Old Remington ?

P

psalm7

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Its been nearly 3 decades ago but I remember a old pre 1100 Remington simi auto shot gun I worked on . Made probly early to mid 1900's . The fireing mech was all in the bolt kind of a striker fired . Pull the triger and it tripped a sear in the bolt . This one would fire without anyone pulling the triger just by itself . The shop owner was a real gun expert , so much firearm knowlage he was like a computer . He stopped by my bench and said disassemble it and I'll be back . He came back and picked up the bolt cocked it and set it down tapped the bench next to the bolt , the bolt snapped it fired it self . He frounded and said I use to hunt with one of these and I wrapped it around a tree . He knew the owner and called him , told him it needs to be a hanger not a banger (make a wall hanger out of it) they agreed and we made it a slick display piece . The shop owner was a great guy and great boss to work for . He handed it back to the gun owner and said no charge im glad to keep it from killing someone .
I dont remember the model # . I just posted this incase someone runs across one of these early Rem auto's . Was thinknig about the little shop I worked at and remembered this event .
 
That sounds like a model 10 Remington. I can't remember if the 29 was the same, but I'm about sure it was. Both models were prone to breakage a good bit, and is why Remington was looking for a new design. They bought the design of the model 17 from Browning, along with Pederson and Loomis going to work on the 31. The 17 was later sold to Ithaca, which became the Ithaca 37, after the patent law suit.
 
Im sure it was a semi auto but it could have been a pump . It was'nt the Remington / Browning A5 copy thoes are nice firearms .
 
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The only Remington shotguns that were not hammer fired, were the 10 and 29, as far as I can remember. The 17 and the 31 pumps were hammer fired, which led to the 870 action. The semi-auto's started with the model 11, a Browning design, that then developed into the 11-48, (which used close to the same trigger assembly and frame as the 870), and then to gas operated, with the Sportsman 58, and later, the 1100, but all were hammer fired.

After Remington got the look they wanted, with the 31, which was a well made gun, they redesigned it for cheaper mass production, and part interchangeability, where it became the 870, that all their later guns were modeled after, even their later pump and semi-auto rifles. So, anything in the large shoulder guns, after the 870 and the 11-48, were all similar in design, action wise.
 
Im pretty sure it was the mod 10 . Kind of collectable now but dangerous . Just bump it and it would fire .
 
Could be a Model 10 or a Model 29. Both have a straight drive striker with the sear in the bolt. If in good condition, they would not be any more unsafe than any other shotgun but, like some other guns (the Winchester 73 comes to mind) they were shot and shot until they were plain worn out, after which a lot of folks took to DIY fixes so they could shoot them some more.

Both guns were complex, though, and neither measured up to Winchester's Model 12. They were not big sellers, which accounts in part for the scarcity of parts today.

Jim
 
Jim,

Remington was also loosing sales to manufacturers like Savage Stevens, too, who had been making cheaper mass produced firearms for a bit, and was one of the first to use a majority of stamped steel parts, etc. I think Remington took a look at this, plus their typewriter business, and the manufacturing methods used, where they saw how they could undersell the Winchester model 12, and make more money than they were on the model 31. The same went for the model 11, too.

It is a shame that Remington quit making the 31, as to me, the last good quality, all steel and machined shotguns, they made, were the 11 and 31. With them, they were on par with both Browning and Winchester, in quality. However, Remington is still in business, and Winchester went bankrupt, for the second time, after finally changing to the 1200 and 1400 to try to compete.

I owned an 11-48, and that was the worst gun for recoil I ever shot. It was too light, for recoil operation, and it would stomp you, when firing it a lot in one day. I sold it, and went back to a humpback.
 
Since Remington sold their typewriter business in 1886, I doubt its status had any effect on their decisions on shotguns. But it is certainly true that Remington seized on the concept of using (then) new manufacturing methods in their shotguns. (Contrary to some writings, the 870 and other receivers were not stamped or made from sheet metal - they were forged and machined. Many internal parts, though, were stamped.)

I have not owned many Remington shotguns, or many shotguns at all, for that matter. Just not my major area of interest. But I have worked on many pump and semi shotguns, and found the Remingtons to be good guns. As Dixie says, the current guns are not equal to the old guns (of any make) in the quality of machining and hand fitting, but then they don't cost what they would if made "the old fashioned way" either.

Jim
 
I had a Rem 1100 back in the early 80's. That was back when I was guiding hunts, and shooting a lot. That 1100 finally wore out. I won't bore you with the details, but the design (at least back then) had weak spots. If I had just been a guy that hunted a few times a year, it would have held up and I'd still have it. It was a great shooter, so I really liked that about it. I did hasty repairs on it for a time. But then it spit parts so bad that I had to take it to a gunsmith. He fixed it and said that now would be a good time to sell it. I did so, and bought a well used Remington Model 11, had Briley put their choke in it, and I still have that gun.
 
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