Should I buy this shotgun?

[.40CALIbear]

Older gentleman I work with is selling a NIB 16 gauge Remington 870 wingmaster. He's says he bought it in the 60's and never shot it. He wants me to make him an offer but I don't want to rip him off. What would you guys pay for this shotgun? Or what is a ballpark value?

[003]

While I do think it would be fun to own a 16 Ga shotgun, I also believe that it has become more of a collector item than for practical use. It is almost impossible to find 16 Ga ammunition at local stores.
Do you want a nice wall hanger? Or a gun to shoot and enjoy?

[MA5177]

Do you reload? DO you like the 16g? If no to either I would pass

[teg33]

I'll pass, not easy to find the ammo

[Loubot10]

You can find ammo on the web. He wouldv'e paid around $300 so I'd offer $350.00

You seldom get a chance to buy and shoot a NIB piece of American craftsmanship from the 60's. I grew up shooting them and they were definitely more refined than today's plastic models.

[wweigle]

There is nothing wrong with the 16 gauge round. Unfortunately it has generally be usurped by the 20 gauge as the alternative to the twelve, and consequently ammo is generally not available in the typical retail outlets. The main downside of the earlier guns is that they did not come with interchangeable choke tubes. Keep in mind Steel shot will be mandatory in California in a few years for all hunting, so if it has a full choke barrel it will not have much application in the future, some shoot modern steel rounds through the older more open chokes barrels with success. Another thought, but I'm not sure with the 870, but many sixteens were built on the 12 gauge receiver, so there may not be that much savings in weight over the twelve. The upside is the early guns were very well built. If you can get a screaming deal on it I would consider buying it, but my guess is you will not fined you use it much if you have other shotguns.

[rsrocket1]

$350 would be a good price.
It is probably worth a lot more to a collector but virtually nothing to someone who simply wants a fun shotgun to shoot economically and doesn't reload.

[wweigle]

There is nothing wrong with the 16 gauge round. Unfortunately it has generally be usurped by the 20 gauge as the alternative to the twelve, and consequently ammo is harder to find. The downside of the earlier guns is that they did not come with interchangeable choke tubes. Keep in mind Steel shot will be mandatory in California in a few years for all hunting, so if it has a full choke barrel it will not have much application in the future. Another thought, but I'm not sure with the 870, but many sixteens were built on the 12 gauge receiver, so there may not be that much savings in weight over the twelve. The upside is the early guns were very well built. If you can get a screaming deal on it I would consider buying it, but my guess is you will not fined you use it much if you have other shotguns.

[ja308]

Personally I would not pay more than 50 bucks. Keep in mind you need to DROS this obsolete white elephant !
My GF said she wouldnt want it,even if free !

[bigbossman]

I commonly see 16 gauge ammo on sale at Big 5 and Walmart.

[Bull Elk]

I'd pass on it. Nothing wrong with a 16 gauge except that in another year or so you won't be able to hunt with it in CA unless you use alternative loads to lead. I would think that if you don't reload you may find it rather difficult to find steel or synthetic shells after lead if phased out. Spend your money on something that you can actually use.

[NapalmCheese]

There is nothing wrong with the 16 gauge round. Unfortunately it has generally be usurped by the 20 gauge as the alternative to the twelve, and consequently ammo is harder to find. The downside of the earlier guns is that they did not come with interchangeable choke tubes. Keep in mind Steel shot will be mandatory in California in a few years for all hunting, so if it has a full choke barrel it will not have much application in the future. Another thought, but I'm not sure with the 870, but many sixteens were built on the 12 gauge receiver, so there may not be that much savings in weight over the twelve. The upside is the early guns were very well built. If you can get a screaming deal on it I would consider buying it, but my guess is you will not fined you use it much if you have other shotguns.

A) Ammo sure isn't hard to find online and is available in a couple of my local gun shops. The selection of ammo is a little lacking compared to 12 or 20.
B) Nearly any barrel can be threaded for chokes if you like the shotgun.
C) Steel shot will not be mandatory, non-lead will. Life is easier if you reload (or invest the whopping 50 bucks it'll take to reload for a 16 gauge) at which point you load bismuth, Nice-Shot, ITX, or something else.
D) Some were built on 12 gauge frames, some were built on 16 gauge frames, some were built on 20 gauge frames. The unfortunate part of the 870 is that they simply took 12 gauge gun and bored a 16 gauge hole in the barrel, this resulted in a 16 gauge gun that weighed more than the 12 gauge counterpart.

As I suppose you can guess, I like 16s. I started reloading because of the 16 gauge. Choosing to hunt with a 16 gauge shotgun makes you more of a gentlemen, increases your IQ, improves your looks, improves your taste in scotch, bourbon, art, and food and makes you better suited for promotions and raises.

At $350 I would see absolutely no reason to NOT buy that 16 gauge (if you were so inclined) other than of the 16s the Remington seems less well suited to every day use (given that it's a 12 gauge with a 16 gauge bore). To a collector that was rounding out a collection, it would probably go for more.

[.40CALIbear]

Well this morning after reading some of the posts about ammo availabity I told him I didn't need it. He told me to just make him an offer since he will probably just cut it up and throw it away. I wasn't going to let him do that to such a pretty gun. I offered $100 and he took it. We will be doing paperwork after work. I'm getting a package deal. A pristine Remington 700 in 257 Roberts and a clean Ruger 10/22. All 3 for $500.

[.40CALIbear]

I did a quick search and found tons of ammo online. A case is already paid for and on its way from Cabelas. Thanks guys for all help.

[HighWildFree]

Nice score OP, 16 gauge Wingmaster BNIB sounds like a great little gun. Just saw some 16 gauge at Walmart last week, for pretty cheap.