Thread: I have this old Remington 870 Wingmaster....

Hey guys,

I have this old 870 Wingmaster. The Barrel seems to be 21" long and it is not threaded inside the end so I'm assuming it can't take a choke.

What is this shotgun barrel made for? I take it that it's too short for duck hunting?

Maybe skeet? what choke is it?
Possibly made for buckshot/slugs for deer etc
If the stock is quite short it could be a junior/youth model.

Could have been bulged in the past hence the chop job,be ok for close up ponds or bunny shooting in tight scrub,be pretty loud though.

agree...plenty OK for jumpshooting close in ducks...pattern the sucker with a couple of loads of #3s and #4s that and ONLY that will tell you if it will do the job.ear protection will be good for barrel that short with steel loads...they are louder than old lead ones.
it MIGHT have 1/4 choke??? chuck a choke guage in it and see...or measure hole in end and someone cleaver will be able to work it out.

Go shoot it, great guns, fun guns. Looks original, and dont get concerned over the barrel length, its only 3" shorter than a 24" barrel. And many of us shoot 24" barrels cos barrel length is not a priority on shotguns except to aid swing for long passing shots. And the best way to see what "choke" it may be is simply to pattern it with several different types of cartridges. Newsprint stapled to a ply board is all that is needed. Put a large black dot, clay bird size in the middle, to give you some idea of an aiming point, and how the gun points. And a new sheet of paper for each cartridge. Shoot them at 25 metres, find the one you like to shoot, and the one that groups the tightest if thats what you want. Then go and have at it.

x2 on what Husky1600 said.
I always hankered for a short barrel for my old A5. Good for puke shoots in the scrub and rabbits in tight stuff. Never happened.
if you are shooting at quick moving things the lack of barrel wont hurt at all. The velocity of the swing overcomes any tendency to stop.
being short makes it swing quicker.

No choke gague grab a vernier caliper. Measure the internal bore diameter at thr muzzle. Sorry these are imperial measures
Cylinder .725-.73
1/4 .715-.725
1/2. .71-.715
3/4. .7-.71
Full. .685-.7
Theres always a bit of give and take, ive seen a single shot ivor johnson that was stamped turkey choke that measured .675.
Also when patterning it pays to draw a circle 1 m wide around your aiming mark if 75 %of the pellets are in that then you are good to go.

It is unlikely to be suitable for steel shot. Is it 12 or 20 gauge?

Found a few things about the wingmasters. This sort of thing popped up several times but while a copy of someone elses correspondence, it does come from Remington.
about half way down the page it says everything since 1950 is good for steel even full choke but don't go over #2 if that's the case.
I think that's a little optimistic as you would want something a bit more open for steel regardless
Everything from 1990's (or whenever lead over open water in the US was made mandatory) on should be fine also but I still wouldn't use steel if its a full choke

Do you shoot steel shot in a older shotgun - Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum

@muzza you are probably correct but they did do a 21" barrel so could be ok

plenty of cut down shotguns out there sucessfully dropping ducks and other furry critters...some of us have been known to get creative with a hacksaw from time to time..... there is a lot of "mumbo jumbo" out there still about steel shot plenty of folks are still using old shotguns with it...if the choke is either gone or is 1/4 or even 1/2 or gosh darn it 3/4 the plurry thing will still handle steel ok....keep load volume down and shot size below #2s and all should be fine. theory behind those two things is that steel shot in larger sizes can "bridge" and bulge the choke/damage end of gun...think fat guys all trying to get through narrow alleyway at same time. go and shoot the thing and see what it patterns like and put it to rest,either it works ok with shot or its a buckshot/solid propersition.either way it will work.
I own a SxS BAKAIL that has had chokes cut off and it has accounted for a lot of birds in last few years.under 25 yards choke is a hinderance more than a help.

Originally Posted by GDMP

As well as having super tight chokes,the older Baikals also seem to have super tight bore's as well.....I cut the chokes off an under/over 1j 27 and the bore diameter was still at the modified (1/2) choke mark on my choke gauge....

correct...which is what happened to the SxS we own....backyard gunshop was trying to cut choke down to 1/4 using a std choke guage and didnt realise untill too late they wont work in a bore that is tighter to begin with.

I took it out on the weekend and ran some Slugs, buckshot and birdshot through it. Ran sweet and seemed to like the loads. I only tested it at 30m but it but it patterned well and the slugs were in the right place.

I'll measure the end of the barrel diameter when I get back at the end of the week. A bit of looking online and it appears it may be a factory 21" "Turkey Barrel". The rib looks original as does the bead sight, I don't think it's been chopped.

so a turkey barrel....means its a very tight choke??? keep us posted.

careful running slugs with it then. Turkey chokes are fuller than full all things equal.
should be some markings on it and probably best to measure the bore like you are going to do. In saying that it wont be tighter than its marked choke.
if its been cut or the choke honed out it will wont be as tight a choke.