brand new for $348.95.  The first thing you notice when you open the box is the brilliant silver color of the matte nickel finish.  It is coated inside and out with this finish that is extremely durable.  The stock and forearm are black synthetic and while slightly ugly, they are well made and utilitarian.  The barrel is 18" long and makes for a short, handy weapon.

The gun was dissasembled, cleaned and inspected for flaws or damage.  None was found.  The gun comes with a factory magazine extension in matching finish that had to be installed before its first use.  It replaces the magazine cap and has a brace that clamps to the barrel.  It also comes with a replacement magazine spring.  

Once the gun was ready to go I assembled the testing ammunition.  The gun had a cylinder choke and can therefore shoot any 2 3/4" or 3" shells, including slugs, buckshot and steel.  I procured the following types of ammunition for the tests:

Winchester 2 3/4" steel and lead field loads for hunting
Winchester 2 3/4" 00 buckshot
Winchester 2 3/4" 1oz. rifled slugs
Fiocchi 2 3/4" #4 buckshot
Federal 2 3/4" #8 target loads
Remington 2 3/4" STS preimer trap loads
Fiocchi 3" magnum steel geese loads
Federal 3" super steel duck loads
Winchester 3" Super X magnum steel loads
Brenneke 3" Super slam 1 1/8 oz. slug loads
Federal 3" tactical slug load

These test were conducted over the span of a week of nice weather this past summer.  Temps were in the 80's and wind was negligible.  Tests were conducted at several different shooting areas including the local public range, a public hunting area and a private shooting range I was allowed to use.