By Kyle Wright
I read gun reviews the same way I watch the evening news—with a critical eye and a skeptical predisposition. Fundamentally, I just have a couple of problems with the process.
The first of those problems is this: I read articles with titles like “The Best Long Slide, Micro Carry Bear Defense Handguns of 2026,” and I can’t help but shake my head. Just how many long-slide, micro carry bear defense handguns are new to the market this year, anyway?
Boomer Media in the House
The second problem I have is this: What kind of review can a writer give a gun that he shoots a boxful of ammunition through and then sends back? If I understand the process correctly, that’s how it works a lot of the time. A reviewer receives a firearm and unboxes it. He breaks it down and works the action. Then he mounts an optic and takes it to the range, or if he’s really lucky, on a sponsored hunt of some kind. All that’s left to do is send it back to the manufacturer and start brainstorming how to say differently what’s been said a hundred times before. The whole process just seems too mechanical to me, too contrived. And I think if you asked a gun writer, an honest one, anyway, there’s at least a chance he’d agree.
*Disclaimer—One of the reasons I appreciate the guys at Field Ethos is that they’re not afraid to, ahem, shoot straight with their gun reviews.
Now, it’s a different story if a guy gets to hang on to the firearm for a while, if he is given the time and opportunity to really get to know the gun and put it through its paces. Then, he can assess whether or not it’s of quality. So, with that in mind and for your reading pleasure, I decided to review a gun with which I have a little history. Without any further ado, here it is:
Circa 1998 Remington 870 Express Magnum Review
The gun was a gift. That detail alone elevates its score on whatever scorecard it is that gun writers use to rate firearms. After shooting my first turkey with a good friend’s gun, thrust into my hands after he’d downed a strutting tom while being admonished to shoot what must’ve been that bird’s twin brother, I walked into my office the following week and discovered a box leaning against my desk. Inside the box was a shotgun, a circa 1998 Remington 870 Express Magnum.
The Good
Point the gun at stuff that’s standing still and pull the trigger, and that stuff falls over dead. Every single time. Not so much when stuff is moving, though. That stuff neither falls over nor dies nearly as often, though I suspect that has little to do with the way the gun points or shoots.
The gun eats every shell I feed it. I can’t remember the thing ever jamming. Except for the time I tried to load it with 3.5-inch loads. I thought I was going to have to saw the gun in half to get that shell out.
The shotgun’s synthetic stock may scratch and score, but it’s basically indestructible. It rides well in the truck, too, crammed into that crevice between the driver’s seat and the console.
The Bad
The action gets a little gritty when the gun is dropped into the mud and its owner forgets to clean it for a week. And its bluing tends to fade after a decade’s worth of pheasant hunting in Oklahoma panhandle sandstorms.
I like my guns to be pretty, and this gun is not particularly pretty. It’s functional, sure, and that makes it beautiful in a way, but it’s not a gun I’d hang above the mantle or an heirloom I plan on passing down to my children.
The Ugly
The barrel gets creased when it slips into that crack between your gun safe’s frame and your gun safe’s door. Especially when some idiot doesn’t realize it and tries to force the safe door shut. Not to worry, though. Farming the barrel out to a machinist friend solves that problem. He gets it straightened out just enough to screw in an extended turkey choke. Still, the crease is not a good look and there’s no way that choke is ever coming out of there.
Conclusion
Scour the pawn shops and the used gun racks long enough and there’s at least a chance that you, too, could be the proud owner of a circa 1998 Remington 870 Express Magnum. If you’re fortunate enough to find one, you ought to be able to pick it up for a few hundred bucks. Take it from a guy who knows, you’ll be glad you did.
