Remington 1889 side by side shotgun

[CW]

About 2 years ago I came to possess a Remington Dbl Barrel 12 gauge shotgun. The barrels are damascus, and it features external hammers.

The serial number starts with 69, and the barrels are 28 inches in length, and contain several small dents here and there. Everything functions on the gun. Although the metal piece under the fore end that holds the action together was braized to the underside of the barrel...done quite poorly by the way. The wood is in fair to good condition.

I initially bought the gun as a non-shooting wall hanger, and will only be using it for that purpose. I have a desire to reduce the barrel length though as I favor cowboy action shooting. I do not want to forever ruin an important piece of history however. Is there a web site based site having information about this remington? I am curious to its value, what year it was made and to whom the factory shipped it to.

Does anyone know what barrel lengths were available from the factory in this model? Is it possible to "mate" the later "steel" barrels to this action to allow it life as a reduced load shooting shotgun?

Thanks,
CW

[Researcher]

The Model 1889 is the only hammer double made by Remington Arms Co. All the earlier hammer doubles were made by E. Remington & Sons. In the October 1894 catalogue and the November 1895 catalogue the Model 1889 is offered in 10- and 12-gauges with 30- and 32-inch barrels. The next catalogue I have is 1902, and 16-gauge was added to the Model 1889 line by then with 28-, 30-, and 32-inch barrels. Also 28-inch barrels were added to the 12-gauge offerings. The last catalogue I have that lists the Model 1889 is 1906, and by then the 32-inch 16-gauge was no longer offered, only 28- and 30-inch; 12-gauge 28-, 30-, and 32-inch; and 10-gauge 30- and 32-inch. The lower grade Model 1889s (Grade 1 - decarbonized steel barrels, Grade 2 Twist barrels and Grade 3 Damascus barrels, no engraving) are fairly common, with a total Model 1889 production listed at 134,200 in Charles Semmer's fine book "Remington Double Shotguns" available from the author via links from this site. Higher grades with engraving and progressively finer Damascus barrels are quite scarce -- Grades 4, 5, 6, and 7. Serial numbers on Model 1889s began at 30,000 and ran up to where they started to overlap with the Model 1894 serial numbers which began with 100,000. So, in 1900 they jumped to a new block of numbers starting with 200,000. A Model 1889 with a 69,xxx serial number would have been made in 1895, so if it has 28-inch barrels they may have already been cut. I would advise against cutting the barrels of any gun that has survived this long. You would likely be amazed at the restoration work a well qualified gunsmith like Keith Kearcher of Longview, Washington, can do to these old barrels -- removing dents, resoldering ribs and lugs, and rebrowning to bring out the twist or Damascus patterns.