Perhaps I'm disremembering, but didn't they basically farm out production of their 1911 and stamp Remington on the side?
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IDK. I just remember someone here (41mag maybe?) giving a rave review (and maybe it was actually another 1911 - it was a ways back). Rave enough that it had me considering it on the "next 1911" list.
On the old vs new, I also have a ~10-15 year old 870 Express HD, along with a Mossberg 500 combo (on which I keep the 18" barrel). The 870 Express is by no means a terrible gun. I just had the opportunity once to do the comparison I mentioned, and there was no comparison.
I find the Rem and the Mossy to be pretty close. The main reason I give the nod to the Mossy is that it's a little more lefty friendly. Which I guess works well for me, because I think the general gunny population still sees 870s as "the" pump gun, so I should do okay when I sell it. :)
While some might say the old 870s are "broken in", I don't know if that is the major component on the "smoothness". When I was a kid, my best friend and I had birthdays a couple of days apart. We each got our first shotgun on the same birthday, 1973 I think. I got a Winchester 1200 and he got an 870 Wingmaster. I don't remember the exact difference, but to this day I remember how jealous I was whenever we traded guns in the field.