When I was a pre-teen and building my interest in firearms, I would pick up catalogs from the local sporting goods stores and pore over the pages over and over. At that age and without much money from weekly chores, it was good to have fantasy books.
The Remington catalog back then had the Speedmaster .22, Remington 700s in BDL, and the Wingmaster with its deeply blued finish and chrome bolt. I dreamt about hunting with those firearms and carrying them on trips into the great outdoors
The 870 shotgun was introduced in the 1950s, and since then, over 11 million have been produced. The Wingmaster was the premium version of the 870 that had more hand fitting and attention to detail in the final assembly.
I’ve owned many shotguns over the years and a few Remingtons. My first 870 was a pawn-shop purchase, an Express model with 28” vent rib, but I always lusted over one that was higher-end. It wasn’t until July 21st, 2022, that my dream became a reality.
I purchased my Wingmaster in a Cabelas parking lot in Utah after finding an advertisement for it on the Utah Gun Exchange. At first glance, the shotgun was in rough shape. You could tell where the previous owner had carried the gun by hand in the field because the bluing on the receiver was completely worn off. The stock was in terrible condition with deep gouges, and the barrel and magazine tube were scratched up badly.
Even in that condition, I knew it had potential, and I paid $250 for it. The man I bought it from even gave me an added discount because he showed up to the meetup late. After filling out a bill of sale, I drove with that shotgun down to Las Vegas to meet up with the crew from Vang Comp Systems.
Remington 870 Armorer
In July 2022, I was living in Utah and working for a survival and preparedness company. I had scheduled attendance in an armorer’s course around the same time I taught a land navigation class and medical class at one of the offices of the Nevada Highway Patrol.
Vang Comp brought in an 870 armorer named Richard, and in just a day, he taught the mixed law enforcement and civilian class how to fully disassemble the shotgun, inspect it, function test it, and replace parts if they were in disrepair. I used the 870 I purchased the day before as my practice shotgun and found out, as I worked on it, how worn it was.
I found out my 870 shotgun was chambered for only 2 ¾” rounds and not 3” magnum rounds. I also found out that the internal channels where the action bars run would fall out because they weren’t properly swaged. At the end of the training, I knew the 870 more intimately than ever, but I still had a shotgun that needed serious attention.
Vang Comp Modifications
Since I was in Las Vegas and a guest of Vang Comp, I brought my two other pump guns with me for an overhaul. Cody Stewart from Vang Comp replaced springs, added their big head safety and tang safety (for the 870 and 590, respectively), and engraved the previously ported barrels with their logo.
While Cody was working on my two shotguns, I pulled out the new OLD Wingmaster, and Cody said he would be able to breathe new life into it. He said he needed certain tools to swap over the extractor to 3 inch magnum, but the plan was to keep it looking like a 90s era police shotgun.
After a bit of a wait, the shotgun was sent back to me, and it was exactly what I was looking for. I had delivered them a beat-up shotgun, a rifle-sight slug barrel with an appropriate 3-inch magnum chamber, and some miscellaneous parts. Vang Comp sent me a shotgun that was refinished with a deeply blued receiver and barrel, chromed bolt, bobbed forend, Vang Comp signature porting, and ready to go.
They didn’t refinish the trigger guard, but later on, my friends at Jojo’s Gunworks Cerakoted it. Even though my Wingmaster was built in 1969, it looked brand new. It was ready in its new role as a training shotgun for the courses I teach with Obsidian Spear Group.
Teaching Role at OSG
I’ve been very fortunate to be welcomed to the Obsidian Spear Group team as the defensive shotgun instructor. While I occasionally will jump on the line as an assistant instructor for pistol and carbine, I love taking the responsibility of teaching people how to use the scattergun.
In my role, my semi-automatic Berettas usually take center stage, but I do like showing students how to operate the Remington 870 and Mossberg 590. In its debut, the new OLD Wingmaster was brought up to the line and used for slug zeroing.
I chambered a shell, took aim at the target, took the safety off, and pressed the trigger. BANG! I pumped the slide, which ejected the spent hull, loaded another one, pressed the trigger, and CLICK. I was dumbfounded by how a remanufactured shotgun could have a failure to fire.
I repeated the process, and the same phenomenon happened again. Keep in mind, this is in front of all of my students, and I was teaching the course after recovering from a mean stomach bug, which meant I was exhausted already. Instead of continuing on with the 870, I switched to my other shotguns and finished the class.
After that class, I sent out my bolt back to Vang Comp. They inspected it for any problems and discovered the firing pin spring was broken. Not a very common issue, but for a shotgun that is from 1969 with an unknown round count, it’s possible.
The bolt was repaired and sent back to me. I used it for another OSG defensive shotgun course, and it performed flawlessly this time. With slugs, the Wingmaster easily put 1-ounce projectiles into the reduced-size A zone and head zone. The Wingmaster that I wanted as a kid was now in my hands and working as it should.
The Future and UF Pro
My 870 Wingmaster has come a long way from that parking lot in UT. It’s been reworked and tested in shotgun course after shotgun course. I’d love to pick up a quality stock for it, and maybe I’d open my mind to the idea of having a high-gloss stock on a beautifully finished scattergun.
My shotgun currently has a six-round Eagle Industries buttstock shell carrier and a basic nylon sling with metal tri-glides. It’s being fed a steady diet of buckshot and 1-ounce slugs. While it is one of my demo guns, I will gladly let students try it in courses, but I definitely treat it with more care than others.
Speaking of demos, the Wingmaster is going to be seen on a global stage. I recently used it during a video series for UF Pro. After shooting a decent group with my semi-auto, I grabbed my trusty Wingmaster and reshot the slug zero shots at 50 yards with excellent accuracy. Knowing how the internet is, I wanted to put my best foot forward, and this meant showing the best group possible. I’m not sure if the original owner who used that Wingmaster could have ever predicted his/her shotgun would be seen in a YouTube series the way it will soon.
If there is a moral to this Remington 870 Wingmaster story, it’s this: don’t count an old dog out of the fight. There’s always a way to make new what is old. That shotgun that was handed to me in 2022, falling apart and worse for wear, now has a lot of life still in it and work ahead.
Now, whenever I grab that 870 Wingmaster, the little kid in me who used to read about it in company catalogs smiles a little bit each time.
