Several weeks ago I asked an acquaintance if he had any old shotguns for sale. He said he had an old 12 gauge Wingmaster which he bought new in the 70’s and didn’t shoot much anymore because of steel shot restrictions. He eventually set a price and I was glad to pay it. This is a very clean, almost unused 870 made in 1979 that came with a 30” full choke barrel. It is marked for 2 ¾” shells.

The full choked barrel lived up to its stamp and produced these patterns at 40 yards, using one round each of Universal #7 ½ field loads and Olin milspec 00 Buck, in the green hull.

About the only thing left to wish for was a short, Improved Cylinder barrel to complete the package. As luck would have it, I ran into an old retired sheriff friend of mine who happened to know where one was. It turned out to be a new-in-the box 18 1/2″ factory 870 barrel with the old bright blue finish, and Improved Cylinder choke.

I patterned this barrel at 25 yards using a Universal #7 ½ field loads, an Olin milspec 00 Buck and a couple of Super X slugs fired at center mass and the head.

I am very happy with this old Remington.