Val Browning's Double Auto

[Pay Dirt]

I found and grabbed a 1966 Twentyweight in Dragon Black.
The Modified choke had been opened to .007 constriction. Tight Skeet. Perfect.
All else seems factory original and in a very high state of preservation.

[Researcher]

I have a Remington M31 lightweight 20 gauge The receiver is some sort of alloy. Anyone have a guess on its name/composition? I don't.

Remington called the material the Model 31L receivers were made of Aeromet.

Remington Arms Co., Inc. put out a folder dated 1941 that introduces the new 1941 style Improved Model 31 and the new Model 31L with the Aeromet receiver.

Model 31L 1941 folder.jpg

By the June 10, 1941 Remington Arms Co., Inc. catalog they say the Model 31Ls are indefinitely delayed due to raw material shortages.

Model 31L June 10, 1941 catalog.jpg

No mention of the Model 31L in the 1942 Remington Arms Co., Inc. catalog.

Likewise not mentioned in the 1946 Remington Arms Co., Inc. catalog. The Model 31L makes its return in the 1947 Remington Arms Co., Inc. catalog in all three gauges.

I have seen a few with their receivers marked Model 31L, but most are just marked Model 31 the same as the steel receivers.

Model 31LA 103815.jpg

[Big D]

Thanks Dave. What a resource you are. Mine is a 20 gauge, and is so light that a round of skeet becomes uncomfortable. It also suffers from what I understand became a problem, at least on the 20 gauge. The bottom front of the receiver develops a crack going back to the loading port. Makes a dandy wet weather gun, however

[Researcher]

I have two Model 31LA "Standard" Grades. A 12-gauge with a 30-inch FULL solid rib barrel, probably one of the heaviest Model 31 barrels, which makes for a quite muzzle heavy gun. The other is a 20-gauge that was virtually new, but was fitted with a Cutts with only the Modified tube. I wasn't doing all that well with it at Skeet, so I patterned it. At 25 yards, Skeet distance, every pellet from Federal Skeet Loads were in a 19" circle. Paid as much on ebay for a set of 20-gauge Cutts tubes in the box with the wrench as I'd paid for the gun!! The Spreader tube improved my Skeet scores with it.

[charlie cleveland]

sounds like a good turkey gun to me...I have a model 12 Winchester with a cuts choke on it...I would like to have the other 3 chokes they made with it...I have never liked the looks of them or the poly chokes even though a poly choke was probably the best choke ever made.....charlie

[Researcher]

The Model 42 I mentioned above had two barrel & magazine assemblies when I got it, one 26-inch SKEET and the other 26-inch with a Cutts with the spreader tube. Much of my early skeet shooting was at the Vado del Rio Skeet Club on Camp Pendleton where they had a good supply of those WW-II vintage Winchester Model 12 Skeet Guns with Cutts Compensators. When I started, a card for ten rounds was $10, and that included their AA reloads. Could use your own guns or theirs. Pretty soon a ten-round card went up to $13.50. I'd much rather shoot a Cutts than be on a squad with someone else shooting one! I don't mind looking out the barrel at one at all.

[Big D]

They're really loud.

[Pay Dirt]

With all this talk of Remington and Winchester,
I snagged another Double Auto. 1960 Twelvette, 28" Modified.
Remains in very high condition.

[Larry the Gun Guy]

Since you guys brought up the subject of Double Autos, I went to the Browning Collectors Association meeting in August of 2017 at the corporate headquarters in Morgan, Utah. There was a fellow there that had the most complete set of Double Autos, I think, in existence. He owns over 60 of them and brought about 30 of the more celebrated versions, including the only two 20 gauges prototypes that were made. I'll include some pictures of those as well.
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[Larry the Gun Guy]

The two guns on the front of this 3 gun rack are the 20 gauge prototypes. As you can see they were made 3" capable. Additionally, Val Browning was experimenting with a new choke system; something like a Cutts which you can see on the end of the barrels. These two guns resided in Val Browning's office until his death, at which time they were offered to an interested party and sold.
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