Building an old school HD shotgun.

[Anonymous]

I've seen a few pictures on the internet and I think I'm going to do one too. I have a 1969 Remington Wingmaster 12 gauge with a 28" ribbed barrel. I'm going to leave the wood on it, and find an 18.5" barrel and use a +2 magazine extension. I love the look of that setup.

I don't shoot it much because the barrel is so long, I don't hunt or shoot skeet, so I really have no need for a barrel like that. I'm going to find another barrel because I don't want to cut it, that way I can convert it back to factory if I ever want to. I find I generally only shoot my Mossberg 8 shot 20" because of that. I think it'd make the Wingmaster more fun to shoot.

Any thoughts on the Mossberg 870 barrels, and what reasonable priced (under $100) magazine extensions are decent?

 

[Snake45]

If you want a +2 mag extension, you want a 20" barrel. The mag extensions for 18.5" are +1, I think.

For a barrel, check out gun shows or gun shops and buy the cheapest unribbed 870 barrel you can find. Don't worry about length or choke. Cut it off yourself to whatever (legal) length you want and you'll have a desirable for HD open choke. Have a local gunsmith drill and tap a hole in the barrel for a bead, and then screw a common, bolt-on tritium night sight in the hole.

I bought a mag extension for my (20") 870 for about $30.

With a little luck and careful shopping you should be able to get your whole project done for about $100, certainly no more than $150. Good luck with it and let us know how the project is going!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure the guns holds 4 rounds in the magazine, so a +2 would be 6 +1, which seems about right with a 18.5 or so barrel. Everything I keep seeing says a +2 with a 18-18.5 barrel and a +3 for a 20", assuming a pretty much flush to barrel magazine tube. I'll double check before purchasing one, but I think a +2 would be ideal. I've even heard of people using a +3 on a 18.5", but I don't want to tube to extend beyond the barrel.

That's definitely a good idea on the barrel, just getting whatever I can find if it's priced right, then just cutting it to size. A new barrel is at least $100 on it's own, but I might be able to find a long one for pretty cheap.

 

[Snake45]

You might be right about mag capacity. I know the standard gun holds 5, and the extension I have makes it 8, but I always assumed that 8 included one in the chamber. Have never bothered to load mine up all the way and count. :oops:

One more little thing you definitely want is a magazine clamp, which is sort of a figure-8 thing that clamps it to the barrel. You want this because without it, if you bump the mag tube hard enough to bend it, it'll tie up the whole gun and it'll require a gunsmith to fix. The clamp prevents that problem completely.

I have the mag extension by Tac Star. While looking for its name and a pic of it, I found this handy little site for you:

http://www.rem870.com/2009/10/28/overview-of-magazine-extensions-for-remington-870-shotgun-choate-tacstar-remington-ati/

Here's what my 870 looks like, with its Mossberg counterpart:

 

[Anonymous]

Yours are both nice, your 870 is pretty much what I want mine to look like. Mine has a high gloss wood stock with checkering and a sort of orange colored recoil pad.

It seems the clamp is a good idea, and most I see have them. I did read about a Wilson Combat one that supposedly doesn't need a clamp, and surprisingly, it wasn't that expensive, about $45, but I'd still feel better with one, and I actually think it looks better with one, more factory looking than with just the tube hanging down below the barrel with nothing holding it to the barrel.

The Wilson seems to just be a matte finish, where the Tac Star seems to come blued as a choice, which I'd prefer since my gun is blued. I found a blued Remington extension for about $50 from Amazon, might look into that one too.

 

[cruzerlou]

I have a +3 tube on my M1100 and the bbl is 22"and the tube and the bbl are same lengith and this makes the gun a 9 shot ,My tube is a Chocate and a hi quality tube .I belive I paied about 40 bucks for it from Brownell's and it came with a spring,lockwasher,barrel clamp and follower .Give me a few minuitesa and I'll look one up in my catalog and give you the options ,parts #'s and prices on them .Lou

 

[Calthrop]

My friend who lives above the Rim uses his vintage Wingmaster stock. Long barrel and the toe of the wooden stock is chipped off. No side saddle or barrel extension or new stock for that matter. I taught him how to clean it and keep it lubricated[slide glide] now he has a tackle box of stuff. The best piece of kit is the Vang 870 take down tool @ $10.00 Brownells. He has invested in competition type four shot spring loaded ammo carries that fit on the belt and has a Blackhawk bandoleer with 55 rounds.

I would recommend you slow down a bit. First you will need a now magazine spring for the extended unit. The 18.5" barrel and a band with a swivel and the extension unit should not be skimped on IMVVHO.
Brownells has a Remming Arms section. They sell new barrels, bands and extension units. They have tech support folks that will guide you to exactly the correct items you will need. Personally I do not trust TAC STAR and some of the other aftermarket vendors[my bias]. I use Remminton parts. Yes. You will pay more yet they are more likely to fit. Remember you are taking a nice bright acceptable field shot gun and turning it into an evil black "tactical" unit.

I have an idea. My local dealer sells the 870 Tactical with XS sight 18" cyl. barrel and the bad ass choke for $500.00 OTD. Sixty[60] day lay-away. Seven in the mag. I will change the follower to Vang $15.00, Stock to Blackhawk Comp stock set from LA $89.00+, Vang Safety and Police sear spring gunsmith install and trigger a shoe.
Yes it has a "plastic trigger guard" however in my experience they take a lot of hurt. If you can not abide you can buy the Police trigger group form Brownells too.

All in all even with the smith install of the safety and sear spring. The Comp stock set and the basic gun I am in the gun for less than $700.00. Ammo for this gun is: Slugs, buckshot[nominally #4 & bird shot indoors]. The comp stock makes a big difference so all authorized persons can shoot even slug from the gun.

Further handling a fighting shotgun is very different that a sporting clays gun. It makes perfect since racking the slide to intimidate an intruder and friends will only give your position away. I am getting further training. Now I saving up for a nice 20g for dove season.

 

[Corbi]

Just a suggestion.

I bought a Remington 870 slug barrel from Cableas. The barrel is smooth with Rem Choke and adjustable sights. I believe it is 20".

I like the set up as I enjoy the sights. The finish matched my WingMaster.

Corbi