The following is some info I've put together on the way the REG/LOT NO. are formatted. It's a work in progress. There's one document that tells the story of the Daisy numbering "system". I believe it was compiled in the early '90s. It's HERE. Also the Daisy Museum has a form you can fill out and mail to them to get info on when a Daisy airgun was made (form HERE).

The number Daisy first used was called the Register Number, or “REG. NO.”. The REG. NO. was a letter followed by six numbers on most guns (the No. 25 and the No 111 Model 40 Red Ryder, possibly others briefly used a number without a letter prefix). Beginning late 1972 the REG. NO. was formatted to let anyone knowing how, to decipher the year and month the gun was "made' (actually it was the date the gun was stamped, actual production could lag behind the stamping date). The REG. NO. stayed in use until sometime in the mid-'70s when it was changed to a “LOT NO.”

 

The very first Model 880s did not have REG. NO.s formatted in such a way that the date could be discerned by anyone- the Daisy Museum was where that info is kept. After contacting Joe Murfin at the Museum, he replied with the following info on the first early 880s:

 

From: Joe Murfin <jmurfin@daisymuseum.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2018 2:37 PM
Subject: Daisy Model 880

"The first 880 frame was stamped A113155 on May 16, 1972.  So the A designation was simply a beginning of the model's Register No. sequence (can't tell you why it was not A000000.)  On October 5, 1972, a batch of 880 frames were stamped with Reg. No.s B061994 to B067600."

 

Additional info provided by Joe Murfin, Vice President for Marketing, Daisy Outdoor Products and Chairman of the Board, Rogers Daisy Airgun Museum, Denise Johnson, Daisy Outdoor Products, Customer Service Manager, and Orin Ribar, Curator, Rogers Daisy Airgun Museum can be seen here: http://www.jgairguns.biz/daisy-register-lot-and-serial-numbers-explained-ezp-55.html

I often read that "I" wasn't used by Daisy as LOT or REG. NO. prefix. The way I'm seeing it shake out is, "I" WAS used as a prefix before Daisy changed the numbers along about 1972 to allow anyone knowing the 'code' to decipher the year and month the gun was made. No doubt the thought was that “I” could be mistaken for the number “1”. So up until 1972 “I” was used, after ’72 “I” was not used. If the gun in question has an "I" prefix, the number is not decipherable by using the code below.

 

The following pertains directly to the model 880 but other models follow a similar pattern. However, the exact changeover dates will be different. From 1993 on, I need a lot more samples.

 

·         One letter>Six digits changed to One digit>One letter>Five digits

o    1982 Sept. LOT. NO. J202705

o    1982 Nov. LOT. NO 2L08750

·         One digit>One letter>Five digits changed to Two digits>One letter>Five digits

o    1992 Aug., 20th Anniversary 880 LOT. NO. 2H03196

o    1992 Dec. LOT. NO. 92M15985 (NOT a 20^th Anniversary model)

·         Two digits>One letter>Five digits changed to Four digits>Space>Five digits

o    1993 Nov., LOT. NO. 93L11694

o    1994 Oct. LOT. NO. 1094 15318 (this should eventually be shown to have begun by early 1994) (this should eventually be shown to have begun 0194 xxxxx, according to the ‘Reg. No. Document of Record’

By August 2008 "LOT. NO." was dropped and just the numbers/letter remained.

LOT NO. Four digits>Space>Five digits was last seen to be used 2011 Feb. on a model 880. The 1938B had already changed by 2010 when the format changed to Thirteen digits>One letter.  This lasted until about Aug. 2017. The month code also changed to:

 

F : Jan

G : Feb

H : Mar

J : Apr

K : May

M : Jun

N : Jul

Q : Aug

U : Sep

V : Oct

X : Nov

Z : Dec

 

 

 

 

In the 3rd quarter of 2017 the Daisy airgun number (no longer called "LOT NO.) format changed yet again. Now it contains 16 digits and a new format for the letter suffix of the month. The first two digits indicate the production facility, the next two are the year, then a production sequence/QC number and finally the letter indicating the month.

This format has been seen on models 35, 105B, 880, 901, 1910, 1938B and 1999C.

 

The new month format is similar to the original where A = Jan., B = Feb., etc. except this time the letter "I" IS used.

 

Regarding the Daisy Red Ryder:

If it is a newer model that has either "No. 1938 Red Ryder Carbine" or "Model 1938B Red Ryder" stamped into the top of the gun, the Reg. or Lot No. will tell the date.

The first variation of Red Ryder was the No. 111 Model 40. At first they had no Reg. No. When Reg. No.s began to be used on the 111-40 on 12-1-52, they had a Reg No. without a letter prefix.

If it's a Model 94 Red Ryder, they were made from 1954-'58. There were several variations.  Later guns used "A", "B", and "C" prefixes.

If it's a No. 111 Model 40, as Joe said, they were made between 1940 and 1954. There were several variations. The various features are used to narrow down the year, but exact dates aren't available.

 

 

Once again, this is good stuff, Cobalt. I even printed off this info to use as a handy reference. It is waayyyy too much to commit to memory.....at least for me. Good to have on hand.

Steve, I wish I had a nickle for each Daisy I found with a missing shot tube. There were a few comments on here a while back on that subject, and the frustration it causes. Some of us have "Frankensteined" those guns by screwing in model 25 shot tubes. The length may not be exactly the same but it might get the gun back in shooting condition.

I have a couple extra tubes on hand for just such an occasion. Daisy still sells them. Less than $15 each as I recall.

Is your 99 a single shot or some other variation?

Thanks gents! I have a new shot tube on-order from Daisy for it. I don't *think* it's a single shot? I guess I'll find out when the shot tube gets here. By the manual, it looks like the tube is unscrewed from the barrel and then there is a tab I slide forward to expose the fill port. The manual says it's a 50 shot tube, if I remember correctly.