Picked up a 1953 Remington 870 wingmaster

[Bill Holcombe]

It is in really good shape. I realize it isn't a double, but this is the type of gun I grew up learning to shoot and hunt. Heck I was almost 30 before I even heard of a Parker shotgun. 12 ga 2 3/4 modified barrel. It has been shot some, but definitely not much.

Will probably have to refinish the stock at some point....or I could just upgrade the wood on it....but I don't even know where to look for something like that.

Anyway, wanted to share the new acquisition.

[Mills Morrison]

Looks almost new

[Bill Holcombe]

Yeah it hasn't been shot much at all. The magazine tube still has the bluing on it and the loading latch is still bright and shiny.

Only issues really is some of the finish on the wood is wearing away.

It was given years ago to our local Shotgun 4-H club to use, but it wasn't shot much as most of the kids had their own gun, wanted a semi auto, or 20 gauge.

Gonna try to remove the CC 4H from the stock but we shall see how that goes.

Lots of nostalgia about this type of old gun for me.

[John Dallas]

Old Remington pumps are the best! (Sorry M12/M37) I was shooting my Dad's M31 Remington on ducks Monday

[Gary Laudermilch]

I would not have thought they used pressed checkering in 1953 or any checkering at all on a field grade gun. Something to be learned every day.

[Bill Holcombe]

Its a wingmaster, there was a cheaper standard grade which had no checkering or anything else. There were apparently a slew of variations on the guns model style for Wingmasters themselves which I am trying to figure out how to determine what model this actually is.

[Dave Noreen]

The impressed checkering came out in 1963 along with the new Model 1100. However this pattern impressed checkering didn't appear on the Model 870 Wingmaster until 1965. From 1950 to 1962 the Model 870ADL had the Remington machined checkering while the Model 870AP had the plain stock and ringed forearm.

1950 --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Ansleyone/Remington%20Pumps%20and%20Autoloaders/Model%20870%20Wingmaster%201950_zpsbdpd7xcp.jpeg

1961 --

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/Ansleyone/Remington%20Pumps%20and%20Autoloaders/Model%20870%20Wingmaster%201961_zpstmwrvwnb.jpeg

[Bill Holcombe]

Well, it is surprisingly more difficult to find a nice piece of wood for an 870 that doesn't cost an arm and a let then I thought it would be....

[Mark Riessen]

My dad started me out with a 20 ga. mdl. 31 Rem. Kind of wish I had kept the old girl. They just don't make them like they used to. M.

[John Dallas]

I've also got a 20 ga. M31L with the alloy receiver. I shaved off the pistol grip, and it is now my wet-weather grouse gun. It's so light that it is uncomfortable to shoot a round of skeet with it

[charlie cleveland]

king you got your self a good one....charlie

[Bill Murphy]

Dave is right. This gun is probably way later than 1953. Check the date codes on the breech end of the barrel for the proper date of manufacture. Great gun. I still have a few. Well, maybe more than a few. Killed a resident Canada Goose with one in October. Ran 100 straight in our Maryland State NSSA Shoot with a Sun Light (maple stocked) 20 gauge a few years ago, but lost in the shootoff because I thought I should use a real skeet gun. I missed on the first pair of the shootoff with my Krieghoff.

[Bill Holcombe]

Barrel Code is ZZ, which is 1953. Also it has a metal follower as opposed to a plastic one which Remington supposedly near as I can tell switched to in the 1960s (thx remington society). i know it is pre 1968 based off there being no letter prefix to the serial number (again thx to remington society).

Sent some pictures to one of my dad's hunting buddies that is in to 870s and he said the wood is not original to the gun. The fit isn't quite right and the wood is a little too proud on the receiver. With the other info I gave him, he believes it very well could be a 53 based on the parts. He said the pressed checkering came over from the 1100 in the mid 60s and the fleur de lis pattern a little later, but it was very common in the 70s to "upgrade" your old factory 870 wood for the new remington stocks. He admits he has 1 or 2 he did it with and now wishes he hadn't.

So from what he told me, the barrel is definitely a 53 era one. The receiver is definitely pre 68. Told him the serial number, but he said that remington can't even give you a straight answer on receiver serial numbers except for the prefix letter, due to the different runs and model numbers and lack of records. He said from looking at it though and the fact it has an original metal follower and a metal safety and the fact I know it has been in the 4-H Shooting sports club safe for 20+ years that he would feel comfortable in going with it being a 1953 model.

Not that it has any collector value due to the pressed checkering dupont finish wood not being original, but the guts of the gun are 1953.

Really want to find some upgrade wood now.....

[Bill Holcombe]

Dave is right. This gun is probably way later than 1953. Check the date codes on the breech end of the barrel for the proper date of manufacture. Great gun. I still have a few. Well, maybe more than a few. Killed a resident Canada Goose with one in October. Ran 100 straight in our Maryland State NSSA Shoot with a Sun Light (maple stocked) 20 gauge a few years ago, but lost in the shootoff because I thought I should use a real skeet gun. I missed on the first pair of the shootoff with my Krieghoff.

According to the barrel codes, it was made in september of 1953. Provided the barrel is original...

[John Dallas]

One of the knowledgeable posters on the Remington site has a great description of Remington's dating service

"I do not trust Remington's dating service. If they were Match.com, you could end up with Nancy Pelosi."

