Serial Numbers on Hardware Store Guns

R

Roamin_Wade

Moderator
I’m trying to run down some dates of manufacture of two Western Field (Mossberg) pump shotguns. Would Mossberg have put their serial numbers on them or would Montgomery Ward serial mark them?
 
If they were made post 1968 then the actual manufacturer would have put them on there. Before 1968 (when serial numbers were first required), it could have been either or neither.
 
Montgomery Ward did nothing to anything they sold. They were/are a department store.
Mossberg put 'em on and probably used a specific range of numbers for MW.
Then it gets worse. The 'Western Field' brand name was used by more than just MW. And Mossberg wasn't the only company making stuff for MW. Which Western Field model they are matters too. They may or may not be Mossberg's at all.
Stole this fair and square from another post on another forum.
"Since it has a serial number, it is probably 1968 or later. If it has one action bar, it is older than about 1970. Two action bars is newer than about 1970."
 
Well, I too saw the thing about a single action bar so I thought they were pre-1970 because both have single bars but the serial numbers are from the mid-70's IF the numbers were stamped by Mossberg.
 
If it left Mossberg's shop, they stamped the numbers. Monkey Wards would not be stamping serial numbers. Now, Mossberg might have used a certain number range for each store brand, I don't know that for certain, but there were certain model numbers.
 
Roger that FITASC. After this thread and the searching around I’ve done, I think they were made in the mid-late 70’s and they have single-bar pump bars so I’ll bet you a cold Coca-Cola that Mossberg had some left over stuff from before 1970 and made those the shotguns that they built and sold to Montgomery Ward’s. They both start with “H” so that’s late 70’s Mossberg 500 numbers. Thanks for y’all’s input.
 
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