870 with different parts?

[ldanes]

Hello to all!! Happy New Years!!!

I have a few questions regarding 870 Remington's. Are parts from an Express different from an old Wingmaster? I have tried placing a Slide assembly from a Express into an Wingmaster. It will not work due to a Fore-end assembly having different notches that the Slide Assembly sits in. Is there any guild lines of parts compatibility?
I am in the process of rebuilding 4 older Wingmaster 870's. Has Remington ever published a parts crossing catalog?

Thanks in advance. Lou

[Synchronizor]

There have been a few minor design tweaks over the years, and certain parts have utilized different materials and finishes, but mechanically, all standard 870s (of the same chambering) are virtually identical and can share components without issue.

There are a handful of exceptions to this though, and you ran into one with the slide assemblies and action bars. Remington tweaked the design of the slide assembly when they implemented some updates in the 1980s:

slide_both_small1.JPG (84.67 KiB) Viewed 2652 times

The new-style slide assemblies were designed to be compatible with the action bars of both old- and new-style fore-end tube assemblies to make it a full replacement and allow older guns to be easily upgraded with the improved part, but any left-over old-style slide assemblies will only fit old-style fore-end tube assemblies. If you have a new-style fore-end tube assembly and an old-style slide assembly, you could try to modify your action bars, but it would be better all-around to just use the improved, new-style slide assembly. You can order them directly from Remington for around $20 plus S&H.

[ldanes]

Thank You Sir!!! That is what I am working with. Great pictures, many thanks. I am sure I will have many more questions. This is a good site to know about.Lou