Scooter22
Member
Wingmaster - Cream
Exspress - Crap
Exspress - Crap
Simplest, most definitive description of differences between Wingmaster and Express?
- Thread starter ApacheCoTodd
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It is possible to find Wingmaster marked 870 Magnum. LGS has one high polish 18" cyl barrel high polish receiver with stripled groove chromed bolt sapwood hardwood stock w/o checkering vented brown Remington marked recoil pad. What one might call rice puding 870.
scratcherky
Member
Night and Day is easy way to describe differences.
That problem went away when people at Remington realized it is cheaper to produce guns that function properly vs making "crap" with large number coming back to shops for guarantee work. Not to mention satisfied buyers lead to more purchases and more buyers.
whatnickname
Member
Wingmaster: high polish blue with a good, honest walnut stock.
870 Express: bead blasted mat finish and either synthetic, stained birch or laminated stock... much cheaper than the Wingmaster.
870 Express: bead blasted mat finish and either synthetic, stained birch or laminated stock... much cheaper than the Wingmaster.
Deltaboy1984
Member
My 1982 Wingmaster will still be slinging lead when those express models are in the junk heap! I seen and handled them and I would not buy one!
Virginian
Member
Lots of internet wisdom above.
They are the same gun, with a couple of MIM parts being the difference in functional parts. I have not heard of any further issues with rough chambers or MIM failures in years, and the issues were never as big as it was blown up to be by the Remington and/or Cerberus haters anyway. Remington took care of anything they were contacted about and some owners did anything needed themselves, and a few chose to bleat about all Remington quality having gone to hell all over the internet. The "matte" finish on the Express was very rough, and there were tons of complaints about surface rust and all kinds of advice about keeping them slathered with oil. The problem is/was the standard post bluing rinse didn't get all the bluing salts out of the rough finish of the surface, and oil is NOT a solvent for bluing salts. The cure is a warm soapy water bath of all the metal, a good rinse, and then dry well and oil. The revised matte finish they are using now is MUCH smoother, and more real matte matte than sandpaperlike.
The Express has a lower level of polishing, and cheaper synthetic or wooden stocks than the Wingmaster's polished walnut so they can sell it for a cheaper price. You can buy whatever you like, and in our supremely cost conscious environment most people are buying Expresses. The difference is not quality, it's grade.
They are the same gun, with a couple of MIM parts being the difference in functional parts. I have not heard of any further issues with rough chambers or MIM failures in years, and the issues were never as big as it was blown up to be by the Remington and/or Cerberus haters anyway. Remington took care of anything they were contacted about and some owners did anything needed themselves, and a few chose to bleat about all Remington quality having gone to hell all over the internet. The "matte" finish on the Express was very rough, and there were tons of complaints about surface rust and all kinds of advice about keeping them slathered with oil. The problem is/was the standard post bluing rinse didn't get all the bluing salts out of the rough finish of the surface, and oil is NOT a solvent for bluing salts. The cure is a warm soapy water bath of all the metal, a good rinse, and then dry well and oil. The revised matte finish they are using now is MUCH smoother, and more real matte matte than sandpaperlike.
The Express has a lower level of polishing, and cheaper synthetic or wooden stocks than the Wingmaster's polished walnut so they can sell it for a cheaper price. You can buy whatever you like, and in our supremely cost conscious environment most people are buying Expresses. The difference is not quality, it's grade.
eastbank
Member
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- Jul 30, 2009
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go buy a wingmaster and a express , hunt them equaly for five years and then make up your mind. the only thing I have replaced in my expresses was the plastic mag fallowers, nothing was wrong with them. the expresses can be had for well under 300.00 with the rebates, under half what a wingmaster costs.. eastbank.
sappyg
Member
I guess the difference between the two is more what you're willing to accept cosmetically. It's really just cosmetics in the end. I use two 870 express guns and they're as slick as a baby's butt. If you were to shoot a Wingmaster next to those express guns blindfolded I really doubt you could tell the difference if you're honest with yourself.
Virginian hit the nail on the head. "The difference is not quality, it's grade"
Virginian hit the nail on the head. "The difference is not quality, it's grade"
Off the rack new Express' are a bit rough around the edges, if you take the time to smooth them up, like 3000-4000 rounds through them they are as slick as a Wingmaster. If you want the slickness and pretty, get a Wingmaster that extra $400 is about the price of the 4000 rounds of shells. I have 5-6 Wingmasters in all gauges, and a couple of Express' in 12 gauge, virtually all the parts interchange from 12 gauge to 12 gauge.
There is a lot of bad mouthing of the Express, yes it is more economy, but I personally would take one over shooting a Mossberg 500 any day of the week. This is why I believe Remington started producing the cheaper version to compete with the cheap Mossberg. And there is nothing wrong with the Mossberg but personal preference, as the few I have shot I did not like the feel and ergonomics.
There is a lot of bad mouthing of the Express, yes it is more economy, but I personally would take one over shooting a Mossberg 500 any day of the week. This is why I believe Remington started producing the cheaper version to compete with the cheap Mossberg. And there is nothing wrong with the Mossberg but personal preference, as the few I have shot I did not like the feel and ergonomics.
eastbank
Member
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when I bought my rem expresses at Walmart in 410 and 28 ga for less than 200.00 each on close out, I should have bought the rest of them. they had three more of each. today a rem wingmaster 410-28ga will set you back 700-800 dollars and they will not shoot any better than the expresses. and I own both. eastbank.
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