[fastback4]

My older Rem.870 wingmaster has a round tubular forestock with 26 vertical grooves that is cracked and i would like to replace it. I need some leads as to where i might purchase 1 new or used forestock but not defective as mine is. What year do you suppose this 870 was manufactured?....Regards to all.....Tom H

[Fred Fuller]

Call Remington at 1-800-243-9700 and ask them the date of your 870's manufacture- all you need to do is give them the serial number.

You can find Remington furniture for sale on eBay, or other similar places, or get parts from Remington. The date of manufacture doesn't matter too much as far as the fore-end is concerned since the fore-end tube is the same on all 870s and any suitable replacement will fit. Hope you find a good match to your stock,

lpl/nc

edited to add: If it's one of the _really old_ "corncob" forearms, an exact replacement might be hard to come by. I have seen them on eBay from time to time but I don't know of any reliable source for them. The standard current model law enforcement forearm will fit, if you are willing to settle for that.

[Dave McCracken]

The old corncob forend runs about an oz less than the bigger one of the same length. It doesn't provide protection to the fingertips that the bigger ones do, that may be a factor to consider in high volume activities.

I have one currently on Frankenstein that was one my oldest 870. It helps the balance for fast shots.

Numrich had some a while back and they're always worth checking.

BTW, a decent smith can epoxy most cracks back up to near invisibility, some to complete invisibility. You may want to go that way.

HTH....

[9mmMike]

Several of my 870's wear these old style fore-ends. I really like them. I bought mine all used from different online auction sites. Gunbroker, auctionarms, anti-gun ebay, etc.
I have found that there are two different early types. One is basically a straight cylinder and is quite narrow. The other is tapered very very slightly so the center is a bit thicker. It is still pretty thin though and neither affords the finger protection from the hot barrel.
I actually like the taper/footballish shaped one better but I think it is much earlier (and harder to find) as it is what came on my '50. My '55's have the skinnier "straight" one.
I had to buy quite a few marginal fore-ends before I found ones that matched or were decent enough to use though.
If you cannot wait to find the diamond in the rough, you may need to pay a bit for a "new" one.
I like Dave's idea of epoxy if you can get a professional job.
Good luck,
Mike