what's up with the wood on this Wingmaster?

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Walnut is a very open grained wood. On better quality gunstocks they use a paste wood filler to fill in the open pores before finishing. This is good wood, but just a utility grade with only a coat of clear finish. It leaves a bit of textured look to the wood. It is normal and some prefer that look.

Don't think that wood came on that gun from the factory, maybe not even the barrel. That looks like a police stock that appears to have been refinished.

The barrel is for 2.75 and 3" shells, but I cannot see an "M" at the end of the SN. Guns with no "M" are not designed for 3" shells.
 
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We would call that piece of lumber basic Walnut 101. Nothing fugly, nothing special, just very purdy As a comparison though, here's what came on one of my p.o.s. Sears bolt 12 gauge shotguns from the very early 60's, that I think sold for about $22.00 back in the day.....


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Is there supposed to be something wrong with that wood? It looks very nice.
Nothing "wrong" with it per se, I like it alot, it's just that EVERY other Wingmaster stock and fore-end I've seen looked like this
remington-870-wingmaster-engraved-wood-stock-set_120697051648.jpg
thanks everyone for the input
 
So what's the issue? You don't like a yacht-style high gloss finish? That's an easy fix if you wanna kick it down a notch to a semi-gloss, egg shell or matte finish. Really, it doesn't take a lotta material nor a lotta time. Frinstance, that shot gun stock that I posted above? I removed the action, sanded down the lumber, put on 4 coats of thinned-out Varathane on it and then waxed her a bit in less than 6 hours total, over a three day period. Ez-pz.......
 
I am 99.999% sure it is replacement wood; looks like walnut with some kind of gloss polyurethane finish. The receiver is NOT a Magnum receiver - it may have been retrofitted with a 3" ejector and spring and been refinished, because the bluing does look really good, or it may have had a 3" system to start with, because some 2-3/4" guns did go out the door that way. It is a 1984 vintage receiver, if I am reading the serial number right. The barrel is a later RemChoke barrel that has been put on the gun. If it is a Light Contour barrel, it is the first one I have ever seen that did not say Light Contour right on it. Also, before the Light Contour barrels came out, Remington had gone back to the much lighter style of rollmarking than on that barrel. Nothing wrong with that barrel, I just don't think it's an LC. Looks like a lot later than the early '86-'87 era RC barrels, because they were heavier still. In 28", it should handle fine.
Nothing wrong with it, but I think it is priced pretty high considering it is a put together gun, and I don't know if it would function with 3" shells. I'm not a lefty, but if I was and didn't have a left handed Wingmaster I would probably jump on it. It can be converted to 3" pretty easy if it isn't, but if you don't know how to do it yourself, it is pretty costly because most gunsmiths will replace the rivets and do a refinish. AND, Remington doesn't list a Magnum Left Handed Ejector as an available part, so you would still need to do some modification.
 
last year a friend of mine was sellin a bunch of his firearms, and when i saw the shotgun i knew i had to have it. to be honest the stock kinda hipnotized me:) just somethin about the stock, its a remington wingmaster magnum, this is actually my first shotgun in this configuration my other is a trenchgun copy
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Looks like Police gun furniture to me, with an oil finish.
I concurr, I've never seen a new Wingmaster on the shelf that looked like that. Unless it's "Big Greens" latest attempt at a "Retro-Look". Regardless, I like it.
 
last year a friend of mine was sellin a bunch of his firearms, and when i saw the shotgun i knew i had to have it. to be honest the stock kinda hipnotized me just somethin about the stock, its a remington wingmaster magnum, this is actually my first shotgun in this configuration my other is a trenchgun copy - ifit
Now THAT's a good looking Wingmaster. Looks just like mine. ;)
 
Some of the older sporting Wingmasters I've seen had the shorter grooved style forearm, the 'deluxe' versions had the longer field type forearm, that was diamond checkered IIRC. The oldest one of the deluxe versions I've seen had the cutout on the right to clear the ejection port but didn't have a corresponding cutout on the left side.

The older Police and Riot 870s had the short LE type forearm, the really old Police gun had a 'corncob' type forearm that was more rounded than the later version. The newer LE type forearm (from the 1960s or so onward) is what's shown on the gun in the OP's pictures.

Here's the old grooved corncob type sporting forearm - Note the curved buttplate and lack of checkering on the stock also.

870_-_001.jpg

- from http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/journals/870
 
Lee Lapin beat me to it. I remember seeing stocks like that on the 870 Wingmasters in my city police cars back in the late 1970s. I was a police explorer back then and did many ride alongs. That was before Remington came out with the 870P. The 2 Wingmasters I have at home have the Fleur De Li carved/checkered stocks. Truth be told I would love to get my hands on one of those old Wingmasters that were in one of those patrol cars.
 
IMO: Any 40 year old Wingmaster is a better, slicker shotgun then anything Remington has made lately in the last 30+ years.

Try one out and you will believe me.

rc
 
I have to agree with the others that say that is a refinished police stock. I have a couple downstairs looking something like that.
 
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