New Wingmaster failed

[riverbear]

I spent a great deal of time researching pump-action shotguns before purchasing an 870 Wingmaster 20 ga 3" mag LW. The stellar heritage of the 870 seemed to be almost without flaw and this particular beauty seemed to be my perfect little upland game gun.

After taking it out of the box and cleaning it according to the user manual, I took it out to the range to break it in on a few clay targets.

Unfortunately, the shotgun had problems. It would either not stay in battery or, if it did, the trigger would not set. I spent about a half hour taking it apart and checking the reassembly against the user manual to make sure it was properly reassembled. By the time I finally put it back in the case I could only get 5 rounds (2 Remington and 3 Federal 2 3/4 target loads) to fire.

I called Remington and they told me to send it to Mann & Son Sporting Goods in
Pinckneyville, Illinois and they will check the chamber and replace the trigger assembly.

Glad Remington will try to make it right but boy does that irritate me. I chose the Wingmaster because of the (supposedly) higher quality and level of attention during manufacturing. I guess I was expecting too much. Remington closed the conversation by saying it will be at least (4) weeks or more before I hear about what they find. What? Is this shop slow or are they that swamped with warranty work that it takes 4 weeks to change out a trigger assembly. Good grief.

I really do understand that "stuff" happens and I can live with that but I can't live with that gun. I'm too old to worry if a gun will work or not out in the field. After they fix it I'll probably sell it and search for something better.

Oh well sorry about the rant but I thought Remington knew how to make an 870 because they've had over 10 million attempts to get it right before the built mine.

[mrnj]

I also had recent issues with an 870 Super Mag. I sent it back to Remington twice. On the third return back to them, they had me send it directly to Mann. In my case, Mann was very quick - I think they received it on a Friday, and, think I spoke to them on the following Tuesday and the gun was already on the way back to Remington. I decided to call them directly because I couldn't get any good status info from Remington. If you do call, be sure to have your service ticket number.

In my case, they said that they didn't have the equipment required to fix it, but, they did confirm the issue I was having, which was something that Remington couldn't do in two previous attempts. Anyway, I was able to get mine replaced under warranty because of failure to eject issues. I still have some issues with the new one, but, does seem to be better.

Good luck.

[Synchronizor]

Sorry to hear about your experience, and I hope it works out. I'm an engineer who works in manufacturing, and I can tell you that every production operation sends out bad units, at least occasionally. It's a simple fact of mass-producing something in the real world, and every company plans around a certain rate of rejects & returns. The goal is always to minimize that, but eliminating it is impossible.

As for Remington's response, I'm not privy to how they handle these cases, but given the number of folks who buy an 870 and then replace half the parts with aftermarket "upgrades" and/or attack it with a dremel to try to break it in before ever firing a single shell through it, it's hard to blame them for wanting to examine a gun before shelling out for repairs or replacement parts.

Personally, I would have suggested taking it to a local gunsmith for a going-over before trying to get Remington to handle it for you. What you're describing could have been as simple as a burr in the barrel extension, or a couple parts in the trigger plate assembly being in slightly the wrong place. The 870 is a pretty straightforward design, and someone who really knows the platform shouldn't have a tough time figuring out where & what the problem is. And getting Remington to send replacement parts is a lot more expeditious than sending the entire gun in to be looked at - at least in my experience.

Anyway, I understand how this kind of thing can really be a turn-off. All the good word of mouth in the world can ring pretty hollow when your first/only personal experience turns out to be the one-in-a-million unlucky dud. But the 870 is a pretty bulletproof design, as has been proven by their millions of units sold, and their millions of happy customers. It doesn't sound like you did any knucklehead stuff to cause the problem, and hopefully Remington will come through for you, because every shotgunner should be able to enjoy a gun that works as well as an 870.

[riverbear]

Thanks for explaining that things can fail but being an American man in his late 60's, I've seen production mistakes, failures, and even disasters. I am not naive enough to think that things can't go wrong, that failure isn't possible even when great minds determine failure is minimized. But as I stated, I'm irritated with the results of my purchase and now I'm playing the waiting game to see if Remington can/will make it right. (The other post is on his third attempt to get his 870 fixed).

My Wingmaster purchase was a result of my research. However, I found out that a lot of my research was skewed buy using relatively old performance data instead of more current findings. So I wanted to post the results of my current purchase so that another old guy doing his due diligence researching the modern 870 will know things can go wrong and buyer beware of the hype.

