Pleased with my used Wingmaster 870, it's finally been delivered

G

guitar1580

New member
I've been out of the shotgun scene for a few decades, and recently got interested again. I know there are 10 or 12 million 870 owners out there, but I thought I'd tell you all about a decent deal I lucked into, for those who like the 870. I wanted a 20ga pump in the under $300 range, but was not too impressed with the synthetic or laminated stocks, plastic trigger guards & matte finished 870s I saw at a local Cabelas for $300.

I decided to try looking for a used older one with blue finish and real wood, and hope for a shorter barrel, and not too full of a choke. As soon as I mentioned it on a guitar forum I'm on, a fellow member PM'd me with an old Wingmaster in a case under his bed that he hadn't shot for 20 yrs. Great price, and really nice case, so I made a deal.

I've found that it was made in 1973, has the X serial #, so it's a 20 built on a 12 ga frame, so its a little heavy when loaded up, but feels nice.

Barrel is 26" Imp. Cyl. vented rib, and the bore is mirror clean, I think originally sold as a quail gun, and did have the wooden bird plug. I figure I can shoot small game loads, an occasional slug, or buck for HD.

The checkered walnut has some nice grain.

The gun is well broken in, scratched up just a little, and feels smooth, solid and sweet, with no rust anywhere. The only downfall I know of is that extra barrels are hard to find for the "X" frame, and not made by Rem. at this time, but I'm not even planning on changing it. I'm happy with what it has, and actually I don't think I'm going to change anything about it, except maybe add a 2 or 3 shot mag ext someday.

Here are some pics, for any WM fans. Please show me yours also.

Josh P
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with my Martin guitar on my 1953 army blanket
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goes well with my bedroom decor ... heheheh
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Congratulations on the Wingmaster. It looks great


Now I have to ask, what is up with that ancient looking phone and the wool blanket? I assume you are ex-military but how did you talk the wife into that blanket?
 
Congratulations on your new Wingmaster. It's so much nicer than a new R-870 Ex or M-500. It goes to show, if you resist the impulse to rush out to the big-box store, and bide your time, the shotgun gods may reward you with something special.
 
Thanks guys. You're right zip, it pays to wait.

Mike....since u asked, I'm into antiques, and vintage items, another reason that I liked the gun. Most of the furniture in my house is antique, and old dial telephones are one of the things I collect. That one is a Western Electric model 102, quite old, but I have some older than that, including candlesticks, a wooden cranker, a '57 payphone, and a phone from John Paul Getty's mansion. I've gotten them all working, take the old dials apart and get them unfroze, and I enjoy talking on them instead of plastic ..... and if you can't get to the gun, you can knock someone cold with the heavy bakelite handset. haha.

Oh, and I don't have a wife to complain about the army blanket, but the girlfriends don't seem to mind. As long as you dont put the wool blanket directly next to your skin, it is one of the best insulators around, due to the hollow structure of the wool fiber. Lightweight but warm. Been single digits here this month. Regards.

JP
 
Nice shotgun, much nicer than my Express.

mahogany
Click to expand...

What leads you to believe it's stocked in Mahogany? I've heard of many different custom stocks, but manufacturers tend to stick with Walnut or Birch and in the rarer case Maple. I would think your 870 is stocked in Walnut.
 
Thx Fisher..... I got the info from this article, you can probably find it on google, it shows lots of old Rem ads. I had deducted mahogany from the article a while back, but now that I look again, you could be right about the walnut, because mine is not the scaled down light weight model. Mine's a heavy 1973. I don't know my woods well enough to know for sure but I think youre right.


A Guide to CollectingRemington Model 870Shotguns By Roy Marcot ... here's an abbreviated quote.

"1963 Remington produced the Model 870 in a new deluxe grade for all field models with custom checkering and improved wood finish.
1966 In this year, Remington announced the sale of the one-millionth Model 870 shotgun!
1969 Remington introduced Model 870 field models in 28 gauge and .410, which were issued with scaled-down receivers, and lightweight mahogany stocks and fore-ends. Remington also introduced Model 870 "Matched Pair" 20 gauge and .410 Skeet guns with walnut stocks and hard carrying cases, selling for $395ºº the pair.
1974 Due to a shortage of American walnut, in mid-year 1974, Remington began fitting some M870 Field Grade shotguns with mahogany stocks and fore-ends.
1979 American walnut stocks replaced mahogany stocks on all 20 gauge, 28 gauge and .410 Lightweight Field guns."

JP
 
Thanks for posting the article, 1580. That's new news to me. I still think it's walnut due to the grain I can see in the picture. I'm no expert in wood characteristics, but I would prefer walnut to mahogany. I think the figure of walnut has more variance and visual appeal. The whole shotgun has been well care for. Nice find.
 
Congrats, your dues in PETP are now paid up.

That's walnut, what they called the ADL model at one time.It may be a skeet model. Some were in IC rather than Skeet choked.

There are some Mahogany stocks out, but I've never seen one on a standard receiver rather than the LW smallbores.

My guess is it's a sweet shooter. Let us know if I'm right.

Enjoy...
 
I have a 12 gauge 870 Wingmaster that was made in 1986. Good choice on looking for an older, used one in great shape, as the newer models now just don't seem to be built to the same standard of quality as the older ones, or even on par with my '86. She's a sweetie!
 
If you can mark your stock with your thumbnail its mahogany.

The mahogany stock on my 1100LW was very soft - think cheap like a Luan door.

I complained to Remington and they made me an even exchange for a nicely figured black walnut stock. This was approx 20 years ago and before all the changes.

Nice looking wingmaster.

Rick
 
Hey thanks guys. I agree that the wood appears to be walnut, and I changed it in my original post, to avoid confusion....so thanks for helping me clear that up. It's not soft, as Rick mentioned, but that sure is great that Remington replaced the one you complained about. Actually, now I'm glad it is walnut, I'll save my love for mahogany for the guitars.

I'll update on how it shoots. I live in town, and hope to get out with it this week.

Josh P
 
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