Fore-Stock Disassembly

[The Rattler]

I am a new member. I recently bought a 12 gauge Wingmaster for a "project" gun to refinish the wood stocks. According to the serial number it was made sometime in the 50s or mid 80s. If it is of any help in determining the age of the gun, there are indented rings in the wood around the forestock. The stocks are in such need of repair and inside of the receiver was in such bad shape (likely never cleaned if made in the '80s), that either the '50s or '60s are possible for the manufacture date. The gun was essentially abused. As some would say, "it's been rode hard and put up wet." However, it shoots like a charm and the action is flawless.

My problem is disassembly of the forearm. After watching Instructional YouTube videos, I successfully removed the nut from the tube of the fore-stock assembly. After this, in all of the videos I watched, the metal tube was easily removed from the wood. That is not the case with this one. Pulling as hard as I can does not separate them. In doing this, however, I am concerned about bending the rails on which the bolt rests.

1. For older guns, are there additional steps required to disassemble the fore-stock and separate the metal from the wood?

2. Is it likely that simply grit, grime, & rust are preventing the separation? If so, how do I address that problem? Should I try to use some sort of lube?

3. Does anyone have suggestions?

Thanks.

[Synchronizor]

1. For older guns, are there additional steps required to disassemble the fore-stock and separate the metal from the wood?

No, all 870 fore-end tube assemblies come apart the same way.

2. Is it likely that simply grit, grime, & rust are preventing the separation? If so, how do I address that problem? Should I try to use some sort of lube?

My guess would be that if it got wet frequently, the wood swelled up and is gripping the tube. Water between the fore-end and fore-end tube can also readily cause rust, which could be giving the fore-end some additional "grip", so to speak.

3. Does anyone have suggestions?

First off, if you haven't done it already, take your fore-end assembly off the gun. Trying to wrestle a stuck fore-end off the fore-end tube while the action bars are still inserted into the receiver is a great way to damage the action bars or shell latches.

As for getting the fore-end off, if your fore-end has a gap or split in the top (many wood fore-ends are manufactured this way), you can tap a wedge into that split to spread the fore-end out a hair and release it from the tube. Take it slow if you want to save the fore-end though, as wedging it open too far can crack it. Otherwise, carefully twisting the fore-end tube in the fore-end (again, with the assembly off the gun) might help break it free. You could also try to set up a way to press or knock the fore-end tube assembly back out of the fore-end with some scrap pieces of wood.

[The Rattler]

Thank you very much for these suggestions. I benefitted greatly from your YouTube video on basic dissasembly and re-assembly of the 870 - I even prepared an outline of the steps from it that I use as a guideline until I remember it without prompting.

If anyone else has suggestions, please go ahead and advise.

Thanks.

[The Rattler]

As a follow up, I was successful removing the tube from the forestock with help of my son- in-law. We tried slightly separating the crack in the forestock put there by the manufacturer. That yielded no results.

Next, we screwed the nut back on but only for several rotations just to protect the ends of the tube. We then got some small dowels that were actually small woodworking tools. We then placed the dowels on top of the nut and hammered the dowel. At first, there was no movement with the tube. After hammering harder, the tube moved about one half inch, but would not go farther. So we hammered the tube the opposite way in hopes of loosening it up, using a much larger piece of scrap wood. The tube slowly moved back. We repeated this process 3 times, and then we extracted the tube from the wood. The tube was very, very rusty, and that was the reason for our difficulty.

The suggestions mentioned above were successful.

Thank you very much. I am now ready to proceed with refinishing the wood.

[Synchronizor]

Glad you got it apart.

How badly-rusted is the fore-end tube? Is it salvageable?

[The Rattler]

The tube is fully operational. I used Light sandpaper for metal followed by 0000 steel wool to remove the rust. I read that it is best to do that without oil until the removal is complete, so that's what I did. It worked, but the rust and removal process destroyed the protective coating (bluing?). Accordingly, I am concerned about future rusting. Unless I "cold" re-blue it or have a gunsmith "hot" re-blue it, I suppose that I will need to keep it lubed. These days, I don't shoot anything but clays so I keep it pretty dry. On the other hand, I don't want subsequent owners (either by inheritance or purchase) to have a hidden rust problem develop with this tube. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for taking the time to help me.

[Synchronizor]

There are a couple problems with keeping the fore-end tube bare and just oiling it. Wood has a tendency to soak up gun oil, which can cause it to swell or warp. You might have better luck with a wood-safe grease. But in addition, it's hard to inspect the fore-end tube and re-apply protectant when there's a fore-end installed over it.

I'm not saying your tube will crumble away into dust within a week, but based on the times I've taken my 870 out in the snow, water seems to be very good at working its way between the fore-end & fore-end tube, so I would recommend refinishing the tube at some point. Cold-blue seems to be mostly just for looks. I would go with a proper rust blue (actually not that tough to do at home with the right chemicals, though it does take a little time & effort), or if you want something quicker, there are plenty of do-it-yourself gun paint/coating products out there. Since it's going under the fore-end, there's no real need for the finish to match or look pretty.