Old 870s

Status
Not open for further replies.
Urban police department I worked for had a bunch of these (shiny Wingmaster forend and all) in 80's. I have no idea whether the stocks were "retro-fitted" or not. In folded position it lay nicely between the seat and the door in a Malibu, or Gran Fury, or Fairmont. Department was too cheap to buy proper locking racks. You "qualified" on it if you could last 25 rounds firing at packing pallet on the hillside behind the academy. I don't remember there being any actual target as-such.

Mine is a gonebroker purchase from a few years ago. No police markings on it. Nostalgia and all. Some incompetent had put a tritium front sight on it, and left the threaded tip of the aftermarket front sight protruding into the bore. Probably killed the tritium first time they fired it. I removed the aftermarket tritium thing, and put a silver bead in its place. Don't know whether my "repair" will hold, and not in any hurry to find out. That folding stock was no fun to shoot in 1984, and I suspect its still no fun.

bead%201_zpsnrn4bnvv.jpg


bead%203_zpsf4cikmig.jpg


bead%20threads%202_zpsvt2zby1f.jpg


brass%20bead%201_zpsgv2khzf6.jpg
 
W.E.G.,

Thanks for reminding me of what pain is.

Actually thanks for posting those pictures of what some seem to think of as the "nunsuch" I have mentioned the 870 factory folder in the past and folks have commented on having never seen one. Well folks, there it is!

There was a shot gun that after shooting once you had to really want to shoot again and really need to!

Kind of reminded me of an old Soviet PPS43 in the way it folded. Kind of reminded me of once being kicked in the shoulder by a bucking mule when I fired it.

It was also what soured me on PGO shotguns as it was such a pain to shoot from the shoulder that I tried some PGO style shooting long before I saw any of the "Bear Killers" or "Cruisers" on the market.

I often wondered if a bit of neoprene or these days on old mouse pad might have made those bearable.

-kBob
 
I used to own two 12 gauge Wingmasters, and am curious if anyone has access to serial numbers/date of manufacture info.

I have always loved 870 Wingmasters since I got my first, a used 12 gauge 2-3/4" 26" IC choke vent rib to shoot skeet when I worked at the now defunct Roberts' Shooting Park in Elkhorn Nebraska in 1969 (it is now the site of a community college: go figure!). S/N 702619V. It had the plasticized wood finish on the buttstock and fore end with the impressed checkering on both. It had a very high drop at the heel and I liked to shoot it very much because I could see the entire top of the vent rib. Since it was after the GCA 68 passed, my Dad did the particulars at the gunshop trading my Rem 1100 12 gauge 28" mod choke even for it. IIRC the price tag on the 870 was $110. I do believe I got the better deal.

My other one was a much older one with a plain varnished buttstock and the corn cob fore end. S/N 126512SV. That was my experiment gun for conversion to a 90's era assault shotgun. After spending beaucoup money on various expensive crap accessories, it returned to real life as a 18-1/2" cylinder bore HD gun. I think I paid $120 for it in the mid-90's.

Before I left Alaska I sold both of them. Needed the money then but I kick my butt in hindsight.

http://www.remingtonsociety.org/collecting-870-shotguns/

Hope this is some added info.

Jim
 
Lots of Model 12 Winchester and Ithaca model 37 fans may have something to say about the " never a finer pump ever made". Rem may have sold more than those 2 models but that doesn't make 870s finer or better!!

Bull
 
i own all three, and the win-ith needs a good gunsmith to work on them with anything, but the small parts, while any part(except the reciever) for a rem 870 can be bought over the internet and installed by just about any one. all three were made for a hunters different needs and filled the need of the time. a gun maker has to make money or go tit,s up and in that battle the rem and moss came out on top, good dependable shotguns and a good price for the normal hunters. one thing for sure you hardly see a win-ith on the clay games any more. rudy echen shot a 100 straight doubles at trap with a standard trap grade remington 870 in 1950 and several decades later shot another 100 straight again with the same rem 870 shotgun. maybe rudy could have done it with a win-ith, but he choose a 12ga rem 870TB. eastbank.
 

Attachments

  • Picture 3846.jpg
    Picture 3846.jpg
    146 KB · Views: 8
Did Rudy work for Remington?? I'm not say the 870's aren't good just saying the Ithaca and win model 12 are good also. I agree that Rem and Mossberg came out on top also.
Who am I to argue with a man that has an outstanding collection of Remingtons as well as many other guns. Eastbank you really have a bunch of nice guns!!
 
thank you bull,not that many tho. i think rudy used peters shells and they may have sponsered him, his son sells high end shotguns here in pa. i talked to him at the trap shoot at eleysberg two years ago about buying a 20ga browning trapgun with 32" barrels. he did offer me a good price,but i have a 30" xs 20ga browning and passed on the deal. here,s my three field grade model 12,s, a 12ga-16ga-20ga. i have several others i use hunting from time to time. my favorite pump hunting shotgun is a light weight rem model 870 in 20ga. eastbank.
 

