Had a fellow tell me he has a Remington 12 gauge sxs that has a side lever to open it. He says they are very rare and worth every penny of the $800 he is asking for it. Is this worth looking at? He says it is in very good condition. I have no idea as to any specs for the gun are but before I waste any time I would like some info on a side lever Remington

Here I may be showing my ignorance, but, this is the first I have heard of this.
Hopefully some of our Remington gurus will come along and enlighten.
Best,
John
PS---If this be real, I think I would jump all over it.

Go look at it. If you get lucky it will be in nice shape and they spelled Remington on the side plates L-E-F-E-V-E-R. If you are not lucky it is just a Belgian klunker. The early double were a thumb lifter not a side lifter. But as Klunkmeister was fond of saying ICBW.

KY Jon:
How well we remember our friend Russ. In a handful of words he could impart a page full of wisdom.
This possible, tho improbable, Remington confuses me. I have not heard of a JABC that was so named. I also have not seen any but decent guns that were side openers. This was beyond the bottom line of the makers of the JABCs.
We do see such in moderate grade good guns from some good builders.
I own and have seen quite a few from Germany and England.
I think we are not getting the whole story.
Best,
John

I have a W Richards that's a side opener. It does have Birmingham proof marks, but there is nothing to indicate it is a "Real" William Richards. More likely a JABC sent to England for proofing, or counterfeited as was coming to a non-proof law country.

I am not aware of a Remington sxs with a side lever. Of course that could be lack of knowledge. I would love to see pictures of this gun.

Remington made the Model 1893 #3 which was a single shot. It had a top lever, with a cocking lever on the side.

To my limited knowledge the earliest sxs they produced was the 1873, but it did not have a side lever.
The 1873 was designed by Whitmore. They produced this "lifter" as models 1873, 1875, 1876, 1878 and 1879.

Starting with the Remington Hepburn in 1883 they produced a series of rifles with a side lever.

This is the Model 3, single shot.


1873 Whitmore Lifter. You lifted the top lever.


1883 Remington Hepburn


Yes there were guns made in Belgium with the Remington name on them. This was under contract from Remington.

Pete

Pete:
Just so that no one is confused:
The Belgian Remingtons were NOT JABCs. And further:
JABC----Just Another Belgian Clunker, were dirt cheap guns that had misleading names on them. Such as W. Richards, T. Barker ect.
I would not like to think that, in our haste, we mislead any new to this passion.
Best,
John

This reminds me of the guy that had the Remington double, 20 bore that was 1 of 88, made for the Ohio County game wardens in the 1950s, what ever became of that?.. MDC

Your right. Wasn't he going to post pictures or something?

I think people ranted about it for 10 pages then it just faded away.

Here is a pic the guy with the supposed 20 gauge sent me. Looks like a 12ga to me. I dont remember what the result of the discussion was. I cant stand blued sxs shotguns, yes even the 21

It looks to be a model 1889, but a pic or shape of the hammers would yield a clue, that is if they haven't been replaced.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

Raimey, Sorry I kind of confused the thread. MDC brought up a previous post where the 1889 gun was said to have been in 20ga. The guy sent me pics which I posted for him. This is not the gun re 49North (who started this thread) is reffering to.

Reb87:

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought the original pic had been sent to you.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

OK now you guys have got me curious , I will phone this gent tomorrow and see if I can get a peek at this gun.I will try to post more info tomorrow night.

49North:
A lot of guys are waiting to learn more of this gun.
Best,
John

Pete M....

the Remington-Hepburn is droolworthy indeed. For what is it chambered?

Regards

GKT

Greg,

That one was at Cabelas. It was chambered in 45-70. They still have all the pictures up if you want to see more of it.
http://www.cabelas.com/gun-inventory---sidney---antique---587366-hepburn.shtml

Pete

Pete:

Thanks for the link. It was a pleasant start to the day.

Regards

GKT

Ok here it is, the gun turns out to be a W.RICHARDS 12 ga sxs with hammers & a side opener on the left side and twist barrels. I didn't correct the older gentleman as he was adamant that it is a Remington. I did get something else from his collection but not a sxs. Thanks to all who responded.Hopefully one day I will make a great find.

Sounds much like the one I have. Don't suppose you looked at the proof marks did you? Mine has early Birmingham marks, during the "Not for ball" era but doesn't have that mark. Both bbls are currently cylinder bore, so may have been built that way. Bores are marked "14" but now measure about 13ga & it has a 12ga chamber (No chamber size mark). Mine has sentimental value, but without that I would think you did well to pass at mentioned price.

Sorry , I didn't look too hard after I saw the name faintly on the side,I did see 1 mark on the water table , it was either Liege or London proof but once I saw what is was I didn't want to get into a discussion about the gun.It had an old refinish on the stock,which had a poor repair on the wrist,it was also a tad loose for my liking.This was the only shotgun in his collection,as he preferred rifles & handguns.