doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Model 1894 Remington Year of production and grade

Here are three variations --

Top -- "standard lock" -- flat rib -- raised safety -- 1895

Middle -- "improved lock" -- concave rib -- raised safety -- early 1906

Bottom -- "improved lock" -- concave rib -- dished safety -- late 1907



And, for Rev here is the Chain J. Damascus on the 1895 BE-Grade and its stock.

I will have to look at my guns again, I didnt think about the rib and saftey.
Thanks for the pics Ive a LC Smith 3E and Lefever with Chain Damascus barrels but hadnt seen them on a Remington.


I do need to post some pics of one of my B grades with the buttplate off. Stamped into the wood is the owners name city state and date. It is a year older than Semmers book says it is. From memory the Semmer book says the serial number range is about half way into 1898 but the date stamped into the buttstock is mid 1897. Ill look tonight and post pics.

I have always associated that dished out safety with the model 1900 only, where the word SAFE is stamped rather than engraved which was a cost cutting measure (as pictured below)


For whatever it's worth, Art McKee referred to the safeties as checkered or grooved as another way to quickly differ between the 1900 and 1894...Your grooved safety is the first I've seen on a 94...I assumed that the grooved safety was yet another cost cutting measure for the model 1900 as is the straight forend face as opposed to the curved forend face of the 1894

Just thumbing thru Semmer again, the dished safety slides seem to begin appearing in the high 135xxx range, and there seem to be plenty on C, D, and E quality guns. My Father had a 16-gauge AE-Grade, P136036, that had the dished safety and he never liked it as well as the raised safety on his old 1896 AE-Grade 12-gauge. P136036 was stolen out of his house in Seattle along with two Winchester Model 67 .22s in the early 1980s, in case anyone runs into it.

Semmer shows some early 1900s that have flat ribs and the raised safety.

Looking thru my Remington Arms Co. catalogues, from 1894 thru the 1904-5 catalogues the text always states "flat matted rib." But, up thru 1901 a "hollow rib" is available to order on BE-grade and above. From 1902 thru the 1904-5 the "hollow rib" is only offered to order on C- and above. From 1906 on the text states "concave rib, matted." Anyone have one of these 1894 to 1905 "hollow ribs"? Is a hollow rib the same as a concave rib?

Well it's news to me...thank you...It shows you how few graded Remingtons I've owned...I better send for Semmers book...
.
I've noticed people interchange hollow and concave ...and I've seen drawings of a raised (flat on top) hollow ribs in European catalogs..based on how much my 94s weigh, I would say that Remington meant concave
.
132437 is also a C Grade (improved lock)... two C Grades exactly 400 numbers apart?...037 and 437...I don't have 132437, just the butt stock with the serial number clearly marked...along with WHD's initials...

Well, just to drag this out a little longer, as long as I had them out of the safe I decided to break them down, run a patch thru the bores and lube the hinges. I noticed another variation, this time in the forearm loops.

Early guns have a lovely reinforced loop with a single hook --



Mid period guns still have the reinforcement but an added spur which seems to force the forearm back against the hinge.



Finally, guns above about 133,xxx have lost the reinforcing feature --

Here is a pic of my 1894 with the buttplate off. It is serial number 107242 B grade 12ga. According to Semmers book it is in the 1898 serial range of 106917-110895. It is stamped September 20 1897. If that is when the owner received it then it was built before that date.

Here are the features on my guns. Dates are from Semmer


107242 (1898)B Damascus 12ga Standard Lock, flat rib, raised safety, two screw bottom tang, reinforced forend lug with spur.

112228 (1899)A Damascus 12ga " "

116128 (1899)AE Damascus 12ga " "

118976 (1900)B Damascus 10ga " "

125336 (1902)CE Damascus 12ga " "

P132328 (1905)CEO 12ga Improved lock " "

133281 (1906)FE Trap barrels only Concave Rib, lug not reinforced

133930 (1906)FE 12ga Improved lock,Concave Rib,Raised Safety, lug not reinforced, two screw bottom tang.

138123 (1910)AE Damascus 12ga on 16ga frame, Improved lock,concave rib,dished out safety,lug not reinforced, one screw bottom tang

I found only a couple other differences on my guns. The guns before 125336 have a taller extractor catch (joint check)




The cocking levers on 138123 are very pointed while the rest of my guns are blunt on the end. Back action is 138123

Here are some pics showing the difference between the 16ga frame and 12ga frame. Notice the difference in the ejector rails on the barrel extensions. 112228 is a 12ga on 12ga frame, 138123 is 12ga on 16ga frame.



The two actions lined up at the top edges. The edges of the small frame gun trigger plate are at the edge of the reciever bottom, the large frame gun has around 1/8 inch material between the edge of the plate and receiver.