It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide.

The Model 31 was marketed as the “ball-bearing repeater” and was well-received, but its many machined and handfitted parts made the gun expensive to manufacture.

To achieve better sales, Remington produced the Model 870 in 1950, which was more modern and reliable in its construction, easy to take apart and maintain, and relatively inexpensive.

Remington sold two million guns by 1973 (ten times the number of Model 31 shotguns it replaced).

The gun comes with a plug for migratory bird hunting which reduces the magazine's capacity to two[9] rounds.

It has dual action bars, internal hammer, and a bolt which locks into an extension in the barrel.

The cut-out, combined with modified machining on the underside of the slide assembly, allows the action to be opened with a shell on the carrier.

870 variants can be grouped into the following: Chinese arms company Norinco has made unlicensed copies of the Remington 870, as the design is no longer under patent protection.