"New" walnut-stocked classic defense 870 Remington with extras ..

That has the Express shaped forend, which means it won't work with a Sidesaddle. Which means most will have to take them off. Sigh.

Too bad as it looks like nice walnut.

If someone wants a sidesaddle then it would be a simple matter to cut the back off. Just like people have been doing with the plastic express for years.
 
I like it. Not a fan of tupperware guns. (Doesn't mean I don't own/won't buy tupperware guns, but for some reason, if I actually end up liking the function of it, the tupperware vanishes and gets replaced with wood).

I like that its fixed Improved Cylinder rather than the standard open cyl .. only taken them 50 odd years

This would be the deal breaker for me, because I would have to spend the money to replace the barrel right off the bat. There are a number of specialty rounds that I use for bush carry (which would be a part of how I used this gun) that require standard cylinder bore - specifically Bear Bangers and Flares. Even IC can cause these to hang up in the barrel, leading to some very dangerous conditions.

I will always maintain that the single cartridge most likely to save your tuckus in the bush, is a 12 gauge flare.
 
I've been in contact with Gravel and the CSR seemed to have no idea about the gun prior to me providing a link.
 
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I got an update from Gravel on the shotgun;

"At this point in time, there is no production set for either of these models. I would recommend checking in with us later. It is not unusual to see this at this time of the year because Remington just started to receive orders from its various dealers and distributors. Once all orders are in they can plan their production based on the demand of the market."
 
Just picked up a "real" classic defense with Walnut furniture - an old Wingmaster, for a third of the price of a new 870P. Man that thing is smooth, factory barrel was a 20 inch full choke. New barrel is a 14 inch cylinder. Highly recommend looking for one of these, the quality is insane for the cost. Even the magazine follower is steel.
 
Just picked up a "real" classic defense with Walnut furniture - an old Wingmaster, for a third of the price of a new 870P. Man that thing is smooth, factory barrel was a 20 inch full choke. New barrel is a 14 inch cylinder. Highly recommend looking for one of these, the quality is insane for the cost. Even the magazine follower is steel.

do the wingmasters take any Remington type barrel?
 
do the wingmasters take any Remington type barrel?

Yes. Fully interchangeable on all the Remingtons. Some of the clones are not as interchangeable with the Remington stuff. For example, I fitted a REM870 28" express vent rib barrel to a Dominion Arms Grizzly. It went on, but was out of index by about 4 degrees. I had to re-position the index slot on the barrel to make it line up, which requires gunsmithing (i.e. you either weld up the slot and re-cut it, or you file the slot and silver solder a shim in place to tighten it up again.)

Properly fitting a grizzly barrel (like a shorty?) to a Remington receiver is similar. It will go on right away, but to properly index the sight, you will likely have to do some gunsmithing.

Important note: Putting a 3" chamber barrel on a 2,3/4" Wingmaster will not let you shoot 3" shells reliably. You also need to have your smith install a new 3" ejector assembly. Sometimes it can be done without changing the receiver rivets, other times you have to re-rivet a new assembly on. IF you go that route, you will need to re-blue the gun (or use another finish type).
 
End of hunting season usually sees an influx of older wingmasters at the local gun stores. You won't get much of a deal on the EE though. At the gun store you can usually get a very nice older wingmaster for $300/350 range, and as little as $250 if it's seen some wear but they get snapped up quick
 
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