Remington 870 Police Question?

[Dave779]

Good afternoon (UK Time), firstly thank you for allowing me to join the forum I thought I would show everyone my recent purchase in the uk, a 1980 Police (confirmed by Remington with serial number) but which is marked Wingmaster. It has a 1975 26 inch barrel with a vent rib and Imp Cyl choke. Not sure why the wood is so nice on a Police model, any ideas anyone.

Dave

 

[lemaymiami]

Pretty simple... you have a Police receiver (maybe...) but everything else is from a higher end model... Barrel and wood.... The standard Wingmaster riot gun had very plain (no checkering) wood, a very plain barrel (no rib) with simple bead sight and was sold with either an 18" or 20" barrel in either blued or parkerized finish... Looking at the finish and the way all of the metal matches I'd be guessing (I'm no expert) that it was never a Police model at all...

Yours looks like a high quality Wingmaster and I'd be proud to own it for the field or any of the sporting clays routines. The really good news is that all of the parts on Wingmasters were fully inter-changeable so any owner could have more than one barrel in any configuration as well as any sort of stocks, etc. By the way if you ever see a Wingmaster with a short barrel - but everything else high end you can assume the barrel was either changed out -or cut down by a previous owner...

 

[Dave779]

Thanks for the information greatly appreciated and yes the barrel has been changed at some point but used a 1975 one to keep it looking authentic I suppose, it was Remington that told me it was a Police model made in 1980 from the serial number I gave them. But I love the gun and use it for clays, and it does turn some heads at the range I use.

Dave

 

[Old Dog]

Rather nice? No, that wood is awesome! The old Wingmasters are quite worthy shotguns, but yours is also a very fine-looking shotgun.

Welcome aboard! Pleasure to have members from the U.K.

 

[Charlie Martinez]

My Wingmaster is also from the early 70's and has nice wood but yours is unusually attractive. Congratulations!

 

[Dave779]

Rather nice? No, that wood is awesome! The old Wingmasters are quite worthy shotguns, but yours is also a very fine-looking shotgun.

Welcome aboard! Pleasure to have members from the U.K.

Thank you for those kind comments and yes I think I have got myself a keeper. Good to be onboard !

 

[Dave779]

My Wingmaster is also from the early 70's and has nice wood but yours is unusually attractive. Congratulations!

Thank you for the compliment, there must be a reason why we both have guns over 40 years old, they were built to last back then.

 

[Dave779]

Amen to that. Here's one for example. It has a few upgrades and I have a couple barrels for it, a full choke 30" and a 20" IC w/ rifle sights but I still am well under $1K into this gun, even during the Corona.

Wingmaster 870's are retty much as good as it gets in the pump department. If you are insistent on keeping the police model aesthetic synthetic furniture can be found very inexpensive. You could likely sell whatever wood comes on a Wingmaster to fund the synthetic furniture and have a few $$ left over for an upgrade or two. These Wingmasters are known for being a very formidable combat shotgun when outfitted accordingly. The Nat'l Guard commissioned a hefty sum of them for combat use.....

870 Wingmaster
View attachment 1026274

A beautiful looking gun Sir !

 

[jmr40]

That isn't the wood that came from the factory. Wood from that era used the reverse stamped checkering and the forend is longer than factory. Factory forends don't extend to the front of the receiver. It wasn't until sometime in the 1990's that they started using real checkering. I'm betting someone had it restocked with some good wood at the same time they swapped out the police barrel for a sporting barrel.

But I do like that shotgun. The 870 from a functional perspective is my favorite, but I've never cared for the wood they put on them. Even on the Wingmaster.

This is a factory stock. Note the silly stamped checkering and shorter forend.

 

[Speedo66]

Welcome!

Whether that is factory wood or not, it's spectacular.

Good luck with your handsome new gun!

 

[entropy]

That looks equivalent to wood from an 870 TB or TC, the 870 Trap guns. B is better than regular wood, C is better yet. But it isn't because as jmr40 mentioned it has real hand cut checkering, not pressed. It also doesn't have a Monte Carlo stock, it has field dimensions.

Here is my 870 TB for comparision:


OK, I just wanted to show off mine, too.

Really nice 870, Dave779, and welcome to THR.

 

[Dave779]

That isn't the wood that came from the factory. Wood from that era used the reverse stamped checkering and the forend is longer than factory. Factory forends don't extend to the front of the receiver. It wasn't until sometime in the 1990's that they started using real checkering. I'm betting someone had it restocked with some good wood at the same time they swapped out the police barrel for a sporting barrel.

But I do like that shotgun. The 870 from a functional perspective is my favorite, but I've never cared for the wood they put on them. Even on the Wingmaster.

This is a factory stock. Note the silly stamped checkering and shorter forend.

