I inherited a 20 ga. 870 Wingmaster from my Grandfather. It has the grooved forearm, walnut stock, and a six digit serial number, probably from the first or second year of production. My idiot older brother bulged the barrel at the choke from shooting slugs through it, one right after the other when the barrel was hot. He planned to saw the barrel off and keep it in the trunk of his car as an alley sweeper (told you he was an idiot). I traded him a junker 12 ga. side by side that he immediately cut the barrel down on. He will NEVER lay a finger on that 870 again as long as I'm alive.
Anyway, I had William at Sumtoy cut and thread the barrel below the bulge & bought a choke from him to rig it up for turkeys. It has a 2.75 inch chamber, but that will be plenty with today's TSS loads. I want to get it dipped, but I have no experience with who does quality work and who I should stay away from. I appreciate any suggestions/costs/pictures. This gun means a lot to me and I'd love to get it back in the field, doing what it was intended for. Thanks in advance.
Jim
I will be sending a gun to Tarjac real soon. They have excellent reviews and I have spoken to them a few times. So far they have been very good and answered all my questions. Hope to have the gun to them next week.
Etheridge Plastics in Cadiz, KY
Wow your grandfathers wingmaster dipped? God forbid. You'll drastically lower the value of a great gun. Given the state of things they could be a gun of the past someday. I'd strongly reconsider that
I wouldn't.
I wouldn't either.
Thanks for the replies. I have not totally committed to having it dipped. Didn't realize they were worth that much?
It is all machined and solid, way before Remington dreamed of adding stamped parts to any of their guns. I killed a bunch of doves and ducks with it before my (idiot) brother bulged the barrel.
Jim
I have two 870's from the good years. One is a 1967 and the other my dad bought me when I was a young kid in 1992. About 15 years ago I made the mistake of giving the one from 1992 a home made paint job and it's been in the safe since. I am going to have it cerakoted in a black finish or even dipped in a camo pattern that was popular at the time. I'm thinking Greenleaf
ABSOLUTELY-POSITIVELY NO WAY I'D GET THAT GUN DIPPED...YOUR (IDIOT BROTHER)...LMAO HAS ALREADY DEFILED THIS GUN ENOUGH. Buy a new Retay to beat and bang around in the turkey woods. You won't be disappointed!
retayusa.com
Just hunt it natural! Those deserve wood!
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Cut N Run, I have dipped my 870 that is a '92 model that I bought many years ago off a guy that hunted with it one time....put in the safe and oiled it once a year. Had been shot only 1 time. Have all the paper work, chokes, etc. I replaced the walnut stock with Remington black synthetic stock and forarm. Sent mine to Jim Crumley Camo in Virginia and had it done in the Mossy Oak Bottomland pattern....he does perfect work. Been several years now and looks like new still. He even put swivel screw in stock and the swivel in forarm. He has done 3 of my guns over the years and his web site use to show all the patterns to choose from. Good luck.
Cut N Tun, mine is a Wingmaster also, forgot to post that. Brings new life to that ole gun.
My 2 cents is don't dip the wingmaster! Keep it original and find a used 870 to get dipped.
Would be a hard decision . With the barrel change it would be devalued I would think. But has sentimental value to you. Believe I would leave it alone and get another with a 3" chamber and have it dipped.
The wingmaster especially grandpas deserves better than a dip. If you want it to have some camo I would pick up and extra barrel and stock to have dipped.
I wouldn't dip it either. I inherited a Remington that belonged to my Grandpa. 12 gauge 1100. He killed a bunch of gobblers with that thing. HE taped it up with light green old school camo and to this day it still got it exactly that way. I had a gunsmith do some work on it cuz it wouldn't cycle. I informed him what ever you do, DONT REMOVE THE CAMO TAPE! Lol. Point being, it was like Grandpa had it and hunted with it so that's the way I want it to be. Sentimental.
Quote from: Cowboy on March 05, 2021, 10:53:44 PM
I wouldn't dip it either. I inherited a Remington that belonged to my Grandpa. 12 gauge 1100. He killed a bunch of gobblers with that thing. HE taped it up with light green old school camo and to this day it still got it exactly that way. I had a gunsmith do some work on it cuz it wouldn't cycle. I informed him what ever you do, DONT REMOVE THE CAMO TAPE! Lol. Point being, it was like Grandpa had it and hunted with it so that's the way I want it to be. Sentimental.
Funny you say that, I don't mean to hijack the op post but my uncle recently passed. My cousin asked me to take his old recurve and shoot a deer w it. He gave me the bow. It's only an old Kodiak but means a lot. He spray painted it black and I understand the sentiment behind leaving it as he had it. I'll never change that either
I definitely would NOT dip that gun. If you want to hunt it and think you need it camo, use this: https://www.mossyoakgraphics.com/shotgun-wrap-mossy-oak-camo-gun-skin
Pretty easy to apply, inexpensive, won't hurt the natural finish of the gun and can be removed without any indication you had the wrap on the gun. If you take your time, have some patients, access to a hairdryer and an exacto knife, nobody will know it was wrapped instead of dipped when you're done.
Check out this thread: http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,101692.0.html
Quote from: Cowboy on March 05, 2021, 10:53:44 PM
I wouldn't dip it either. I inherited a Remington that belonged to my Grandpa. 12 gauge 1100. He killed a bunch of gobblers with that thing. HE taped it up with light green old school camo and to this day it still got it exactly that way. I had a gunsmith do some work on it cuz it wouldn't cycle. I informed him what ever you do, DONT REMOVE THE CAMO TAPE! Lol. Point being, it was like Grandpa had it and hunted with it so that's the way I want it to be. Sentimental.
I wrapped my old Stevens single shot in camo tape that it still wears. I killed every turkey I shot at with that gun (17) for the 10 years I hunted with it, including (an accidental) one shot double. It has a fixed modified choke, so I had to call 'em in close, or give 'em a pass for another day. Knowing I had limited range definitely made me a better turkey hunter...having a great place to hunt where he might survive a while helped too.
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the replies. I met Jim Crumley back in the early 1980s and still have some TreBark camo he made. I like the idea of having a gun dipped in an old school pattern by him, but after reading the replies here, I'll keep my Grandfather's gun as close to original as I can & look for a 3" 20 ga. 870 somewhere that is better suited for dipping.
Jim