Remington 870 Express vs 870 Wingmaster

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SamMalone

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Planning on purchasing a shotgun in the near future and have had the 870 recommended as "the" gun to get. What is the difference between the 870 Express and the 870 Wingmaster? Besides the fact that one is almost double the price of the other.

Planned uses of the shotgun is 3 gun, skeet and trap, and maybe some hunting, but that's a big maybe.
 
For 3 gun and skeet/ trap you are looking at very different shotguns. Unless you want to switch barrels and mag extensions every time you switch diciplines I suggest you purchase application specific shot guns. It’s like saying I want to shoot gophers at 300m but also may go elephant hunting. If you are mechanicaly inclined and with a few good parts from someone like S&J Hardware, you can make an express as good or better than a Wingmaster.
There is a lot of talk about express shotguns being junk, that has not been my experience. They are the plain Jane model, not garbage. Express shotguns are built to meet a price point. They have to compete with Turkish made aluminium crap that will wear out in a decade, while the Express will only get better with use. The polymer trigger guard, a few spings, the extractor and interior finish are all that separate an express from a Wingmaster. Plenty of good deals around on both. Get two or three
 
Not my words but I agree

How Remington lowered the Express price was to reduce hand labor to a bare minimum, and to eliminate much of the polishing and de-burring the better quality Wingmaster and Police guns get.
The Express is basically the same forged and milled steel receiver and heavy-duty internals gun the better 870's are, just in a rougher, less well finished form with plastic and MIM parts.

The Express Model has:
A plastic trigger group.
The dimples in the mag tube and the new style plastic magazine retention system, EXCEPT on the extended magazine versions, which do NOT have the dimples.
A rougher finish inside and outside, with machine marks and some burrs left.
A rougher, bead blasted blue job.
A less polished bore.
A two piece sleeved barrel.
Hardwood or synthetic stock, with a sporting-length fore end and pressed-in checkering.
The Defense version has 18", Cylinder bore barrel, with a bead sight.
The Marine Magnum and Tactical models have plated or polymer finishes.
Some Metal Injection Molded (MIM) parts, like the extractor.

The Wingmaster has:
An aluminum trigger group, (Possibly changed to polymer in 2008).
The old style magazine retention system.
A much smoother finish inside and out, no machine marks or burrs.
The Wingmaster gun receives a higher level of inspection and finishing.
A fine, commercial polished blue finish.
A polished bore.
A chrome plated bolt.
A one piece barrel.
Walnut stocks with the famous "Bowling Pin" finish in gloss or satin. and better checkering.
Wide choices in barrel lengths and choke options.
No use of MIM parts, the extractor is milled.
The Wingmaster is the full top-of-the-line commercial Remington pump gun, and is priced accordingly.
 
SamMalone said:
Planning on purchasing a shotgun in the near future and have had the 870 recommended as "the" gun to get. What is the difference between the 870 Express and the 870 Wingmaster? Besides the fact that one is almost double the price of the other.

Planned uses of the shotgun is 3 gun, skeet and trap, and maybe some hunting, but that's a big maybe.
Click to expand...

***The Wingmaster is the full top-of-the-line commercial Remington pump gun, and is priced accordingly.***
Borrowed from 3MACS comments...
So, do you wanna use a very nice shotgun for a 3 gun beater ?
The Express would and does require a little bit of tlc, but a chamber polish is easy and quick.
And yes, the asking for recommendations does get old when a quick google would have provided the info in less time that it too to read any of the above mentioned comments including mine.

Rob
 
in the past, I had both in 28 gauge ,two Wingmasters and an Express.This was sometime in the past.The Wingmaster was well finished ,both wood and bluing.The Express had a rough style bluing,I suppose to hide the fact that the barrel outside was not as well polished , and very plain wood.Both guns worked as they should and I had no problems with either gun.The Express is the low end version of the top of line Wingmaster.They are aimed at people in two different price ranges.:)
 
What 3macs1 said..

Except to add the Express trigger group is not plastic, it's polymer. I actually prefer the polymer 870 trigger group because I think it's stronger than the white metal versions. The difference in look between the two types doesn't bother me.

