Markings On Bottom of 870 Barrel

[cm925]

Hi,

So long story short, I am borrowing my dad's old 870 wingmaster for hunting since my 1187 broke. Was going to check whether or not it could shoot 3" shells, but decided to stick with shooting 2 3/4" and play it safe because everything is all taped up in camo tape and didn't want to mess that up on my dad's gun. Here's my question though, at the bottom of the barrel where the tape is peeling I noticed it was marked "W pr M". I attached an image for you to see to. Does anybody know what those markings mean? I was thinking the W was for wingmaster, and the M maybe for modified choke since the barrel has a fixed choke. No idea on the pr. But those are just my guesses. I've done some searching online and can't find anything. If anybody can tell me what these mean it would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Cole

[Synchronizor]

The marking for the choke is generally farther forward on the barrel, and more than one letter ("IC", "Mod", or "Full", for example). What you're probably looking at are date/inspection stamps for manufacture and/or repair, used by the factory.

[Rob62]

That would be the barrel date code. Looks like "PF" to me. But the stamps are often light or off center stuck.

The first part sure looks like a P which would be for June, and if the other letter is an F that would be for 1959, 1985, or 2011 (F repeats itself for years).. If the F is an R then that would be for 1968 or 1997 (R repeats itself also.

The other marks (Star and M) are factory assembly/production codes.

Happy Holidays,

Rob