Need help dating a Remington Model 8 & a Model 81

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THEFOURTHHORSEMAN

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Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me figure out how old my Model 8 & my Model 81 are and possibly an actual date of manufacture.

The Model 8 is a .35 Remington and the serial number is in the range of 21,030-21,040. Is this one that I should worry about slam-fires on or does it have the bolt recoil spring in it? Also, what patent dates should appear on the barrel?

The Model 81 is a .300 Savage and the serial number is in the range of 12,250-12,260. What patent dates should appear on the barrel?

I have never owned an 8 or an 81 before & I have had the good fortune of finding a nice 8 & a decent 81 in about a month time frame & for decent prices.

Any info on dating them would be a huge help.

THANKS!!!
 
I'd check the Remington website. It has a lot of historical information. The date info you can probably get from their customer service folks over the phone tomorrow.
 
I think you can look it up right on their website...I was just gven a Model 8 in .35 Remington, Serial # in the 27,000 range, and when I checked Remingtons site, is showed as produced in Oct. 1929. So yours should be quite a bit earlier (because IIRC they only made about 35,000 Model 8s altogether).

Where did you get information on slamfire problems? When I was researching this one, I never heard anything about that problem.
 
I plan on calling them tomorrow to find out the info on the Model 8 & Model 81.

The whole slam fire issue has to do with the firing pin. If you shoot a round and another one is cycled into the action & you pop it out & look at it...you'll usually find a dent in the primer.

I'm not sure what causes this & I haven't experienced it yet...that I know of.

Anyway, people are concerned about this when you are loading just one round into the chamber and you let the bolt slam shut. Allegedly, it may cause the round to go off.

This is just what I heard...it's out on the net somewhere...if I can find it, I'll post the address where you can find it.

My Model 8 should be a fairly early one. My model 81 is also a fairly early one.

According to the Remington website, they made around 80,600 Model 8s from 1906-1936.

They made around 55, 581 Model 81s from 1936-1950.

Of course, there were several variations made so each variation is represented within the above production numbers.

There are some variations that only make up a handful of the production numbers.

Variations/grades that are hard to find would be the Peerless, Expert & Premier grades or the Model 81 No. 14 1/2R Carbine...not sure what all these are but they are listed on remington's website.

It's rare that you see the different grades come up for sale or auction...when they do, they fetch a pretty good price. It is surprising sometimes how carried away people get with the auctions.
 
Not sure if this will help you, but give this a try. It has barrel codes for manufacture dates between 1921 and 1972.

LINK
 
That link in the last post should help you. I also have a .300 Savage Model 81, and I found those two letters stamped on the left side of the barrel right where it meets the reciever.

In my case, my gun was built in January of 1941.
 
I don't know about a slamfire risk in a Remington, but a lot of rifles have unsprung firing pins and will leave a mark on the primer of an ejected live round. The AR15 and derivatives being the most common.
 
The Model 8 is a .35 Remington and the serial number is in the range of 21,030-21,040. Is this one that I should worry about slam-fires on or does it have the bolt recoil spring in it? Also, what patent dates should appear on the barrel?
Click to expand...

Checking in John Henwood's "The Great Remington 8 & Model 81 Autoloading Rifle", you're Model 8 was shipped from the factory in 1910. The barrel jacket marking could actually date your rifle's actual date of production as it was the most often changed marking during the Model 8 production run. I would be happy to look it up for you.

The Model 81 is a .300 Savage and the serial number is in the range of 12,250-12,260. What patent dates should appear on the barrel?
Click to expand...

Your Model 81 was shipped in 1940. It should have a production code stamped on the barrel jacket (usually two or three letters, like "KJ" or "KRR" that will give you a production month & year. Your model 8 is too old to have such a code unless it was sent back to the factory for repair.

The 81 barrel should read . . .

REMINGTON ARMS CO., INC. ILION, N.Y. MADE IN U.S.A.
BROWNINGS PATS. 659,507-659,786-701,288-853,438-984,263

Welcome to the wonderful world of 8's and 81's. My family (me, Dad, two uncles) owns upwards of 100+ Model 8's and 81's and a couple of FN1900's (the little known Fabrique Nationale version of this Browning design). Most are safe queens but I still hunt every year with one of my Model 81's. Really an amazing design and under-appreciated.

Cheers!:D
 
I too have a Model 81 in .30 Remington, I will have to check out the codes to see when it was made. It will actually be for sale here soon. I have always thought it was a pretty interesting design.
 
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