The Ternion International T870 and T870-1 are Chinese made, Remington 870 clones. At $400-500, they’re more affordable than the Remington 870 Express shotguns that they compete with and they come with more features. These shotguns were sent to me by Ternion International for review.
Above: T870 with mag extension added
Below: T870-1 without mag extension added
T870 Specifications
- 18.5″ barrel, 3″ chamber, cylinder bore
- Ghost ring sight
- 5+1 capacity
- 8.2 lbs
- Comes with +1 mag extension
T870-1 Differences
- Front sight post is covered on this one
- Rear sight adjustable for elevation
- Pistol grip stock (much higher cheek weld, you’ll need to run the irons or a red dot)
- Heat shield on top with pic rail
- Nicer forend (pump)
Ternion T870-1 for 3 gun
I shoot a lot of 3 gun so I tried this shotgun at a 3 gun match. To be competitive, I needed to:
- Use an 870 barrel that had a mod choke on it
- Put an extension tube on it for more capacity
I opted for a few more things, such as a Magpul stock. Here’s what it looked like when I was done:
It ran fine. I had a pretty shit match but that was due to issues with my rifle, not my shotgun. My first 3 gun shotgun was a Rem 870 with a big tube on it and it was nostalgic in a way to get back to basics.
Remington 870 Compatible?
The Remington 870 has been around for forever and a day and it has piles of aftermarket parts available for it, so being 870-compatible is a big plus for any clones. Thanks to Foothills Firearms training for providing a Rem 870 to compare and contrast. Here are the parts I found would work on each other:
Rem 870 parts that fit the Ternion:
- Extension tubes
- Bolt
- Trigger groups
- The Ternion pump, bolt, bolt carrier went into the Rem 870 as a group, didn’t go the other way.
- Magpul 870 stock (and other 870 stocks, I presume)
Rem 870 parts that didn’t fit the Ternion:
- Barrels. The lug is in a different spot further up the mag tube. BUT, you can use the extension sleeve from the T870-1 to make 870 barrels work.
- Bolt carriers are slightly different designs so the 870 bolt carrier won’t fit on the Ternion pump arms
- The pump connecting arms of the rem 870 jammed up in the receiver of the Ternion
Compatibility Pics:
Summary: An inexpensive way to get into an 870?
A basic Remington 870 Express is $600-700 in Canada with no rail, extension tube, etc. One with ghost ring sights and a fancy breacher choke will be around $850. The Ternion T870 and T870-1 have a few interesting features and are more competitively priced than the Remingtons so if you’re looking for a lower priced way to get into the 870 platform, or if you’re looking for parts for an old family favorite 870 to get it back up and running, take a look at the Ternion T870’s.
