Remington 870 Wingmaster Restoration (Instruction, How to)
I have received a letter from Rich Lynch from New Zealand. He has done a fantastic work restoring his Remington 870 Wingmaster made in 1954.
From Rich:
Rusty Remington 870 Wingmaster
I’ve spent the last few weeks doing up a very rusty 870 Wingmaster made in 1954. I went for more of a
classic sporting look. It was my first attempt at rust-bluing – felt that it was more in keeping with the old girl’s age rather than the newer coatings available.
Remington 870 Wingmaster made in 1954
Old Remington 870 Wingmaster
Stripped rust off metal work with malt vinegar and wire brush Metalwork rust-blued with Laurel Mountain Forge: Barrel Brown & Degreaser, with a baked on linseed oil finish
Rust Bluing Remington 870
Barrel shortened to 23″
1187 Claro Walnut Stock (with longer stock bolt), with varnish sanded off and finished with linseed oil
SuperCell Recoil Pad
Meprolight Tritium Shotgun Bead
Remington 870 Wingmaster
Remington Wingmaster
Remington 870
Rich, thank you so much for fantastic photos!
 Rust Blue |
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WOW!!!! That turned out great. Considering what you had to start with I never would’ve thought it would’ve turned out that good. Way to keep the old girl kicking.
jon
That’s one outstanding job – just stunning! Could you give some additional info on the metal refinishing you did? I’m a newbie to refinishing.
Tim
Tim, thanks for your comment. I have just added new post with instructions from Rich.
Cheers guys!
This was my first attempt at any kind of restoration, and i get the feeling I tried one of the trickier methods of refinishing. There are a lot of easier modern methods out there, however… I’m very glad I went this route – she means so much more to me like this than if I’d just taken her in to be coated at the local gunshop.
If you’ve got a bit of time (I did it slowly over a couple of weeks) it’s a great little project – cheap to do ($10-$15 for the rust solution, $5 for cotton-swabs, latex gloves etc) and if you mess it up you can always remove any rust-bluing with another vinegar bath.
Rich
I haven’t done a restoration as well and I found your guide very useful! Thank you for taking the time to take the pictures and for sharing them here! I also want to take my time with this and I’m glad this is an inexpensive project. I will also surely be doing another vinegar bath as I will make mistakes (it’s reassuring to know I can easily fix them).
She looks awesome. What technique did you use on the trigger guard and other bits that have a silver/gray look
thanks!
Thanks! The old Wingmaster trigger guards were actually aluminium (or aluminum for our American cousins :) ) I used a fine grit paper to it to take off the coating that was getting pretty worn.
Hey first off your gun looks amazing and I have a couple of questions because I want to do this with my wingmaster.
1.) I know you used an 1187 Claro Walnut Stick but all I can find is the gloss, did you do something to get rid of the gloss and if you didn’t where did you find the stock and fore end because I love the color.
2.) Do you know how to rid of scuffs on the metal that has been chipped off or from the pump action? Like how do you restore the metal and what finish did you use-also on the receiver?
3.) What did you do to the trigger guard and everything to have a silver look?
Thank you very much.
Hi Will, no worries
1.) I took the gloss off the stock with a small electric sander – you could do it by hand, but it’s tough stuff. Then smoothed the surface with finer wet&dry (emory) paper. Then lashings of your favourite stock oil. I like Boiled Linseed myself – really makes the grain glow. I’m hoping to get a matching forend next time i’m in the states.
2.) Depends how deep the scuff is really. If it’s shallow, the prep work will take most of it out, and you’ll barely see it once the coating is on. If it’s a deep ding into the metal – then i’d just call it ‘character’ :)
3.) The older wingmaster guards were made from Aluminium. I just sanded the bluing off to get to bare metal. You could probably find some old ones on ebay, or a guntrade site if you don’t like your newer plastic one.
Seriously though – so long as you take it slow, and are careful about each step, and greasy fingerprints… if i can do it, anyone can. I’m on richrjlynch@yahoo.co.nz if anyone needs some pointers or has any worries
As for where… I’d keep an eye on the remington store http://www.remingtoncountrystore.com/partsPaging.aspx?layout=0&number=3&catalogid=1&categoryid=3586&topcat=1038 The 11-87 stock fit’s the 870, but you may need a different bolt length depending on your year of manufacture.
Nice looking gun, i have a 1954 wingmaster Magnum that i am re doing. Thank you for the ideas. What is your email address i will send you a pic of what i have so far
Steve