bought a 'Vintage' 870, how'd I do?

[mr fixit]

I am the father of 3 sons, a 20 year old from the 1st wife, and a 13 and 9 year old from the 2nd (and last!) wife.

It's time for the middle son to have a shotgun of his very own, and I've been looking for a good one I could afford. He's hunted with a SxS 20ga., a 16ga 870 of my fathers and my dads 1100 12 ga.

I've really wanted to get a good one, one that would last.

Today, I scored a 'vintage' 870 wingmaster, 28" barrel, Mod choke, 95% blue. Total cost $200

I think I did well. I'd like to hear the opinions of the group.

Mr Fixit

[DYNOMIKE]

I say you did great and the Kid will love it.. IMHO it would be tough to find a finer Pump gun than an Old 870 Wingmaster..

Sounds like you have given this some thought and waited for the right one to come along, WELL DONE!! :beer:

['TUDE]

Ditto what Mike said. It's hard to beat an older wingmaster. Post a pic if you can.

[TXscout]

I'd say you scored...Nice find.

[mr fixit]

Pics to come when it gets here.

Would you believe this was a gun broker auction? Not only that, one other had already bid. I took the 'buy it now' option for $200 which included shipping.

I think I will plan on this being his 14th birthday present later this year.

Mr Fixit

[Timber Wolf]

That's about what Expresses are going for these days and you scored a real Wingmaster. You did fine with shipping thrown in. It suprises me sometimes when I see auctions with a fair buy-it-now price and guys are messing around bidding on iit. Guess they did not really want it. I grabbed a pristine Rem. 11 barrel a couple of years ago off ebay with a fair buy-it-now price. I needed the barrel to replace one that had been "poly-choked" so I wanted it and jumped on it.

Oh, you are good Dad, I hope those boys appreciate you. ;)

[ER]

Good buy!

[MAINER]

Ok, Looks like I'll be the mudslinger in the group.

That ole Wingmaster might be a hard gun to shoot well. Reason being that chokes were tighter on the older shottys. With the newer shotshells with plastic collets, choke patterns went up a notch. My old 1100 (1965) with a mod choke shoots tight full choke patterns now. Hit a Partridge at 20yds with it, all I had left was the beak and feet. :rolleyes:

I would suggest that you pattern that mod choke barrel, using whatever size shot is appropriate for the type shooting you do. You might want to get that choke opened up a bit. For a Turkey gun, it may be just what you need.

FWIW;
You got a real deal on a great Shotgun!
That's going to be one happy 14th birthday boy!

[Itchingforaninchpattern]

I would suggest in addition to it as a birthday present to disassemble and clean/ lube the 870 with your son. He can learn the mechanism of it and see where to clean and oil or grease it. It might also make him more appreciative of it and less fearful of a machine that has been demonized in the general public.
The Swiss have the analogy of a child learning about his/her fathers service rifle as the parent is cleaning it, so it is not so much a mystery. Kind of an analogy of 'gun-proofing' ones children instead of the converse. Then, of course, is the embedding of the 4 rules, which you have probably done with your kids.
But 200 is a good price for a Wingmaster.