The biggest issue in my experience is poor fit, quality of the parts and sub par finish. Wingmaster is still a nice gun, but honestly most of them will function ok. They are rough, often rusting from the factory, some parts are not fitted properly. You may need to polish the chamber as lot of those are not properly machined and extraction may be an issue. Still, by the current standards they are ok shotguns. Just make sure to inspect them in person before buying.

 

That's a shame. My 870 Police Magnum and Norinco Type 56 are fighting it out to see which one is the toughest. I have a Wingmaster that belonged to my grandfather that has yet to fail.

 

When freedom Group took over the company they fired all the experienced employees and hired cheap labor. The company was screwed up beyond all recognition and they've never really recovered. One of our members bought a Marlin Lever action and took it apart. When he tried to re-assemble it, a couple of the screws broke off due to poor heat treating.

he tried to order new screws and they were on backorder probably because they had so many poor quality screws that kept breaking. I dealt with the Remington repair shop in North Carolina right after the changeover and both quality control and customer service were horrible and they jerked me around for six months until I finally gave up.

If the problem is just parts not matching up a gunsmith can remedy that problem but poor heat treatment means that any number of internal parts could fail at some point and the gun can't really be relied on and you definitely don't want a gun like that for defensive use.

Some people have bought newer Remington and marlins and thought that they were OK but in my opinion it's just the luck of the draw and if you don't get a lemon you lucked out, but it's a gamble.

Other people have said that the fit an finish is not as good as the older guns but some people go to a shop that has a number of guns and pick the ones that are the best looking of the lot. And some people say the fit and finish is not as good as the older guns but so what? the new guns are selling for less money.

The older Remington Wingmasters were a completely different gun from what's being made today and the same goes for the older Marlins versus the newer Remlins. That's why the older marlins now sell for a premium price.

Do yourself a favor and get a Mossberg Shockwave made by a family-owned American gun company that takes pride in their guns rather than buying a gun that is a Remington in name only made by Cerebus Capital Management, a private equity firm specializing in "distressed investing" and taking over struggling companies and trying to turn them around through cost cutting measures and aggressive marketing.

 

When freedom arms took over the company they fired all the experienced employees and hired cheap labor. The company was screwed up beyond all recognition and they've never really recovered. One of our members bought a Marlin Lever action and took it apart. When he tried to re-assemble it, a couple of the screws broke off due to poor heat treating.

he tried to order new screws and they were on backorder probably because they had so many poor quality screws that kept breaking. I dealt with the Remington repair shop in North Carolina right after the changeover and both quality control and customer service were horrible and they jerked me around for six months until I finally gave up.

If the problem is just parts not matching up a gunsmith can remedy that problem but poor heat treatment means that any number of internal parts could fail at some point and the gun can't really be relied on and you definitely don't want a gun like that for defensive use.

Some people have bought newer Remington and marlins and thought that they were OK but in my opinion it's just the luck of the draw and if you don't get a lemon you lucked out, but it's a gamble.

Other people have said that the fit an finish is not as good as the older guns but some people go to a shop that has a number of guns and pick the ones that are the best looking of the lot. And some people say the fit and finish is not as good as the older guns but so what? the new guns are selling for less money.

The older Remington Wingmasters were a completely different gun from what's being made today and the same goes for the older Marlins versus the newer Remlins. That's why the older marlins now sell for a premium price.

Do yourself a favor and get a Mossberg Shockwave made by a family-owned American gun company that takes pride in their guns rather than buying a gun that is a Remington in name only made by Cerebus Capital Management, a private equity firm specializing in "distressed investing" and taking over struggling companies and trying to turn them around through cost cutting measures and aggressive marketing.

I considered a Shockwave but I'm too used to the 870's safety placement. And Freedom Group bought Remington. Not Freedom Arms. If Freedom Arms bought Remington their quality would have gone waaaaaay up not down (as I'm stroking my 454 Casull.

 

My Tac14s are flawless. Of course, I've owned 870s for 40 years, and immediately take a new one apart and check it out completely . I clean it thoroughly, polish up any rough spots, and apply EEZOX everywhere. Reassemble with an aluminum follower in place of the plastic. Run a few hundred shells through it, and I'm good to go.

Of course, I do this with EVERY new gun these days, including Glocks.
YMMV

 

Is the Tac-14 trigger guard plastic? Is it made like an Express model? I have yet to see one in person. BTW I swap out the stock plastic follower with a Scattergun unit. I like the neon green.

 

I was a Remington fan for years, shotguns and rifles, but I won't touch one made in the last 5 years or so, just too many QC issues.

The Remington VersaMax, IMHO, is a great design, only made marginal by bean counters and poor quality parts and builds. Having rebuilt over 30 of them, no two are the same and some were really in need of help.

 

My Tac-14 has zero issues.

Boogieman, yes it has a plastic trigger guard.

 

Yes plastic, you can replace it if desired. I added heavier lifter springs, works great.
The follower with a tail takes up a lot of room. I added an aluminum one from Brownells. Here's a review :
http://www.rem870.com/2012/07/20/re...s-cdm-gear-sbe-precision-ggg-sj-hardware-scattergun-technologies-choate-nordic/

The standard Tac14 can use a +1 mag extension. You'll need to remove the mag tube dimples. I have the tool to do this and loan it out to GT members.