My Wingmasters are finally running!!!

.300 Weatherby Mag · June 22, 2010, 10:33 PM

So since everyone seems to bash remington (myself included), I have something postive to report... Both of Cerebus era wingmasters have fired 500 consecutive rounds without a failure (finally).. The 12 gauge didn't make it two boxes before locking open and staying there... The 20 make it approx 120 rounds before acting up and locking up solid mid stroke... After being sent back I still did not get reliable performance from either one.. After cleaning up the guts and working with a local smith, all of the bugs are gone!! I shouldn't have had to do this on two brand new $700 pumps.. But now it seems they work as an 870 should... These two guns were both a major disappointment in the beginning but now I feel that I can trust them... After owning three other older 870s that worked flawlessly, I don't think even now these can be included in the same company as the other guns... Before I get flamed, both of these guns had beautiful chambers and I prepped them correctly before shooting them the first time...

Its funny how I've had more bad experiences with new Wingmasters and not with the expresses...

nbrown · June 22, 2010, 10:41 PM

i've heard a lot of people saying the new expresses are junk, but the one i bought last summer has worked great for me. good thing you fixed your wingmasters!

Maromero · June 22, 2010, 10:47 PM

Glad you are out of the woods. Care to share the jobs performed by the smiths? Intrigued.

jmortimer · June 23, 2010, 08:34 AM

Unfortunately, there are more problems with new production 870's than all other shotguns combined. May be a function of the number produced and the actual number of defective guns may be low but there is no excuse for crude machining and poor fit and finish.

597flx · June 23, 2010, 10:19 AM

Quote:

After cleaning up the guts and working with a local smith

Just curious what types of things the gunsmith did?

XD Gunner · June 23, 2010, 11:23 AM

Quote:

i've heard a lot of people saying the new expresses are junk, but the one i bought last summer has worked great for me. good thing you fixed your wingmasters!

Me too, and of the past 5 or 6 Expresses that I have had experience with (bought in the last 12 months) I have had zero issues.

Glad you got your guns running, I love all of my Wingmasters, and my Express.

Dave McC · June 23, 2010, 10:09 PM

Glad to see this. Now go wear them out.....

XD Gunner · June 23, 2010, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Glad to see this. Now go wear them out.....

I see what you did there. You CAN'T wear out an 870, very sneaky sir, very sneaky...

Btw, I just pulled a Wingmaster completely apart. The bolt and carrier was not what I expected to see.

Dave McC · June 24, 2010, 10:55 AM

870s can be worn out, XD, just not in one generation. I've been told the receivers start to crack around the 250,000 round mark.

870s do need regular exercise.

FYI, my earliest two WMs, 1950 and 1955 DOB, have machining marks on the bolts and carrier plates. Not where it counts,though....

.300 Weatherby Mag · June 24, 2010, 07:04 PM

The gunsmith was employed by the owner of the shop I bought the guns from.. I used him more as a consultant than anything... He pulled the guns apart when I had issues with each right out the box... Because they were brand new they went back to Remington... They came back still not functioning properly... Rather than continue to fight with Remington I started doing research and consulting with the smith regularly before I did anything major... Basically I had to clean up the internals in each gun.. I continued to have feeding problems with both guns... What happened is that the magazine followers were both cracked and with the increased force exerted by the spring the plastic follower would actually cause them to expand in the mag tube.. Because of the increased friction exerted by the follower the shells would not exit the mag properly and jam up the works... Once I got the actions cleaned up then had to tweak both guns so that they would feed from the mag... I got on remingtons case about the mag followers and the replacements send did the same thing and cracked.. One mag follower actually broked into three pieces and jammed up the action... Rather than complain again... I installed these...

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=2...TGUN_FOLLOWERS

Most of my problems were corrected via a few small files and the mag followers... I carry metal extra followers and the small tools I need in case anyone needs assistance with their new 870s.. I haven't seen anyone so many QC issues as my guns, but I have seen issues.. The mag followers are so flimsy its just flat out stupid.. If you don't buy a SS Brownells follower, I recommend the Scattergun Tech follower..