Attachments

  • Picture 8319.jpg
    Picture 8319.jpg
    123.5 KB · Views: 7
  • Picture 8320.jpg
    Picture 8320.jpg
    171.7 KB · Views: 6
  • Picture 8321.jpg
    Picture 8321.jpg
    176 KB · Views: 6
I got my first Wingmaster in October of 1974. The next morning I killed two geese with the first two shots. I have probably owned 55+ shotguns, some costing 40 or 50 times what that Wingmaster did. I have never shot another gun as well as I did that shotgun.

I have a Wingmaster I purchased new in 1970. Been thru a lot of shotguns in 47 years, maybe a dozen, but that one is still with me. Hunted quail and doves in AZ for many years with it. Even put a 30" FC barrel on it and shot trap with it. That was a long time before everybody had tubes in their guns. Those old 870's are hard to beat for a utility shotgun. The junk they turn out today is amazing.
 
Lots of Model 12 Winchester and Ithaca model 37 fans may have something to say about the " never a finer pump ever made". Rem may have sold more than those 2 models but that doesn't make 870s finer or better!!

Bull
Bull it's not worth talking about anymore. I have Ithaca's and like them, but the Remington 870's have come into play now.
Remington builds guns that anyone with 30 minutes instruction can assemble, a great engineering feat.
The older guns took real gun smiths to manufacture. Remington just got it right, they build very nice 870's and 1100's
all using the same or similar components. And they put more gun's into shooters hand's every day and that is very good.
 
The Winchester/Ithaca fans almost always fall back on the "machined parts" as a key point in their arguments. I am sure many of them have a small machined alter somewhere in honor of that point. But, a whole lot of people - including me - only care what they look like, feel like, and how they perform. The Remington 11-48 ushered in the era of truly interchangeable parts and the 870 was a direct beneficiary of that development. The 870 proved itself to be just as serviceable and reliable as either of the other two, and offered the flexibility of inexpensive extra barrels that could be swapped by the owner in minutes in the era before choke tubes. And, since it could be manufactured for less money, it sold for less money. Many other gun companies jumped on the bandwagon of stampings as an alternative to all machined parts, and greater clearances to allow interchangeable parts, but they learned it was not as easy as they thought. Fortunately for those who love Wingmasters, Remington got it right the first time and never looked back.
In the hands of a good shooter, there is no difference in the guns' capabilities. I am sure with a little practice George Digweed could pull off the same amazing shots with any of them that he does with his preferred O/Us. The Ithacas were never targeted primarily at clay shooters, but both the Winchester and Remington racked up many wins before the O/U became popular. However if one breaks, the Remington is far less likely to need the services of a good gunsmith to get it running again.
The Winchester is gone. The Ithaca is barely hanging on, under the third different owner. Most of the nails were put in their coffins by Remington.
 
take your pick and put your money down. eastbank.
 

Attachments

  • Picture 7727.jpg
    Picture 7727.jpg
    107.8 KB · Views: 11
Had a couple of Wingmasters, 12 and 20 gauge, back in the mid '70s. Both shotguns were very well made and functioned flawlessly. Fit and finish were first rate on them and they performed as great as they looked. Bought a slug barrel for the 12 gauge and it was my all purpose duck/goose/deer gun for a number of years while the 20 gauge served as my upland game gun. Sold them when I needed the money and figured I could always find a couple of 870s that were as nice as the pair that I had but never did.

Nowadays I get by with a Maverick 88 set-up mainly for home defense and a Winchester Model 1300 in 20 gauge for upland game. Both are more than adequate for the job at hand but I would sure love to have my old Wingmasters back again in the fold.
 
In 1973 I was a newly married college student. My only shotgun was a Sears and Roebuck Goose Gun with a 36 inch barrel that I think was made by Savage. I wanted a "nice" shotgun that I could hunt doves with so I took an odd job painting a house for someone. With the proceeds of that job I went to a big box store and bought a Remington Wingmaster...walnut stock, modified choke. I still have the shotgun. It has the usual handling marks from a lifetime of use but it's been well cared for and has never let me down. I also found the sales receipt for that gun the other day...$129 & change out the door; which in 1973 was quite a bit of money for a college student putting himself through college. That was two divorces and two grandchildren ago. I own shotguns today that cost much more than my Wingmaster but I will always own that shotgun and it will always have special meaning for me. That darn shotgun has seen me through thick and thin. It's never let me down. One day my grandchildren will own it.
 
Remington's Model 31 was a masterpiece but sales were dismal compared to the Winchester Model 12 so Remington said we need to change. And change they did and then turned around and put all of the others out of business and never looked back.


Beautiful Wingmasters you all have. :thumbup::)
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top