I just recently purchased an 870 Wingmaster at the local pawn shop for $225. The gun is in excellent condition. I thought that this was a great buy for a Wingmaster. When I got home, I looked in my Gun List's Standard Catalog of Firearms. It had listed a Wingmaster with plain walnut stock in excellent condition for around $250. I think that this model was discontinued. Next it had a Wingmaster with a checkered walnut stock and screw-in chokes for around the $350 mark. My Wingmaster has the checkered walnut stocks but has a modified barrel. The serial number starts off V737xxxV. Can someone tell me when this gun was manufactured? I didn't see any listing for this gun. Could maybe someone have switched out barrels or did some Wingmasters come like this? What would be the average value for this gun in excellent condition? The barrel is chambered for the 2 3/4" shells only. If I put a barrel chambered for 3" shells could I fire them or would this put too much pressure on the receiver? I didn't see anywhere listed on the receiver that it was a magnum. Are the receivers the same on the Wingmasters are are built stronger to handle the 3" shells?