shortening forend on Wingmaster forearm

C

colostomyclown

New member
So, I've decided to keep this stock forend in this picture.
dscf1652.jpg



My question, how hard is it? I only want to take off maybe an inch inch and a half and then varnish over where it's been cut so it looks natural. Should I have a gunsmith do this? It might seem sacriligious to some but I love the particular forend, just need it a little shorter for the mesa tactical shell holder I'm adding.
 
I like that old Remington wood. In your shoes, I'd be real tempted to just keep that and hang some synthetic on it.

The shotgun I got issued, when I accepted my current position, was a nice old Wingmaster with furniture like your, the pretty older blue on the metal and an 8-shot tube to match. It has a ribbed 20" barrel that looks to have been professionally cut. When they re-mounted the front bead they got it in exactly the right spot because you can splatter a soda can at 25 yards, using Super-X slugs.

Whatever you do- it isn't sacrilege as long as it's functional.
 
How hard is it ??? Its walnut .... / its a little harder than Oak ...but in the mid range of "hardwoods"....

As foolish as I think this is to do / it'll take 3 seconds to cut it on a bandsaw ( and 10 hours of sanding and finishing, so it doesn't look like the ugliest end of a dog with a shaved butt ...). But it can be done easily...

But if you spray paint it with a "rattle can" of Krylon - flat black / it might be better yet ....
 
I want to keep the wood look...in particular this wood look, the "sporting" type wingmaster forearm as opposed to the remington police type ribbed forend...



BUT in it's current state it's too long...I'm assuming it's press checkered, if it was cut checkered wood I wouldn't even consider it.
 
If you're really going to do this ...... you won't be able to match the color of the stain in the endgrain after you cut it with what is already on the foreend - or the stock. You may get close / but it will be next to impossible to match in terms of color of stain let alone an older finish that has yellowed over time - and the cut will be plainly visible.

If you do shorten the forend - you will need to round over the edges - so it looks something like an original forend in terms of shape if you want to maintain any value in the gun. Whether the checkering was done by machine or not / if you cut into it / its going to look even worse ....

If you cut the forend - if you want to do it right, you will have to strip and sand both the forend and the stock - and stain and refinish them both / ideally with a varnish or urethane product. You might try a lacquer finish - but they don't build up as well as varnish and urethane - and an oil finish won't give the wood any protection from moisture.
 
My brother just did exactly that on his Wingmaster. The furniture looks identical to yours. He sawed it off, lightly sanded the end to get it smooth and knock off the hard corners, and then applied some rub-on finish of some kind. You can tell where it was done, but it really doesn't look bad. Full refinishing can always be done later.

--Michael
 
i'll probably stick the choate forend i ordered on until i figure out how to do this. i really like the look of the wood forend with the hogue tamer pg, but i definitely want to do it cleanly. OR I'll sell the 6 shot model i ordered and get a 4 rounder perhaps.
 
There were scads of wood-stocked 870 Riot guns made through the years that came with a short, ribbed wooden forend on them like the bottom one shown here. They work fine and you can find them for sale occasionally.
 
I think it would be a better idea just to get another $25 forend, would be a shame to cut down that nice wooden forend.
 
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