Help identifying rare Remington 870 Wingmaster (possibly factory error)

[OnMercury96]

Hello all,

I recently came across what I believe may be a rare or unusual Remington 870 Wingmaster, and I’m hoping to get some expert insight from those of you more familiar with the production history and quirks of these older models.

Here are the details:
• Model: Remington 870 Wingmaster
• Receiver Serial: 1198615W
• Barrel Stamp: “★ BXN 12 GA. FOR 2¾” OR SHORTER SHELLS”
• Date Code Interpretation: January 1970
• Choke: IMP CYL
• Condition: All original, no signs of modification or part swapping

Here’s the strange part:
• 12-gauge shells do NOT fit in the chamber or feed through the lifter/action
• 16-gauge shells DO fit the lifter and cycle properly
• The barrel and receiver match perfectly — smooth lockup, no signs of filing, forcing, or retrofit

Everything appears to be original and unmodified, so I’m wondering:
• Could this be a rare factory mis-stamped 16-gauge barrel marked as 12 gauge?
• Has anyone seen something like this come out of the factory before?
• Any historical insight or collector value for something like this?

I’ve seen conflicting info on serial number dating and gauge marking practices, so I’d appreciate anything you can offer to help confirm what I’ve got.

Thanks in advance!

—Austin

[Mainspring]

The "W" suffix in the serial number indicates 16ga. If the barrel truly is not 12ga then it is mismarked, if it is 12ga then an incorrect barrel was installed on the frame.

[Researcher]

How did you get Jan 1970? If the date code is BX it is January 1973 or 2003, if it is XN it is December 1966 or 1993. To my eye that receiver is much older than that barrel. With no prefix to the serial number, it is pre-1968.

The 16-gauge barrels I know have a very distinct taper for about 3/8" in front of the receiver --

121573W 03 WXX W = August XX = 1951.jpg (610.63 KiB) Viewed 22 times

614005W 01 16-gauge Sun Grain.jpeg (243.05 KiB) Viewed 22 times