remington model 31 in 16ga picked up at flea market

Nice find !

eastbank

Great flea market finds! Usually the stuff I see at most of the area swap meets/flea markets aren't even worth looking at.

People do not understand how great that shotgun is and just give them away. We saw one sitting in a bargain bin with, 'Make an offer' sign on it. A Model 31!!!!!!! My buddy pointed it out, sitting there with a bunch of clapped out single shot 22s and shotguns and a beat up coach gun. A masterpiece sitting in there was nothing more than pure sacrilege. He still has it and will never get rid of it.

That's a good find! 31's are great guns, and one in 16 ga. is a bonus!. A nice pheasant gun.....

Good find eastbank. Long live the 16 ga.

Nice!

One of the very best pumps ever made, imo. I am curious, though, as to whether the receiver on the Model 31 is scaled to 16 gauge dimensions when it is so chambered or if it's just another 12 gauge sized receiver with a 16 gauge barrel.

Some experts say that Remington used the 20 gauge frames on the Model 31. However there are some experts that still say that Remington made all gauges for the Model 31 on scaled frames.

What is not up for debate is all frames started as a solid block of steel.

It's solid design. Matter of fact Mossberg still makes them with dual rails barrel extension lockup and improved top safety. Last week I have seen early (single action bar) 16ga Mossberg with 28" barrel, select a choke, walnut stock plus nice orange recoil pad.

PabloJ said:

It's solid design. Matter of fact Mossberg still makes them with dual rails barrel extension lockup and improved top safety. Last week I have seen early (single action bar) 16ga Mossberg with 28" barrel, select a choke, walnut stock plus nice orange recoil pad.

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I'm not getting the connection between the Mossberg and the Remington Model 31 shotguns. What am I missing?

The Mossberg uses some similar internal parts. But because it was such a great repeater a lot of people liked to copy the Model 31.

I have a model 31 in 16 gauge. It is considerably trimmer than a 12 gauge. I've never seen a 20 gauge to compare it to, so I don't know if it's on a 20 gauge frame. It is a very nice handling pump. My guess, given the era they were built, and the level of craftsmanship that went in to each gun, that they are scaled to gauge.Unlike the 870 16 gauge which is on a 12 gauge frame. Nice find Eastbank!

eastbank said:

this morning i picked up this remington plain barreled model 31 in 16ga with a mod ,made in march 1949 (AUU) at a local flea market in very good condition. also two new boxes factory hornady 7mm08 ammo and a new truglow stick on rear and front sight for a shotgun. this fleamarket produces quite a few gems. eastbank.

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What is the fair market value of a Remington Model 31 in such condition? Not necessarily asking what you paid, just wondering what it's worth. Thanks.

That is fair price. The 16GA with alloy frame I had set me back $300. The gun looked unfired just like someone just took out of shipping box. They stoped making them because barrel nut itself was a marvel of egineering (ball bearings inside) ie expensive to make.

SwampWolf said:

I'm not getting the connection between the Mossberg and the Remington Model 31 shotguns. What am I missing?

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Specifically, the bolt and carrier. Ithaca used the trigger assembly on their Model 37. So, two iconic shotguns have a heritage in the Model 31.

eastbank said:

1949 was the last year for the 31 and 1950 was the first year for one of america,s iconic shotguns the 870 remington. the way i looked at was the two boxes of factory hornady superformance 139gr sst are worth at least 25.00 a box and the truglo sights at 14.00, bring the rem. 31 down to less than 125.00 and the last time my familey went to supper it was close to that. eastbank.

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Nice buy!

I have a Model 31 in 20 ga. that was manufactured Feb. 1946 that my grandfather gave me in 1961. He bought it in a Game Department confiscation sale with 13 boxes of rolled crimp ammo. I shot it all up the first summer I had it. The pigeons got rather scarce for a while.