Hey, all! I just picked a used Remington 870 Wingmaster in a trade. A call to Remington reveals its build date to be 1980. It appears to be all original as per their records. It has a factory 28" smooth barrel (full choke) with no bead sight. I've never come across such a thing. Anyone else have a barrel of this type on their 'shotty', and what is its purpose having no sight? Thank you in advance for the replies!

It seems weird to not have a dot, but I have seen shotgun instruction videos that say the bead is not needed and that a shotgun is aimed and fired by a consistent mounting and concentration on the target. It was stated that even sighting down the barrel is bad. I have yet to try this method but I rarely shoot shotgun and when I do, I can't hit anything lol

Yeah, it is wierd that there's no dot. I forgot to mention that the Remington Rep told me, "Yeah, some were made like that." when I inquired about the lack of a sight. I don't see why aiming down the barrel would be a detriment though. At a shotgun's effective range you are bound to hit. Then again, I'm no expert. Best!

The bead on my 18" barrel blew off my 870 this weekend. Left the hole behind. I thought it was odd that the hole was not threaded. I shot another box without the bead and missed it a lot. I think it has to have some sort of sight down there.

That is a bit odd to not have at least a bead sight installed. I have how ever seen a number of guns like that used in Skeet and Trap and its quiet possible that your model was purchased for use in Trap Shooting as that would explain the full choke and the no bead installed.

I blew the end off my Topper 88 when I was a teen and I used this shotgun for years without a bead sight to take a truck load of rabbits, squirrles, dove, quail and ducks! Having a bead reinstalled is inexpensive to have done by a gun smith in addition to a number of clamp on sights now available you can install.

Experienced bird, trap and clay shooters don't use the bead or the barrel.

Their shots go where their eyes are looking.

I can see where maybe the previous owner may have had it removed or maybe it sheared off. The rib could be aftermarket and it needs to be drilled and tapped. Some of the beads are soldered in place.