Remington Express vs. Remington 870P

[Longstreet]

I have been in the market for my first firearm. After much thought, I have decided to buy a shotgun due to its versatility. With the shotgun, I can hunt and join the local skeet/trap club while only owning one gun. I have read on the internet and visited a few shops in the area and am positive that a Remington 870 is the gun for me. And to be more specific, the Remington 870 Express Custom would be my first choice as it comes with both a 26” smoothbore barrel and a 20” rifled barrel - all for a fantastic price of $516.00 CDN. I was planning on making my purchase next Friday until today . . .

While visiting the local tactical shop where I bought some dummy rounds, I was told to look into getting a Remington 870P. Once home I looked up this firearm and found that it is Remington’s law enforcement model. When compared, the 870P is a more rugged version of the 870 Express and greater care has been taken to construct it to ensure its reliability and provide it a longer life. The shop where I was planning on buying my Express offers the 870P (870 Police with Knoxx stock and Rifle Sights) for $950CDN.

I put together a list of pros and cons to compare the two shotguns for my own personal use:

Express
Pros
- Less expensive ($520 CDN + rumour of a $30.00 rebate)
- Comes with 20” rifled barrel and 26” smoothbore barrel

Cons
- It is not parkerized so I would prefer to get this done which costs $195.00 CDN. There is also parkerizing with Teflon or KG Gun-Kote which costs an extra $50.00. Anybody have any experience with this?
- Both barrels are not really ideal for turkey hunting as from what I understand, 20” smoothbore is the preferred length
- I would change the stock of the gun as a personal preference ($100-$200 CDN)

870P
Pros
- Comes with an 18.75” barrel which would be better for turkey hunting, but is still no the 'ideal' size
- It is more rugged with better construction
- It comes parkerized
- The Knoxx stock
- It looks cool (I have to admit, it looks really cool although this would not be a huge selling feature for me as I do not want to look like some tactical wannabe)

Cons
- It is initially more expensive
- I would need a longer barrel for skeet/trap shooting
- I would need a rifled barrel to hunt or shoot indoors
- I have no idea how I will be perceived when I venture out to the local skeet/trap club and pull out a tactical shotgun

Personally I am leaning more towards the 870P primarily because of its reliability and better construction, but I am unsure if I am paying for something that really does not matter for what I am using it for. So if anyone could offer any comments or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you.

jaYson