Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

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vader7071
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Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:00 pm

Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

Post by vader7071 »

I have a Model 1900. So far I have been able to tell it is a 1900 by the serial number (301621). The barrel is stamped K with /// and then has what looks like a 7 and a small 8. There is also 2 stamps a 38 and a 36. I my limited research, I have seen where many model 1900's have a Q in the front of the serial number. Mine does not have the Q.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. I know very little about this shotgun, so what I am looking for is:

1) how old is it?
2) as much about the markings as I can
3) are there any precautions I need to know about firing this shotgun?
admin
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Re: Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

Post by admin »

All I can add is they started at 300K that's a first year gun.
Researcher
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Location: Washington and Alaska

Re: Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

Post by Researcher »

Remington Model 1900s are a simplified, cheaper, version of the Model 1894, built on the same patents -- No. 528,507 and No. 528,508 both granted Oct. 30, 1894. The Model 1900s were all K-Grades, with E added to the designation if the gun had ejectors and D if it had Damascus barrels -- K-, KE-, KD-, or KED-Grades. The K- and KE-Grades had Remington Steel barrels. The Model 1900s had a snap-on/off forearm and their serial numbers were in the 300,000 range, often preceded with a stock letter Q.

You need to check out Charles G. Semmer's book Remington Double Shotguns. It is available from The Double Gun Journal, 800-447-1658 for $49 plus $10 shipping and handling. It is invaluable if you are going to shoot, invest, collect or play in the Remington double gun field. Remington supplied a number of different pattern Damascus barrels on these old doubles. A picture of their salesman’s sample of the various styles of Damascus available is shown on page 275 of Semmer's book.

Remington Arms Co. stamped the actual pellet counts of their test patterns on the rear barrel lug of their Model 1889 hammer doubles and their Model 1894 and 1900 hammerless doubles. If the number is three digits, that is the count, if the number is two digits a leading 3 is implied. From surviving hang-tags we know the standard load they used to target 12-gauge guns was 1 1/4 ounces of #8 going 511 pellets to the load. Your gun is stamped 38 and 36. That would be 338/511 = 66.1% and 336/511 = 665.84% right, or about improved modified in both barrels.

By the end of the first decade of the 20th Century, Remington saw that the future laid with their John M. Browning designed Remington Autoloading Gun (later known as the Model 11) and their John D. Pedersen designed Remington Repeating Shotgun (later known as the Model 10). So, they concluded a deal with Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Co. of St Louis, for their entire inventory of break-action shotguns in inventory and in process, on February 3, 1910. There must have been a lot of guns involved, because the records show 3206 Model 1894s, and 16435 Model 1900s shipped in 1910. The 1909 Remington Arms Co. catalogue was the last one to include the doubles, and there was a version of the 1909 catalogue that only had the Remington Autoloading Shotgun, the Remington Repeating Shotgun, and the Autoloading Repeating Rifle.

I don't think anyone left alive knows what those codes on the bottom of the barrels of Remington Arms Co. doubles really mean. No one, including Charles Semmer who wrote the book Remington Double Shotguns, has really decoded those letters and hashmarks down the barrel tube bottoms.

No one can tell you over the internet what ammunition may or may not be safe in one of these old guns!! That can only be done by a qualified double gun smith (not Joe S**t the 870 parts replacer) with the gun in hand. Most folks who use these old guns nowadays tend to stick to lighter, lower pressure, lower velocity loads, such as those offered by RST --

http://www.rstshells.com/rst_classic_sh ... shells.htm

According to the serial number chronology Charles assembled from surviving shipping records, your gun is a first year gun, as stated above. Remington Arms Co. only offered two versions in the first couple of years, the K-Grade a plain extractor gun with Remington Steel barrels, and the KED-Grade with automatic ejectors and Damascus barrels. The KD-Grade with a plain extractor and Damascus barrels first appears in the 1903-04 Remington Arms Co. catalogue. The KE-Grade with Remington Steel barrels and automatic ejectors first appears in the 1906 Remington Arms Co. catalogue.
vader7071
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:00 pm

Re: Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

Post by vader7071 »

Thank you so much for all the info! That is wild to learn.

I do have one more question. The upper rib has come loose from the end to about 1/2 way down. I want to get it repaired. Are there any gun smiths I need to stay away from, or any that are experts in this shotgun?
Researcher
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Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2003 11:06 pm
Location: Washington and Alaska

Re: Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

Post by Researcher »

I don't know what part of the country you are in, but if it was me, I'd get it down to Keith Kearcher in Bend, Oregon.
vader7071
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:00 pm

Re: Help dating a Remington 1900 shotgun SxS

Post by vader7071 »

I am in South Alabama. No smiths will work on it around here, so no matter what I have to send it off.
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