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I don't know if they ever wear out, so long as they are cared for. I have an 870 Wingmaster my grand-dad gave me when I was 16. That was almost 50 years ago. I must have shot a million rounds with it (well, lots, any way, more than I can count). Lots of great dove hunts with my Dad, and then my son. I wouldn't take any amount for it. They might take away everything else, even my other guns, but no one is getting my 870 while I am still walking around.

If the gun is in good condition, $140 sound like a good price. The blueing on the barrel of mine is getting pretty thin too. I would think, like the guy said in an earlier post, if it looks like its been abused, pass it up, but if it looks like it been cared for and the blueing has just worn off, maybe go for it. I don't think there is much to go wrong with them.

Another thing to check is the smoothness of the action. An old Wingmaster is good mechanical shape should be smooth as butter with no grittiness or rough spots.

An option you might consider is to ask for a short term return priviledge to have it checked out by a local gunsmith to ensure safety and proper function.

As an aside, a neighbor came to me a few years back (knowing how I cling to my guns and religion) and asked me to inspect his recent purchase from a pawn shop. It was a 12-guage pump, the manufacturer of which I do not recall now.

The shotgun had obviously been around the block but looked OK externally. Action did not feel bad, barrel looked clean. Trigger was not bad. Wanted to check loading ramp and ejection mechanism for function so I put a couple of rounds in the magazine, pointed it at the ground and jacked the two rounds through without touching the trigger. The second round fired and of course cleared a dandelion from his front yard.

Upon inspection, we found that the firing pin had punctured the primer and impaled the spent shell. We had to pull the shell off of the firing pin. He returned it for a full refund within the hour.

REMEMBER ALL THE RULES OF GUN SAFETY...but expecially the one about never pointing it at something you are not willing to destroy.

There is an old saying that with firearms there is nothing louder that a click when you expect a bang and a bang when you expect a click. The old adage was certainly true in this instance.