Traded for a Rem 870..What do I have?

[ulflyer]

I know very little about shotguns but a friend traded me this one that he said he got from a police officer. I'd like to know how old it is, what kind of barrel (modified, open, ect), and approx value. Barrel appears to 20".

Right side receiver says "Remington Wingmaster 870" with serial nr 5280**V. Left side barrel has this marking: ES17 12 Ga 2 3/4 or less.
Right side barrel has: Z (R.E.P.)

Bore is bright and shiny, no pits. Bluing on receiver and barrel very good; no scratches; slide shows light wear. Wood very good cond. Trigger housing is grayish, not steel. Appears to be an alloy.

 

[PabloJ]

Old 2&3/4" Wingmaster with early rear sight and slide wood (originally used on late vintage Model 31s). The magazine extension was added later.

 

[PapaG]

there should be a marking on the left side of the barrel near where it enters the receiver, and it might be quite faint...."i.c.", "imp cyl", "cyl" but it might be missing.
Most of the 18 and 20" police guns were cylinder but a lot of the commercial deer barrels were i.c.

 

[lemaymiami]

The markings you describe were on every standard 870 we were issued during my career in law enforcement (1973-1995) but my outfit never had any with rifle sights -just simple bead sighting. As a matter of fact we never saw any of the later "police" marked 870's during my era. I'll be interested to hear just when that serial number came from the factory. Although today all of the police models will be chambered for the 3" round, back then the standard was 2 3/4".

Older guns were very good for close quarters purpose they were designed for and all of them came with the exact wood stocks you're showing. They ware well finished and came with very smooth actions as well -even when brand new. As you can guess I'm a fan of them (but for me without the mag extension or the rifle sights…). I can also say that the old 2 3/4" round in 00 buck was very effective at ranges under 20 meters….

 

[ulflyer]

PapaG: Can't find any marking in left that might indicate choke.

LemayMiami: thanks for good info. I'm thinking this one may be back beyond '75, but thats just guesswork at this point. I wish it had a shorter barrel but am not inclined to have it chopped. Just too nice an old gun to mess with, even tho its not a high dollar piece.

 

[JohnBT]

Assuming it has the original barrel, Remington used a 2- or 3- letter code on the lefthand top rear of the barrel to show the year of manufacture.

If the ES is the barrel code, it was made in 10/69. If not, here's the chart.

www.leeroysramblings.com/Gun Articles/remington_barrel_date_code.html

 

[ulflyer]

John, thats fantastic info. Have printed it out to save. I believe the ES is correct for barrel date....Oct 1969. However, did one this old use alloy trigger housing?
I wonder if perhaps this gun had the sights added, along with the extended mag tube, to make it a "Police" gun or perhaps a deer gun? Supposedly it came from a policeman, but I have no info as to how he used it. Will try to learn more about that.

 

[lemaymiami]

Just guessing but I'd think that the sights and 20" barrel were factory… My last issued popper had a 20" barrel with only a bead sight. I thought it was the best I ever handled since it came to me when it was almost new and had never been issued out to road patrol. I never minded the extra two inches (in fact I thought I was a bit more accurate with it. to find out that all of those old shotguns were gotten rid of after I retired (and there was never any notice or opportunity to purchase one….) wasn't good news -but I only heard about it after the fact…

By the way, any choke info would be right on the barrel near the receiver…. I never handled one wasn't marked as "imp cyl." short for improved cylinder choke…..

 

[AndyJ]

Barrel codes date the barrels and since barrels easily interchange, your receiver is not necessarily that same age.

Remington will give you the date of manufacture with a phone call to 800-243-9700. I will tell you they started using a letter prefix in the serial number sometime in 1968 so your receiver is older than that.

 

[Virginian]

I have posted this many times. Your gun is definitely pre 1968, and if the stock is original I will also say pre 1963.

M/870 LETTER PREFIX
1950 TO APPROX 1968:NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX
1968 TO PRESENT: LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE)
S-68, T-74, V-78, W-84, X-90, A-91, B-94, C-97, D-01, AB-05
LETTER SUFFIX (DESIGNATES GAUGE)
V 12 GA. (2 3/4”)
M 12 GA. MAGNUM (3”)
A 12 GA. “SUPER” MAGNUM (3 ½”)
W 16 GA. ( 2 ¾” )
X 20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME” (DISCONTINUED)
N 20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME MAGNUM” (DISCONTINUED)
K 20 GA. “LIGHT WEIGHT” (“LW”) (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”)
U 20 GA. LW MAGNUM (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”)
J 28 GA.
H .410 BORE (2 ½” OR 3”)

Model 1100 LETTER PREFIX
1964 TO APPROX. 1968: NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX
1968 TO PRESENT: LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE)
L-68, M-74, N-78, P-85, R-90
LETTER SUFFIX
SAME STRUCTURE AS THE M/870

Model 1187 LETTER PREFIX
1987 TO PRESENT: “PC” 12 GA., 1999 “TL“ 20 GA.,
2000 “SM” SUPER MAG.
LETTER SUFFIX
NO LETTER SUFFIX ON THIS MODEL

 

[PabloJ]

What you have there is early receiver with early wood style adopted from Model 31. The barrel and three-shot magazine extension have been added at later date. Nice gun the only downsides are 2&3/4" only chamber lack of choke tube system (new smoothbore Wingmaster barrels with rifle sights have them) non-magnum receiver and thinnish bluing typical for that period. New Wingmasters have excellent deep bluing giving them much superior oxidation protection plus the wood is nicer quality with nicely executed machine cut checkering.

 

[200Apples]

.
You have a sweet ol' 870 there. Sure, it's a utility piece, but it's a good one. The stock grain is amazing. Don't be concerned with the 2-3/4" chamber or lack of a Magnum receiver. One only needs those kinds of things if reaching for fowl @ 35,000 ft. Today's 2-3/4" buckshot or slug loads are pack plenty of punch for hunting or defense at reasonable ranges.

To what use would you like to put that gun? If HD, then consider a 1-shot magazine extension in place of that 3-shot. Too, a Flextab conversion is something I'd do to a defense shotgun. Other than that, your gun doesn't need a thing other than boxes of ammo and range time.

In the immortal words of ol' Dave McCracken, "Buy ammo. Use up. Repeat."

 

[Ted E Bear]

What you have there is a nice older shotgun. Id say its a keeper.

 

[Black Knight]

You have a nice older 870 Wingmaster that was set up for a police department or sheriff's office. It is the forerunner to the current 870P. I remember seeing those setting in the trunk racks of my local city police cars in the 1970's when I was a Police Explorer. I have a much nicer 870 Wingmaster with the 20 inch rifle sight barrel for my home defense shotgun. I don't believe you could have picked another shotgun much better. In my opinion the 870 is the premium shotgun for the multiple purposes it normally encounters.