New production Remington Wingmasters

My first shotgun was a Remington 870, have owned ten over the years and still use one for slug hunting. Of those guns, four were Wingmasters in 12, 20(x2) and 28 gauge. None of them however could compare to the Wingmaster I looked at yesterday at an area gun store.

In a word it was stunning. The polished blueing was even and deep, the checkering was very good, fitment was excellent and the action was butter smooth. The new owners of Remington are definitely getting this gun right and my credit card startedwhispering to me until I turned over the price tag and saw $1,349.00. The gun went back on the rack.

Expensive shotguns are not new for me but as nice as the new Wingmaster might be is there much of a market for a pump gun that is over $1,500 after taxes?

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Originally Posted by Badenoch

My first shotgun was a Remington 870, have owned ten over the years and still use one for slug hunting. Of those guns, four were Wingmasters in 12, 20(x2) and 28 gauge. None of them however could compare to the Wingmaster I looked at yesterday at an area gun store.

In a word it was stunning. The polished blueing was even and deep, the checkering was very good, fitment was excellent and the action was butter smooth. The new owners of Remington are definitely getting this gun right and my credit card startedwhispering to me until I turned over the price tag and saw $1,349.00. The gun went back on the rack.

Expensive shotguns are not new for me but as nice as the new Wingmaster might be is there much of a market for a pump gun that is over $1,500 after taxes?

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There's still lots of junk floating around out there for $500-$750. We can't buy any really good guns for under $1500. I have Ruger M77's that I bought 10 years ago for $850-$1000 that are now selling for BNIB from dealers at between $1700-$2100 by special order only. Hunting is gradually becoming a sport for the well-heeled.

my 1st gun that I bought, 50 years ago was a 870 wingmaster 12, 30" barrel, fixed full choke. It was used I payed $75 for it, a weeks wages. I still have that gun and it is still the smoothest most reliable gun I have and it looks great, mind you I don't us it much any more. I bought a 870 express couple years ago before things went stupid, in a 12ga slug thrower, it works but not as near as nice as my old wingmaster. Prices have gone stupid for sure, but I guest you are going to get what you pay for.

I guess they can't sell them for $8-900 when the 870 express sells for $700 or more now. Not $400 like they were for a long stretch. I still have one I use for turkey. If I was in the market for one I think I'd skip the 870 and get an SXP. A bunch of friends use them and seem to be well built units, and can still be had with a wood stock for $399. Still not a wingmaster but a good gun nevertheless. When savage came out with the awful looking renegauge for $1500 plus not much surprises me anymore.

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Originally Posted by cantgetright

I guess they can't sell them for $8-900 when the 870 express sells for $700 or more now. Not $400 like they were for a long stretch. I still have one I use for turkey. If I was in the market for one I think I'd skip the 870 and get an SXP. A bunch of friends use them and seem to be well built units, and can still be had with a wood stock for $399. Still not a wingmaster but a good gun nevertheless. When savage came out with the awful looking renegauge for $1500 plus not much surprises me anymore.

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I haven't shot an SXP but I'm suspect of guns made in Turkey. I have no doubt the Turks can make a good gun but like the Spanish before them they are making guns to a price point in many cases and if the price is low quality has to suffer somewhere along the line.

My initial sticker shock has subsided and I can't say the new Wingmaster isn't worth the price. You do tend to get what you pay for.

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Originally Posted by Badenoch

I haven't shot an SXP but I'm suspect of guns made in Turkey. I have no doubt the Turks can make a good gun but like the Spanish before them they are making guns to a price point in many cases and if the price is low quality has to suffer somewhere along the line.

My initial sticker shock has subsided and I can't say the new Wingmaster isn't worth the price. You do tend to get what you pay for.

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I would tend to agree about most Turkish guns but I believe Browning is still responsible for the design, research and development and quality control of the SXP. Would I take one over a wingmaster, no. But I would take one over the express models I've had in the past.

Had I continued to hunt ducks, I would have bought a wingmaster. I happened to borrow one once and loved the fit, feel, swing, and it shot like a dream. I didn’t have a lot of spare cash in by my younger days so I always had to settle for entry level shotguns and was never happy with them. Who knows, maybe if I bought a Wingmaster 40 years ago I would still be duck hunting.

I too had a chance to borrow a WingMaster for a day some 50 plus years ago and instantly fell in love with it. So as a wedding gift I got an 870 WingMaster 28 inch Vent Rib 12 gauge unfortunately 3 inch chambering wasn't the norm back then so if you have one it's worth a lot of money, also I think they had 3 grades of stock to choose from. Then came the Express model which was a 3 incher but not as well machined but still a very affordable working mans gun. I still have my original and another which I converted into a Sabot Slug gun.

