My HD 870. Stock and receiver fit. Please advise.

[Black Majik]

Hi all you 870 experts.

Not too long ago I put on an express hardwood stocks on my 80's 870 Wingmaster. This guns main purpose is for home defense use. Only "modifications" are the express wood stocks and ext. mag. tube, factory.

Now to my question, the buttstock, when i put it on the receiver looks to be thicker than the receiver, hence it is not flush. I thought all 870 receivers should have the same thickness/width so I was quite surprised when I saw this. I can run my fingers along the edge and feel a noticeable difference in height. Also, its visible too, to give an idea of the difference in fit.

I've thought about sanding the buttstock down to get a flush fit with the receiver, but I'd figure I'd ask you guru's your opinion on this matter. Why would an 870 stock from the factory not fit an older 870 Wingmaster?

Now if I did sand it down, I know the finish would be different from my buttstock to the forearm. Should I sand the whole stock and restain the stock? Which wood stain would you recommend, or how would you recommend I refinish my stock? Anyways I'd appreciate any help you guys can help me.

Thanks all

 

[mattw]

I think I would just leave it as-is. Why go to all that trouble for an HD gun to look pretty? as long as it works there is nothing wrong with it as far as combat-oriented weapons are concerned. Not like you're going to be showing it off to the bad guys and they will complain about the shoddy stock to reciever fit..

 

[Black Majik]

True,

Even though it is a home defense gun, I do still prefer my firearms to have proper fitment. I really don't expect to ever have to use the gun, or at least I hope not to. But even then, Its just one of those eyesores that I'd like to have resolved.

Moreso I was just curious how this could have happened if it both are factory (stock and gun). I also figure this could be a fun project to have, and wanted some ideas to "clean this gun up."

 

[dfariswheel]

The Express is Remington's "Budget" gun, built to compete with the cheaper to make Mossberg and Winchester guns.

Since the Express uses the same forged and milled steel receiver and heavy-duty parts as the Wingmaster and Police guns, something had to give to lower the price.

What gave was finish, and fit.

The fit part is, Remington doesn't spend the time (and money) to get a closer fit between the wood and metal.

By making the stock slightly over-sized, there is no risk that the stock might be slightly SMALLER then the receiver.

A cleanup would involve sanding the wood to a closer, Wingmaster fit, re-staining the hardwood to match, and applying a good finish.

 

[Moonclip]

I think also that sometimes that stock wood is meant to stick out some or be "proud" so that the end user can fit it more closely if desired. I had 3 870's at one time, a Wingmaster and two Express models of different vintages, one with a synthetic stock.

Everything seemd to interchange fairly well except the bolt on one because it was the 2 3/4" shell model but I could tell the guns fit easier and looked better when they had their own parts. There is probably like 7 or 8 million 870's in the world made in the last 55 years or so, I guess it's natural sometimes a part will take a little fitting to fit exactly on another model.

If you don't mind my asking, why did you end up putting express wood on your wingmaster? What did you do with the old stock and forend? On my sole remaining 870 wingmaster, the wood is actually quite nice with that high polish finish and all.


If you have some woodworking skills or a little handyman in you I'd say go for it, otherwise I'd say just live with it or take it to a gunsmith but I would bet that it might get a bit pricey compared to the end cost of the gun.

 

[Black Majik]

Dfaris,
Any recommendations on stains to use that'll look good and keep that dark wood color?


Paul, the reason I used express stocks is because I wanted wood stocks without the glossy finish. I was gonna use this gun as a project shotgun, and the express stocks actually was the look i was going for. When I bought the gun, there was a nice crack on the buttstock, but instead of replacing it, I decided to go with the express wood with the matte finish instead of the glossy wingmaster stock. I still have the WM stock stored away in my closet.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Majik,

Is there a steel spacer between the back of the receiver (inside the recess where the front of the stock fits)? If you took off a synthetic stock, there might not be a spacer (called a stock bearing plate in the parts list IIRC) in there, and for a wood stock it will need one. That can affect the fit of wood stocks and can lead to chipping if a stock is installed without one.

Any good stain will work on Express wood, one of mine has been refinished with a mahogany stain and I think it looks pretty good- sorta reddish in color. Use a good furniture finish stripper to get the old finish off, especially in the impressed checkering (most likely won't all come out but that's the breaks). Sand as needed, then stain as you like and refinish. I used a spray-on flat ("clear satin") urethane finish from Minwax/Helmsman on mine. Just have fun with it, if you don't like it you can always paint it flat black... 8^).

lpl/nc