Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:06 pm

Hello all,
Recently, my grand-father-in-law passed away. The family knows that I shoot a lot of shot gun and have asked me to look up some information for his firearms. These will not be sold, but they are asking more 'history' questions about them.
I am looking for a search engine that would tell me the manufacture dates of Winchester and Remington shot guns. If anyone has a link, please post it. Ive done Google searches and found a couple of sites, but not too much for the models that I want to look up.
Specifically I'm looking for manufacture dates, values, and if there are down-loadable manuals, that would be great too.
Thanks,
Scout82

Post subject: Re: Serial number lookup?

Post your question in the 'shotgun ID and value' forum..it is the next choice under the 'general' forum...that would be the proper and most effective place to get info of this sort..Hope this helps....Art

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:49 pm

Call Remington at 800 243 9700 option 7. They can answer your questions.

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 5:50 pm

Hi Scout 82. For Remington firearms, including shotguns, you can read the date of manufacture by the letter codes on the barrel, as shown here. (http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/que .. arrelcodes) This actually gives the date the BARREL was manufactured, so you may want to make sure the barrel's SN matches the receiver's SN. You can download Remington manuals here (http://www.remington.com/pages/news-and .. nuals.aspx). If the model is not listed there, Remington considers the firearm obsolete, but will still send you a free printed manual (photocopy) if you contact them. There is an obsolete manual page (http://www.remington.com/pages/news-and .. nuals.aspx), but there is no 'Submit' button, so I always end up emailing them from the 'Contact Us' page and asking for the manual. As for values, the best resource I know of to get TRUE values (i.e., what guns are REALLY selling for) is to search completed auctions on GunBroker and look for guns of the same model in similar condition to yours.
I can't help with the Winchester manufacturing dates, but I'd be surprised if Winchester will not get you a free manual, either by download or via snail mail.
Enjoy these family heirlooms!
hp

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:12 pm

Lot of manuals here http://stevespages.com/page7.htm

Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:11 pm

Scout82,
Check out http://oldguns.net/ for dates of manufacture. Scroll down and look on the left side of the page.

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:45 pm

I am trying to look up my grandfathers old a-f and co double barrel shotgun. The serial number is 17516. I would like to know more about it such as age and value. And suggestions as to where I could look it up??

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 6:44 pm

I would contact Abercrombie & Fitch for that info, and ask you to please politely start a separate thread for your question(s) in the future, ILO interrupting another's.
.

Post subject: Need help with an Excel (by Crescent Firearms)

I inherited an Excel (presumably manufactured for Montgomery Wards by Crescent Firearms in Norwich, CT) single shot, break action, 16 Gauge shotgun w/ external hammer & 25 inch barrel. It's my grandfather's house gun and I'm just trying to narrow down the manufacture date and any useful info about the value of the gun I can find. The only visible markings are 'EXCEL' engraved into the left side of the receiver, and the serial number stamped into the bottom of the receiver, immediately behind the trigger guard, which reads 37611XC. Any info on the gun or suggestions where to look for info will be greatly appreciated.

Post subject: Re: Need help with an Excel (by Crescent Firearms)

Your EXCEL shotgun is what some call a 'Trade Brand Name' shotgun and others call a 'Hardware Store' shotgun. I prefer 'Trade Brand Name'. There were three makers of shotguns with this name. Crescent Firearms Company lof Norwich,CT (1892 to 1930+), Iver Johnson Arms & Cycle Works of Fitchberg, MA (1871 to 1993) and Crescent -Davis Corporation of Norwich<CT (1930 to 1933). All were made for and sold by Montgomery Ward of Chicago.IL. The location of the serial number designates your gun was Made By Crescent Firearms. The records of Crescent Firearms were lost or destroyed in 1943 during a scrap paper during WW2.The serial number-year made records were re-established by the late shotgun researcher and writer Mr. Joseph T. Vorisek as part of his research for his book 'The Breech Loading Shotgun In America 1865 to !940'. His work is only an approximation but it's all we have and according to his information, you gun was made in 1914. The serial numbers for single barrel shotguns for 1914 begin with 357,000 in January and end with 378,000 in December. That's 21,000 guns for the year. Divide that figure by 12 and it comes out to 1,750 guns a month. Play around around with the numbers and it would indicate your gun was made in December 1914, Value? These guns were inexpensive by our present day standards selling for between $15 to $20 new. They haven't appreciated much over the passing years. There is no fixed value for old 'Trade Brand Name' shotguns. The value will depend on the guns condition, the amount of original finish remaining on the metal and wood as well as the mechanical condition (any missing parts). A gun in excellent condition that appears to have come out of the factory yesterday afternoon and they are few and far between as these guns were used hard and received little care and maintenance might bring as much as $100 at auction but most sell for between $50 to $75. A rusty and pitted metal, rotten and broken wood and missing parts piece of junk fit only for parts salvage or as a whisky still stirring stick might bring as little as $10if it could be sold at all. Of course sentimental value can't be calculated.

Post subject: Re: Need help with an Excel (by Crescent Firearms)

I pretty much knew that it was a Trade Gun, made for Wards, which certainly helped manage my expectations about the value. But the year of manufacture was an interesting surprise. I can now say I own a functional firearm that is over 100 years old. Although the wood on the stock has seen better days, the barrel appears to be in excellent shape and the trigger, hammer and receiver work perfectly (although I'd never fire the thing without first having it evaluated by a gunsmith). It has a great family story tied to it, though, so, it'll look great displayed on the wall. Thanks for the great info.