remington 870 wingmaster date from serial numbers

My late uncle and his old 870 are resting now-in memory and the gun cabinet, respectively. I used the gun for upland hunting until I was in my mid-30s, when I switched to smaller and lighter double guns and finally settled on the 28 bore. The added weight brought Uncle’s loaded duck piece to nearly 8½ pounds-a burden to heft, swing and pass through a 60-mph target. SX Skeet Grade and TX Trap Grade and ADX. with slug barrel and rifle sights (95.95), and the Model 870. introduced the 12 gauge Model 870 RSS Rifled Slug Special. Probably to lessen recoil, the original owner had added a 14½-ounce steel plug to the magazine (early 870s came with wooden dowels). shotgun (127.15), each chambered for 12 gauge, magnum load, 3.

They can be decoded to find out when your shotgun or rifle was manufactured. According to my postal scale, the gun (empty) sinks the needle to 7 pounds 3 ounces. Check the serial numbers located on the left side of the barrel on your Remington shotgun. It was a ton of gun for someone who bought his shirts (also unfitted) in size Small. The used gun he’d bought was the Magnum model, which ate 3' shells and came with a Full-choke 30-inch barrel and thick recoil pad. He was a smaller man-about 5 feet 6 inches tall-and weighed maybe 150 pounds. Uncle never touched the gun again, and I know now why it was anathema in his hands. Money saved from an after-school job at the local grocery store allowed the purchase just in time for Christmas. I waded out from our blind, retrieved the empty, mud-plugged gun, and handed it back. That incident occurred in 1959, when I was a 14-year-old first-time duck hunter. None of this, however, mattered to my frustrated uncle who sold me his 12-gauge 870 after angrily throwing it away in the duck marsh when he ran out of shells without ruffling a feather. Serial Number: T282210M Design: This Remington 870 Wingmaster Magnum pump shotgun has a 30 full choke barrel with a vent rib. You can buy an 870 new from Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s for as little as $350, or you can have a knockoff for half that.Īvailable in 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge, the 870 is legendary for its durability, reliability, accuracy and ease of use. This gun is the firearms maker’s answer to Henry Ford’s Model T: ubiquitous, dependable and cheap. The venerable 870 pump and its many styles are relied upon throughout the world by hunters and shooters, police and SWAT teams, home defenders and military personnel from Brazil to Bangladesh. No shotgun has traveled farther or to more places. Nineteen fifty-four was the fourth year of production for America’s-and the world’s-most popular scattergun, with more than 11 million manufactured to date. I long had wondered when my Remington 870 Wingmaster had been made, and now I know-1954-thanks to Pete Arden, a Remington technical consumer rep who researched the serial number. In your instance, February 1984 is the date on your barrel.This morning I solved a 60-year-old mystery with one 10-minute phone call. * the years 1943 though 1953 had double letters: ie, MM = 1943 The next one or two letters are the year of manufacture.įor shotguns with removeable barrels, the code will be valid for the manufacture of the barrel, not necessarily the receiver, as barrels do get switched around.ī - L - A - C - K - P - O - W - D - E - R - Xġ - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 The first letter of the Code is the month of manufacture Remington Year of Manufacture Codes maybe found on the barrel of your Remington rifle on the left side, just forward of the receiver. Go to this link: Ĭall the customer service number listed on the link, give them the serial number (if you don't have one, they'll direct you to the barrel codes that will help them), and delete all of the webpages you've bookmarked trying to hunt down the gun's age because this will always be the easiest method, and it's free.Īctually, Remington has given all of the 870 guns a serial number. Either way, when you call Remington, which is the EASIEST and fastest way to date your firearm, they'll ask you for the serial number. If there's no serial number on the receiver (opposite side of the shell ejection port) then the firearm was manufactured before the mid-60's, which was when serial numbers started being required. If I were you, my first step would be to ignore the barrel for now and instead look on the receiver for the serial number. I'm not sure what the LE means, my first thought would be Law Enforcement.especially if it's a 12 gauge with a shorter 21' or less barrel. IMP would be improved, MOD would be modified, FUL would be full, etc. First, the 'CYL' closer to the muzzle indicates that the barrel has a Cylinder fixed choke.

Remington 870 wingmaster date from serial numbers