Cutting a barrel on an 870 wingmaster

[RockIsland]

Any particular reason why?

Because they were very well made back then.

Some would consider it almost a sin to cut one up, especially when new replacement barrels are inexpensive and plentiful.

To each his own.

[Delkal]

Any particular reason why?

Because you will pay $150 (barrel cut and extended mag) to end up with a shotgun worth less than what you started with. Many people prefer the old school early production 870s and they go for a premium. You could have easily traded it for a cut down / messed with shotgun and still have $150 (maybe more) in your pocket. You could have also found an already cut 870 barrel on Ebay. They usually go for what you paid to have your original barrel cut. You just needed to be patient.

But it is your shotgun and you can do what you want with it.

[Hodgie]

Because they were very well made back then.

Some would consider it almost a sin to cut one up, especially when new replacement barrels are inexpensive and plentiful.

To each his own.

Where?

From what I have seen in the last few day's that standard 870 barrels will not fit because the old Wingmasters had a different barrel lock up. Other then one here or there on E-bay the ones I have seen between 18.5-20" have been $200.00 and over, and finding them hasn't been plentiful.

[Hodgie]

Don't know why he's upset.
Everything that you're doing can be Undone.

Because people get attached to the thought of something regardless if the something is theirs or not. It's not like there is a shortage of old Wingmasters out there readily for sale in the $350.00 range. There is a shortage on finding shorter replacement barrels for them from my personal search.

[Delkal]

From what I have seen in the last few day's that standard 870 barrels will not fit because the old Wingmasters had a different barrel lock up.

First I heard of that. I heard Wingmaster and Express barrels have a different endcap but even they exchange. When did they make the change in production and can you tell by serial number? And how do you differentiate the older barrels by looking at the barrel?

Would these barrels from Ebay fit?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5861-21-034...p2047675.l2557

https://www.ebay.com/itm/5863-19-034...p2047675.l2557

[TooBigToFit]

Because they were very well made back then.

Some would consider it almost a sin to cut one up, especially when new replacement barrels are inexpensive and plentiful.

To each his own.

It's a waste of a perfectly good shotgun that won't be as good as a purpose built HD/Tactical gun, yet more expensive than a dedicated HD/Tactical gun once you consider all the money you sunk into it.

It's like taking an econobox Civic and trying to make a race car out of it. Then, it won't be appealing to the people who want a Honda Civic because it has a bunch of stuff bolted onto it. Yet it'll make a terrible race car because it doesn't have the guts to become one. All the while you look stupid while your car farts down the road.

When I wanted a tactical shotgun, I didn't chop the barrel down from my Ithaca 37 field gun. I went out an bought a Benelli M3.

But yeah, to each his own.

[Hodgie]

It's a waste of a perfectly good shotgun that won't be as good as a purpose built HD/Tactical gun, yet more expensive than a dedicated HD/Tactical gun once you consider all the money you sunk into it.

It's like taking an econobox Civic and trying to make a race car out of it. Then, it won't be appealing to the people who want a Honda Civic because it has a bunch of stuff bolted onto it. Yet it'll make a terrible race car because it doesn't have the guts to become one. All the while you look stupid while your car farts down the road.

When I wanted a tactical shotgun, I didn't chop the barrel down from my Ithaca 37 field gun. I went out an bought a Benelli M3.

But yeah, to each his own.

Before the 870 "police model" was produced law enforcement used modified Wingmasters also known as riot guns. Not everything has to have "tactical" in the name in order for it to be put into a defensive/offensive role.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/865820407



A guy took something he owned, is not rare by any means, has no attachments to, did not use and wants to repurposed it for something that may fit his needs a bit more.

OHH THE HUMANITY!

The "riot" guns or police trade in's in this configuration sell for a lot more then the standard $350.00 run of the mill Wingmasters too.

[TooBigToFit]

Before the 870 "police model" was produced law enforcement used modified Wingmasters also known as riot guns. Not everything has to have "tactical" in the name in order for it to be put into a defensive/offensive role.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/865820407



A guy took something he owned, is not rare by any means, has no attachments to, did not use and wants to repurposed it for something that may fit his needs a bit more.

OHH THE HUMANITY!

The "riot" guns or police trade in's in this configuration sell for a lot more then the standard $350.00 run of the mill Wingmasters too.

That was then, and now is now, now being that there's purpose built shotguns that do a better job for less.

Again, it's his money to spend (and this is coming from a guy that's spent a lot of money on stupid things). But it's not like he had this shotgun lying around. He explicitly bought a 28" field Wingmaster, and is now spending even more money trying to make it into an HD gun.

Would you rather...

Spend $400 on a USED field 28" Field Wingmaster with a 4+1 capacity
Spend $100 to get the barrel chopped down and worry about the chopped end rusting
Spend $80 on a Burris SpeedBead and get locked into a single optic on a crappy mount

Or

Spend $500 on a NEW 590A1 with 6+1 or 8+1
With a barrel that's already 18" or 20" fully parkerized
With a rock solid picatinny rail that you can mount whatever optic you want on it.

It's just hard to argue with the math.

[Hawk]

If you've ever read any of the OP's threads in the past you'd understand that he's a shotgun guy and loves to tinker.

I'm pretty sure he already has a small collection of shotguns, including "tactical" ones.

I can understand his thinking. He wants a project to work on and he has an idea and already owns the foundation of the project (the Wingmaster).

IMHO, he should be able to do whatever he wants with it since he owns it, regardless of what others feel about it.

BTW, he didn't specifically say how he acquired the shotgun, he said he has one. Who knows where it came from, or if he did buy it, how much he paid for it.

As others have said, it's not like it's a collectors item.

[sota]

heard about this thread.