The new crow killer - Remington 1900
 

Here are some pictures to the latest addition to the anti crow gun arsenal. This gun followed me home from the Kittery Trading Post after looking at the 10ga Daly and I thought it was a great deal for under $300, fluid steel and ejectors to boot! The dimensions are also perfect for me. I really like the Rem 1894 and 1900 shotguns. The Remington doubles are under appreciated IMO.

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Looks like a great Crow gun. A 1907 vintage gun according to the serial number chronology in Charles Semmer's book Remington Double Shotguns.

I've never see one stamped MOD on the barrel lug like that. Usually there was the pellet count for each barrel's test pattern on the lug. 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. Looks like your gun is 369 for the left barrel 369/511 = 72% or full choke, and MOD for the right.

Thanks for the info Dave. I think it will be a nice gun in the field for me given the fit. Somebody got the idea to cover all the wood and the receiver in lacquer. I am hoping it will clean up with some lacquer thinner. The checkering looks strong underneath it. The ejectors are binding on each other so when a single barrel is fired the empty is poorly ejected. With a little work they will operate just fine too. The gun didn't really see a lot of use but didn't see much care either.

Looks like you have there Pete a nice honest Remington in great shape and you can't beat the price either from KTP. What loads are you going to use?

Question for Dave: There are two numbers stamped on the watertable. One is the serial number on one side but what is the # for on the other? Great information on the earlier post by the way.

ive learned a lot on this post for sure...pete nice gun i too like the remington 94 s and 1900 but i really like the 94 ive got a remington 94 b grade with ejectors and ordnance steel barrels 26 inch barrels a real bird gun...hope you slay a thousand crows with the remy... charlie

Scott and I shot a few trap targets with it and it broke them with authority using 7/8 of 8's. For shooting crows I like 1 1/8 of #6 and about 1145 fps or 1 ounce of #6 at 1200 fps reloads using Green Dot powder.

OK, I am wondering what the collective experience with Remington double guns is. Is the top lever return spring an achilles heel? Perhaps both guns sat unused for too long? First day out with the 1894 10ga it broke, 3rd day out with 1900 and it let go. Still like the gun a lot due to it's fit. Off to the Smith.

Hundred plus year old top-lever springs break. I've only had one break, in my 1909 vintage KE-Grade 16-gauge. My Father shot a pair of AE-Grades, a 12- and a 16-gauge. In cleaning out his house I found a small envelope with a broken top-lever spring and a couple of new ones.

pete i think you just had a run of bad luck... cant waiut till you get them guns back from the smith...really waiting to year how that 94 10 ga works on them crows... charlie

I guess I have had a run of bad luck, they do seem to be nice guns. Sorry to not be more clear, the Rem 1894 B grade 10ga broke the top lever return spring on day one in the field back in Feb '11. The Smith fixed it and I got it back about 3 weeks later. I had a good shoot that day in spite of the problem, I got 15 crows for 28 shots with it per my record of the day. I have always shot my Parker NH 10ga a little better which I think is due to a better fitting stock. This summer I had the Remington bent up a little so it is now close to the same dimensions as the NH. The Remmy is in such high condition I tend to use it less in the field. I dropped the 1900 off at the Smith's today and hopefully I'll get it back as quickly as he returned the '94 10 bore. I would buy another Remington if I saw one that appealed to me, what are the odds it would happen to the next one???????

My Remington 1900 is back home from the Smith with a new top lever spring. I used some lacquer thinner along with a toothbrush and it cleaned up very nice. A little bit of Tru-Oil and the gun looks a LOT better than it does in the earlier pictures. Looking forward to knocking down some crows with it.

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Looks great Pete! Hope to see it next time I'm up at Major Waldrons.

funny how a little elbow grease makes a gun look better... charlie

and the knockabout shoots pretty good too. It's a better trap gun then a skeet gun, broke a 25 straight first time at trap with it, 49x50 for the evening tonight. Look out crows (maybe) :)

I have a pretty nice 12ga Remington mod 1887 twist bbl hammer gun that is choked tight and breaks clays wayyy out there. I've had no issues with it other than one hammer screw keeps backing out. I have to make a special little punch to get in there and make the square end of the shaft fit the square hole in the hammer a bit tighter. It's a well made gun as far as I can tell. Vintage is 1895.

Richard I am still learning about Remington double guns, I believe the last model of hammer gun they made was the Model 1889.

I think you're right. Mine was made in 1895 if I remember correctly. I'm not home to check that. It was quite the rusty mess inside when I got it but cleaned up rather nicely. I posted a set of pictures on the forum of the cleaning operation and of the repair I did on one of the main springs.

Are you going to clean up the wood? I don't always do that, but if it is bad enough, I strip the stock and forearm, restain the put on some Murphy's oil.

I don't know if that hurts the value or not, but I don't like really rough wood.

That is a very nice gun. You can see it's Parker heritage.

Oh, as for shooting crows. They are smarter than mere humans. I can never get close enough to pop then with a shotgun. I lay off at 300 to even 400 yds and bang away with a 222.

Crow season is pretty much over, the birds have moved through and the 2nd half of waterfowl season is now open. The Remington knockabout did turn out to be a real good crow killer as I took 372 of them with 592 shots on the days when it got it's turn to go in the field. Remington made some nice functional double guns.

Whoa! There was a famous Lakota (I think he was a Lakota.) named Crow Killer and you deserve the handle too! Of course the Indian was killing a different kind of Crow, but still.......

I agree about the Remington doubles being under rated. I own two 1900's one is a trap gun (ejectors and no safety), an 1882, and I just picked up an 1889 that looks like it just came out of the factory and is not restored. I bought the 1889 for $450.00 proving you can still get a deal on a good side by side.

