HISTORY HELP

[rambozo]

Does anyone know how i might find out the original purchaser of my police issue 870 wingmaster? I have talked with Remington and tried remingtonsociety.com with no luck.

[Synchronizor]

If Remington can't help you, the only other thing I can think of would be to get in touch with the person or group you bought the gun from, and try to trace it from there.

[rambozo]

thanks, but that is why i'm looking for answers

[Synchronizor]

Where did you get the gun from? Who had it before you?

[rambozo]

i got it from a friend who is a former p.o. he got it some years ago but wasn't sure on the history. just trying to verify which PD it came from

[Synchronizor]

What I was saying is that you should find out who your friend got it from, find out where they got it from, and so on until you hit a police department. No guarantee you'll be able to trace it fully, but if Remington can't tell you who got it from the factory, this is the only other approach I can think of.

[DaveC]

Too bad Remington doesn't have an "in house historian." I suppose tracing 870s to particular LE agencies might prove tough simply because they are such a ubiquitous issue! With my S&W/Howa Japanese 870 copy I was able to get Mr. Jenks the Smith and Wesson historian to figure mine out just before he retired from his post. One insight I might offer from my search would be to think about the schedule for when a particular shotgun was declared surplus? For example, my S&W/Howa Japanese shotgun was exactly 25 years: I got the gun 25 years after it had been shipped to the Pontiac, MI PD. At least the serial number should give you a sense of the age it was produced, no?