Remington Model 10 Trap...

[ForumAdmin]

Very early 1910.

[Researcher]

From the 1909 Remington Arms Co. catalogue --





What is the company name on your gun? It was Remington Arms Co. through 1910, then Marcellus Hartly Dodge combined his firearm and ammunition companies as Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Co. in 1911. Between the 1909 and 1910 catalogues Remington added the No. 3 "Trap Special" grade at $45 while the No. 3 "Trap" Grade was $47. A raised solid rib was $6.75 extra on either. The "Trap Special" had a checkered American Black Walnut stock and forearm made to standard dimensions. The "Trap" had a checkered stock and forearm of select curley imported walnut with choice of dimensions from 13 1/2 to 15 inch length-of-pull and drop from 2 to 3 1/4 inches. By the 1913-14 Remington Arms-Union Metallic Cartridge Co. catalogue the No. 10S "Trap Special" Grade was $40 and the No. 10C "Trap" Grade was $45, with the raised solid rib still $6.75 extra.

The company name changed again to Remington Arms Co., Inc. in 1920. By 1923 they added a No. 10T "Target" Grade with a raised vent rib, recoil pad, and big forearm to their offerings.

[Wulfman]

.

Thanks very much everyone, your help is greatly appreciated.

Lastly, what modern ammunition would you recommend using, low velocity, etc...?

Happy Holiday's

What are you planning on using it for? If it's truly a "Trap" gun, the buttstock may not be a configuration that is ideal for field/bird shooting.
Anyway, some "standard" trap or lighter field loads (with lead shot) would be appropriate. You definitely would NOT want to use any steel shot shells in it.

Happy Holidays to you, too.

Den

[Wulfman]

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Thanks, Den.

I dropped the gun off at my gunsmith today to have him give it a once over and check the chamber size.

Would you leave the gun as is if it's chambered for a 2 9/16 shell size and search for ammo or have the chamber reamed for a modern ammo?

Again, thanks for your time.

Brian

Well, that puts a little different wrinkle in things.
For a person who reloads, it's not that hard to shorten and load shells to fit the chamber. I managed to create some years ago as an experiment......worked pretty good.....they were kind of "cute". However, I didn't have any shotguns with shorter chambers and I just wanted to see how it would work out.
But, if I was in your shoes I'd probably have it re-chambered for standard 2 3/4" shells.
From what I've heard and read, that's not an uncommon thing to have done to those old guns.......and, I doubt that it would adversely affect the value. If you do have it done, I'd make sure the gunsmith who does it re-stamps the barrel so the change will be evident for any future owners.


Den

[Researcher]

The Remington Repeating Shotgun/Model 10 was intended for 2 3/4 inch 12-gauge shells from the beginning. The chamber may be slightly short. Many companies back in the day had the policy of holding their chambers about 1/8 inch shorter than the intended shell, on the theory that the case mouth openning a ways into the forcing cone cushoned the shot charge on its jump from the shell into the bore and provided a better gas seal, thus improving patterns. If I had a Model 10C "Trap" Grade in good shape, I'd be on a nostalgia trip shooting RST or Federal paper shells in it. Probably one ouncers to be easy on the old gun and me.

[Wulfman]

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Is the barrel on your shotgun specifically marked as a 2 9/16" chamber? Or, is this something that the gunsmith came up with?

The actual length of a (loaded) 2 3/4" shotshell is around 2 1/4" - 2 3/8". Older shotshells used a "roll-crimp" with an over-the-shot card wad. When fired, the case length with the roll crimp made the overall length of the shell considerably shorter than the folded crimp which has been used in more recent decades. With the folded crimp, a fired 2 3/4" shell ends up being about 2 11/16". With a roll crimp, the fired shell is a little over 2 1/2".

Here are some links to some reading material on various shotshell dimensions and other information.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/amm.html

http://www.dave-cushman.net/shot/shotshellloads.html

http://homestudy.ihea.com/ammo/13shell.htm

http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

http://www.billhanusbirdguns.com/archive01.html

http://www.gunreports.com/special_repor ... 155-1.html


Den

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[Researcher]

I would not recommend a Remington Repeating Shotgun/Model 10 as a gun for regular use. The last ones were made 85 years ago, and the current saying is "the parts are made of unobtainium". This John D. Pedersen design is rather complex and no one is left alive who can put one back in time when they get out of whack.