Hi,
I am a new member...I inherited this 1894 from my Grandfather who passed away in 1972...my mother kept it at her home until she recently passed..can you guys help me with these markings?
I look forward to learning as much as I can about this gun and look forward to hearing from the members here...
Remington Hammerless Doubles -- Two patents were issued on the same day, October 30, 1894. No. 528,507 pertaining to the milling of the frame was granted to R. C. Fay of Ilion, New York, assignor to the Remington Arms Company of same place; and No. 528,508 pertaining to the automatic ejectors, to R.C. Fay and G.E. Humphreys of Ilion, New York, assignor to the Remington Arms Company of same place.
If the gun is absolutely plain with no engraving, just "Remington Arms Co." stamped on the side of the frame it is an A-grade if a Model 1894. Model 1894 serial numbers were in the 100,000 range and often preceded by a P a Remington stock letter. Also perfectly plain was the lower priced Model 1900 with serial numbers in the 300,000 range, and often a stock letter of Q. These were also known as the K-grade.
A Model 1894 B-grade had just a bit of borderline engraving. As the grades went up C-, D-, and E-grade the engraving became more extensive, the stock wood and checkering finer, and the overall workmanship better. There is normally a grade letter stamped on the left side watertable, or on "bridge-frame guns" (usually 103,500 and lower serial numbers) on the bridge. Also, if you remove the trigger guard, the grade letter is often stamped in the wood after the serial number. Your gun looks like a very nice AE-Grade from 1900.
If a Remington Model 1894 is fitted with automatic ejectors the the written grade designation has a letter E added to it and if it has Remington Steel barrels an R or Ordnance Steel Barrels an O -- AE-grade (A-grade with ejectors and the regular Damascus barrels), AER-grade (A-grade with ejectors and Remington Steel barrels), BO-grade (B-grade with Ordnance Steel barrels) or CEO-grade (C-grade with ejectors and Ordnance Steel barrels). I’ve never seen these extra letters stamped on the gun’s watertable. In the Model 1900s things are reversed. Remington must have considered their Remington Steel barrels standard and appended a D if the gun was equipped with 2-blade Damascus barrels -- KD-grade or KED-grade. "Ordnance Steel" is normally stamped on the top of the barrels on AO-/AEO- and BO-/BEO-Grade Remington doubles and engraved on higher grades.
You need to check out Charles G. Semmer's book "Remington Double Shotguns." It is available from the author 7885 Cyd Drive, Denver, CO 80221, for $60 plus $5 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. My 12-gauge KE-Grade Model 1900 is stamped 33 on the left and 24 on the right. That would be 333/511 = 65% left and 324/511 = 64% right, or about improved modified in both barrels. The chokes measure .027" in both barrels of that gun. Are you sure that gun is a 16-gauge? 342 and 337 would be very high pellet counts for a 16-gauge of that era, when the heaviest 16-gauge shot shells offered carried 1 ounce of shot.
I don't think anyone has really decoded those letters and hashmarks down the barrel tube bottoms. I've posted this information before, but if someone with a lot of Remingtons, add these to what he has and what is in Charles' book, maybe a pattern will emerge.
1906 12-gauge KE-Grade has /// K E Y
1909 16-gauge KE-Grade has X K E A1
1896 12-gauge AE-Grade has P A
1906 12-gauge FE Trap has /// F E G 13
1894 12-gauge BE-Grade has B J and a poorly struck E or an F
1907 CEO-Grade 12-gauge has /// M
1905 DEO-Grade 16-gauge has X O
In some cases you can get the grade as in the KE and FE. My BE-Grade has Chain Damascus barrels, and on the Remington Damascus salesman sample the Chain Damascus is labeled CHAIN J. So, B for the grade, J for the barrel material and E for ejectors?!? Hmmm....
I read your response and went back and double checked the gun..turns out it is a 12 gauge...I am such an idiot....the stock has a rubber butt stock pad I have no idea when my Grandfather added it but it would have been in the 40's or 50's I'm guessing..
Just to add a little more info on your Remington shotgun. We would call your gun a grade AE. "A" being the least expensive and the "E" indicating automatic ejectors. On the barrel bottoms where the "A" appears, usually there is an "E" but not in this case. That is not unusual. In your photos, the split extractors and the internal parts of the forend definitely show auto-ejectors.
In the past we thought those 3 slashes indicated barrel choke, but now we are not sure. The other mark could be a proof stamp. And from what little records we have, your gun left the factory about mid 1900.
I just received a gun from my grandfather passing. From the information on here it's a 1909 16 gauge. It has XKED1 on the bottom of the barrels. I couldn't figure out the grade until you posted the decoding. The gun is in pretty good condition. I tried posting a picture but it wouldn't let me. Thank you for posting.
srp344 wrote:I just received a gun from my grandfather passing. From the information on here it's a 1909 16 gauge. It has XKED1 on the bottom of the barrels. I couldn't figure out the grade until you posted the decoding. The gun is in pretty good condition. I tried posting a picture but it wouldn't let me. Thank you for posting.
