wingmaster date

[Jman58]

Hi everyone, My daughter has an old model wingmaster 20 gauge that her grandfather gave to her before he passed. It is obviously the older style as it has the early style forearm so I`m pretty sure its from the 50`s. The serial # on the breech is 173405X but I cant figure out the year of manufacture from the Remington table. Can anyone figure it out for me?

[Synchronizor]

There's no letter prefix to the serial number, so the gun should be no newer than 1968. If there's a date code on the barrel (and you're sure that it's the original barrel), that could narrow it down more.

[Jman58]

Thanks for the reply synchronizer. I did try the barrel too. It is a slug barrel and has AO stamped in the left side then a space and the number 33. I suppose the gun could have originally came with a bird barrel and this one was a replacement. Near as I can figure is 1954 or 56 but that is a guess mostly. I even tried e-mailing the info to Remington and never heard back from them so I guess they don't know either. I probably wont be able to find out what the exact manufacture date is im afraid, but if you can think of anything else I can try I will be happy to hear back from you. Thanks again

[Synchronizor]

Yeah, I don't think that's the original barrel. An "O" year code doesn't fit with the 1950s-1960s date range indicated by the serial number.

Remington should be able to look up the serial number for you. I'd try emailing them again, maybe your messages got overlooked/blocked/lost/etc.

[Jman58]

The barrel was stamped AO but either way it doesn't fit. Yes I will try Remington once more they might answer this time. Thanks Synchronizor

[Jman58]

By the way I meant that the serial number is stamped on the left side of the receiver. Oops

[Synchronizor]

The barrel was stamped AO but either way it doesn't fit. Yes I will try Remington once more they might answer this time. Thanks Synchronizor

It's a two-part code. "A" indicates the month, "O" indicates the year.

[Jman58]

Yes so the barrel is most likely 1977 but I know that the gun itself is older. I came into the picture in 1975 and he had it then and I was told by his sons that he bought it in the 50s . He did as I recall have a newer 870 that he hunted with that I would bet he bought in 1977 and he must have switched the barrels for some reason. This is getting fun. I e-mailed Remington with the serial number again. Maybe I will hear back from them this time.

[Jman58]

OK. Remington replied and said from the serial number it is a 1952 heavy frame 20 gauge. So I have my answer. Thanks again