Newly acquired vintage Wingmaster date code question.

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Dubla92

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Just had handed down to me a 870 Wingmaster. I know for sure the gun is all original meaning receiver and barrel are an origional set. My question ls about the date of manufacture. The barrel code is EF. Which is September of 1959,1984,or 2013. Obviously 2013 is out. Everyone that I have spoke to says there is no way it is a 1959 becuase the condition is too good. It has had very little use. It is a Canadian made gun and the barrel is stamped RCEF. FULL Choke.

My question is there any way to determine if it is a 1959 or a 1984?
 
If it's Canadian made it's going to be 1959. The Canadian Remington operations was short lived. Mid 60's saw the last Remington built in Canada...and rumour is only the barrels were made up here.
 
The receiver serial number will also confirm the year or at least year block it was made in. If it's a true 1959 there will NOT be a letter prefix before the number. Keep in mind that barrels and receivers are often separated over the years due to ease of swapping them out.
 
VLT79 said:
The receiver serial number will also confirm the year or at least year block it was made in. If it's a true 1959 there will NOT be a letter prefix before the number. Keep in mind that barrels and receivers are often separated over the years due to ease of swapping them out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. I am assuming the Serial on the receiver is under "Remington" it is a 4 digit # followed by the letter V. I am pretty sure that this receiver and barrel are an original matched set since the gun was purchased by my wife's grandfather and her father has had it for the last 15 years or so and never used it.

As for the barrel swapping, will a modern wingmaster barrel with Rem Choke fit this 1959 gun? I would like to trap shoot with this gun but full choke is likely no the best. I would like to take this barrel off and keep it original and possibly install a ribbed barrel with Rem Choke. Also where in Canada would a person look for a good used barrel? I see Cabela's offers a new one for $310.00.
 
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Yes, a newer 870 barrel will fit. Alsconerstore.ca has Carlson barrels for 870s that are less expensive than Remington ones.
 
Interesting...I suspect you have a mismatched barrel/receiver. By mid year of 1950 serial numbers were already in the low 5 digit range and up till around 1957ish the serial numbers were stamped on the barrels too.

As stated by the poster above 870 barrel are interchangeable. Exceptions do exist though with the 870 Special Field and certain 870Express HD/Tactical models.
 
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