3macs1 said:
Not my words but I agree

How Remington lowered the Express price was to reduce hand labor to a bare minimum, and to eliminate much of the polishing and de-burring the better quality Wingmaster and Police guns get.
The Express is basically the same forged and milled steel receiver and heavy-duty internals gun the better 870's are, just in a rougher, less well finished form with plastic and MIM parts.

The Express Model has:
A plastic trigger group.
The dimples in the mag tube and the new style plastic magazine retention system, EXCEPT on the extended magazine versions, which do NOT have the dimples.
A rougher finish inside and outside, with machine marks and some burrs left.
A rougher, bead blasted blue job.
A less polished bore.
A two piece sleeved barrel.
Hardwood or synthetic stock, with a sporting-length fore end and pressed-in checkering.
The Defense version has 18", Cylinder bore barrel, with a bead sight.
The Marine Magnum and Tactical models have plated or polymer finishes.
Some Metal Injection Molded (MIM) parts, like the extractor.

The Wingmaster has:
An aluminum trigger group, (Possibly changed to polymer in 2008).
The old style magazine retention system.
A much smoother finish inside and out, no machine marks or burrs.
The Wingmaster gun receives a higher level of inspection and finishing.
A fine, commercial polished blue finish.
A polished bore.
A chrome plated bolt.
A one piece barrel.
Walnut stocks with the famous "Bowling Pin" finish in gloss or satin. and better checkering.
Wide choices in barrel lengths and choke options.
No use of MIM parts, the extractor is milled.
The Wingmaster is the full top-of-the-line commercial Remington pump gun, and is priced accordingly.
Click to expand...
 
Can sell the metal ones easily for 100 each and there is a good demand for them not so much on the polymer ones which is still a form of plastic is it not . Theses in the pic are gone now
They are a bit better IMO
Better housing material, sear spring, and shell lifter spring
Cheers

wP437Cd.jpg
 
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I have owned both. ,The wingmaster is a top end high quality pump gun, that will shoot well for several life times. I learned how to shoot with a wingmaster, in the 70s and still own the gun. The express was a attempt to use the good reputation of the wingmaster, to make a cheaper lower quality version. Nice try but you can put lipstick on a pig ,but its still a pig.
 
I just don't get all the ragging on the 870 Express.

A new Wingmaster is about a grand ?, a new Express is a about $550 ? That about HALF the cost.

WTF ?

Get a good smith to polish the internals and cerakote it, swap out the couple MIM parts and springs, get a good Wingmaster set of wood off the E&E and you're hitting' toward to a grand.

Again, WTF ?
 
I have seen a few Express shotguns that had issues extracting fired target loads. The chambers were rough, and required polishing before they would eject smoothly.
 
and that's the only real problem I have with the Express 870.

Many reports of extraction issues and chamber polishing solved it. I understand the cheaper finish, the small handful of cheaper parts etc. but they should at least polish the chamber since it's a known problem.

Although, it didn't happen with the two Express I had.

stubblejumper said:
I have seen a few Express shotguns that had issues extracting fired target loads. The chambers were rough, and required polishing before they would eject smoothly.
Click to expand...
 
madashell said:
I just don't get all the ragging on the 870 Express.

A new Wingmaster is about a grand ?, a new Express is a about $550 ? That about HALF the cost.

WTF ?

Get a good smith to polish the internals and cerakote it, swap out the couple MIM parts and springs, get a good Wingmaster set of wood off the E&E and you're hitting' toward to a grand.

Again, WTF ?
Click to expand...

Clearly from a guy that doesn't own wingmasters
Yes sir single ply paper will eventually clean your ass but man that soft charmin is heavenly :)
Same goes for a express vs a wingmaster
To each their own
 
3macs1 said:
Clearly from a guy that doesn't own wingmasters
Yes sir single ply paper will eventually clean your ass but man that soft charmin is heavenly :)
Same goes for a express vs a wingmaster
To each their own
Click to expand...

I prefer something in the middle. That darn 3 ply charmin no good for low flow toilets.:runaway:
 
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