My first Wingmaster was also a 12 gauge, 28" vent rib for duck hunting but my favourite was the 20 gauge. I owned a couple of them that I foolishly let go.

My first wingmaster was a 12 gauge special field, bought new in 1987. I've since moved to a 20 gauge o/u and the short pump never sees the light of day.

My dad bought me a new 870 30" plain barrel wing master 47 years ago and it still looks awesome in my gun cabinet. Used it for ducks, rabbits, yotes and a ton of trap shooting. It still works like the day I got it

As I recall, back when the Rem 7400 and Browning BLR rifles were $300.00 plus tax, new, (about 1980) the 870 Wingmaster was just a few dollars more, about $350-375.
The price of the new one seems to be in line with gun price increases in general. I'm happy with my old Mossberg 500, but if I wanted to go get myself a nice new pump, maybe a bit fancy, I wouldn't consider that price too far out of line.

I do note, however, that the Browning BPS Field model is only about $1000.00 and is as good a shotgun, in my opinion. However, I'd want to see those two side by side to compare.

i have the 870 supermag in wooden stock.

bought it maybe 3 or 4 years ago? got the combo with the rifled barrel ended up paying around 800? 850ish?

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

Ruger owns the Remington brand now and is turning out (as always) pretty nice guns. Pricey though - but that is the cost of quality and following Marlin and Remington's path through bankruptcies, producing and selling inexpensive guns is not a good business model. Winchester turned the corner twenty years ago when it was bought by FN and manufacturing transferred to Miroku in Japan. The new reality is a decent lever rifle now runs about 1500 bucks, and a decent autoloading shotgun about the same.

I have handled the new Winchester 94 - and they are slicker than any of the pre-64 or post-80s model.
I haven't got my hands on a Ruger/Marlin lever - but I'd expect the same from those.

I do have marlin XLRs a .444 JM stamped and a .45-70 Marlington - and the difference is night and day - including basic quality problems like the front sight falling off and the rear sight breaking on the Marlington.

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Ruger bought only the Marlin brand from Remington. Remington-branded shotguns and rifles are being made by RemArms, a holding company of Roundhill Group LLC. Roundhill is an investment company that brought Remington out of bankruptcy in 2020.

https://sgbonline.com/roundhill-grou...gton-firearms/

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Originally Posted by Badenoch

Ruger bought only the Marlin brand from Remington. Remington-branded shotguns and rifles are being made by RemArms, a holding company of Roundhill Group LLC. Roundhill is an investment company that brought Remington out of bankruptcy in 2020.

https://sgbonline.com/roundhill-grou...gton-firearms/

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Thanks for the correction. I had thought Ruger bought both.

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Originally Posted by Kilo Charlie

As I recall, back when the Rem 7400 and Browning BLR rifles were $300.00 plus tax, new, (about 1980) the 870 Wingmaster was just a few dollars more, about $350-375.
The price of the new one seems to be in line with gun price increases in general. I'm happy with my old Mossberg 500, but if I wanted to go get myself a nice new pump, maybe a bit fancy, I wouldn't consider that price too far out of line.

I do note, however, that the Browning BPS Field model is only about $1000.00 and is as good a shotgun, in my opinion. However, I'd want to see those two side by side to compare.

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I'll bet the Browning is heavier!

I don’t know what all the hype is about the 870. Like most, I’ve owned a bunch of different pump brands ( rem, winchester, browning, mossberg) and to be honest, the smoothest, fastest loading and most slick of the bunch was a winchester 1200 i bought at canadian tire in my 20’s. I think it was also the most inexpensive. The thing didn’t jam, hit where it was pointed and killed ducks and geese slicker than snot on a door knob. Thats one i sold and regret. Like kilo said above, I’ve stuck with the bps lately, and after working the chamber over with a brass scrubber on a drill i’ve finally got it where it doesn’t jam anymore. You shouldnt have to do that on a new gun.

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

Thanks for the correction. I had thought Ruger bought both.

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There was some speculation at the time they would buy both but ultimately chose only to buy Marlin which makes sense considering their product line and their complete lack of experience with pump and semi-automatic shotguns.

My dad gave me a used wingmaster for my birthday 50 years ago. It's still my go to shotgun.

I still have my Wingmaster 870 Mag 12ga-28" vent rib I bought in '88. It works flawlessly. I'm glad to see Remington is making a full recovery.