Remingtons Parkerized vs.wilsons Armor Tuff ?

[dasanii19]

Wilsons 870 Armor tuff finish Vs. Remingtons 870P parkerized finish..

Have any of you looked at them side by side? what is your take? Does on seem of a better finish then the other? Do they rate about the same or are you really paying for a better finish on the wilson combat scattergun technologies?

Also, do any of you know the process wilson uses to "polish" the internal parts? what parts do they polish? Im asking because ive felt the difference in the action on a wilson scattergun technologies 870 and it seems of a world of difference.

Thanks guys

 

[sm]

I do not do anything Wilson - period.
The OLD original Scattergun Tech folks before the folks in NW AR monkey-ed with them were great guns...
Finish was real nice.

Rem's hold up, then again I am sorta partial to "character" on a gun. Lets me know the gun has been used, and owner knows how to use it.

Old fashioned wood and blue works for me...

We "sorta-kinda" added some character to a Express gun barrel. Flat black spray paint for 99 cents works fine for us....

 

[Fred Fuller]

The best polish for 870 internals is burning gunpowder. Funny thing is, burning gunpowder usually slicks up the shooter pretty good too.

Price difference between an 870P and a Wilson-ized 870 Anything will buy a buncha ammo. Phosphate finish is plenty tough for the average 870, you can always get a layer of Teflon over the parkerizing while it's new for even more durability, the E-Z-Bake Oven stuff will do fine for that.

Buy the Wilson if you want to adverise having more money than sense on the one hand, or a government account to charge it to on the other. Flat out ain't no need to spend that much money on an 870 shotgun IMO, and nothing humble about it. I've been shooting 870s for most of the last 40 years and a good used older Express/Wingmaster/870P tradein is plenty good enough for me. Never have had a new 870, in fact.

lpl/nc

 

[dasanii19]

Yea I just bought a 870P (haven't received it yet) my buddy has a Wilson 870 he just bought and brought over my house. I was impressed with the finish on it, it was smooth and just looked great. I mean everything on it was matching, the rail, the mag tube, the barrel the only thing that didn't match was the bolt, that didn't have any type of special finish on it. The rail had no marks on it at all so im thinking that finish has a big effect on that (not that it matters) but, it was something I noticed. I noticed the action was very slick when I racked it, that damn thing felt like butter. I've had 4 870 HD express shotguns so I could definitely feel a difference.

Will all my 870P's parts match like the Wilson? or will I have to get that type of work done?

Have any of you found a remedy besides shooting the shotgun to get more slickness out of the rack?

I've also heard of people polishing the bore, id like to do this. I took a flashlight to the wilsons bore and noticed they did some type of reaming/polishing. How did they do this? what was used?

As for the rail on the Wilson scattergun site they talk about straightening the rail and some other processes. Do any of you know what is involved?

I know all of this is not nesesary on a 870 but im a tinkerer and like to try thing out so try and bare with me here.

 

[dasanii19]

In shorter words, I guess my question is does anyone know the exact prosess wilson uses to convert the standard express to this "high end" scattergun shotgun? Is that easyier to answer?

 

[Robert Hairless]

My understanding is that Wilson's Armor Tuff is KG Coatings' Gun-Kote applied over Parkerizing. I could be wrong. At any rate, I degreased a Remington barrel, sprayed two coats of Gun-Kote on it, and baked according to the recipe. Looks like Armor Tuff to me. If you don't tell anyone and I don't tell anyone it will be our little secret.

 

[waterhouse]

I don't know what process they use at Wilson, but I have seen them side by side. The Wilsons I have seen seem to be slightly "smoother" looking than a factory Park. finish. Whether this look is valuable to you is up to you.

I don't know if it will hold up any better. IMHO, it isn't worth it, but then again I've had a krylon covered 870 sitting in the trunk for over a year with no rust or finish problems, and although slightly higher than sm's $.99 estimate (I think it was $5 because I bought a can of primer too . . . then again we did a friend's gun too, so I guess it was about $2.50 per gun before we ran out of paint) I've been very happy with it.

As for slicking it up, either shoot the heck out of a new one or save yourself the time and a little cash and find one that is well worn in but taken care of in a pawn shop.

 

[Fred Fuller]

I don't know what Wilson does to the Express guns they turn out, but you can ask Lee Hadaway what Scattergun Technology used to do- http://www.thearmsroom.com/ . I've heard what Wilson does is fill the action with lapping compound and shuck it enough to polish everything in, then wash it out/clean it up- true or not, I dunno. But that's the story going around. BTW, shooting it does precisely the same thing, it just takes a little longer.

You didn't ask, but if you want the absolute top of the line in aftermarket finishes, you need to talk to Robbie Barrkman at Robar ( http://www.robarguns.com/ ). Their Roguard finish is amazingly durable and they do a first class job applying it.

IMHO you have a far better basic gun than your friend does, and at a much better price to boot. If you want to make your gun better there are a few ways to do that, but not a lot of things you do are going to make any real difference in the functionality of the gun itself. Parkerizing is a lot more durable than blued finishes, ANY blued finish, and phosphate/parkerizing with a modern surface coat is as good as it's going to get as far as durable finish on a carbon steel gun.

Hope you enjoy your new 870P,

lpl/nc