My youngest stepson is graduating college and heading to airline pilot school at the end of the summer. It'll be his first non-school-related housing, so he can finally take his guns with him.

Several years ago, I gave him a nice used 870 Wingmaster with a 28" barrel. We've had fun busting clays with it over the years, and it's his favorite gun he owns. For his birthday this year, I figured I'd help turn it into an equally nice home defense shotgun for his new place.



I ordered an 18.5" factory barrel with the glossy blue finish, and also installed a PGS Tac Cap +1 extension, which was the "classiest" extension I could find. It's aluminum, but it's finished to closely match the gloss bluing on the Wingmaster. (I think it's a really dark, "midnight blue"-ish anodizing.)

I'm considering getting something like a leather buttstock shell carrier too.

Looks great! I’ve got exactly the same shotgun as a downstairs defense gun in my office.
I really like that +1 cap. Best of luck to him in his studies and job!

That's a nice looking wingmaster

Oooh, I like that.

I really like how you thought that out. It all fits. Very nice.

Looks great! What vintage is it? Does it have the flex tab upgrade? If not, I highly suggest getting it for a fighting shotgun. I did the same with a 1974 Wingmaster.

Tony.

How is the chamber on the new barrel? My father could use a short barrel for his old wingmaster, though I am not impressed with recent Remington products.

Gorgeous.

I forgot to mention, I replaced the magazine spring with a Wolff +10% spring too.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
What vintage is it?

It has a "S" serial prefix, which is 1968-1973.

quote:

Does it have the flex tab upgrade? If not, I highly suggest getting it for a fighting shotgun.

It does not. Is that really needed? I've heard arguments both ways.

If so, where can I get the parts? Are Wingmaster chrome parts available? I'd like to keep the same look, and the action is buttery smooth right now.

Remington apparently used to sell an upgrade kit, but no longer.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
How is the chamber on the new barrel?

Just fine. Remington still puts TLC into their Wingmaster and Police models, and associated parts like these barrels.

For those interested in a new production 18.5" Wingmaster barrel like this, it's part number F242252.

MidwayUSA gets batches in from time to time. They were out of stock a few weeks ago, then in stock last week, and are now out of stock again.

https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...nder-bead-sight-blue

that's almost too nice to shoot

don't make them like they used to that's for sure

--------------------------------------

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
that's almost too nice to shoot

don't make them like they used to that's for sure

Almost. It's been shot a fair bit.

It does have some fine scratches, wear on the high points, and pinhead spots where there used to be specks of rust, but the finish is still in fantastic condition for a 50ish year old blued gun that's seen use with several owners. The overall shot hides many of the minor imperfections.

And none of the newer 870s can compare to the smoothness of this action.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I forgot to mention, I replaced the magazine spring with a Wolff +10% spring too.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
What vintage is it?

It has a "S" serial prefix, which is 1968-1973.

quote:

Does it have the flex tab upgrade? If not, I highly suggest getting it for a fighting shotgun.

It does not. Is that really needed? I've heard arguments both ways.

If so, where can I get the parts? Are Wingmaster chrome parts available? I'd like to keep the same look, and the action is buttery smooth right now.

Here's the factory Flex-tab upgrade kit ($128). Chrome bolt available:
https://tacticalgunsling.com/p...on-kit-remington-870

I consider it essential from a reliability standpoint. If a shell breaks loose from the magazine tube and the bolt is forward and the shell carrier is down, the only way to clear the jam is to tap out the trigger group pins and remove the shell. The Flex-tab modification allows you to simply rack the slide with more effort and the shell in the chamber will eject and the jammed round will chamber.

This guy is a certified 870 armorer and that's his bread and butter. You can buy factory Remington 870 parts and even stripped Remington 870 receivers from him as well as do a custom 870 build through him.
https://tacticalgunsling.com/products

I bought my 870 parts from him. I bought the 18.5" 870 Police High luster "Wingmaster blue" 3" magnum barrel. ($172)
https://tacticalgunsling.com/p...ngmaster-blue-bs-185

Factory Remington Barrels (Police barrels too)
https://tacticalgunsling.com/t/remington-barrels

870 receivers:
https://tacticalgunsling.com/t/remington-receivers


Tony.

Thanks.

He doesn't list the parts number, but that barrel looks identical to the barrel I got from MidwayUSA. Likely the same.

Looks like a new chrome bolt is an option, but the new carrier is only available in black oxide. So no more chrome carrier.

I wonder how the new bolt, slide, and carrier would affect the smoothness of the action. This is the slickest shotgun I've ever felt. A workaround for a malfunction is good, but it'd be a shame if it comes at the cost of Express-like action roughness.

And I assume the new production bolt comes with a MIM extractor too?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Thanks. He doesn't list the parts number, but that barrel looks identical to the barrel I got from MidwayUSA. Likely the same.

Looks like a new chrome bolt is an option, but the new carrier is only available in black oxide. So no more chrome carrier.

I wonder how the new bolt, slide, and carrier would affect the smoothness of the action. This is the slickest shotgun I've ever felt. A workaround for a malfunction is good, but it'd be a shame if it comes at the cost of Express-like action roughness.

Mine is still smooth as silk. Mine is of a similar vintage (1974). The smoothness is really in the action bars (the pump), the mag tube, and the finish of the receiver. Throw in a nice dab of XF-7 gun grease on the rails and its golden.

My buddy, who has a current production 870 was blown away by the smoothness of the action and I went with a phosphated bolt, not the chrome.

I'm getting ready to upgrade my Ohio National Guard 870 (1970) with the flex-tab upgrades. If you buy a set and don't like them, I'll buy them from you since I'm going to be buying a set for mine later this year.

There's a reason there's so many 870 chrome bolts for sale on e-bay.

Here's my 870 Wingmaster conversion...


Tony.

I've dealt with the outfit Benny is recommending. The dude that runs it is a shotgun fanatic and is really into the 870. When I talked to him , he gave me almost an hour of his time sharing advice and recommendations.

I also did the flex tab conversion on an old Wingmaster I got from Summit Gun broker back in the day. I went with the non chrome carrier and it didn't degrade the action.

Beautiful Wingmaster.

I’ve experienced the stoppage Benny mentioned. I was popping crows in the neighbor’s corn field and it locked absolutely solid. Had to trudge all the way back to the house and drive the receiver pins to undo it. I’d hate to have that failure in a life-or death situation because you’d be left with what’s essentially become a club.

Flex tab is required for defensive use. Required.

Nice gun.

quote:

For those interested in a new production 18.5" Wingmaster barrel like this, it's part number F242252.

MidwayUSA gets batches in from time to time. They were out of stock a few weeks ago, then in stock last week, and are now out of stock again.

https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...nder-bead-sight-blue

Well hell, RogueJSK, you've inspired me to do something with my 870 that sits unused in my safe. I've had it 28 years and it has sat after I discovered the joys of over/under shotguns. Thanks for the heads up on the barrel!