Picked up a 1953 Remington 870 wingmaster

[charlie cleveland]

king you got your self a good one....charlie

[Bill Murphy]

Dave is right. This gun is probably way later than 1953. Check the date codes on the breech end of the barrel for the proper date of manufacture. Great gun. I still have a few. Well, maybe more than a few. Killed a resident Canada Goose with one in October. Ran 100 straight in our Maryland State NSSA Shoot with a Sun Light (maple stocked) 20 gauge a few years ago, but lost in the shootoff because I thought I should use a real skeet gun. I missed on the first pair of the shootoff with my Krieghoff.

[King Cobb]

Barrel Code is ZZ, which is 1953. Also it has a metal follower as opposed to a plastic one which Remington supposedly near as I can tell switched to in the 1960s (thx remington society). i know it is pre 1968 based off there being no letter prefix to the serial number (again thx to remington society).

Sent some pictures to one of my dad's hunting buddies that is in to 870s and he said the wood is not original to the gun. The fit isn't quite right and the wood is a little too proud on the receiver. With the other info I gave him, he believes it very well could be a 53 based on the parts. He said the pressed checkering came over from the 1100 in the mid 60s and the fleur de lis pattern a little later, but it was very common in the 70s to "upgrade" your old factory 870 wood for the new remington stocks. He admits he has 1 or 2 he did it with and now wishes he hadn't.

So from what he told me, the barrel is definitely a 53 era one. The receiver is definitely pre 68. Told him the serial number, but he said that remington can't even give you a straight answer on receiver serial numbers except for the prefix letter, due to the different runs and model numbers and lack of records. He said from looking at it though and the fact it has an original metal follower and a metal safety and the fact I know it has been in the 4-H Shooting sports club safe for 20+ years that he would feel comfortable in going with it being a 1953 model.

Not that it has any collector value due to the pressed checkering dupont finish wood not being original, but the guts of the gun are 1953.

Really want to find some upgrade wood now.....

[King Cobb]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Dave is right. This gun is probably way later than 1953. Check the date codes on the breech end of the barrel for the proper date of manufacture. Great gun. I still have a few. Well, maybe more than a few. Killed a resident Canada Goose with one in October. Ran 100 straight in our Maryland State NSSA Shoot with a Sun Light (maple stocked) 20 gauge a few years ago, but lost in the shootoff because I thought I should use a real skeet gun. I missed on the first pair of the shootoff with my Krieghoff.

According to the barrel codes, it was made in september of 1953. Provided the barrel is original...

[Big D]

One of the knowledgeable posters on the Remington site has a great description of Remington's dating service

"I do not trust Remington's dating service. If they were Match.com, you could end up with Nancy Pelosi."

[Mills]

[Daniel G Rainey]

I started hunting in 1960 with a 870 12ga. with a polychoke. Killed my first dove, quail, treerat, rabbit, coon and deer with that gun before losing it when a boat overturned on a duck hunt. It was replaced by 2 870's. One was a 12 3inch Mag. which was hell on deer with number 1 buck ( back in the hound days ) the other was a 20 skeet gun which was my bird gun. Driving back from a South Dakota hunt a friend asked if I ever cleaned that gun. No need was the answer. We got to figuring and counted that 20 had been fired over 10,000 times without cleaning.( I take better care of my parkers ) They are great guns, one of the best. Danny

[Mills]

My first two guns were both 870's. Gifts from my Uncle Hugh Lane. I still have the second one. Dad gave the first one back to Uncle Hugh's grandson. They are great guns.

[King Cobb]

For anyone interested I ended up ordering a set from Numrich that I had read good reviews of.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/ad/590690.htm

Will see how it looks. May strip it and refinish it depending on how I like the satin finish.

[Ron Gebhart]

I have a 20ga 870 that my father gave me when I was twelve years old. Interestingly it was manufactured in October of 1953. It has worked flawlessly for thousands of rounds. Gun is checkered, but not fleur de lis.