Wingmaster made in Canada?

[polkey]

I have a 12ga Wingmaster dated 1960 (barrel code is EGB) that is marked "Remington Arms of Canada Limited Made in Canada". The serial number is also quite low being a 4 digit number with a v suffix? Anybody have any info or seen many others like it, i haven't been able to find much info.

[Synchronizor]

I'd always heard that 870s were all manufactured in the U.S. Is the "Made in Canada" located on the receiver or the barrel? There are a number of companies who manufacture aftermarket 870 barrels outside of the U.S.

[polkey]

Only the barrel, but the barrel is original to the gun, rollstamp on barrel is identical to my us made wingmaster except it says "Remington Arms of Canada Limited Made in Canada", with patent numbers below.

[polkey]

Bit of an update, have since learned a fair bit more about Remington Canada produced guns.

Remington Canada was in business from late 1958 to the mid 1983 and made/assembled 870's and nylon 66's, possibly more but that's all I know of at present.
The easiest way to spot a Remington Canada 870 is usually the barrel, they will be marked Remington Canada in place of the usual Remington Arms Ilion NY, and the REP proof mark is replaced with RCEP. I know of about a dozen of these guns including around 4-5 I've had through my hands and had a chance to take apart. They have all been identical in every way except for variations in barrel date codes and that one was a 28" mod and the others were 30" full. Most had 4 digit serial number with a V suffix between 1200-1700 serial number range, although i did encounter one in the 12k range and one in the low 100k range, (Ilion made 870's got to that serial number by 1951).

If by chance the barrel has been replaced then being familiar with early 870's becomes helpful. Im not sure how many people here are familiar with very early 870 features, but on top of the Remington Canada examples I also have over a dozen Ilion US made Wingmasters from 1951through to the 1970's.
For the first few years of production Remington had some variations in design that changed through the years. A few of these changes include the lack of a removable steel plate between the butstock & receiver, this was later added to stop stocks from cracking I believe. Very early guns also did not have a retaining pin the kept the locking block from falling out of the bolt when field stripped, it was a change that happened very early as the earlier design it was very easy to accidentally assemble the gun without the locking block. Another chance was the serialization of the barrels to the receiver, I believe this was discontinued around the 200k serial range, or roughly 1952-53. Also around this time Remington moved the serial number/Remington stamp from near the edge of the receiver & the Wingmaster logo from between the trigger mech pins. The Wingmaster logo was moved up a little higher, & the Remington stamp/serial number moved next to it. At some point in the late 1950's Remington also changed there method of bluing, although I am not sure the exact year. The earlier bluing was a lighter color, also the bluing does not appear to be inside the receiver, is more of an exterior finish only. The later bluing method is a more commonly encounter nowadays which is an immersion bluing that is on the inside & outside as well as being a noticeably darker almost black color.

All of the Remington Canada marked guns I have looked at, all of which have low serial numbers, all have later style features. They all have the steel plate between the stock & receiver, they all have the retained locking block in the bolt, none have serialized barrels/low receiver stamps, and all are the later, darker immersion type bluing. I don't know if these guns were simply assembled & finished in Canada with US made parts or any more of the manufacturing was done in Canada, will likely never know. But what I am fairly certain of is that the Canadian made/assemble guns have there own serial number range.

Here is a pair of consecutive Remington Canada 870's I managed to track down.






Examples of the transition in receiver stamps in 2 guns a year apart.

[BKinzey]

Wow, that's interesting, thanks for the update.

[LucasGun]

Bit of an update, have since learned a fair bit more about Remington Canada produced guns.

