Remington wingmaster of yester year better quality than today's .

Apologies for hijacking the thread a bit.I love 870 and have a few still.Not a fan of expresses but I don't blame Remington for changing it up.Wingmasters have been the mainstay for decades out west but even I have given in.
 
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Have an all american trap that does say 3 1/2" shells with 3 1/2" receiver
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Had to look
 
I think the latest guns from "Remington", (before the sell off) were superb. They went all out to redeem themselves from the express reputation, and made some extremely high quality Wingmasters again.
 
josh1976 said:
I think the latest guns from "Remington", (before the sell off) were superb. They went all out to redeem themselves from the express reputation, and made some extremely high quality Wingmasters again.
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IMO they never stopped making a high quality wingmasters. The only mistake they made was using the 870 remington handle on an express in 1987 and believe this or not some don't know the difference
I have 24 wingmasters or so in every gauge made from 1950 to 2002 after than I am not sure
Cheers
 
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Having handled newer wingmasters, and a 1950s 20gauge...

I can safely say that the older Wingmasters have far better quality. From a fit and finish perspective, to handling and overall metal used.

I blame the notion of "continuous improvement" in the manufacturing sector. The Six Sigma approach is marvelous, but unless benchmarks for quality are defined in a quantifiable....a lot get's sacrificed in order to make a buck, or "do more, with less".
 
3macs1 said:
83 is a bit early. Early 90's IMO is when one had to start watching some models. Honestly the first runs of even the express were zero issue guns the ones prior to the plastic triggers
Cheers
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That's what I am thinking...I've got an early Express (1986 I think) and it is a really good gun. However, still not as nice as a 1960s 870 WM.

If I was looking for an 870 to hunt with now i would look for an old 3" WM and put a newer 3" remchoke WM barrel on it. Or perhaps and early 870 SP or SPS.
 
Waterfowler said:
That's what I am thinking...I've got an early Express (1986 I think) and it is a really good gun. However, still not as nice as a 1960s 870 WM.

If I was looking for an 870 to hunt with now i would look for an old 3" WM and put a newer 3" remchoke WM barrel on it. Or perhaps and early 870 SP or SPS.
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Agree the express became hit or miss once they went with the plastic trigger housing it seemed and only issues in 12ga. never had a problem with the 20, 28 or 410
Only problem with a WM rem choke barrel right now is they are hens teeth to find. Been looking for new or used for months now for a friend express one can find it seems
Cheers
 
3macs1 said:
Agree the express became hit or miss once they went with the plastic trigger housing it seemed and only issues in 12ga. never had a problem with the 20, 28 or 410
Only problem with a WM rem choke barrel right now is they are hens teeth to find. Been looking for new or used for months now for a friend express one can find it seems
Cheers
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Surely you must have a few stuck away somewhere!!!! lol.
 
Waterfowler said:
Surely you must have a few stuck away somewhere!!!! lol.
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In 12ga have one extra NIB WM barrel with rem choke and keeping it. He has a WTB add in the EE and it must have been bumped 20 times or more
The high gloss ones are real hard to find since remington went bankrupt
Also nothing wrong with the plastic trigger express if you polish the chamber they work Ok also
Cheers
 
Nothing I mean nothing cycles as smooth as my old wingmasters. Only have one new Express in 20 gauge its action sucks compared to my other ones
 
struff55 said:
Apperantly that's the consensus . Not sure on how people come to this conclusion other than a opion and no real scientific proof.
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When Remington started selling their Express models, sold in the rough, whereas the Wingmaster and Police models had been (and continued to be) 'vibra-honed', the critical comparisons were inevitable.
 
I never owned a wingmaster BUT

I have handled and used many express 870s in my line of work.

The ones from the 80s, despite looking very beat up, and blueing wearing off, felt more solid and rattled MUCH less than 2000s versions.


So I assume, older wingmasters are also better made than newer ones.
 
An older gun with thousands of rounds downrange and all the wear surfaces worn smooth is always going to be slicker than a brand new one out of the box.
 
JIMMY 808 said:
Last person I shot with at a shoot with a model 12 has passed away a few years ago. Much the same thing as the 870 the only place they are really shot is on the internet or informal shooting around my travels.
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I read that as "The last person I shot at with a Model 12..."

Need a coffee!
 
3macs1 said:
Agree but wingmasters are as smooth brand new and I have a few dozen to back that up from heavily used to NIB
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I disagree :b
But my sample size is only 1 and 1.

OP really opened a can of worms with this one, eh?

My own experience has been that newer wingmasters, while beautiful, do not function as well as the older ones.
 
burns k31 said:
I disagree :b
But my sample size is only 1 and 1.

OP really opened a can of worms with this one, eh?

My own experience has been that newer wingmasters, while beautiful, do not function as well as the older ones.
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I have like 24 or so
My newest is 2003 ??? and my oldest 1950
Both real smooth but no where near as smooth as my remington model 31's
Those are like they are on ball bearings
take care
 
3macs1 said:
I have like 24 or so
My newest is 2003 ??? and my oldest 1950
Both real smooth but no where near as smooth as my remington model 31's
Those are like they are on ball bearings
take care
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I was going to say......if you want a smooth pump, it's the M31
 
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