Looked over a NEW Wingmaster....

[Dave McCracken]

After the activities mentioned in the thread "The View From The Line" I had the good fortune to meet another 870 fan on the wobble trap range. He had bought his for an Iowa Ringneck safari and was shooting it for fun and practice. No "Expert" he, but someone who knew something about shotguns. This was his first 870, I believe.

I examined it with a jaundiced eye, and my bifocals on. I wanted to find things wrong. I didn't.

This was the upgrade version with engraving on the receiver. I never liked that scroll work myself, but it was well done. So was the blue, a lustrous deep finish as of old. Barrel and receiver markings were clear and sharp.

The barrel was 28", and Remchoked, of course. From the way it handled, it was a Light Contour, my personal choice these days.

The wood was nice, not as fancy grained as my TB but nice with the grain running straight through the grip, adding strength to the weakest part. Wood to metal fit was very good. The checkering was cut, not rolled or stamped, and done perfectly with no overruns or skips. The finish was the gloss Urethane and also done well. Pad was fitted to the wood seamlessly.

I shot a couple rounds with it and it demolished the clays as well as mine do. The trigger was a hair heavier than I like, but crisp and workable.

Remington takes a lot of hits here, some from Yr Humble Scrivener. QC seems to be a crap shoot, and some stuff leaves Ilion for sale that should be buried or reworked severely.

The only sour note was that it had the infamous J locking safety. Easily remedied.

It's nice to know they can still turn out a fine pumpgun and do......

 

[ruger357]

I also bought a scroll marked 870 Wingmaster (born on date is 2001) over a year ago and I agree that the quality is just as good as my 1970's Wingmaster was. I also do not care for the lock but after countless clay shooting with it I have experienced no problems and learned to live with it.

 

[sm]

I too have handled a new Wingmaster, purchased from Academy Sport's.

Folks were nice and allowed him to choose from the boxed inventory , his comments reflected not a bad one in the bunch, any would have worked, all had deep bluing. He was hoping to find one without the J Hook.

I suggested he buy a Vang have it turned down,and refinished- he did and now it has the Safety we all remember. Had the trigger smoothed as well.

Looks and shoots like one that has been around. He did add a Pachmyer True Lock on the stock , has a extra mag cap with swivel for the front - This took care of the swivel part. Mid bead added, some aftermarket chokes on the way of the external Knurled kind.

Some old fixed choked bbls will work including one 23" bbl with the external knurled chokes, he had made up years ago.

NO biggie to use any of the 18.5 or 20" tubes he has.

Some folks buy the 64 Crayon box and still can't color and stay within the lines - an 8 count box of Crayons works just fine-you just have to know how to color is all - sm

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks, I see I didn't luck into the ONLY good one made recently and decently.

Any others of the 870 Brethren and Cistern have new ones that are worthwhile?....

 

[TrapperReady]

Dave - The Wingmasters I've seen over the past 6 months or so have been pretty nice. I've only seen one which had the choke tube obviously off-center. The wood, on average, seems to be a little more mundane than older ones, but still decent.

The problem I have is that at my favorite store, the used rack is directly behind me as I face the Wingmasters on display. I can almost always find a nicely broken in (some would say "gently used") older gun for less money. Given the durability and timeless design, I'd be hard pressed to get a new one.

Especially if there's a decent Model 12 amongst the used selection.

 

[kudu]

I bought a new Wingmaster about 4 years ago in 28ga. Except for the J-lock safety it is very well fitted and finished gun. I shot a 49 out of 50 the first time at the skeet range. That's acceptable for a 28ga pump gun that I had never shot before.

 

[Plinkerton]

The only sour note was that it had the infamous J locking safety. Easily remedied.

Curious what you mean by this. Can they be easily swapped out?

 

[Dave McCracken]

TR, Amen. Used 870s are a lot of gun for the money, and with a working life of decades and hundreds of thousands of rounds, closer to immortal than we. Besides, I like smooth pumpers and it's nice when a prior custodian has work polished it for me...

Kudu, no offense meant, but I'll wager the usual flagon of mead the miss was not the gun's fault. A 28 gauge 870 is a lot of gun and fun in a small package.

Plinkerton, I'm no smith, but it seems to be a fairly easy swap. Trouble is, Remington was and possibly still is refusing to sell the old style safeties. One can use an aftermarket but they all seem to be the jumbo variety. These are liked by some people, but I've never had probs and the bigger they are the easier to knock off safe inadvertently. A good smith should be able to swap one out for a modest fee....

 

[Black Majik]

Dave,

My only 870 at the moment (hint, take a stroll to my OLD Wingmaster thread ) is a new Wingmaster that I bought a year ago.

The fit and finish is very impressive to my eyes. The bluing is deep, the wood is very dark and glossy. And the forearm is very smooth to rack.

Other than the J-lock safety, I have ran into one problem. After around 400 rds, my rear bead has managed to work its way loose and actually fell out! I had to unload my weapon and get on my knees to look for my rear bead! How embarassing.

Other than that small mishap, nothing a little lock tite cant fix, I've been absolutely happy with this shotgun.

I'd still recommend it to people.

Born Date: June 2002

 

[Dave McCracken]

Beads do that. I've had to replace a few. The mid bead is not threaded in, just a press fit.

A minor glitch. If that's all that goes wrong, count your blessings.

How's the figure in the wood? I've a hunch that little upscale wood gets out of Ilion on standard 870s these days.