The Remington 870 is one of the most popular shotguns ever made, but some trap shooters decided they preferred the lighter recoil of the gas-operated Model 1100. This gave someone at Remington the idea to replace the 870's magazine tube with a gas piston much like that in the 1100, which could act simply as a recoil reducing mechanism. Since formal trap shooting did not use the magazine anyway, it seemed that there would be nothing to lose. This gun was introduced in 1981 as the 870 Competition, but proved to be a commercial failure - only 5500 were sold and it was discontinued soon after. They really do shoot softer than a standard 870, and the guns have developed a cult following today among aficionados.