Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 6:43 pm

Cary wrote:How do I find out the date of manufacture for my 870 Express using the serial number? Is there a key for deciphering the serial number to figure this out? Thanks for your help.
Cary

Call Remington and give them the serial number, they will tell you when it was born, however keep in mind they due make errors.
Back up what they tell you with this information;
DECODING REMINGTON SERIAL NUMBERS
Model 870 LETTER PREFIX
1950 TO APPROX 1968: NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX
1968 TO PRESENT: LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE)
S-68, T-74, V-78, W-84, X-90, A-91, B-94, C-97, D-01, AB-05
Model 870 LETTER SUFFIX (DESIGNATES GAUGE)
V 12 GA. (2 3/4”)
M 12 GA. MAGNUM (3”)
A 12 GA. “SUPER” MAGNUM (3 ½”)
W 16 GA. ( 2 ¾” )
X 20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME” (DISCONTINUED)
N 20 GA. “HEAVY FRAME MAGNUM” (DISCONTINUED)
K 20 GA. “LIGHT WEIGHT” (“LW”) (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”)
U 20 GA. LW MAGNUM (ALSO INCLUDES M/1100 “LT”)
J 28 GA.
H .410 BORE (2 ½” OR 3”)
Model 1100 LETTER PREFIX
1963 TO APPROX. 1968: NO SERIAL NUMBER PREFIX
1968 TO PRESENT: LETTERS USED (IN SEQUENCE)
L-68, M-74, N-78, P-85, R-90
Model 1100 LETTER SUFFIX
SAME STRUCTURE AS THE Model 870
Model 1187 LETTER PREFIX
1987 TO PRESENT: “PC” 12 GA., 1999 “TL“ 20 GA.,
2000 “SM” SUPER MAG.
LETTER SUFFIX
NO LETTER SUFFIX ON THIS MODEL
Then look on the left side of the barrel near the receiver and look for a two letter date code stamp and follow this chart with the first letter being the month and the second being the year the barrel was made;
Month
B - Jan L - Feb A - Mar C - Apr K - May P - Jun
O - Jul W - Aug D - Sep E - Oct R - Nov X - Dec
Year
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 H - 2013

We have done so much for so long with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing!

Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:00 pm

Here is some information that you can get from you serial number after 1921
Remington's 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
Month Codes: [first letter]
B - L - A - C - K - P - O - W - D - E - R - X
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12
Year:---------Code: [second and/or third letters]
1930----------Y
1931----------Z
1932----------A
1933----------B
1934----------C
1935----------D
1936----------E
1937----------F
1938----------G
1939----------H
1940---------- J
1941---------- K
1942---------- L
1943---------- MMZ
1944---------- NN
1945---------- PP
1946---------- RR
1947---------- SS
1948---------- TT
1949---------- UU
1950---------- WW
1951---------- XX
1952---------- YY
1953---------- ZZ
1954---------- A
1955---------- B
1956---------- C
1957---------- D
1958---------- E
1959---------- F
1960---------- G
1961---------- H
1962---------- J
1963---------- K
1964---------- L
1965---------- M
1966---------- N
1967---------- P
1968---------- R
1969---------- S
1970---------- T
1971---------- U
1972---------- W
1973---------- X
1974---------- Y
1975---------- Z
1976---------- I
1977---------- O
1978---------- Q
1979---------- V
1980---------- A
1981---------- B
1982---------- C
1983---------- D
1984---------- E
1985---------- F
1986---------- G
1987---------- H
1988---------- I
1989---------- J
1990---------- K
1991---------- L
1992---------- M
1993---------- N
1994---------- O
1995---------- P
1996---------- Q
1997---------- R
1998---------- S
1999---------- T
2000---------- U
2001---------- W
2002---------- X
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.
Also http://oldguns.net/sn_php/remdates.php