Proper ammo for old remmington 1900?

68deville

I am just wondering what would be the best cartridge to use in a
Remmington 1900 side by side ejector?, gun is 100 odd years old
But in v good condition,It has Damascus barrels as going by the look
And serial no designation and just thing modern ammunition just
Not suitable so maybe paper cartridges?

juice1304

I wouldnt shoot anything throught it. Paper cartridges will still have nitrocellulose based powder loaded inside. The presures would be too great, I wouldn't risk it anyway with Damascus barrels, It could end like a pipe bomb going off in your face. There will be or should be a proof mark on it somewhere which will tell you but i would thread lightly.

Witcher

Read a post over on Shotgunworld by a guy that shoots a late 19th cent. shotgun with damascus barrels, he has tubes that sleeve it down to 20 gauge and he uses it that way.

Whole rigmarole here if you wanted to do that but it's one way you could do it.

Another way is see if a dealer could maybe get you black powder cartridges, some dealers won't even bother trying probably but I'm sure one of them could get them from somewhere.

68deville

Appreciate the replies,it's not a hammer gun,I inherited this gun and
I don't intend using it for hunting at all,just out of interest I just like
To use it too c if it works,it hasn't been fired in god knows how long
But in excellent condition

rowa

Someone does cartridges loaded with modern smokeless powders but to black powder pressure levels, it could be eley. If the gun is really 1900 it might be nitroproofed despite the damascus barrels. Any chance of a picture of the proof marks ?

68deville

Any idea where I look? It is a 1900 from my limited research,32in barrels
And clip on forearm

rowa

On the flats where the barrels meet the action.

EWQuinn

I have a Rem damascus double from circa 1910 handed down from granddad. Did a lot of research on shooting them some time back. Bottom line, they can have unseen defects in the barrel structure that can turn them into a hand grenade.

Yes you can get them sleeved if you want to try that for a price. Some folks (here) used to make black powder shells, and there is probably somebody out there somewhere making low pressure shells.

Upshot of my research was, not worth the hassle or the risk. Make into a wall hanger. Good luck with yours in whatever you decide. Damascus barrel guns are real nice, and some people insist on shooting them and say they are totally safe. Maybe they are, and fine with me, as long as I am outside the blast radius.

68deville

rowa wrote: »

On the flats where the barrels meet the action.

Looks like the letter d,also the number 3 stamped and several other marks,will try to get pics up

rowa

There is a massive amount of rubbish talked about damascus barrels, if they are in good condition they are probably fine to use. Have the gun checked out by a good gunsmith first though.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=339486&page=1

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DaS94GLQ9b3w9XRU4cBX7M0LUIB_mTDFpvSZxCmUQME/mobilebasic?pli=1

Double Barrel

68deville,
Do a Google search for Remington Model 1894 there should be quite a bit of information re the model 1894.
Rowa is correct "There is a massive amount of rubbish talked about damascus barrels, if they are in good condition they are probably fine to use. Have the gun checked out by a good gunsmith first though."

I would recommend taking the gun to Peter J. McGee in Newport, as he knows his way around old guns and is a very experienced hand. He will set you straight as to the guns shootability and may have a source for low pressure cartridges. I am pretty sure that gun has 2 5/8" chambers.

Photos of the gun would be appreciated.

Remington Model 1900s are a simplified, cheaper, version of the Model 1894, built on the same patents -- No. 528,507 and No. 528,508 both granted Oct. 30, 1894. The Model 1900s were all K-Grades, with E added to the designation if the gun had ejectors and D if it had Damascus barrels -- K-, KE-, KD-, or KED-Grades. The K- and KE-Grades had Remington Steel barrels. The Model 1900s had a snap-on/off forearm and their serial numbers were in the 300,000 range, often preceded with a stock letter Q.

You need to check out Charles G. Semmer's book Remington Double Shotguns. It is available from The Double Gun Journal, 800-447-1658 for $49 plus $10 shipping and handling. It is invaluable if you are going to shoot, invest, collect or play in the Remington double gun field. Remington supplied a number of different pattern Damascus barrels on these old doubles. A picture of their salesman’s sample of the various styles of Damascus available is shown on page 275 of Semmer's book.

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. Your gun is stamped 38 and 36. That would be 338/511 = 66.1% and 336/511 = 665.84% right, or about improved modified in both barrels.

By the end of the first decade of the 20th Century, Remington saw that the future laid with their John M. Browning designed Remington Autoloading Gun (later known as the Model 11) and their John D. Pedersen designed Remington Repeating Shotgun (later known as the Model 10). So, they concluded a deal with Norvell-Shapleigh Hardware Co. of St Louis, for their entire inventory of break-action shotguns in inventory and in process, on February 3, 1910. There must have been a lot of guns involved, because the records show 3206 Model 1894s, and 16435 Model 1900s shipped in 1910. The 1909 Remington Arms Co. catalogue was the last one to include the doubles, and there was a version of the 1909 catalogue that only had the Remington Autoloading Shotgun, the Remington Repeating Shotgun, and the Autoloading Repeating Rifle.

I don't think anyone left alive knows what those codes on the bottom of the barrels of Remington Arms Co. doubles really mean. No one, including Charles Semmer who wrote the book Remington Double Shotguns, has really decoded those letters and hashmarks down the barrel tube bottoms.

No one can tell you over the internet what ammunition may or may not be safe in one of these old guns!! That can only be done by a qualified double gun smith (not Joe S**t the 870 parts replacer) with the gun in hand. Most folks who use these old guns nowadays tend to stick to lighter, lower pressure, lower velocity loads, such as those offered by RST --

http://www.rstshells.com/rst_classic_sh ... shells.htm

According to the serial number chronology Charles assembled from surviving shipping records, your gun is a first year gun, as stated above. Remington Arms Co. only offered two versions in the first couple of years, the K-Grade a plain extractor gun with Remington Steel barrels, and the KED-Grade with automatic ejectors and Damascus barrels. The KD-Grade with a plain extractor and Damascus barrels first appears in the 1903-04 Remington Arms Co. catalogue. The KE-Grade with Remington Steel barrels and automatic ejectors first appears in the 1906 Remington Arms Co. catalogue.

Emphasis is by DB.

http://www.remingtonsociety.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=21163

Double Barrel

From a Remington catalogue of the time.

Double Barrel

Eley has the Hushpower which is available in 12 Gauge, 65 mm in #5 & 7.5 shot, 28 & 32 gram loads.

http://www.eleyhawkltd.com/cartridge/12-gauge/game/hush-power

http://www.eleyhawkltd.com/cartridge/12-gauge/clay/hushpower

Sika98k

I had a Pape 12bore hammer gun some years ago and did the same kind of research into finding some low pressure cartridges.
Eley Impax are the lowest pressure cartridges that were available at the time.
They were a very low recoiling round to shoot and are still available.
28grm 21/2inch cartridge so safe enough for chamber length.

deeksofdoom

Good advice there from the lads above ^^^

You might also want to try this crowd they may be of help.

http://www.remingtonsociety.com/forums/

68deville

Thanks lads,I have asked a good gunsmith to look at gun and will
Proceed from there,very informative people on this forum an greatly
Appreciated,I just don't want the gun just to be left as an ornament
When it's not needed,it's monetary value is small at least but don't
Want it to go to be discarded