DuPont combined production lines and all were void of the S. It's becoming my opinion that prior to DuPont taking over that they had separate numbering system with the S preceding numbers. I've seen plenty of Sportsmen guns with S18xx, 509,xxx, and S500,8xx serial numbers all of which have the Sportsman engraved in them. Serial numbers were then jumped to 700,000 and continued.' Combined 12-gauge 'Model 11' and 'The Sportsman' serial numbers reached 499,999 on August 1, 1943. From then on the 'Model 11' and 'The Sportsman' were serial numbered together, continuing the Model 11 sequences. Remember a shotgun is not made in a day or even a week. you can figure approximately the month the gun was made by starting with 214,400 and adding 600 until you come the the serial number of your gun. 14, 1938, they ended the separate serial numbers for the 20-gauge “The Sportsman” at 16,753. The serial number range for 1905 is 214,400 to 221,600, a total of 7,200 guns for the year or 600 guns a month. 24, 1937, they stopped the separate serial number sequence in the 5xx,xxx range for the 12-gauges and finally on Feb. 28, 1937, they stopped the separate serial number sequence in the 2xx,xxx range for the 16-gauge 'The Sportsman' on Aug. At the same time, the name 'The Sportsman' or 'Model 11' began being stamped on the bolt. In 1937, Remington reduced the roll-stamping on 'The Sportsman' the bird on each side and started putting the roll-stamping on Model 11 receivers as well. In 1934 DuPont acquired controlling interest of Remington Arms Co., Inc. 'The Sportsman' had a three-bird roll-stamping on each side of the receiver.

In 1930, they also introduced a three-shot version in 20-gauge called 'The Sportsman.' The 20-gauge “The Sportsman” had serial numbers beginning low 1? Maybe 1000? They added 12- and 16-gauge 'The Sportsman' in 1931, with 12-gauge 'The Sportsman' having serial numbers starting at 500,000 and 16-gauges having serial numbers starting at 200,000. The people at Remington History section would tell you that “All Sportsman shotguns produced had an “S” preceding the serial number.” And their SN’s started at 500,000.

Remington shotguns serial number lookup