My First Wingmaster

Mister Donut

Mister Donut

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When I first got into firearms, I told myself I would only ever buy 3, a 1911, an AR and some kind of shotgun. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them, so my first one was an 870 Express. It was previously enjoyed, but at $275 tax in, I thought it was a smoking deal.

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Figured, that’s it, got my shotgun and I can tick that off my checklist. But somewhere between then and now, I swayed from my original train of thought and started buying guns like a madman, lol! I blame CGN for this mostly.

A while after I bought my 870, a buddy showed me this 870 he’d bought. The blueing on it was mostly worn off, it had all this fancy engraving on it, a metal trigger group and it had wood furniture. It was older than dirt but it was slick as phuck. He told me it was a Wingmaster and that was the first time I’d heard of them.

I’ve always been partial to “black” firearms, but recently wood is really starting to grow on me. Anyway, I picked up this Wingmaster off Seven65 (thanks again!) last week and I absolutely love it. I didn’t do all that much research before diving in, and I still don’t know very much about these guns, but I know I like it.

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Here are a couple of shots my other 870s:

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With my other shotguns:

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And my modest wood collection:

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I contacted Remington with the serial number, and they told me this particular 870 was made in 1970. I couldn’t believe it. I have friends with 870s that were made a few years ago that aren’t in this shape. The bore is really bright and shiny, and the wood has no chips or scratches in it. I’m not sure if it has the original barrel and furniture, but I’m guessing it does because the receiver is in great shape and hardly looks worn. I’m hoping that some of the 870 experts here can tell me a bit more about this model. Is this normal for such an old 870 (I realize that there are older ones out there) to be in such good shape? I know it’s not perfect, and it does have a few minor blemishes, and normal wear marks on the sliders, but that’s about it. It has less wear than my first 870 and I thought that one was already in terrific shape.
 
Nice score. I'd love a Wingmaster like that but I'd probably get it all customized.

On a side note, how do you like the Versa Max Tactical? I'm planning on getting one soon and sending it to Tactical Ordnance to get it tricked out.
 
I saw that one on the EE, good buy..... I was tempted, but resisted.
Why is your rear sight so high on the ramp?
 
Benelli_Beginner said:
Nice score. I'd love a Wingmaster like that but I'd probably get it all customized.

On a side note, how do you like the Versa Max Tactical? I'm planning on getting one soon and sending it to Tactical Ordnance to get it tricked out.
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The VMT is awesome, get 'em while their hot. LGS told me they're not bringing these in anymore, though I'm not up to speed with current events so not sure how true that is. I've seen a couple that had the Tac Ord treatment, very nice, but you'll find it's a nice shooting gun out of the box. I had a Mossberg 930 JM Pro edition, which wasn't bad, but the VMT feels so much better. I also played around with the Benelli M4 yesterday and you know, I'm not going to say the VMT is on par with a $2,500 Italian shotgun, but it felt pretty damn close.

Can-down said:
I saw that one on the EE, good buy..... I was tempted, but resisted.
Why is your rear sight so high on the ramp?
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Actually, I have no idea why it's that high, it came like that and I never adjusted it yet. The previous owner didn't shoot it very much, would you know why he'd have it set like that?

I don't think I'm going to mod this gun very much, if at all. I may shop around for a blued mag tube extension, and that's about it. I'd like to keep this one as stock looking as possible.....but then again, I have no idea what this model's stock configuration is. Can anyone tell by looking at it if it has the original barrel and furniture? The previous owner was pretty sure it was all original, but wasn't 100% sure.
 
Mister Donut said:
Actually, I have no idea why it's that high, it came like that and I never adjusted it yet. The previous owner didn't shoot it very much, would you know why he'd have it set like that?

I don't think I'm going to mod this gun very much, if at all. I may shop around for a blued mag tube extension, and that's about it. I'd like to keep this one as stock looking as possible.....but then again, I have no idea what this model's stock configuration is. Can anyone tell by looking at it if it has the original barrel and furniture? The previous owner was pretty sure it was all original, but wasn't 100% sure.
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Who knows? Long range artillery? Maybe it's loose or got bumped? Defenitely outside of the design parameters...... :)

It really doesn't matter if it's original or not. The butt pad looks a little off for a 1970.
You can easily get all sorts of inexpensive longer barrels with chokes etc if you keep an eye out on the E.E.
 
