Guns: The Tacticool Remington 870 Wingmaster, Part 2 - The Stock and the Weaponlight

I converted my vintage Remington 870 Wingmaster into a modern home defense shotgun. In Part 1 of the series, I swapped out its unwieldy 30" barrel with a shorter 18.5" replacement, a nearly essential upgrade if you plan on using a shotgun indoors. Today, let's look at dressing up the old girl's furniture:

The wood stock that came on my 870 was in great shape, but it had a few shortcomings. It was a bit long for the squared-up fighting stance that's popular these days, it sported an uncomfortable 1980s-era buttpad, and, most importantly, it lacked any place to attach a light to the gun.

If you are short on funds, it's possible to cut an 870 stock and duct tape a light on yourself. I'm lazy, so I opted to grab Magpul's SGA stock, SGA receiver sling mount, M-LOK forend set, and M-LOK cantilever rail mount.



It's an easy install. Besides what Magpul packages in the box, there are no special tools required, save perhaps a long screwdriver to get the original stock off. The cantilever mount gives you a small section of Picatinny rail on the forend, to which you can attach any light you want.

I opted for Streamlight's excellent ProTac Rail Mount 1 - it screws onto the rail in literally five seconds, it's a bit more budget friendly than the SureFire weaponlights, and it can use both AA and CR123A batteries, which can be handy in a grid-down situation (read: hurricanes). While the ProTac comes with a pressure switch, I used the standard endcap to minimize the chance of a negligent light discharge.



With the shotgun now short as possible without a tax stamp, and with the critical addition of a weaponlight, the shotgun is now ready for duty. There are a few more things to add to make it really boss, though.

Upgrades still to come - magazine tube and sidesaddle, sling...