Model 31 -- Lyman/Cutts Compensator Query

[Virginian]

Does the barrel have a choke marking on it? If it does, the Cutts was definitely installed aftermarket. If there is no choke marking it was very likely original. I know on PolyChoke equipped guns from the factory, they machined the interior of the choke unit right on the end of the barrel, but the Cutts installed differently in that the rear of the unit screwed on, so I don't think you can tell that way. I know well up into the '60s at least you could get about anything you wanted directly from Remington as long as you didn't mind waiting and had the money. The Lyman and Cutts units were very similar, but different.

[Researcher]

1939 --



1948 --



Serial number 39635 would have been made at Ilion during November 1940. Remington began cataloguing the availability of the Cutts Compensator on their guns from the factory in 1939. I don't believe the adjustable choke tube for the Cutts Compensator was offered until the 1950s. September 1955 Outdoor Life --

[Virginian]

That's the first time I ever noticed that Cutts was owned by Lyman. I wonder if they always were. A buddy has two of his Dad's guns, and one has a Lyman Choke, and the other has a Cutts, and the choke tubes and the compensator bodies will not interchange.

[Researcher]

one has a Lyman Choke, and the other has a Cutts

Two different products, but both by Lyman.

[Virginian]

That's what I thought. I never cared for them so didn't pay too much attention, but I never noticed Lyman owned Cutts before.