I rescued an old wingmaster from a dusty pawn shop rack yesterday. It's beat to hell, finish almost gone, and speckled with very light pitting. It's not that bad, it's almost smooth to the touch, but someone obviously cleaned it up with a wire brush. The pump isn't loose at all and everything cycles surprisingly smooth. Other than cosmetics, I think it's in good shape.
I was trying to date it, and the barrel code puts it at '97, '68, or '24. It has the older style round corn cob fore grip with the deeper cuts, which as far as I can tell means it's fairly old. Some of my reading suggests they were phased out on the wingmasters in the early '60s, so was my gun probably made in 1924? The stock is just plain, no engravings.
Does anyone have much experience with parkerizing over light pitting? I'm thinking about doing the remington steal with Wilson, but not sure how the parkerizing will look. There is some very light rust in the chamber as well, not sure if Wilson will take care of that. I will also need to polish the bolt and lifter.
I'm definitely going to restore the wood furniture. Any advice on stripping and refinishing it? I've got some sanding to do, but most of the blemishes on the wood aren't deep.
There are some spots in the barrel. Should I just toss it and get a new 18.5" parkerized barrel?
It's my first shotgun project. After playing around with some Mosins, I thought I'd give it a shot.