1960 Remington 870 Wingmaster Question

[jbo89]

Is there anything ammo specific that I need to worry about with these old wingmasters? I have a 20 gauge and the last thing I want to do is feed it something that will cause issues. Also, is there anything I need to worry about with the early generation 870s?

[Synchronizor]

20ga shotgun shells back in the 1960s had the same maximum working pressures as they do now (not to mention, 870 barrels are extremly over-built). Just make sure you know what chamber length your barrel has, and don't shoot any shells longer than that. Also, if your barrel has a tight fixed choke, steel or other very hard nontoxic shot is probably not a great idea.

There have been a number of tweaks to the 870 since the 1960s, but nothing really major, especially for the 20ga guns. Shell latches have been beefed up a tad, firing pin retractor springs have been re-designed to help reduce firing pin breakages, extractors now have slightly larger relief cuts; stuff like that. No major safety or function issues that you have to have fixed before using the gun.

Another thing you should know is that early 20ga 870s were built on large-frame receivers (the same receiver size used for all 12 & 16ga 870s), unlike modern 20ga models that share the small-frame receivers with 28ga and .410 shotguns. If you have a large-frame 20ga and you want to replace or change certain parts, you'll need to go with either common large-frame parts, or large-frame-specific 20ga parts; a lot of parts for current-production 20ga parts won't interchange. Just something to be aware of.

870 frame sizes_widths_S.JPG (45.66 KiB) Viewed 3014 times

[jbo89]

Thanks for your response! So I shouldn't worry about walking into a walmart and picking up a white box of 20gauge shells. I read somewhere that steel shot would cause issues to an early 870 wingmaster.

[Synchronizor]

The only potential problem with steel (and other very hard alloy) shot in older 870s has to do with the choke. Modern steel-rated choke tubes are made from stronger heat-treated alloys to withstand the extra abuse, but back in the 1960s, steel shot wasn't a thing, nor were interchangeable choke tubes. Chokes on 870s in those days were integral to the barrel, and made from barrel steel. This type of choke is fine with lead shot, but steel shot can damage the choke or barrel with constant use. This does depend on the constriction; if it's something light like an IC, steel probably won't hurt it. But if it's a Full choke, shooting a lot of steel through it will probably eventually cause problems. Check the side of your barrel, the constriction should be stamped there somewhere. If you do have a tight choke on your barrel, and you want to be able to shoot steel, you can have a gunsmith bore it out and thread the muzzle for interchangeable choke tubes.

Apart from maybe the choke, your gun is capable of handling steel shot loads just fine. Steel loads are subject to the same maximum pressures as everything else, and the wads used in these shells are thick and tough enough to protect the bore from the hard pellets. There's nothing really weaker about older 870s, their barrels, actions, and so on are just as tough as modern ones. The need to understand what your choke is capable of handling isn't something unique to old guns; many modern choke tubes aren't rated to handle steel shot either, and even with some steel-rated tubes, going above certain pellet sizes or velocities is not recommended.