I also had a pleasant debate with my son who, before the 870 purchase, insisted that I get an 1100 instead of the 870 because of the softer recoil and ease of the second shot. I laughed and told him that the 1100 is a great gun but it can never perform on the level of dependability and simplicity of the 870 and I've never had trouble pumping out a second shot on other pumpers.

When I told him the 870 failed, instead of saying I told you so, he immediately recommended I replace it with an 1100. I told him that I don't think I can buy an 1100 because I might have lost my faith in Remington. I hope I don't have to go with a non-American manufacturer to get quality. I guess time will tell.

[riverbear]

Well it's time for an update.

My Wingmaster has been out for warranty work for over 2 weeks so I thought I would check if there was any news on the repair. (I guess anticipation is getting the best of me but heck my new gun litterly spent more time on the UPS truck going to Illinois than in my possession.)

Anyway I tried to track my repair at Remington's online. At the repair tracking page I was instructed to list the gun's serial number and my zip code. That resulted in a frightening response of, "Serial number not found." What? After triple checking the numbers I decided to speak to a real person.

There was a phone number to call if I had a problem so I gave it a try. I spoke to a nice lady that laughed and said, "Well our online service tracking software dosen't work but give me your tracking number and I'll check it out. I did and she did then she told me the gun shop did receive the shotgun a couple weeks ago but I would have to contact the shop for more details.

Well I did just that and called Mann's gun shop and spoke to a very nice young lady named Michelle. She instantly tracked down my gun and reported that they immediately found the problem was the original barrel. (Not sure what they found but I have an idea). She also said they requested Remington send a replacement right away. Then she politely said, "It's up to Remington now." She did ask me to contact her again if the gun doesn't ship in a "while." Not sure how long a "while" is but that's up to Remington. (I appreciate Michelle's position as not wanting to commit to when Remington will ship.)

Believe it or not, I'm okay with how things are going and I owe it all to Michelle. She finally took the time to speak to me and try to help. That was a feeling that I did not quite have starting with my initial contact with Remington weeks ago. Oh well, Remington has plenty of time to get the gun repaired and returned since they initially told me 4 to 6 weeks turnaround and I'm just in my third week.

Now my only concern is that Remington Customer Service has no information in their computers about my repair only the date the gun arrived at Mann's. I wonder who at Remington knows that they're supposed to send the replacement barrel to the gun shop. I'm beginning to see why it takes 4 to 6 weeks to fix a gun. Time will tell.

[BurstBarrel]

A Wingmaster barrel is a lot of money if you bought one new yourself to replace it, someone sure missed some checks in manufacturing.

What did you see that was wrong with the barrel?

[riverbear]

I was not told what was wrong with the barrel. After the original problem of failing to stay in battery, I wondered if the barrel was not properly seated into the receiver. I put a square on the chamber end of the barrel and it did not seem to have a burr or far enough out of square to keep the locking notch out of reach but I'm a hunter not a gunsmith. Anyway, Mann's gun shop found the problem with the barrel right away.

When they ship the gun back they might include a reason for the replacement and if so I'll let you know.

[codyphillips48]

I'm glad to see they found the problem with you 870. I honesty can say I haven't ever seen a 870 not work. I've seen shells get stuck in the chamber after they shoot the gun from a burr on the barrel from machining but that's about it.

[riverbear]

Yes, I'm glad they have found the problem and are correcting it.

I, like you, have always known the 870 as a solid workhorse that never failed and would handle almost any factory load or reload. As a young man I remember the 870 was the new gun that was more streamlined, cheaper priced, and reliable enough to replace the popular Winchester 12. We all wanted one.

Needless to say, the failure of my new Wingmaster right out of the box was the root of my disappointment. However, my anxiety grew when I spoke to Remington and they said it will take 4 to 6 weeks to fix it.

I'm half way through the wait and hoping it won't take another 3 weeks.

[codyphillips48]

Yea I can understand that I had the same kind of disappointment with a 7.62x39 AR bolt from this company I'm not gonna name out of Tampa. My dad has a 60's wingmaster that we shoot a lot best shotgun ever I love the blueing on those guns they look great. Maybe it was just a bad barrel I mean that kinda stuff happen a lot in the automotive field that I work in. Its just part of mass production.


Don't let one bad time change your opinion on a gun. I still own that AR the guy replaced the bolt and I haven't had a problem yet.