Wow, that is an amazing find. You definitely lucked out; anyone who knows their 870s would have snapped that up in a heartbeat.
Does that gun still have its magazine plug? In addition to the standard wooden plug, very early Wingmasters came with a special "Vari-Weight" plug that increased the gun's weight to make it shoot softer with heavy loads. If that gun still had it, it would be very cool.
Odd Grin wrote:I called a gun savvy buddy to get some info on it before I bought it. Turns out it was made in 1952, and it was in absolute mint condition. I was assured it passed their inspection process, and it checked out by my inspection. Date stamp is kYY and the SN on the receiver is in the 177XXXv range, but the barrel has no SN.
870 barrels don't have serial numbers, only date stamps. The KYY stamp on the barrel indicates a manufacture date of May, 1952. Prior to the Gun Control Act of 1968, serial numbers were not legally required on firearms. 870s made prior to 1968 have a different serial number format without a letter prefix that indicates a manufacture date range.
Odd Grin wrote:So... I got a mint 1952 870 Wingmaster for $100... I assume someone missed a number when the gun went through in processing into their system.
I'm wondering how much it's worth? I have pictures if that would make a difference.
The gun is in
extremely good condition (as far as I can tell from the pictures, at least), but it's not quite mint. The gun has clearly seen some amount of use, as evidenced by the wear on the magazine tube and action bars (action bars on a pump shotgun are like the cylinder on a revolver in that regard). There are also some very minor scuffs and marks elsewhere on the gun. I can't really be any more specific based on these pictures, but the gun's obviously not a virgin.
That said, it's in very good shape, and with a little cleaning and attention, it'd be a beautiful piece. I'm not really qualified to give a dollar estimate, but you could easily turn around and sell it now for several times what you paid for it, especially if you can prove (by contacting Remington) that it's an all-original, parts-matching 1952 gun. If you hang on to it and keep it in this condition, it'll probably increase in value, but I couldn't say by how much (I doubt it'll really be worth a ton at any point in the near future, though).
Odd Grin wrote:I want to make it into a HD/Tac but I'm hesitant to cut the barrel down, so I looked for a low cost used 18-20" barrel for a few weeks. The only used barrel I could find locally turned out to be a 28" fixed Mod choked, smooth with lines along the center, barrel made the same year oYY and has a SN in the 194XXX range. It was priced at $95 and I talked them down to $85, I see these barrels for sale for way more than that online. This barrel actually matches the receiver better with the center line pattern along the length.
Did I actually get two killer deals on this?
So after all that I'm looking for a few opinions on what to do. I plan on keeping all the original wood and a long barrel safe and sound so it can be put back into original condition.
I'm going to say that if you intend for this gun to be an investment, something that you want to resell in the future and make a good profit, you'd be best off storing it exactly as it is now (though to be honest, it seems a shame to keep such a great specimen cooped up; 870s are meant to be used). Despite its age, it's still an 870; you're not going to break it if you use it, but you will add cosmetic evidence of use, and it'll become just another great old used Wingmaster.
If you want to keep this, and you're not worried about making a profit on it, it would make a great HD gun with a short barrel and magazine extension. There's really no need for 3" shells in a HD gun, so there's no problem there. It does have the old-style action components, which can jam if you don't push shells all the way into the magazine when loading. You could find some updated parts to swap in, but as long as you load the gun properly, it probably isn't worth worrying about for most normal HD scenarios. The current wood furniture would work just fine for HD unless you really want some specific aftermarket bells or whistles; but adding a quality recoil pad would make it easier to shoot (especially for smaller shooters, if that's a possibility in your home).
Whatever you end up replacing on the gun, I would definitely recommend keeping any and all original parts. As it is now, this would be a sweet trap gun or a wonderful family heirloom.
Odd Grin wrote:Should I cut down the original 30" barrel to 20" for my HD since the full choke is not as versatile as the mod on the second barrel?
Should I keep the original barrel intact and cut the 28" since it didn't come on the shotgun originally?
Should I try and trade one of the barrels for a 18-20" manufactured barrel?
Cutting a barrel down by more than a couple inches or so will remove the choke completely. It doesn't matter what they had to begin with, you'll end up with a cylinder bore with either barrel. If you were going to cut one of these two down, I'd say cut the 28" barrel, and keep the 30"; especially if the 28" barrel has a vent-rib (not sure if that's what you mean by "lines along the center"). If you cut down a barrel with a front bead only, you'll have no front sight without some added gunsmith work. A vent-rib, on the other hand, will always have a sighting system no matter what length it's cut to. If the 28" barrel has just a front bead like the 30" in the pictures, or if you want something other than a cylinder constriction, I'd recommend finding another barrel.
So..yeah. There's a wall of text for you. I hope it answers your questions. Let me know if you have more, and congratulations again on such a great find.
