So I bought a *nasty* Remington 870 Wingmaster with 2+3/4" chamber for $105.  Handles like a dream, but the stock is torn up and covered with blue pain, and the finish is *gone*.  There's serious pitting all over the receiver.

I'm wondering, is the Remington Steal offered by Scattergun tech worth the money?  I was going to basically strip the rust and paint and refinish with black grill paint and some polyurethane for the wood.  I'm not concerned with the guns' looks, and it should function fine (lack of flexitab not withstanding).   All of the Remington Steal modifications are ones that would be helpful, but do you guys think its worth $200 when you could get an 870 in decent condition for the same price?

So you were the other guy who bought the "blue gun" from John Norrell Arms, eh? I got the first one.

If you strip the paint you will find some beautiful walnut furniture underneath.  I am currently refinishing mine on my own time to save money and learn about refinishing and doing the same thing with high temp paint.  

Yep, that's me!  So there's fine walnut under there, eh?  My stock is pretty chewed up.  The upper part of the area where it joins the the receiver has the "veneer" ripped off.  Forearm is good.  So you're keeping yours to re-finish?  The only reason I even consider the Steal is because I'm so damn bogged down in gun projects.   And video games.  And my job.

How bad was the pitting on yours?  Mine has what looks like a deep gouge from a dremel cutting wheel on the outside of the chamber...not so deep that I'd be worried, but so deep that it will never come out.  Most of the pitting, in fact, will never come out, not that I really care.

Also, mine came with a wierd do-hickey in the chamber made of o-rings and pipe.  I think its to prevent a round from being chambered...did you have anything like that?

Mine had that exact same "do hickey" in the chamber which is to prevent a live round being loaded as the ones that were painted blue were used as classroom training aids.  I warned Norrell's that someone could load a mini slug and to check the chambers on the "blue guns" but I guess they didn't listen to me. I told my brother how much I paid and he wanted to get that second one but you apparently beat him to it!

The furniture (with the exception of being covered in three coats of spray paint) is in good condition, and I stripped it with paint stripper and gave to two coats of tung oil and it looks real nice.  Mine also had an area on the stock where the paint had been worn away. Unfortunately the forend split on the top after the second slug I fired, but I have someone who is sending me a replacement one to match the original.  I will warn you that refinishing the forend was a BITCH and it might be worth just getting a new one or used one on the EE if you plan to refinish it yourself.

The metal was not in terrible condition although there was some surface corrosion espeically on the left side and some wera from being locked in a rack on the top of the receiver and the barrel.

The metal is going to get redone, and I have already used Birchwood Casey rust and blue remover to get rid of the corrosion.  I considered using Brownell's Oxpho Blue to reblue it, but figured it would look splotchy and patchy so I am having a friend sandblast it and then I am giving it a coat of Duplicolor Black 1200 degree engine block paint.  

I also picked up a new Remington R3 recoil pad as the old one was pretty stiff and got a Choate 3 shot exentsion for it.  I figure for $105 gun+$60 parts+personal time and labor I can have a pretty kickass shotgun and learn to refinish weapons in the process.

I actually have a pic of the original gun in the shotgun pic thread on page 16 or 17.  It is hard to miss as it had blue furniture! I plan to post pics when I am finished wth it, whcih hopefully will be next week.  Good to know where its "sister" gun went off to!

Yeah...I'm going to post to the shotgun thread as soon as I get the chance.  I bought a mag extension for $20 and a picatinny rail for $8(which I hope I can finagle onto the forearm for a light...keeping my fingers crossed).   Except for the cost of hi-temp paint and stripper, that's all the money this gun is getting.  The rough finish of the paint should hide the splotches.

Quoted: Yeah...I'm going to post to the shotgun thread as soon as I get the chance.  I bought a mag extension for $20 and a picatinny rail for $8(which I hope I can finagle onto the forearm for a light...keeping my fingers crossed).   Except for the cost of hi-temp paint and stripper, that's all the money this gun is getting.  The rough finish of the paint should hide the splotches.

i would and pony up for the armor tuff coating as well.  it's a good deal, another poster did it a while back and was very pleased. something to consider.
btw, why are you putting a rail on it?  on shotguns, less is more. trust me.  do this excercise: load it up, pick a spot on the wall, get a good stance, and try to stay on target for a measley 5 minutes.  an eye opening experience to say the least.

The Rail is to hold a light, which, I feel is a necessity.  It's not much of a rail.  Just large enough to hold the M3.  

The wingmaster weighs very well, actually, even fully loaded, it doesn't bog down like a box magazine fed shotgun or battle rifle.

BTW,  you wouldn't happen to know if Scattergun Tech offers you a choice of LOP when they replace your stocks?  I'd like a 11 or 12" LOP since I'm small.

Quoted: The Rail is to hold a light, which, I feel is a necessity.  It's not much of a rail.  Just large enough to hold the M3.   The wingmaster weighs very well, actually, even fully loaded, it doesn't bog down like a box magazine fed shotgun or battle rifle. BTW,  you wouldn't happen to know if Scattergun Tech offers you a choice of LOP when they replace your stocks?  I'd like a 11 or 12" LOP since I'm small.

oh, i thought u were gonna put optics on it or something. disregard.
wilson has a short stock that is available and would probably suit you very well.

I just picked up my Norrell's special 870 as well.  I was thinking it would be a fun project (especially after finding the surface rust and that my gun dealer has a sand blaster!!!).  I've already done one of my ARs in Norrell's moly-resin and this shotgun will be my second attempt!

I'll post some pics in a while!

Spooky