Remington bush guns

[cedarsavage]

Remington Model 8 and 81 were years ahead of their time. Big, heavy, slow slugs that were touted as capable of taking anything on the continent! And they did! I think the guys carrying them were better in the bush than the current crop of hunters. Most of them lived where they hunted and knowing the country gives a leg up. But still, those 8s and 81s were held in high esteem by the old timers in northern Michigan and Wisconsin. I belive they were also favored in Maine.
The closest we have come that I know of is the Ruger 44mag semi-auto.
Still not the same. That old long-recoil Browning action is something else! Get confused as to are you shooting a gun or playing a trombone!
Anyway, no particular point to this, just wondering if anybody else still rams around the bush with a 8 or 81. I have both, a .35rem and a .300Savage, by caliber, love 'em both.
I got rid of my "new" guns. They had no character and were of poorer build than the old Remingtons, Savage 99s and others. I had a chat with my son about this and told him that my old guns, knives and everything else except for clothing were better than any of the standard hunting gear he could buy today. He bogged down when he reckoned that the new "short" magnums were probably built with people who "short-stroke" a bolt in mind. Had to pull in my horns when he brought up optics and direction-finding and communications. But other than those frills, we had better stuff!
No questions here, just a mild rant.

taa, cs .

 

[Kamicosmos]

Get confused as to are you shooting a gun or playing a trombone!

This sounds like it's a pump action? I have my grandfather's Remington Model 760 'GameMaster' pump action 30-06. The stroke is about the same as a 12 gauge shotgun, maybe a tad longer.

The 760s at least are a free-floated barrel, and are supposed to be quite accurate. I haven't shot this gun much, and it only has an old 4x scope on it (probably a 28mm objective at best, tiny little thing) and I've only put crap store bought ammo through it, but I plan on shooting it a bit more, maybe even reloading for it sometime to see how accurate it really is.

 

[cedarsavage]

"Playing a trombone", yeah, that is more of a description of a pump-action. I can't think of a better way to describe that long-recoil method. It is the same principle (basicly) as the Browning A5 shotguns. Only the Remington 8s and 81s have a barrel surrounded by a couple of springs and that is all inside a tube. No gas pistons. Strictly recoil operated.
That pump of yours is a great gun. The 30-06 has so many commercial loadings that there really isn't any need to mess around with handloads for it. You can go after anything from gophers to grizzlies(pushing it a bit there, but keen eye and steady hand, eh?"

taa, cs

 

[montyh]

model 600 too

i think the Remington 600 in .350 Rem Mag would also qualify as a brush gun and ahead of it's time.

monty

 

[Dr.Rob]

I can tell you from experience that a Remington 760 in 30-06 with scratches on the stock and well worn bluing will still put three bullets through the botton of a styrofoam cup at 250 yards.

Of course that's with handloaded ammo.

My dad swore by that old pump gun for years and years.

He liked it because the controls worked exactly like his 870, and with or without a scope, it's a mean hunting rifle.

 

[Gewehr98]

Oh, yeah, we still putter around with 'em...

One of my favorite deer rifles for the Wisconsin woods:



(A very early Remington Model 8 in .32 Remington - you should see me scramble for the brass after the deer is down!)

 

[cedarsavage]

That is a fine-looking .32Rem. Boggles the mind when you think that the factory wood was like that!
Are you using the .30 brass for your re-loads?
The experts all said that the .32 rem was no good for accuracy. They said the same thing about the 150grain .35Rem. Don't know about the .32, but if one of the "experts" would care to get out about 100~150 yards and tip his bare butt up, I belive I could wipe it with a 150-grainer out of my model 8!

taa, cs

 

[Gewehr98]

The wood was a very plain grade of Fajen walnut.

The original 1906-vintage wood wasn't worth salvaging. The pretty grain on that replacement Fajen blank appeared after I sanded, stained, and sealed it. Honest.

I don't use .30 Remington brass. I got lucky, I found a big bag of unfired Remington headstamped .32 Remington brass a few months after I got the rifle. That and several hundred rounds of Winchester Silvertip ammo in .32 Remington put me in good stead, so I'm set for quite some time with the rifle and ammo. I've even set up my Dillon 550B to reload the stuff, and have gone to the trouble of getting a Corbin swage die to swage .323" jacketed 8mm Mauser bullets down to .321" for use in the Model 8 pictured above.

Cast, gas-checked bullets also shoot quite nicely in the long-recoil gun. Alliant 2400 does the job perfectly, and cycles the action reliably.

My favorite trick is to put a life-sized steel owl swinging target downrange at 100 yards, then thwack it from the standing offhand position with the Model 8. The idea is to keep hitting it at the same arc of the swing, so it swings even more violently. Then one shot to stop it as it comes forward.