I picked up a pair of Remington Wingmasters today. Police trade-in guns. One has an 18" barrel the other a 21" barrel. Both show signs of having been around the track more than once, but one will be perfect for a low cost H.D. long gun. These will also be a great project to keep me busy over the long weekend.

My question is, does anyone have a close guess as to when the name was changed from Wingmaster to Model 870?

Thanks all

The Wingmaster s a higher grade 870. Still an 870, but a nicer one.

Fred, I still have my 870 wingmaster I bought in high school. Mid 1950s. I thought they were synonomous names. However mine does have a fancier fleur de les checkered stock and forearm than later wingmasters I have seen ..

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Bill
Dis B. Leaf

My "870 Wingmaster" dates from the early '70s and has been my primary bird gun since. I also have an "870 marine Magnum", an "870 Tactical", and an "870 Youth model 20 gauge". All are 870s, and all are different models.
So what was the question??

The Wingmaster is not a more deluxe 870, the Express is an economy model. As far as I am concerned, the 870 is the absolute best shotgun for the money that has ever been made. And yes, I have had a number of Winchester Model 12's, and while I love them, the design is needlessly complex, from a practical point of view.

Fred-

Originally and for many years, the Model 870 was called the Wingmaster. Only when they began making the cheaper Express grade was the standard, better quality gun still called the Wingmaster, to distinguish it from the cheaper Express version. I think this was in the 1980's, but never had any interest in the economy model and am not primarily a shotgunner, so don't recall the date for sure.

I saved up more and bought a Wingmaster, and mine was one of a short run that has realistic engraving on the receiver. It looks hand-cut unless a trained eye really studies it.

Assuming that a particular gun feeds okay (Remington has had some QC issues in recent years), the M-870 is almost surely the best shotgun buy on the market.

You probably used them in police work, so know what to expect, unless you maybe had Ithaca M-37's out where you used to be. Looks as if you can now stash shotguns at strategic locations in the home. Always a good idea, I think.

The Remington 870 was introduced in 1950 by that numerical designation, and coined the "Wingmaster"; multiple variations followed. They've always been both 870 and Wingmaster, until 1987 when the 870 "Express" version arrived.

The police or "riot" style versions of the 870 were typically found with 18" bead sight barrels or 20" with rifle sights, open cylinder bores, sometimes with extended magazine tubes.

The police guns can be confusing because they had the "Wingmaster" roll mark on the receiver, like all 870s, until the mid-1980s when Remington changed the receiver roll mark to "Police", but it was otherwise the same shotgun until the 3" "Police Magnum" was introduced.

The 870 Police guns are made to much different specs than regular 870's. The Military and Police guns are made in a different part of the plant by people that only assemble those particular shotguns. There are about 20 differences between the Police and Military shotguns and the regular ones. Google it a you can find a list. Also go to Rem. website to learn more. Very interesting. JM2CW

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SSG Ret.
TN & TX ARNG 66-06

Remington has been a bit messy with their shotgun naming scheme. Probably the best way to think of it is that the 870 designation belongs to the family of guns that share the same fundamental design features. The words like "Wingmaster", "Express", "Marine", "Special Field", etc... all serve to denote models with different qualities of finish, or ergonomic features.

The 870 Wingmaster guns are generally high quality guns with a fine blued finish and good looking wood furniture. The 870 Express guns are generally built to a price point and have lower quality finishes, plastic or dull wood furniture. 870 Police guns may also have "Wingmaster" or "Express" stamped on the receiver, generally Police guns are high quality, durable, and built to function very reliably.

For the most part internal parts can be interchanged between a Wingmaster and an Express, they will work just fine, but they will look a bit out of place since a bolt for example will not share the same quality of finish that the rest of the gun has. Some specific models may not be able to interchange barrels or other ancillary parts although they still share the same basic internal parts.

If you have Elmer Keith's book, "Shotguns", get it out and read his opinion of the M-870. He was enthused about it and was correct in thinking that it'd largely replace all other pump shotguns.

The second edition of that book includes the M-1100. He also liked it.

Much rather look for a used 870 Wingmaster these days. Better overall quality with a decent bluing. Almost blew lunch when I saw that matte finish and ugly wood on the Express. I know the Wingmaster is still being produced today but am sure the price would kill ya.