New Proud 870 Owner

[TMILLS]

Hi Everyone!!!

Pretty new to all firearms. Just picked up a new Sig P226R .40 hand gun a few months ago ( great shooter) and wanted to learn more about it, so I joined the Sig forum.

I recently went out trap shooting w/ a buddy and had a great time , so I couldn't pass up a great deal on an older un-used Remington Wingmaster 870 12 Ga. w/ 30" vent rib (reason for joining this forum). Guy I got it from said it was in someones collection and had never been shot....still in original box. When I got it, it looked mint ....Can't wait to shoot it!!!

I was trying to find a M/F Date and only got the serial # off reciever....didn't realize that the barrel would have more helpful info on it.(guns at home I'm at work) But maybe someone hear can help me? S/N: V898xxxV

Remington says it was M/F in 1951?? He wasn't 100% w/out Barrel codes, but the stock has checkering and from what I get it could have been M/F in either 1977-1982 or sometime in 2001????No idea but doubt the 1951 date. Came in a Green and white box

Thanks for any help...I might just have to wait and look at the barrel tonight.

Thanks for the forum. Hope to read and learn more. maybe even contribute sometime.

[The Rifleman]

HEY AND WELCOME TO THE FORUM.

One piece of advice, although there are people out there that will steal the fillings out of your teeth, there seems to be nothing but good honest people here willing to help you any way they can.

Don't be scared to post your serial number, all you really need to leave out is one digit - because the other digits will tell the story of what you have and if there is someone dishonest enough to make a police report and say that the gun you bought is stolen - they still have to get that number right.

So 8 out of 10 times the number that they guess will be the wrong one - and if the police were honest, they would have to file charges for making false reports to the police.

If you look at the main page for Remington - you will see links to all of the information for all of the guns that they made.

You can go through the factory books and look up the individual days of manufacture to find out when your gun was made.

My advice is to look at the gun. If someone has been around Remington guns as long as I have, you can pretty much tell when a gun is made.

The color of the box does not help us out.

I have boxes from Remington’s from the 50's that were plain brown boxes and also black boxes from the factory and from when my dad sent them home from the PX where he bought them when he was in the US Navy.

Old Remington shotguns have a stock that will look very plain and will have a forearm that is round with grooves machined around the forearm.

Later versions were a little more fancy and by the 1970's they were modernized again to look like what they make today.

There were problems with the metallurgy in the barrels for the 12-ga semi's and pumps. Your best bet is to take it to a qualified gun shop and have the strength of the barrel checked out before you fire your new gun just to make sure that it is ok to shoot.

It takes a Rockwell or a Brinell tester to check the strength of the steel in the barrel. A visual inspection is not good enough.