Guns: The Tacticool Remington 870 Wingmaster, Part 4 - Sling and Final Test

I converted my vintage Remington 870 Wingmaster into a modern home defense shotgun. In Part 1 of the series, I swapped out its barrel. In Part 2, I swapped out its stock and foreend. Part 3 covered a mag tube extension and sidesaddle. 

Today, I'm finally finishing up the series (yup, just took two years, Remington's bankruptcy, and a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic to get me off my keister). Let's look at some sling options and the final test:

Sling

I'm one of those guys who doesn't typically put slings on home defense shotguns, but understands their utility. Having a sling allows you to keep the shotgun on you when you need both your hands, whether it's for drawing a secondary weapon or slapping on a tourniquet. On the other hand, slings do tend to get in the way, especially for a pump shotgun.

My compromise? An el cheapo $35 Blackhawk! Dieter CQD sling that I throw on when I feel like running a sling:

You can use it single or two-point thanks to the included dual alligator clip hardware; for my shotgun, I just hook both clips into the Magpul SGA mount. Is it the best sling out there? Heck no - the Vickers Sling from Blue Force Gear blows it out of the water. But for the price, and the intended occasional use, it does just fine.

Range Report

If you're reading this blog, you are probably in the tiny minority of shotgun owners who bother to pattern with different buckshot loads. It's such an important task that so few people do; unlike a pistol or rifle, the point of impact and spread of any given shotgun barrel/00 buckshot combo can vary dramatically.

Check out this group of 5 shells of cheap, roll-crimped Rio Royal 00 at 15 yards - while the pattern is generally centered around my point of aim, there are lots of pellets off target:

In contrast, here's 5 shells of Federal Flite Control. While it shoots a hair to the left in my hands, all 45 pellets are exactly where I want them - the critical triangle formed by a person's nose and nipples that you need to hit to stop an attacker.

To round out the testing, I also tried some common hunting-style slugs at 25 yards, a very long and unusual shot in a home defense situation. Again, some loads, like the Federal Power Shock, were just inherently more accurate from this particular shotgun barrel. Note, however, that even though the Winchester Super X might have turned in worse groups, they might be a better choice because of reduced muzzle flash or better terminal performance.

Well, the old Wingmaster is now fully transformed, and we've finally closed the book on this series. In today's times, with pistols and rifles at a premium, a shotgun might be a good choice for defense - just make sure to test it first with your preferred loads!