Can-down said:
Who knows? Long range artillery? Maybe it's loose or got bumped? Defenitely outside of the design parameters...... :)

It really doesn't matter if it's original or not. The butt pad looks a little off for a 1970.
You can easily get all sorts of inexpensive longer barrels with chokes etc if you keep an eye out on the E.E.
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Yeah, I think the butt pad is a Hogue, nice and mushy.

Butcherbill said:
Great looking shotgun, I'm a sucker for wood and blued steel but then again I'm a sucker for black on polymer as well lol.
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Thanks! Yeah, I still like both. The bluing on my 1894 is mostly worn off, so this is a nice change for an older gun.
 
Mister Donut said:
The VMT is awesome, get 'em while their hot. LGS told me they're not bringing these in anymore, though I'm not up to speed with current events so not sure how true that is. I've seen a couple that had the Tac Ord treatment, very nice, but you'll find it's a nice shooting gun out of the box. I had a Mossberg 930 JM Pro edition, which wasn't bad, but the VMT feels so much better. I also played around with the Benelli M4 yesterday and you know, I'm not going to say the VMT is on par with a $2,500 Italian shotgun, but it felt pretty damn close.
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I was originally planning on a Benelli M4 but for less money I can have a custom VM Tactical. It's going to be my first firearm and most of the reviews say it's the softest shooting shotgun out there, I think it's a good way to pop my cherry :)
 
Very nice, but too pretty for me to own. Like a jeep, I USE my shotguns and I couldn't own a shiny, pristine one with unblemished rubber.
 
I'll be using this one, but I won't abuse it like my Jeep, lol! I've never washed my Jeep in the 5 or so years since I've owned it, but I will clean the Wingmaster once in a while :)
 
The only 870 wing master from that era that i have had the pleasure to use was in almost the same condition. The wingmaster model is a much higher quality gun than the express model. That combined withthe fact that remington firearms are no longer produced to the same standards, means that those older wingmasters are not even in the same class as the new expresses or even the new wingmasters.
 
thepolinator said:
The only 870 wing master from that era that i have had the pleasure to use was in almost the same condition. The wingmaster model is a much higher quality gun than the express model. That combined withthe fact that remington firearms are no longer produced to the same standards, means that those older wingmasters are not even in the same class as the new expresses or even the new wingmasters.
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I still haven't taken it to the range yet, but just mucking around with it at home, it just feels so much smoother than my other 870s. My express models felt a little gritty when I first got them. They're better now after running them a few years, but still not nearly as slick as the Wingmaster. I went 4 wheeling with a couple of pals and I bought my black 870. It was pissing down rain that day and we did a little shooting. The next day I found rust had formed on a chip on the barrel. I heard rust formed quick on the express models, but I was pretty surprised it happened so fast. I keep that thing swimming in G96 now.

dead meat said:
I have a pair of wingmasters, 12ga. and 20ga. great shotguns. congrats on graduating up to this model, much better than the express.
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Thanks! I think I'm going to enjoy shooting it, but I'll probably baby it for as long as I can because it's in such great shape :)
 
I had some mineral oil from Ikea laying around and thought I'd freshen up some of the wood furniture on the Wingmaster:

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Ordered a Remington mag extension with a blued finish, hopefully the color isn't too far off.
 
Jmiverson said:
Where'd you order the extension from? Beauty gun BTW.
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PM'd ya

I got the mag tube extension in the blued finish. It isn't too bad, not a perfect match, but not horrible. It's a bit long, but the shorter one would have been too short. Oh well, not the end of the world. I don't think I'm going to muck around any further after this mod:

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Since you have other shotguns with extended mag tubes already ; I think I would have left the Wingmaster completely old school without the extension.....the old school look certainly has a lot of appeal..
 
Templar Knight said:
Since you have other shotguns with extended mag tubes already ; I think I would have left the Wingmaster completely old school without the extension.....the old school look certainly has a lot of appeal..
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Hmmm....good point. Not too late to take it off I guess. But didn't they come with mag extensions before? I'm unfamiliar with the history of the 870s....does anyone know when the extended mag tubes were introduced, and when they started using the "police" furniture?
 
The only firearm I own easier to breakdown than the sks is my 870 wingmaster. Fantastic design and will easily outlive me and be handed down to my son.
 
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