Hi everyone. New member here. Hope I am in the right place for asking a couple of question about a Remington Arms 1889 #2 grade 12 ga. with twist steel barrels. Was hoping for two things -

First I am interested in finding out the date of manufacture if that is possible. The serial number is 96804, the barrels are 32 in., the barrels are stamped with a box containing a slash from top right to lower left, that box is a 2 and under that the letter P. There is a number 550 stamped on the raised forearm lock

Secondly, I was told to be able to break it down and remove the barrels I needed to remove the Deely & Edge forearm (which was easily removed) and the barrels would release from the frame. Not happening for me. The ejectors are working when the barrels tip down and it locks up really well when the barrels are raised but I don't seem to have the touch for removing the barrels.

Any help would definitely be greatly appreciated.

When you try to remove the barrels does the top lever hit the right hammer? I have a model 1889 like that - I have to hold the front trigger back, then push the right hammer down against the firing pin to get the top lever to move far enough to remove the barrels. Hope this helps.

Model 1889 #96804 was made in 1899.

Goodness, thank you FLUES16 so much for the reply and the info.

I did try your advice about the trigger and hammer and it did slightly release the barrels further. The rod in the lower part of the frame moves a little more and there is a very slight click but it still won't come off.

Any other tricks (hopefully)?

Well, I'm not sure what you should try. If the top lever still hits the right hammer, you could try removing the hammer to give the lever more travel. But I don't like to remove the hammers on these old guns because it's hard to get them back on tightly The hammer screws are delicate - the threads will strip if you aren't careful. A trip to a gunsmith might be in order.