Help with 2 old shot guns handed down to me

[thefamcnaj]

My grandmother passed a long a remmington 511 score master 22lr/sr that belonged to my granfather. Through researching on the highroad I found out it was made in Dec. of 1949 because it had xtt stamped on the left side of the barrel above the reciever.
Well today she gave me two of the shot guns that belonged to him as well.
1) A Remmington sportsman '48 16GA
2) A Remmington Spostsman '58 12GA
Both are in rough shape the 12 GA especially, lots of rust. I'll get it refinished down the road though.
Since I learned of the three letters on the barrel I checked both of these.
The 12GA said ecx. Does this mean October 1929?
The 16 GA sad LUU. Does this mean February 1949?
They both have serial numbers on them, how ever I thought serial numbers didn't come about until 1968, so does this mean they are both post '68?
Or is it as simple as the sportsman '48 is from 1948 and the sportsman '58 from 1958?
I'm just confusing myself here:banghead:
Lastly on the 12GA I got the slide(sorry I don't know the propper term, because I'm only familure with 870 pumps)stuck in the reward position. How do I get it foward? Thanks for any and all help fellow highroaders.

 

[Virginian]

The 58 was definitely NOT made in 1929.
Go to www.remington.com and download or order an owner's manual for each. Do not screw them up trying to force things. You can also look up the history of each model while there. IF the barrels are original that can tell you when they were made - which may not match exactly with the receiver by the way, but it's usually close. The 58 was the immediate gas operated predecessor to the Model 1100, and was not a bad gun at all. The Model 48 was the streamlined Remington version of the Browning long recoil action.
From the pics that doesn't look close to heavy rust. Some WD-40 and gentle use of some OOOO steel wool may clean things up quite a bit. Do not go crazy with sandpaper and such. Both guns are likely very serviceable.

 

[Red Tornado]

I'm not familiar with the Sportsman 58, but on newer ones, the bolt release is a lever or button by the lifter. That's underneath where the shells are loaded. I couldn't find a picture of a 58 to see if there was something there or not. Every pic I found just showed the sides. Just push all the buttons you find and one will probably release it. Sorry, I've never had a gas operated semi.

I found this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AojOVRvoMcM it's not really high quality, but it should help some.

There seems to be a lot more information on the Model 48s. Youtube has several videos. I believe the 11-48 information is about the same as the 48 Sportsman. Both recoil operated, and I don't know any differences in the two. The Remington (1 m, btw) site Virginian pointed you at may help.
RT

 

[303tom]

The 58 was definitely NOT made in 1929.
Go to www.remington.com and download or order an owner's manual for each. Do not screw them up trying to force things. You can also look up the history of each model while there. IF the barrels are original that can tell you when they were made - which may not match exactly with the receiver by the way, but it's usually close. The 58 was the immediate gas operated predecessor to the Model 1100, and was not a bad gun at all. The Model 48 was the streamlined Remington version of the Browning long recoil action.
From the pics that doesn't look close to heavy rust. Some WD-40 and gentle use of some OOOO steel wool may clean things up quite a bit. Do not go crazy with sandpaper and such. Both guns are likely very serviceable.

What he said !
Those are a couple of nice shotguns, they were both great guns ! Clean em up & shoot em.

 

[thefamcnaj]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
The muzzle of the guns isn't visible in the pictures, which is where most of the rust is.
I'm going to take them to a smithy to be cheked out before I shoot them. I can't wait to shoot them, they were used for hunting back in the day, but I plan on ressurecting them to shoot clays or watermelons because I was never taught to hunt .
I managed to get the 12 ga. closed.
I'm suprised upon further research that the guns aren't worth more than 100 to 150 dollars a piece. Which is no big deal because I'll never sell them. I'm going to send them to the shooters roost in Texas to have them refinished and the wood refinished and give them to my son.
Looking at the 16ga on Remingtons web site they were produced from '48 to '68. They had serial numbers from 3,500,000 to 3,568,000. Mine has a number of 3,501,998. Which leads me to believe late '40's to early 50's. Plus according to a fellow highroader who provided me a chart from remington says that the LUU on the barrel means Feb 1949.
Looking at the 12 ga, it was produced from '56 to '63. It had serial numbers from 1,000 to 275,000. Mine has a serial number of 59562. So I'm thinking late '50s.
I'm going to call and order a manual for each before I tear into them. Hopefully I won't have to download them as my computer is from the stone age.