View attachment 1033246

Thanks for the valued information on y gun I only purchased the gun a few weeks ago so no nothing about its history, but what I do know is that it makes me smile every time I take her out of the gun cabinet.

I did see a video on Youtube from the 1960's where they showed Wingmasters being made with some machinery but also a lot of work by hand, and on there it showed a women doing chequering by hand.

Worth a look its good to see how they used to be made.

The link is as follows -
Remington Arms - "One At A Time" (1969)

According to the video the hand checkering back then was for custom guns, I wonder if someone got hold of some of that furniture and put it on mine, guess we'll never know !

Dave

 

[Dave779]

Welcome!

Whether that is factory wood or not, it's spectacular.

Good luck with your handsome new gun!

Thank you kind sir and love your dog also, we've got 2 Sharpei but they are camera shy !

 

[Dave779]

That looks equivalent to wood from an 870 TB or TC, the 870 Trap guns. B is better than regular wood, C is better yet. But it isn't because as jmr40 mentioned it has real hand cut checkering, not pressed. It also doesn't have a Monte Carlo stock, it has field dimensions.

Here is my 870 TB for comparision:
View attachment 1033250

OK, I just wanted to show off mine, too.

Really nice 870, Dave779, and welcome to THR.

Lovely looking gun and looks well cared for also, the wood on mine is a bit of a mystery I think.

Dave

 

[entropy]

Yes, but by 1980 when, coincidentally, both of our 870's were made it was press checkering; the TC's might still have had hand checkering, but they had Monte Carlo stocks.
It is undoubtedly an aftermarket stock, it's just a matter of which side of the pond it was made in. We have (had in some cases, some have since passed) many good stockmakers here, Fajen, Bishop, Anton, Wenig, are a few of the names I'm familiar with, there are many more.

 

[rust collector]

Whatever its provenance, that is an outstanding rendition of an American classic gun. Congratulations. Guns produced in that era were some of the best of the breed.

 

[Dave779]

Yes, but by 1980 when, coincidentally, both of our 870's were made it was press checkering; the TC's might still have had hand checkering, but they had Monte Carlo stocks.
It is undoubtedly an aftermarket stock, it's just a matter of which side of the pond it was made in. We have (had in some cases, some have since passed) many good stockmakers here, Fajen, Bishop, Anton, Wenig, are a few of the names I'm familiar with, there are many more.

Thanks for the response, could it not be the furniture from a 1960's gun which was purchased in the early Eighties and put on to my gun ?

 

[entropy]

It could be. There were 870 SC's which were Skeet guns with 'C' grade fancy wood.

This is the 1977 Remington catalog, a trip back in time. It lists the SC on page 11. Enjoy!

http://cartridgecollectors.org/content/catalogs/REMINGTON/1977-Rem-DuPont-Retail Catalog.pdf

I borrowed this from a fellow member, Song Dog, of a Trap forum I belong to.

 

[Dave779]

It could be. There were 870 SC's which were Skeet guns with 'C' grade fancy wood.

This is the 1977 Remington catalog, a trip back in time. It lists the SC on page 11. Enjoy!

http://cartridgecollectors.org/content/catalogs/REMINGTON/1977-Rem-DuPont-Retail Catalog.pdf

I borrowed this from a fellow member, Song Dog, of a Trap forum I belong to.

Thanks for the catalogue some lovely guns in there and yes it does look like a Skeet with fancy wood, but could Remington have got it wrong with the Police model, or could someone have put the furniture off the Skeet and put it on mine ?

 

[entropy]

Probably the latter.

 

[Dave779]

Thanks for that, guess we'll never really know the truth, but if you get chance watch the 1969 video it brinks your brochure to life.

 

[DustyGmt]

Good afternoon (UK Time), firstly thank you for allowing me to join the forum I thought I would show everyone my recent purchase in the uk, a 1980 Police (confirmed by Remington with serial number) but which is marked Wingmaster. It has a 1975 26 inch barrel with a vent rib and Imp Cyl choke. Not sure why the wood is so nice on a Police model, any ideas anyone.

Regards

Dave779

Wow! That is a beautiful wingmaster. That honestly looks like F grade wood. Or maybe C grade. Somebody who knows more than me will chime in. I would have loved to find a gun like that when I was shopping for one. Beautifully figured walnut. Nice grab!

 

[lemaymiami]

By the way the old Wingmasters we were equipped with in my era (1973 to 1995) were beaten up, hard used, plain riot guns (we also had Mossberg 500’s as well)… that were utterly reliable in any condition- but not pretty at all.

I did my best to have one in hand on any hot call if at all possible.

 

[Cemetery21]

Does the butt pad have a name on it? That might tell you if the wood is a Remington product.

 

[Dave779]

Good morning (UK time), thank you for your question and the answer is yes it does.