[Mills Morrison]

:eek:

[Daniel G Rainey]

I started hunting in 1960 with a 870 12ga. with a polychoke. Killed my first dove, quail, treerat, rabbit, coon and deer with that gun before losing it when a boat overturned on a duck hunt. It was replaced by 2 870's. One was a 12 3inch Mag. which was hell on deer with number 1 buck ( back in the hound days ) the other was a 20 skeet gun which was my bird gun. Driving back from a South Dakota hunt a friend asked if I ever cleaned that gun. No need was the answer. We got to figuring and counted that 20 had been fired over 10,000 times without cleaning.( I take better care of my parkers ) They are great guns, one of the best. Danny

[Mills Morrison]

My first two guns were both 870's. Gifts from my Uncle Hugh Lane. I still have the second one. Dad gave the first one back to Uncle Hugh's grandson. They are great guns.

[Bill Holcombe]

For anyone interested I ended up ordering a set from Numrich that I had read good reviews of.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/ad/590690.htm

Will see how it looks. May strip it and refinish it depending on how I like the satin finish.

[Ron Gebhart]

I have a 20ga 870 that my father gave me when I was twelve years old. Interestingly it was manufactured in October of 1953. It has worked flawlessly for thousands of rounds. Gun is checkered, but not fleur de lis.

[Jay Gardner]

Nothing wrong with Wingmasters. Dad gave me a 20 ga for Christmas 1973. Action is slick as snot. Since then I decided that I should have one in every gauge. (12, 16, 20, 28, 410)

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n308/Doublegun_2006/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-10/C759D99F-D7D4-4049-A1C4-283CCA9F3A0F_zpsbsmwjcg0.jpg

[Bill Holcombe]

So anyone got any experience with stripping the satin finish off a modern stock? Only times I have stripped a stock has been using acetone, which I don't think will cut it on this wood...

[John Dallas]

If it's the urethane finish, I understand it's brutal to get off. Brownell's sells a stripper for urethane, but I think it still requires a lot of elbow grease

[Daniel Carter]

Had to lower comb on a Beretta. The finish was impervious to any stripper i had. Used a well sharpened scraper to remove finish then proceed as usual

[Bill Holcombe]

Supposedly from what I have read the satin finish is a spray on lacquer finish.

[Gary Laudermilch]

Years ago I refinished an 870 stock that had the glossy synthetic finish typical of 60's - 70's Remingtons. I forget what they called it but it was tough stuff. I was able to get it off without too much trouble using pieces of broken glass as a scraper. Breaking the glass yielded scrapers of different sizes and shapes. It worked well. I refinished using Tru-oil. It still sees service as a turkey/crow gun on occasion.

[Bill Holcombe]

Here is my other issue I have. Depending on the look of the wood, what new finish I put on it.

Oils finishes are nice, but if the grain is really pretty I have a superposed from the 60s that has a gorgeous gloss finish on it. Problem is I am pretty certain I don't have the proprietary formula for Browning 2 part high gloss finish.

[Bill Holcombe]

Well I got the wood in from Numrich. Really nicely figured. No checkering, but that may just be a project to get into at some point in the future. This isn't a permanent mounting, I just wanted to verify how the wood looked together on the gun.

I am currently deciding how best to strip the wood and then how I am going to refinish it. Possibly truoil or possibly BLO or possibly LMF permalyn. We will just have to see what I decide when I finish my research.

Who knows, I might end up deciding to go with french polish...\

All I know is it won't be satin.

[Ben Rawls]

That is a very pretty stock and deserves to be checkered.

[Bill Holcombe]

Well I have been playing at checkering on some scrap wood. We shall see how that goes.

Have the stocks fully stripped finally, that took forever to get off, and have sanded them down to 600 grit.

Now trying out the finishes on some walnut boards we cut, plained/joinered, and sanded.

Only one coat so far, but left to right its Waterlux, Permalyn Finish, Permalyn sealer, Ben Matte, Fornby's tung oil.

Just one coat so we shall see how they look after some other coats. Permalyn sealer is definitely the thinnest, as I would expect and Ben Matte appears to be the thickest and darkest. Will see what my experimenting finds before I finish them.

[Kevin McCormack]

If the finish on the original (as it came to you) stock is the notorious Remington RKW "bowling pin" (their ad language), finish, you will need a garden flamethrower or a duckbill head on your Berz-O-Matic squat bottle torch to remove it.

I bought my M 870 30" 3-inch Mag vent in November of 1969 the weekend after I came within inches of losing my newly 100% Del Grego-restored 12 ga. VHE overboard in a deeper-than-I-was-tall marsh canal while duck hunting at Monie Bay (MD). I figured I could afford to buy 6 and a half more 870s at my then-employee discount price at the sporting goods store I worked at as opposed to finding and 'restoring' another VHE. The VHE (190737) is out there somewhere in Parkerland; the 870 is still taking them down with authority 47+ years later.

[Bill Holcombe]

If the finish on the original (as it came to you) stock is the notorious Remington RKW "bowling pin" (their ad language), finish, you will need a garden flamethrower or a duckbill head on your Berz-O-Matic squat bottle torch to remove it.

I bought my M 870 30" 3-inch Mag vent in November of 1969 the weekend after I came within inches of losing my newly 100% Del Grego-restored 12 ga. VHE overboard in a deeper-than-I-was-tall marsh canal while duck hunting at Monie Bay (MD). I figured I could afford to buy 6 and a half more 870s at my then-employee discount price at the sporting goods store I worked at as opposed to finding and 'restoring' another VHE. The VHE (190737) is out there somewhere in Parkerland; the 870 is still taking them down with authority 47+ years later.

Yeah it took a while to get it off, but it clean and smooth now.