need help dating old remington side by side

[boatmonkey82]

it belonged to my grandpa and its a side x side 12ga . the ser# is101776 . i assume by finding out the year then we can go on how safe it is to fire off some light loads . i am missing the left hammer ' should be fun to find' but the gun has no rust and the bores look great. it does not lock up as tight as i would like but it has tremendous sentimental value and will not be shot very often .

 

[spacecoast]

According to several sites I checked anything made 1921 and after should have a letter prefix. If yours does not then I would have to assume it's older than that.

 

[Jim Watson]

Pictures would be a big help; there were a number of models of Remington SxS over a fairly short time.
A lot of them had Damascus barrels, which hardly anybody will recommend shooting at all any more.

 

[jmr40]

http://remingtonsociety.com/rsa/questions/barrelcodes Try this. It works on some of the newer guns. Not sure if it will help you or not.

 

[johnbt]

Late 1890s according to http://www.remington.com/products/archived/shotguns/side-by-side/model-1889.aspx

"0,000 – 105,000
200,000 – 260,000
Serial numbers were re-assigned to the
200,000 block circa 1900."

 

[PetahW]

FWIW, The OP's Remington is a hammergun, which Remington had stopped making by 1894 when they introduced the Model 1894 Hammerless models.

It should have damascus/twist barrels, and not safe to fire with ANY modern shotshells.

.

 

[boatmonkey82]

my camera is smarter than i am but here are some of the decent pics

 

[boatmonkey82]

if it were a old twist barrel then maybe those 2.5 shells or i could make a real light load on the loader , and any thoughts on where to get a flippin hammer

 

[Hawg]

Try Dixie Gunworks for a hammer. Might have to do some fitting. Those barrels are damascus so light 2 1/2 inch black powder loads only.

 

[PetahW]

"The Remington Double Gun has been made in six models, known as HAMMER LIFTER ACTION, LIFTER ACTION, MODEL '82, MODEL '83, MODEL '85, AND '87. AND MODEL '89, many parts of which differ. "

Please click/read this hyperlink & compare with your remaining hammer to determine exactly what you have/need:

http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/RemingtonDblID.htm

.

 

[radom]

In reality a lot of the old remington hammer guns had what Rem called "Fluid Steel" vs damascus barrels and where then acid etched to look damascus. Twist steel was a more costly option on the things that was less common on their base shotguns.

 

[boatmonkey82]

how can i tell what type of barrel i have ?

 

[oneounceload]

I'm not seeing Damascus or twist steel barrels.....they have some rust-patina from age, yes.

This needs a check by a smith who KNOWS old doubles, who can measure the chamber and check the integrity. If it checks, it looks like a hoot to shoot.

The doll's head third lock-up is a nice touch

 

[natman]

Those don't look like Damascus barrels to me either, although the gun is certainly old and used enough that there could be plenty of other reasons not to fire it. I wouldn't unless it had been blessed by an experienced double gun smith.

 

[Hawg]

Dip the tips in boiling water. If it's damascus you'll see the patterns when you pull them out. It dries fast tho so look quick. Patina will hide damascus patterns but generally hammer doubles from the late 19th century will be damascus.

 

[Dave McC]

You can also check for Damascus and twist barrels by removing the forearm and looking at the barrels where they've been protected all these years.

I urge you to have a good smith check this out before trying to shoot it. Even if those are real steel barrels, this is old and possibly tired.

Shotguns and grenades share working pressures.

 

[mpd61]

Chamber Inserts OK?

Couldn't he shoot this gun with modern chamber inserts?

 

[Hawg]

I wouldn't do it with full power loads. He could have the barrels lined tho.