870 Wingmaster question

[barryatabc252]

Hi alll; 1st time here...I recently bought a Wingmaster 870 12 ga made in 1954. It has the Lyman Cutts compensator. I was breaking it down and when pulling off the butt plate i found a counterweight of some sort in the stock. It had been wrapped in a linen cloth and was tapped with a screw in it. When I pulled it out, the balance of the gun wasn't adversely affected. I was just wondering if anyone has run across this before?
Thanks for reading!
Barry

 

[Fred Fuller]

I once got a used pumpgun (Stevens 620, IIRC) which had a chunk of steel rod in the stock that fit the stock bolt hole very tightly. Near as I can tell it was just there to add some more weight to the gun and help keep recoil down some.

 

[Isaac-1]

Probably what Fred said, remember the 870 was considered to be very light when it was introduced.

 

[T Bran]

I put lead shot in the stocks of all of my single shot 12 and 20 ga guns. It really does help a good bit with recoil. If you ever decide to do this use a piece of old bed sheet and a stapler to make a linen tube that fits in the bolt hole to contain the shot. This keeps it from rattling as well as spill protection.
T

 

[barryatabc252]

Thanks! Makes sense. I haven't run into that before and was unusual. Seemed like a lot of trouble the way it was done with the threaded screw in it but i guess that was to help stabilize it in the stock.

 

[Virginian]

Remington used to offer what they called the Vari-Weight (sp?) system in a couple of different incarnations. These were weights for the buttstock and magazine tube. The best ones had three piece steel and wood weights for both ends so you could adjust things to your hearts content. I have only seen two complete sets. They also offered some one piece weights, so maybe you have one of those.

 

[Milkmaster]

That compensator weighs a little more than compared to a screw in choke. I bet the weight was added to balance the gun back towards the rear.