I put three boxes of Federal target loads through a Fieldmaster last October at a public range outside Waco, and the guy at the next bench asked if it was new production. It wasn’t. It was his dad’s, bought sometime in the late ’90s, and it cycled like it came off the line last week. That’s the whole story of this gun in one sentence.
The Remington 870 Fieldmaster isn’t the tactical variant, isn’t the Wingmaster with the nicer wood, and isn’t the Express you find stacked cheap at big-box stores. It sits in the middle, and that middle spot is exactly why it’s worth talking about. Not gonna sugarcoat it: this review is for the guy who wants one shotgun that does field work, some clays, maybe home defense in a pinch, without fussing over which model tier he bought.
A quick history of the 870 platform #
Remington rolled out the 870 in 1950, and it’s sold somewhere north of 11 million units since, making it one of the best-selling shotguns in American history. The Fieldmaster designation has floated around Remington’s lineup at different points, generally marking a field-grade gun above the base Express but below the higher-finish Wingmaster. Current production Fieldmaster models (built under RemArms, the company that emerged after the 2020 bankruptcy restructuring) keep that same positioning.
The action itself hasn’t changed in any meaningful way in seventy-plus years. Dual action bars, a machined steel receiver, and a bolt that locks up tight enough to handle three-inch magnum loads without flexing. Remington didn’t reinvent the pump shotgun with the 870. They just built one that refused to break, and then kept building it.
Specs and what you’re actually buying #
The current Fieldmaster ships in 12 and 20 gauge, typically with 26 or 28-inch barrels, a 3-inch chamber, and a synthetic or walnut stock depending on configuration. Weight runs around 7 to 7.5 pounds in the 12-gauge, which is heavier than a lot of the semi-autos on the market now but not unreasonable for a gun that’s going to see thousands of rounds over its life.
You get a vent rib barrel, a bead front sight, and screw-in choke tubes standard, which matters if you’re planning to run this for both upland birds and turkey. Swap a Modified for an Improved Cylinder and you’re covered for most of what a fall season throws at you. If you’re new to how chokes and shot patterns interact with distance, that’s a rabbit hole worth going down separately, but the short version is the Fieldmaster’s chamber and choke setup gives you real flexibility without buying a second gun.
Trigger group is the standard 870 unit. Nothing fancy, no aftermarket drop-in without some searching, but it breaks clean enough that I never thought about it once during a hunt. That’s the highest compliment I can give a factory shotgun trigger.
Handling in the field #
I ran the Fieldmaster through a full pheasant morning last November, temps in the low 30s, gloves on, the kind of cold that makes you second-guess every mechanical part on a gun. Racked smooth every time. No hesitation, no short-stroking, nothing. The forend has enough texture to grip through gloves, which is more than I can say for a couple of synthetic-stocked pumps I’ve handled from other manufacturers.
Range time doesn’t lie, and at the patterning board the groups was tighter than expected with the Modified choke at 30 yards using standard 2¾-inch loads. I wasn’t chasing anything exotic, just wanted a baseline before the season, and the Fieldmaster gave me a consistent, repeatable pattern shot after shot. That consistency is really the whole selling point of this platform. It’s not going to surprise you in either direction.
Recoil in the 12-gauge is on the stiffer side, especially with heavier magnum turkey loads. The weight helps some, but if you’re recoil-sensitive or outfitting a smaller-framed shooter, the 20-gauge version is the smarter buy and honestly plenty of gun for deer, turkey, and most upland work. I’d argue too many guys default to 12-gauge out of habit when the 20 would serve them just as well and beat up their shoulder a lot less.
Who this gun actually suits #
The Fieldmaster makes sense for the hunter who wants one shotgun in the safe that does several jobs adequately rather than five shotguns that each do one job perfectly. If you’re chasing pheasant in the fall, running turkey loads in the spring, and want a reliable option racked by the door the rest of the year, this covers all three without complaint.
It’s less of a fit if you’re a dedicated clay shooter chasing marginal pattern improvements, or if you want the lightest gun possible for a long upland day. There are semi-autos, like the Beretta A400 Xcel, that shoot noticeably softer and faster on repeat targets. But semi-autos also have more parts to clean and more things that can go wrong when you’re three miles into a hog lease in Texas with mud in the action. A pump doesn’t care about that nearly as much.
New shooters and younger hunters do well with the Fieldmaster too, provided they’re sized right for it. It’s not a complicated gun to learn, the manual of arms is straightforward, and the 20-gauge variant in particular is a solid starter platform that a kid won’t outgrow in capability even if they eventually want something lighter.
Where it falls short #
I’ll be straight with you: the finish on the current synthetic-stocked models feels like a cost-cutting measure compared to older Wingmaster-tier guns from decades back. It’s not bad, it’s just not special. If you want the nicer walnut and bluing, you’re paying more and stepping outside the Fieldmaster tier entirely.
The other knock is weight distribution. It’s a front-heavy gun compared to some of the newer field guns on the market, which some shooters like for swing-through technique on crossing birds and some don’t. Try before you buy if you can, especially if you’re used to a lighter semi-auto.
Fit and finish quality control has also been a point of discussion since the RemArms transition. I haven’t personally had an issue, and the sample I tested ran clean through several range sessions without a hiccup, but it’s fair to mention that some buyers online have reported inconsistency across serial number ranges. Buy from a dealer who’ll let you function-check it before you walk out, and if you’re unsure about the transfer process for a used one, our piece on how FFL transfers work for private buyers walks through what to expect.
Ammo, chokes, and maintenance notes #
This gun eats everything. Low-brass target loads, high-brass pheasant loads, 3-inch turkey magnums, it cycled all of it without complaint during my testing. That’s a pump gun advantage worth repeating: no gas system to tune for load pressure, no cycling issues with light target ammo the way you sometimes get with semi-autos.
Cleaning is standard 870 procedure and takes maybe fifteen minutes if you’re not obsessive about it. If you’ve read our guide on cleaning a pistol step by step, the shotgun process follows the same logic, just scaled up for a longer barrel and a bigger bore brush. Keep the action lightly oiled, especially after a wet hunt, and this gun will outlast most of us reading this review.
Per NSSF’s published data on firearm reliability and platform longevity, pump-actions consistently rank among the most dependable designs across weather conditions, and the 870 pattern specifically has decades of field data behind that claim. That’s not marketing spin, that’s just what seven decades of hunters have found out the hard way.
Final verdict from the field #
The Remington 870 Fieldmaster isn’t trying to be the most exciting shotgun on the shelf. It’s trying to be the one you don’t think about, the one that racks every time, patterns predictably, and doesn’t demand babying. For most hunters buying a do-it-all field gun, that’s exactly the right priority.
If you’re weighing gauge choice before you buy, our breakdown on understanding calibers for beginners covers some of the same logic that applies to gauge selection, even though it’s framed around rifle calibers. And if turkey season is what’s pulling you toward this gun specifically, take a look at our roundup of turkey hunting shotguns to see how the Fieldmaster stacks up against dedicated turkey guns.
Buy it for the field work. Don’t expect it to wow you at the patterning board with anything exotic. It won’t. It’ll just keep working, season after season, which for most of us is the whole point.
— Colt Reyes, Long-Range Shooting Editor