Remington Model 31 Skeet?

[Researcher]

Five years ago I bought a gun that has all the features of a solid rib 12-gauge Model 31 Skeet except the barrel is choked Imp Cyl not SKEET. Also, my gun is stamped on the left side near the rear of the receiver with R.L.B. and the Ordnance flaming bomb. My gun has a barrel date code of August 1941, while the serial number is from the WW-II years. Since then I've seen three similar guns appear on Guns International with the sellers asking ever increasing fantastic prices --

https://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...n_id=101744554

Anyone know the honest facts on these guns?

[Craig Larter]

Dave looks like one up for auction at RI
https://www.rockislandauction.com/de...ction-shotguns

[Cold Spring]

It's probably a function of age and usage but almost every Model 31 I've seen while shooting vintage pump gun sporting clays events had failure to fire or feed issues especially when shooting simos. Not good when "Field Rules" are in place, bird is lost when the gun fails to fire for any reason. On the other hand the Model 12's keep pumping on. Just sayin .....

[Holeshot]

I have shot 31's for 40 plus years and have never encountered those problems. They are very worn and work great. You should check your shells.

[Big D]

Mine has been in the family since new (1947) and I agree with David

[Bill Murphy]

I don't have a clue why a military skeet gun would be worth so much, especially when they are not rare by any means. Military collectors are funny guys, each of them pumping up the value of guns owned by other military collectors. I was at a military show in PA last weekend and I can't imagine where these guys store all this stuff in between shows. The Model 31 is very reliable when pumped with gusto. If not pumped with gusto, the next shell will not always feed. Experienced shooters will never have a problem. I agree with Frank, the Model 12 does not have that problem.

[J. Scott Hanes]

I love the 31's. Had a very nice one for a while, but traded it off for something else because I did not use it. If I had one of these military 31's and someone was willing to pay $3k for it, I would sell it in a heartbeat and put the funds toward a nice Parker. Still, I love the 31's.

[Researcher]

That is a strange gun on RI. That gun has the plain post 1937 Standard Grade wood. That receiver, 35560, was put in work during March 1940, the November 1940 barrel date code, and the roll-stamping including the chamber length are all right for that time frame. However, that is very late for that style banded barrel. The banded barrels seem to normally be found on the 1931 version guns.

I have a very similar 1934 version R.L.B./flaming bomb marked gun that must have been one that was cleaned en mass at an arsenal before the government sold them off as my receiver, barrel and trigger group all have different serial numbers and the stock is for a 1941 version Model 31. Surprisingly it works great and I shoot it pretty well on both skeet and doves. When my buddy from Virginia came to visit he shot pheasants with it. He figured it was the worst looking thing in my collection and he wouldn't feel bad if he got a ding in it.

I've got seven Model 31s and I haven't had any issues except breaking the tip of the action bar on my TC. Fortunately Numrich had new manufactured ones for 12-gauges. Breaking that tip seems to be the weak point in the Model 31s used in high volume shooting. Perhaps the reason Remington did the "twin action bars" on their Model 870. Five of my guns are the 1941 version, four post WW-II.

[Cold Spring]

Originally Posted by David Holes

I have shot 31's for 40 plus years and have never encountered those problems. They are very worn and work great. You should check your shells.

Thanks. Just reporting what I’ve seen while shooting vintage pump gun sporting clays events. In the future I’ll be sure to suggest that if someone on the squad has difficulty with a 31. I don’t own one myself and shoot Model 12’s exclusively.

[Big D]

I have a 20 gauge 31L. It has a crack going forward from the loading port to the front bottom of the receiver. I understand the lightweight alloy receivers were prone to that failure. Sure is light. It's my wet water grouse gun