New Express or Used Wingmaster

T

trimore

Inactive
I am getting ready to get a 870. A local pawn shop has the Wingmaster for a little under $300 and that makes it equivalent to the Express new from Walmart.

Assuming the Wingmaster is in very good shape, which would you choose? Not sure on the age fo the Wingmaster at this point. Only saw it from behind the counter.

Thanks.
 
It depends - what is the barrel length, does it have screw in chokes, does it have a rib, do you want a wood or synthetic stock ....

If it has screw in chokes - get the wingmaster - if it doesn't have screw in chokes, I would pass on it / but the Wingmaster is the top end of the Remington pump gun lineup - and in my opinion equivalent to the Browning BPS pump.

The express model is their entry level gun / and issues with them are pretty well documented on the forum / but they aren't a terrible gun either.

Its my opinion, that a shotgun with screw in chokes - even if you have limited interest in different uses - is a more versatile gun. In general, I think the most versatile gun has a 28" barrel ( its not tactical ) - but it could be "defensive" and used in the field or for clays.
 
Own both

My 870 LH is butter smooth and nicely finished. My 870 Tactical has the black "parkerized" finish and is rough as a cobb. If the WM is in good shape, that's what I'd get. If you can get the Pawner to pull the trigger group, you'll get a clear picture of the wear.
 
Chokes schmokes, get the Wingmaster. You could add a remchoke barrel later if you wanted to. The craftsmanship between the WM & express is like night and day.
 
+1 on the wingmaster. Plus, buying used, it pretty much will have the same vvalue if you ever decide to part with it.
 
The Browning BPS - is a better gun, in my opinion, than either one. I think the action is smoother on the BPS than the Wingmaster - and significantly better than the Express model. The BPS is cast neutral - where the 870's are not typically. The BPS ejects out of the bottom - which I think is a better system in general on a pump gun.

I would compare the 870 Wingmaster to the Browning BPS Hunter model.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion .... but screw in chokes aren't just a fad - the concept of a shotgun is to put a 30" effective pattern on the target at the kill range - so being able to change the chokes for a 21 yard shot ( like Skeet or hunting Quail), a 35 yard shot (like Trap or hunting Pheasants or Ducks), a 45 yard shot ( like Sporting Clays, or pass shooting Ducks ...) is a plus in my opinion. I'm old enough to have lived thru the era when guns only had fixed chokes / where we had different guns for Pheasant, Quail, Ducks ... and these days one gun can do all those things if you can change the choke. Over-choking a gun to a Mod / to shoot Skeet with a 12" pattern doesn't make you a better shooter / it defeats the ballistics concept of a shotgun for shooting a moving target ....

A utilitarian gun, like an 870 or BPS - should be versatile in my opinion / but even a $ 5,000 dedicated Trap gun should have screw in chokes in my opinion....so I can't recommend a pump gun without screw in chokes.
 
Wingmaster - it can always be threaded for chokes if need be - Briley, Seminole and others all do a good job. The wingmaster is the best that Remington produces in a pump gun - the express is their cheapest......
 
i have several wingmasters and several expresses and they are fine shotguns in there own right,it just depends what you want. i bought a 28ga and a 410 express at walmart on close out some time ago and i think the price was 179.00 each and i sold the 410 for 300.00 last year, so i got the 28ga for 60.00.it may be rougher than a wingmaster,but then again i didn,t pay 500.00 for it. there are people who have had problems with the 870,s but i,m not one of them. i shoot trap with a rem 1100,a rem 870 and a browning centori and clean them good every 600 rounds and have had no trouble in 10,000,s of shells other than o rings on the rem 1100. my express rem 870 in 28ga has a fixed choke,the rem 870 trap has a fixed choke,the 1100 trap and the browning have removable choke tubes,eastbank.
 
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Wingmaster, hands down. If you decide to down the road, you can get another barrel for it with chokes. They don't make em like they used too. flyboy
 
For me it would depend on the intended use. If you are going to use it for waterfowling (ie thrown in the truck bed, used as a walking stick, used as an extra boat ore and occasionally for shooting ducks) I would go with the Express. I'm assuming the Express is synthetic. On the other hand, as others have already pointed out, the Wingmaster is hands down the better built gun. It would be great if you are gonna spend most of your time hunting upland bird or on the clays rang. I wouldn't worry about it having chokes or not. As a matter of fact if it is a nice old Wingmaster it more than likely has a fixed choke barrel. You can always buy another barrel if you feel the need for interchangeable chokes.
 
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