June 22, 2010, 10:33 PM	#1
.300 Weatherby Mag Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2008 Posts: 1,777	My Wingmasters are finally running!!! So since everyone seems to bash remington (myself included), I have something postive to report... Both of Cerebus era wingmasters have fired 500 consecutive rounds without a failure (finally).. The 12 gauge didn't make it two boxes before locking open and staying there... The 20 make it approx 120 rounds before acting up and locking up solid mid stroke... After being sent back I still did not get reliable performance from either one.. After cleaning up the guts and working with a local smith, all of the bugs are gone!! I shouldn't have had to do this on two brand new $700 pumps.. But now it seems they work as an 870 should... These two guns were both a major disappointment in the beginning but now I feel that I can trust them... After owning three other older 870s that worked flawlessly, I don't think even now these can be included in the same company as the other guns... Before I get flamed, both of these guns had beautiful chambers and I prepped them correctly before shooting them the first time... Its funny how I've had more bad experiences with new Wingmasters and not with the expresses... Last edited by .300 Weatherby Mag; June 22, 2010 at 10:40 PM.

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June 22, 2010, 10:41 PM	#2
nbrown Member Join Date: June 19, 2010 Location: Mass Posts: 22	i've heard a lot of people saying the new expresses are junk, but the one i bought last summer has worked great for me. good thing you fixed your wingmasters!

June 22, 2010, 10:47 PM	#3
Maromero Junior member Join Date: January 21, 2009 Location: Outside the continental U Posts: 752	Glad you are out of the woods. Care to share the jobs performed by the smiths? Intrigued.

June 23, 2010, 08:34 AM	#4
jmortimer Junior member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: South West Riverside County California Posts: 2,763	Unfortunately, there are more problems with new production 870's than all other shotguns combined. May be a function of the number produced and the actual number of defective guns may be low but there is no excuse for crude machining and poor fit and finish.

June 23, 2010, 10:09 PM	#7
Dave McC Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 13, 1999 Location: Columbia, Md, USA Posts: 8,811	Glad to see this. Now go wear them out.....

June 24, 2010, 10:55 AM	#9
Dave McC Staff In Memoriam Join Date: October 13, 1999 Location: Columbia, Md, USA Posts: 8,811	870s can be worn out, XD, just not in one generation. I've been told the receivers start to crack around the 250,000 round mark. 870s do need regular exercise. FYI, my earliest two WMs, 1950 and 1955 DOB, have machining marks on the bolts and carrier plates. Not where it counts,though....

June 24, 2010, 07:04 PM	#10
.300 Weatherby Mag Senior Member Join Date: September 6, 2008 Posts: 1,777	The gunsmith was employed by the owner of the shop I bought the guns from.. I used him more as a consultant than anything... He pulled the guns apart when I had issues with each right out the box... Because they were brand new they went back to Remington... They came back still not functioning properly... Rather than continue to fight with Remington I started doing research and consulting with the smith regularly before I did anything major... Basically I had to clean up the internals in each gun.. I continued to have feeding problems with both guns... What happened is that the magazine followers were both cracked and with the increased force exerted by the spring the plastic follower would actually cause them to expand in the mag tube.. Because of the increased friction exerted by the follower the shells would not exit the mag properly and jam up the works... Once I got the actions cleaned up then had to tweak both guns so that they would feed from the mag... I got on remingtons case about the mag followers and the replacements send did the same thing and cracked.. One mag follower actually broked into three pieces and jammed up the action... Rather than complain again... I installed these... http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=2...TGUN_FOLLOWERS Most of my problems were corrected via a few small files and the mag followers... I carry metal extra followers and the small tools I need in case anyone needs assistance with their new 870s.. I haven't seen anyone so many QC issues as my guns, but I have seen issues.. The mag followers are so flimsy its just flat out stupid.. If you don't buy a SS Brownells follower, I recommend the Scattergun Tech follower..