Remington Model 29

[Romac]

I'm new here but have been a lurker in the past when I needed some Remington information. Being left handed, I've been a lifelong user of side by sides and over/unders, but started out like a lot of lefties with an Ithaca 37. I've accumulated several of them in the past in 12,16, and 20 gauge and have always liked the bottom ejection. I had seen over the years Remington model 10's, 17's and 29's and always wanted one but most if not all of them had been ridden hard and put to bed wet so to speak. That all changed last week when I spotted the gem below. Right away I knew it was a Remington and got real excited when I saw the condition. I especially like the Cylinder proof barrel.

It looks like it was put in a case or a closet a long long time ago and completely forgotten about. It is the best I have ever seen. Of course I had to buy it. The pictures below show most of the markings but one in particular which raises more questions than answers is that it appears to have a small anchor under the letters REP which are wrapped in a circle on the right side of the barrell just in front of the reciever. I do not recall reading that these were ever supplied to the military but one with a short barrel like this one (25 inches to the reciever, 26 inches to the breech face) and Cylinder bore, (not IC) have me wondering.

Any information on these neat bottom eject shotguns would be appreciated, especially anything pertaining the the anchor mark.

[Researcher]

The REP in the oval is Remington Explosive Proof or some such term, and the anchor is a standard Remington inspector's mark. Nothing military about either marking. CYL was a regularly offered boring in those days, though a lot more scarce then MOD. or FULL.

[Romac]

Thanks for the information researcher.

[300 Savage]

Is it a solid rib gun? Beautifull old Remington. If you don't mind my asking, What did you have to give?

[Romac]

PM Sent.

[Researcher]

That is the nicest Model 29A I believe I've ever seen. Like the matted barrel. In an earlier time the matted barrel cost the same amount extra as a matted rib barrel on the Remington Autoloading Gun/Model 11?!? I was on the road yeaterday when I replied to your posting Romac, but I'm home now and have scanned in the Model 29A page from the three Remington Arms Co., Inc. catalogues that show that gun. Here is the page from the 1929, however the catalogue was actually issued in 1930 as it has the overstamp that the Model 11 is available in 20-gauge --



Here it is in the 1931 catalogue which introduces the Model 31 in 12-gauge only and 3-shot --



And, here is the 1932 catalogue which includes the new Model 32 and the Model 31 is available in 12-, 16-, and 20-gauges, and they are also offering the Model 31S and 31TC trap guns and the Model 29 trap guns are no longer listed.



Note that on all three the choke offerings are "cylinder, modified and full choke."

[Romac]

Researcher, thanks for the scans from the catalogue. Here is a shot of the bluing and wood in better light that i took today outside.

It is definately the best one I have ever come across.

[Researcher]

I went downstairs to the safe and looked at my Remington "The Sportsman" and Model 31s and the pre WW-II guns have that anchor and the post-War guns have a diamond or a little mushroom. On some of my guns the anchor is under the REP as on your gun, and on others it is on the other side of the barrel by the choke marking or the barrel date code?!?

I also looked at my Remington Hammerless Doubles and several of them have the anchor stamp on the forearm loop on the barrels. Charles Semmer states in his book on Remington Doubles that the anchor is a final inspector's mark. I suspect Remington had more then one final inspector and different inspectors had different stamps, and perhaps over time some stamps got a new inspector. I rather doubt the inspector that whacked some of my Remington doubles with the anchor stamp is the same inspector that whacked my 1941 12-gauge The Sportsman with the anchor stamp.

[Researcher]

Sounds like you have a Remington Model 17. The KP is the date code for the barrel, May 1923. Your serial number, 19196, would be about then as well.



Remington Model 17 -- Remington Arms Co., Inc. manufactured approximately 73,000 Model 17 pump shotguns from 1921 to 1933. While production stopped in 1933, they were actually cleaning up and selling guns out of inventory until 1941. The gun was based on a John M. Browning Patent No. 1,143,170
granted June 15, 1915. However, Remington was gearing up for WW-I at that time and it would be six more years before the gun came out. Remington's designer John D. Pedersen made design refinements in 1919 (applications filed Sept. 15, 1919, Patent No. 1,429,621 granted Sept. 19, 1922 and Patent No. 1,487,799 granted Mar. 25, 1924) and G.H. Garrison made further improvements. It was the patents on these improvements that forced Ithaca to wait until 1937 to bring out their copy of this gun, though Ithaca had actually built some guns by 1932. Actually Pedersen has so many patent applications filed in that 1919 time frame it is hard to tell which really apply!