Remington Society of America, there is a link for manufacture dates link which will explain the date codes.
Do a search on barrel codes, I believe that will give you an answer
remington wingmaster 16 gauge
From the date code stamped on the barrel. Look for the manufactured date link on the Remington Society of America for details.
Serial 718943w
100-300 USD
100-300 or so
Check the Remington Society of America, date barrel codes and location. http://remingtonsociety.com/rsa/questions/barrelcodes
Check date code details link - Remington Society of America
50-250 USD or so
Hey, I'm not sure about the worth, but I am also interested in the answer. I too just found a Remington 870 wingmaster 12 gauge made in 1951...
The W ahead of the serial number indicates that your Remington 870 wingmaster was made in 1972.
To determine the exact value of a Remington Wingmaster 20 gauge model 870, a few different things would need to be taken into consideration. Some of these things would be the age and condition.