Springfield Stevens 5100 Questions

[armygunsmith]

I've had this thing for quite a long time. I'd like some help and opinions on what I could do with this. I suspect it is a 12 gauge.
First, I'd like to know when it may have been made. From what I can gather, the date is indicated by a stamping on the receiver, but there are several letter stampings. I would guess that date of manufacture to be 1968.
Second, Would it even be worth the time/money to track down the parts needed to finish this shotgun?

[armygunsmith]

I'm still looking for any input.
Thanks!

[Argonaut]

It would be a fun project but the parts will cost more than a complete gun, Numerich used to have a lot of parts for these

[armygunsmith]

I've seen these in several different gauges. Are the barrels the only difference between models, or would the receiver be different as well?

[Argonaut]

A lot of these less expensive guns had only one or sometimes two frame sizes. One of the things that made 16 gauge so popular was it could be built on a 20 ga size frame, although there were many on a 12 gauge frame as well. Stevens/Fox (and the same guns made under many other names) line of shotguns were made most of the 20th century and you could probably find most any combination or variation. I have seen them with the Western Field (Wards) name, Ted Williams (Sears), Springfield, Savage, even Mossberg I think. They were branded by many companies and sold as inexpensive competitors to L.C. Smith and other higher grade guns. I would say that any barrels with the same dimension as your breech face would be correct. (may require hand fitting) I saw one last year that some misguided soul had attempted to make a double 30/40 Krag with.

[armygunsmith]

Wow, thanks for the info. I agree that it would cost more to rebuild than it is worth, but it would be a fun project.