need advice on dating a remington 20 gauge

[Researcher]

"The Sportsman" was introduced in 1930 as a three-shot version of the five-shot Model 11 20-gauge also introduced that year. Model 11 20-gauges had serial numbers beginning at 1,000,000 and "The Sportsman" 20-gauges had serial numbers beginning low, 1?, 100?, 1000? The old between the wars factory ledger, available on our web site, is missing the first page of "The Sportsman" 20-gauges. Page 94 begins in March 1937 at serial number 14,149 and ends February 14, 1938, at serial number 16,753. In 1931, the 16-gauge Model 11 was introduced with serial numbers beginning at 1,500,000 and "The Sportsman" was introduced in 16-gauge with serial numbers beginning at 200,000 and 12-gauge with serial numbers beginning at 500,000. "The Sportsman" serial numbers were usually preceeded by an S.



In the early 1930s, "The Sportsman" had a three-bird roll-stamping on the sides of the receiver and the name "The Sportsman" was roll-stamped on the side of the receiver.



In the 1937-8 time frame, Remington Arms Co., Inc. revised the roll-stamping to one bird on each side of the receiver and started putting it on the
Model 11 receivers as well, and they began roll-stamping Model 11 or "The Sportsman" on the breechbolt at about this time.



They also dropped the separate serial number sequences for "The Sportsman" and began numbering them right along with the Model 11s.

Bottom line, I'd estimate your 20-gauge "The Sportsman" was made in the 1933-34 time frame. When combined Model 11 and "The Sportsman" 12-gauge serial numbers reached 499,999 on August 1, 1943, they jumped to 700,000 and continued.