Remington Canada was in business from late 1958 to the mid 1983 and made/assembled 870's and nylon 66's, possibly more but that's all I know of at present.
The easiest way to spot a Remington Canada 870 is usually the barrel, they will be marked Remington Canada in place of the usual Remington Arms Ilion NY, and the REP proof mark is replaced with RCEP. I know of about a dozen of these guns including around 4-5 I've had through my hands and had a chance to take apart. They have all been identical in every way except for variations in barrel date codes and that one was a 28" mod and the others were 30" full. Most had 4 digit serial number with a V suffix between 1200-1700 serial number range, although i did encounter one in the 12k range and one in the low 100k range, (Ilion made 870's got to that serial number by 1951).

If by chance the barrel has been replaced then being familiar with early 870's becomes helpful. Im not sure how many people here are familiar with very early 870 features, but on top of the Remington Canada examples I also have over a dozen Ilion US made Wingmasters from 1951through to the 1970's.
For the first few years of production Remington had some variations in design that changed through the years. A few of these changes include the lack of a removable steel plate between the butstock & receiver, this was later added to stop stocks from cracking I believe. Very early guns also did not have a retaining pin the kept the locking block from falling out of the bolt when field stripped, it was a change that happened very early as the earlier design it was very easy to accidentally assemble the gun without the locking block. Another chance was the serialization of the barrels to the receiver, I believe this was discontinued around the 200k serial range, or roughly 1952-53. Also around this time Remington moved the serial number/Remington stamp from near the edge of the receiver & the Wingmaster logo from between the trigger mech pins. The Wingmaster logo was moved up a little higher, & the Remington stamp/serial number moved next to it. At some point in the late 1950's Remington also changed there method of bluing, although I am not sure the exact year. The earlier bluing was a lighter color, also the bluing does not appear to be inside the receiver, is more of an exterior finish only. The later bluing method is a more commonly encounter nowadays which is an immersion bluing that is on the inside & outside as well as being a noticeably darker almost black color.

All of the Remington Canada marked guns I have looked at, all of which have low serial numbers, all have later style features. They all have the steel plate between the stock & receiver, they all have the retained locking block in the bolt, none have serialized barrels/low receiver stamps, and all are the later, darker immersion type bluing. I don't know if these guns were simply assembled & finished in Canada with US made parts or any more of the manufacturing was done in Canada, will likely never know. But what I am fairly certain of is that the Canadian made/assemble guns have there own serial number range.

Here is a pair of consecutive Remington Canada 870's I managed to track down.






Examples of the transition in receiver stamps in 2 guns a year apart.

How did you manage to get all that research done? So much details, thanks for sharing this it was really useful to know.
Who know maybe I'll be an expert at finding those Remington Canada 870's

[RayBob]

Outstanding. My hat is off to you coming in with all the info even 8 years later.

Any Idea where in Canada actual manufacture was. I go pretty often to the Maritimes (wife is from NB).

[RayBob]

OK, I have since found out it was indeed in Ontario (Toronto) . . . surprise !

[Alejandro]

No, la Remington Wingmaster no se fabrica en Canadá. Este modelo de escopeta, conocido por su alta calidad y fiabilidad, ha sido tradicionalmente fabricado en los Estados Unidos por Remington Arms. Sin embargo, algunos modelos de armas y partes pueden haber sido distribuidos o modificados en otros países, pero la fabricación principal siempre ha sido en los EE. UU.

[BKinzey]

No, la Remington Wingmaster no se fabrica en Canadá. Este modelo de escopeta, conocido por su alta calidad y fiabilidad, ha sido tradicionalmente fabricado en los Estados Unidos por Remington Arms. Sin embargo, algunos modelos de armas y partes pueden haber sido distribuidos o modificados en otros países, pero la fabricación principal siempre ha sido en los EE. UU.

Google Traslate:
"No, the Remington Wingmaster is not manufactured in Canada. This shotgun model, known for its high quality and reliability, has traditionally been manufactured in the United States by Remington Arms. However, some gun models and parts may have been distributed or modified in other countries, but primary manufacturing has always been in the US."

You are just factually wrong. Did you not read the previous posts in the thread? Maybe your post was all about posting the link? (Which I deleted)