Simplest, most definitive description of differences between Wingmaster and Express?

Cheaper wood and metal finish.

A wingmaster is classic wood, fit, and finish.
An express is not.

The Express is a decent shotgun.

The Wingmaster is a masterpiece.

The Wingmaster has all milled metal parts. Some of the parts on the Express are MIM, Metal injection molding.

All parts are the same. The Wingmaster stock is walnut with polished blue metal. The Express has either plastic or hardwood stocks with a matte blue finish on the metal. The Express guns may not get the same care and fitting during assembly. This may mean a little TLC by the purchaser to smooth things up or a little more use to break in. But after this reliability and durability will be the same.

Remington uses their stupid reverse stamped checkering on many of their guns, including most older Wingmasters. This is a deal killer for me. Give me real checkering on wood or leave it plain. The newer Wingmasters use real checkering. The reverse stampings are a deal killer for me. I won't own a gun with it, give me one of the new synthetic stocked Express guns or a Wingmaster with real checkering.

Wingmasters are $700+. The last Express cost me $229 with a $50 rebate. If I'm paying $700 for a shotgun it won't be a pump.

Wingmasters, as noted above, have real walnut, polished and blued metal, and generally better overall fit and smoother operation. Expresses have often had rough chambers and now an annoying way of holding the magazine spring retainer in meaning a little work to add a mag extension. I have 4 wingmasters, all set up for trap and one express for hd and occasional floats down the creek. My opinion is that they are all good, and the older expresses were better than the newer ones.
My 1972 TB trap in has well over a quarter million rounds through it and I'm holding a 47.6/50 average in two trap leagues with it.
No, I won't spend modern prices for them but plenty of fine older ones are out there for under $350.
I do use a Superposed for doubles but often an 870 for skeet.

All one has to do is cycle a Wingmaster and a Express. The "feel" of the action operating will tell you why

they are called Wingmaster's.

The old Wingers are much smoother than the new. I'd seek out a used one personally, preferably as old as I could find, the older the better, and the smoother usually.

My friend is a firearms examiner. Four years ago while attending the the BATF four month examiner corse they went to several manufacturers. He was advised by a Remington engineer that some of the 870 Express parts were MIM to keep the cost down.
I do own an Express and a Special Purpose Police Magnum. The Special Purpose does have much better workmanship.
Some of you may not know, but for a short time the 870 Express was offered with Walnut stocks.

About the difference between a Mustang and a Shelby GT. The Express is a functional weapon, the Wingmaster is a joy to shoot.

The newer Wingmasters are also about a half pound lighter due to the LC=light contour barrel--at least in the 26 and 28in models---12ga only

The LC barrel was a major reason I bought a new Wingmaster.

They also still have the aluminum trigger guard vs the plastic of the Express.

My 1982 870 is a master piece compared to this mess their turning out these day's!.

A new Wingmaster is as good as any they have ever built. The differences in style are personal choice. I actually prefer the impressed checkering as it holds up much better in the field and I have never had a problem holding on to one even in snow, ice, or mud. The new Expresses are the best they have ever built in my opinion, and I had one of the very first ones as well. The "new" matte finish is much smoother.
A Wingmaster has a better exterior and interior level of finish, better wood, and no MIM parts - EXCEPT I have seen a couple with an MIM extractor. I assume they got installed by mistake (and yes I know what happens when you assume). I believe I actually like the synthetic trigger guard better than the cast aluminum.

The Police models, whether Express or Wingmaster based, have a heavier sear spring and a heavier carrier dog spring.

to me there is no difference between the express-wingmaster for hunting no matter what the conditions. i was able to buy rem expresses at a close out at walmart-410-28ga-20ga-16ga-12ga for less than 200.00 apiece, and i do have original wingmasters and they don,t do any thing the expresses will not do in the field. my 20ga and 12ga expresses are quite smooth as they are the ones i use the most. eastbank.

A few items to note... that pretty Wingmaster in riot configuration (post #15) is exactly what I carried on the street for years - but back then there were no "police" designated Wingmasters... they only came years later. The wingmasters that I carried were no different from any other wingmaster - they were just a bit plainer and with the 18 or 20" barrel that configuration always came with (no rifle sights either - unless you got a deer hunter's model...). I rarely came into contact with any in really good condition (until I finally made lieutenant and could choose a specific weapon to be assigned permanently...) otherwise all any of my patrol officers ever had were definitely rack grade poppers -and a mix of Remington and Mossberg that you drew for each shift's duty and had to turn in at the end of shift. All were utterly reliable for that once in a lifetime moment -when you'd far rather be somewhere else...

Years later, long out of police work, I picked up a Remington Express in the exact same configuration I was used to (18" barrel, bead sight, four shot magazine) - an absolute "no frills" popper with synthetic furniture instead of the walnut the old guns came with...

Here's the only difference I've been able to see in a direct comparison.... That new Express was far tighter and much more solid than almost any of the old riot guns I was familiar with - and I absolutely love it....

I had a Remington 870 Express Tactical. The action was not as smooth as I would have wanted. At the price it should not have surprised me. Based on the quality coming out of the Remington shop these days (and another bad experience with a 770) I won't be owning anything made by Remington. I keep an eye out for an 870 Wingmaster that is about my age or older

The 770 is one of the worst, if not the worst bolt action rifle ever made IMO. I was down on Remington for a long time. I do believe they've gotten their act together the last couple of years. The 870 Express is made to a price point and at that price point it is a good shotgun.

ApacheCo, that fore end looking like a police gun, Remington put those on bird guns and commercial home-defense guns for decades. Mine is a 1965 model Wingmaster 16ga, 28" barrel full choke with same wood shown in your picture, except I have a plastic butt plate rather that recoil pad. (We know it's a 1965 model because Dad gave it to me on my 11th birthday that year). Looks like a nice shotgun, brother.

cdb1 said:

The 770 is one of the worst.

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(Sorry off topic, just wanted to say...)
True that. You know what I hate even more? The one I shot in 7mm Rem Mag was 1 MOA at 300 yards.
Damnation! They should never make such a crummy gun that accurate. That was a mean thing to do.

ants said:

(Sorry off topic, just wanted to say...)
True that. You know what I hate even more? The one I shot in 7mm Rem Mag was 1 MOA at 300 yards.
Damnation! They should never make such a crummy gun that accurate. That was a mean thing to do.

Click to expand...

Sometimes you just get lucky, the 770 is a big steaming turd.

New Wingmaster with Light Contour barrel is best pump gun ever offered to the American hunter. It is superior to the Express in every way, however, it is more expensive to buy.

When you start adding things like polished metal, glossy bluing, better wood, hand cut checkering,

and metal trigger guard costs go up.

I would rather pay for the higher quality and enjoy them rather than having guns that just go bang.

As one guy on a other forum say's "Life is too short to hunt with a ugly gun."