Making my 870 wingmaster into a dedicated turkey gun

[Dpynnone]

45 y.o. 870 12 gauge 2 3/4 in,  28 in full factory barrel rem wingmaster (mint)
14th birthday gift, so yes I'm old and need some help. 

I've learned a lot recently from the forums...very new to how guns are tricked out; I thought picatinny was a groundhog.  I'm much more up to speed thanks to you guys.

Mostly I want to weigh the cost vs performance.  FIL taught me long ago $ is forgotten the longer the quality remains, something like that.

So, from what I've gathered from the forums... my thoughts and some q's...

Shells 2 3/4 (2 oz). Apex turkey TSS 9 (about the only tss shot I've seen In 2 3/4 in)

Sight..I want to try a red dot.  Eyes are not great.  Either Burris ff3 or venom.  I want the smaller dot;  3 moa.

Mount.  I purchased a saddle mount.  Would I be happier to have a gunsmith tap and put on a mount?

Barrel.  Will I gain much by shortening barrel and have threads put in for individual chokes or just keeping it as a full.  If so, what choke.  I'm assuming I can have a gun Smith do this.

I ordered a sling conversion kit.

Let me know some thoughts.  Am I on a good track?

[Ozarks Hillbilly]

You'll be happy with either choice of red dot. Drill and tap and get a mount from Somtoy. I would leave the barrel as is. If you end up wanting a  shorter Remchoke barrel they are rather plentiful and not that expensive. As far as a choke tube goes I would suggest a Indian Creek .665. It's like draino pour it in and it works. Nitro offers a 2 3/4 2oz 12 ga TSS shell.

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[Tom007]

Another great way to mount aBurris Fastfire 3 on your gun is using a Meadow Creek  vent rib mount. Made for the Burris. Mounts super easy, nice and tight, fantastic. I mounted it on my 870. I love it.

[Tom007]

Sorry, here is the red dot on the gun.

[Tom007]

Can't go wrong if you want to drill and tap a Sum Toy Mount either. Great guy, great product.....

[Greg Massey]

I just old school and like saddle mount , which gives me the option of still using my bead or scope...Never had a saddle mount , cause one bit of a problem on my guns...

[captpete]

 First Welcome to OG!!     

Me personally I wouldn't do anything to that 45 year old classic. Use the saddle mount you already have or get the rib mount that Tom007 referred to...if you have a vent rib on it. I definitely wouldn't cut the barrel. The money you spend on drilling & tapping, then cutting & threading the barrel you would be well on your way to having enough money to buy another gun that will shoot 3" or even 3 1/2" shells. Since you are wanting to shoot TSS, you could put that money towards a nice 20 gauge. They are lighter, have less recoil(both easier on us older guys) and will kill turkeys just as easy at the distances we should be shooting them.

[btomlin]

I'd buy a 20ga single shot and shoot TSS before I started modding a 45yr old wingmaster.  They don't make 'em like that anymore........Just my 2 cents.  Good luck on your quest.

[Tom007]

X2. This great forum gave me the same advice regarding my original bottomland 870 made in 1992. Don't alter the gun, especially that great Wingmaster. The Meadow Creek Mount does no harm to the gun, and works very well with the Burris. Good luck...

[Dpynnone]

Thanks for the info.  Leaning towards buying a carlsons vent barrel (current gun no vent).  Meadow creek mount w Burris sight.  Can put classic back to original that way.  Any advantage w 24 in vs 26 in barrel.  Will I Be able to use an Indian creek tube w a Carlson barrel?

[Ozarks Hillbilly]

Yes you will be able to screw in a Indiana creek or any other Remchoke. 24"will be a little more maneuverable than a 26". 26" will have a little more velocity than a 24".

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[Mossyballs]

My 1965 wingmaster was a 2 3/4" gun, so I bought an express barrel and somehow it cycles and ejects 3" shells. Yours might as well