1950 16 gauge wingmaster

[Virginian]

With over 10,000,000 made there is not much collector interest in all but a very few, very special, Model 870s. As evidenced by your serial number, they made quite a few even in the first year. There have been so many variations, commemoratives, and such you could write a book about it.
Long story short, Remington set out to produce a reliable functional pump shotgun with attractive lines and good handling that would sell for a profit for less than the competition. That they succeeded is a gross understatement. They ran the competition out of the marketplace - and suffer the unending scorn of the Model 12 and Model 37 lovers for it. It is the most successful civilian arm of any type in history. The design was also modified into the Model 1100, (and later the Model 11-87), the most popular semi auto shotgun of all time. Although the detractors are plentiful, there are millions of happy owners, and both designs continue today practically unchanged. And they both still work just fine.
In later years, Remington introduced the Express model 870s, which feature a rougher finish and some cheaper parts to allow them to compete with the cheap imports. While they do work and do what they intended, make no mistake, there is a lot of difference quality wise between a Wingmaster and an Express. Oh, and the Remington haters REALLY get wound up about the Expresses.
Enjoy your gun.

[Wulfman]

Thank you for the information, Virginian. Like I said, I'm not too interested in the guns value. I would rather know this individual guns history. This specific gun is twice as old as I am and I would like to know its specific story if it is possible. I do appreciate your history of the 870 line of Shotguns. My first gun ever was an 870 Express 12 gauge and I loved it. I actually bought it from the same guy I bought the Wingmaster. I guess my next questions would be: How do I determine which specific model is my particular gun; is it a Standard, deluxe, trap, field model etc? And, would I be able to see a list of owners? I don’t know if this is possible but am hoping someone like the FBI or the like might have a record of registered owners. Like everything in life there is a story to this item and I am curious as to what it is.

Happy shooting

I wouldn't put alot of hope in tracing the origins of the gun, but my suggestion would be to start with the person YOU bought it from. If it's been through only a couple of owners, you might have a chance. If it's been bought and sold through gun shows or individual owners......not so much. Through licensed dealers, there should be an ATF form 4473 filled out on the sale.

For me, personally......I don't give a darn......unless they were handed down through our families. Then it has more significance and I would NEVER sell it. With most of the ones I have acquired "used", I have no idea who the previous owners were.


Den