I was aware that Remington made a model 1894 straight grip trap gun (F grade) but I was not aware of the Model 1900 version. If you could post some pictures I would love to see it.

i have 2 rem 94's both grade A damascus, one ejector one extractor, both are excellent field guns, one i have is first yr production, the other is 1901 vintage according to charles semners book, they are very under rated guns, i hunt with english and american made guns, i consider the remingtons equals to the english guns,

i too have a remington 1894 its a b grade with factory ordance steel barrels that are 26 inch factory length with ejectors..its just a good shooter but i too would put a remington 94 with the best of shotguns.... charlie

It's not a crow killer but it's a nice M1900 16ga. w/ejectors, 28" nice original finish. She's choked M/F so I don't know what she can kill but it will be fun trying. Really nice quality for a modest price.

I am sure you will enjoy it Daryl, have fun.

Here is an interesting article on the Remington Doubles.

http://www.bigfivehq.com/wolves3.htm

I have an 1889 Rem damascus hammer gun with tight chokes that is great long range killer. Very nicely made also. I like it a lot. It was quite the cleanup job when I got it. There's a series of pics in an old post of mine. I've had no mechanical issues with it at all except that one hammer screw keeps backing out. I have to make a custom punch that will allow me to peen the square shaft back out to get the hammer to fit tighter to remedy that.

How about you wrap the screw with a little plumber's tape? Might work. I have shimmed loose hammers to tighten them up. Works okay.

Mr. Books

My Remington trap gun may be a 1894, I've always had a hard time telling the difference between them. My camera is down right now, but I'll list the info on the water table and barrels, maybe you or someone could help me figure this out.Serial #331632 on all parts, Water table is also marked 177, 8, a double stamped patent date of Oct 30 1894. The lug is stamped at the front with 10 over 83 over P7. The rear of the lug is stamped with a 7 and 323, 321 which I assume is shot size and pellet count. Each barrel is marked with three diagonal lines over K, over A. Any help with this would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

A serial number in the 300,000 range would make it a model 1900, model 1894's had serial numbers in the 100,000 range. The biggest difference between the two models is the '94 has a Purdey style forend latch and the 1900 uses a Baker style snap on latch similiar to the Trojan. Dave Noreen knows quite a bit about Remington doubles hopefully he will come along soon and give some more insight.

Some information Dave posted awhile ago on the Remington forums:

http://www.remingtonsociety.com/foru...php?f=7&t=2491

Looks like you've pretty much covered what I know!! The only change may be that -- Charles G. Semmer's book Remington Double Shotguns is now available from Cote. As of publication of Volume Twenty-Three, Issue 3, of The Double Gun & Single Shot Journal, Autumn 2012, 248 copies of Remington Double Shotguns remain, $49 plus $10 S&H, 800-447-1658.

Only 16-gauge DEO-Grade to surface so far --

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Dave, did the Model 1900 come in a "trap" version?

Not that I've ever heard of. When this lower priced hammerless double gun was introduced, it was offered as the K-Grade with plain extractors and Remington Steel barrels and the KED-Grade with ejectors and two-stripe Damascus barrels. By the 1903-04 Remington Arms Co. catalogue they added the KD-Grade, plain extractors and Two-stripe Damascus barrels. By the 1906 Remington Arms Co. catalogue they added the KE-Grade, with Remington steel barrels and ejectors. Up to this time the Model 1900s all had flat ribs and plain half-pistol grip stocks that were smooth around the head. In the 1906 catalogue some of the Model 1900s begin to be shown with profiled stock cheeks like the Model 1894s. Those four grades, K-, KE-, KD- and KED-Grade, all with half-pistol grip stocks and slim snap-on/off forearms were the Model 1900 offerings until Remington Arms Co. dumped their double gun business in early 1910.

Remington Arms Co. began to specifically tailor guns for competitve shooters with these Pigeon Gun offerings in their 1902 catalogues --

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With 1902 being the last Grand American Handicap at live birds, they changed to this in the 1903-04 and 1904-05 catalogues --

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By 1906 they added the lower priced FE Trap Gun and this was the offerings in both 1906 catalogues, the 1907, 1908, 1908-09 and 1909 catalogues --

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From a March 1907 magaze ad --

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Thanks for all the input folks. From your answers it seems I do have a 1900 Remington trap gun. It's an ejector gun with the straight English style stock and no safety. The serial number puts it into the model 1900 range. I'll have to order Semmer's book now that I own 4 Remington doubles. I started with a Parker Trojan 16 gauge when I was 13 (I still have it) and 53 years later I've somehow accumulated about 60 side by sides. Parkers, Lefevers, Bakers, an L.C. Smith, a Fox, lots of Ithacas of various models and grades, as well as English, Belgian, German and French guns. It truly is an incurable disease.

Fantastic! Now you have your work cut out for you. You've got to take out your camera and set up a little photo studio and snap pictures of each and every gun and write a bit about it and forward it here!

You've got a wonderful collection and something to be proud of.

Congratulations!

As soon as business slacks off a bit I'll do that. I fix guns as a small business and this is my busy time of the year.

recently saw the nature channel program:

"the secret life of crows"

felt guilty and sad for the few crows ah killed when i was a young lad, dat new no better...

how olt are u?

Ed these guns were built for blood sport. Almost all the Parker, Fox, and Ithaca side by sides were built for killing birds for sport. Many if not most of our members take these guns out and use them in blood sports. If our posts about blood sports make you feel bad please don't let our fondness for you make you feel obligated to keep coming here.

mike: one of these days you just may grow up...

Ed these guns were built for blood sport. Almost all the Parker, Fox, and Ithaca side by sides were built for killing birds for sport. Many if not most of our members take these guns out and use them in blood sports. If our posts about blood sports make you feel bad please don't let our fondness for you make you feel obligated to keep coming here.