The first is an 870 TB vintage 1978 - serial number on the receiver, left side, none on the original barrel, just some proof marks. The second is an 870 Express, vintage 2005 or so, same story. Remington never (.) (.) used serial numbers to identify the date of manufacture of it's firearms, they however stamped a date code (spelled out below) by the first letter meaning the.
Carlsons Remington 870 12 Ga 24' 3' Wingmaster, Express Carbon. If you are looking for more information about your particular Remington firearms, then the serial number can give you some useful insight into the date of manufacture of your specific gun. In the picture below, you will see an example from a newer Remington 597 rifle with a.
If you’ve enjoyed the features on this web site, you will enjoy a membership in the Remington collectors club: The Remington Society of America. Your annual membership will bring you in contact with those who share your Remington interests. Every three months you’ll receive a colorful, 60-page all-Remington magazine. It has lots of interesting articles on Remington firearms, ammunition, collectibles and Remington history! Your membership also includes attendance at annual RSA meetings, annual historical seminars at Remington-related locations, and participation with fellow Remington collectors at all the major gun shows in the U.S. Click on here to take you to the sign-up page. You’ll enjoy your membership in the most active gun club in America. Now Join ONLINE HERE IMMEDIATELY with Credit Card |
Remington Dates of
Manufacture
The following serial number
information is for
Remingtion firearms
manufactured after 1921
Remingtons manufactured after 1921
have a code located on the left side of the barrel
near the frame that identifies the year and month of
manufacture. The following letters correspond to the
months of the year, for example B=January, L= February
and so on:
B – L – A – C
– K – P – O – W – D – E – R – X
| Barrel Code Location Diagram Click this ^ (print page) Don’t try to read this -> It’s just a thumb image | view full image |
Serial Numbers by date (factory record book)
| B – Jan | L – Feb | A – Mar | C – Apr | K – May | P – Jun |
| O – Jul | W – Aug | D – Sep | E – Oct | R – Nov | X – Dec |
| M – 1921 | N – 1922 | P – 1923 | R – 1924 | S – 1925 |
| T – 1926 | U – 1927 | W – 1928 | X – 1929 | Y – 1930 |
| Z – 1931 | A – 1932 | B – 1933 | C – 1934 | D – 1935 |
| E – 1936 | F – 1937 | G – 1938 | H – 1939 | J – 1940 |
| K – 1941 | L – 1942 | MM – 1943 | NN – 1944 | PP – 1945 |
| RR – 1946 | SS – 1947 | TT – 1948 | UU – 1949 | WW – 1950 |
| XX – 1951 | YY – 1952 | ZZ – 1953 | A – 1954 | B – 1955 |
| C – 1956 | D – 1957 | E – 1958 | F – 1959 | G – 1960 |
| H – 1961 | J – 1962 | K – 1963 | L – 1964 | M – 1965 |
| N – 1966 | P – 1967 | R – 1968 | S – 1969 | T – 1970 |
| U – 1971 | W – 1972 | X – 1973 | Y – 1974 | Z – 1975 |
| I – 1976 | O – 1977 | Q – 1978 | V – 1979 | A – 1980 |
| B – 1981 | C – 1982 | D – 1983 | E – 1984 | F – 1985 |
| G – 1986 | H – 1987 | I – 1988 | J – 1989 | K – 1990 |
| L – 1991 | M – 1992 | N – 1993 | O – 1994 | P – 1995 |
| Q – 1996 | R – 1997 | S – 1998 | T – 1999 (*) | U – 2000 (*) |
| V – 2001 (*) | W – 2002 | X – 2003 | Y – 2004 | Z – 2005 |
| A – 2006 | B – 2007 | C – 2008 | D – 2009 | E – 2010 |
| F – 2011 | G – 2012 |
Using barrel codes (such as those listed above) to date the manufacture are reliable on Remington rifles, as the company rarely changed barrels on a customer’s rifle.
Using these barrel codes to date a shotgun is somewhat unreliable, as shotgun barrels are often interchanged at random. One needs to be sure that the barrel is original to the gun before trusting the Barrel Code listing, above.
(*)
On 8/9/99, stopped stamping the barrels with the date code.
They continued to mark the date code on the end flap of the shipping box.
They resumed stamping the date code on the barrel on 10/1/01.
This example and the following example were produced for commercial sale. 
The French state arms factories were actually run by private contractors (entrepreneurs) appointed by the government. With their own funds, the entrepreneur purchased the materials for producing goods and paid the workers. The government purchased the contracted-for goods at cost plus 20 percent. If there were parts and materials left over after contracts were fulfilled, the entrepreneur could produce additional pieces for private sale.
Commercial examples are marked on the blade spine with the maker and place of production, but no date.
The maker of this example is believed to be Sutterlin Lippmann & Cie., who served as entrepreneur at St. Etienne from 1874–1884. Sutterlin Lippmann also produced Chamelot-Delvigne Model 1873 revolvers at St. Etienne from 1874–1884. 'S * L' was Sutterlin & Lippmann's commercial trademark and is found on the revolvers produced at St. Etienne.
Remington 870 Serial Numbers By Year
This example is especially unusual in that it has a five-digit serial number (not four-digit). The serial number's placement, between the crosspiece pins, is also unusual.