M/870 LETTER PREFIX 1950 TO APPROX 1968:NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX 1968 TO PRESENT:LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE) S-68, T-74, V-78, W-84, X-90, A-91, B-94, C-97, D-01, AB-05 LETTER SUFFIX (DESIGNATES GAGE) V12 GA. Ambasada Spaniei La Bucuresti Program on this page. (2 3/4”) M12 GA.

REMINGTON DATES OF MANUFACTURE For Remington guns made 1921-1972 only. We have no data for Remingtons made at other times. A two or three letter code on the.

MAGNUM (3”) A12 GA. The Heirs Episode 17 Eng Sub Gooddrama. “SUPER” MAGNUM (3 ½”) W16 GA. ( 2 ¾” ) X20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME” (DISCONTINUED) N20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME MAGNUM” (DISCONTINUED) K20 GA.

“LIGHT WEIGHT” (“LW”) (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”) U20 GA. LW MAGNUM (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”) J28 GA. H.410 BORE (2 ½” OR 3”). But, there are also apparently a lot of guns without the barrel codes. Made right in the middle of when Remington was doing the barrel code thingy.

I know; I have a Model 1100 LT20 Magnum (1978 vintage) with the original barrel and no barrel code, and an 870 12 gauge Magnum (circa 1976) with the original barrel, also with no code, and finally an 1100 28 gauge (Probably 1976 or 1977) with no barrel codes. I love it when these things happen.

Oh yes, they all have a lonely little proof mark on the other side of the barrel. Call Remington at 1-800-243-9700.(I think they are open M-F 9-5pm EST) Follow the prompts (I think it is 7 and then 1) and you can speak with an actual person who can tell you month and year the gun was made. Barrels might sit a bit but receiver are the parts that are serialized. I have nothing but positive feedback to give Remington. The staff has been very helpful. Nice to speak with folks. Just my $0.02 worth.

Duke _________________ We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. Benjamin Franklin. Wow, an over 8 year old thread revived.

But, kudos on using the search engine! No prefix is pre 1968, and by that number I would guess yours is late 1967 or early 68. If you have 4 numbers whited out I think that is the highest pre '68 serial number I have seen, because they generally went in order until they changed the prefix and then started again. Your barrel code is RW - and R is November (or 1968) and W is 1972. My guess is the barrel is 1972 and is not original to the receiver, but nothing is surefire. I have seen a pre 1968 2-3/4' 12 gauge with an 'L' suffix, which by all accounts is non existent, and I have seen every imaginable 'barrel code', including none at all.

The horseshoe is an assembly line mark. _________________ What could have happened. I do not trust Remington's dating service accuracy. If they were Match.com, you could end up with Nancy Pelosi. Going mostly on memory (dicey at best) the early 16s and 20 gauge standard weights did not have the stress relief slit behind the bolt handle slot, at least up thru 1973. I do not know when they added that to all gauges.

The 28 gauge and.410 Matched Sets in 1969 did have the relief slits, as did the LW and LT 20s. The much later Classic 16s had it too. _________________ What could have happened. I do not trust Remington's dating service accuracy. If they were Match.com, you could end up with Nancy Pelosi.

Jwtubs wrote:I just bought a new in box 870 tactical with a Blackhawk Special Ops II stock and pistol grip from a small independent dealer/sporting goods store. The serial number starts with RS. From several different sources, of which Remington is one of them, that tells me it was manufactured in November 1998, 1969, or 1925. 1998.how can that be? It's because you're taking the first two letters from the serial number, and looking them up as if they were a barrel date stamp. These are two different things, but most of the 'guides' online don't explain this very well, if they even try. Some even call the barrel date stamp a serial number.

I've been trying to gather enough information to put together a complete, well-explained guide to dating 870s. I'm close, but I'm having trouble finding help with the last few details. Remington of course just stonewalled me when I tried to email them directly about it. In any case, an 'RS-' serial number points to a manufacture date of 2009/2010 (not sure exactly which) or later. I'm aware of that change, but I've been unable to determine exactly what year that happened. If anyone can share their serial number prefixes for 870s with confirmed manufacture dates from 2008 - 2011, it would really help me out with this project. Anyway, it's not as if the serial number prefixes were ever all that precise anyway.