What do we make of this 3 IN stamp on the barrel of this Remington Model 10 D "Tournament" Grade. Note the 3 IN stamp on the barrel to the left of the engraved FULL in pictures 6 and 7.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-f...un_id=100925888

Yeah, i doubt it is original. On graded Remington guns of that era the choke markings are usually hand engraved and i would speculate that the chamber markings would be as well.

Too bad someone washed the engraving on the barrel.

No mention of bbl ser# (matching or not) or if the grade (5) is engraved on the bottom of the bbl.

I think the frame is a pre-WW1 by ser# and also the fact that it doesn't use a lock screw for the trigger guard cross screw in the frame.
That would be before the use of bbl date codes (1921)

The Bbl looks to have a date code on the left side (B?) but I can't quite read it in the pic.

(I thought it might be BA, but that would make it Jan/1932. Too late for a Model 10 production code.
It would be OK for a repair code but there should be a '3' along with it. Maybe it just went the way of the buffing wheel.)


The plain 'Field' bbl (not even a matted top surface) on a D-Grade, along with the bbl engraving not even close to matching the style and quality of the frame,,I'd suspect a replacement/upgraded front half to an orig D grade recv'r and butt stock.
( I know,,the bbl engraving was often done by a different engraver, but this one really doesn't match up)

The sellers statement-- "Barrel and magazine tube are very nicely refinished in our opinion."
..No kiddin',,refinished you're thinking.

That 3in wack stamp and no mention of it or any bbl/chamber alteration done sure got glossed over by the seller. Maybe they just didn't see that.
"Bore is excellent" though, so they at least looked through the hole in the end of the bbl.

Maybe I'm just too suspicious of everything I see now.

You can often tell more about a gun, by the views the photos do not show, than the ones which has been artfully shown. I look for what is missing, views never shown by omission or deliberately not shown so you can't see what they are. In this case I would expect a clear photo of the barrel serial number.

The front and rear of the gun just do not seem to go together. It's like a 56-57 Chevy hybrid, neither one or the other. Why would the owner poorly refinish the front end of a gun but not the rear end? One obvious answer is that the front end was added later and refreshed at that time after it was engraved to match the receiver. Maybe it is legit but I don't think so.

The barrel is definitely from the teens as the roll-stamp on the top says Remington Arms - Union Metallic Cartridge Co. From 1920 onward it would say Remington Arms Co., Inc. My local Cabelas, a while back, had a Model 10-A from right in the 1920 transition era that carried a roll-stamp Remington Arms Co., Inc. successor to Remington Arms - Union Metallic Cartridge Co.

I was just really wondering if there was any way to convert a Model 10 to handle 3-inch shells? Back in the 1940s and early 50s Arthur Kovalovsky of North Hollywood, CA, would convert Browning A5s, and Remington Sportsman & Model 11s to handle 3-inch shells. See pages 69 and 73 of Shotguns by Keith.

The M10 converts fairly easily to 3in.
The loading/ejection port on the bottom is about 1/16" shy of 3" long. It usually works OK as is, but if needed, that 1/16+ in can be carefully removed at the rear from the inside ft flat of the trigger guard group.
That abutment isn't too deep into the action but it's fairly thick so there is some metal to work with.

At the front, the port is clear right up against the breech face so nothing can or needs to be done there.

The action will feed and eject 3" loaded rounds as it is (2 3/4" oal).
If the 3" shells are truly that,,3 inches in length (fired),,no more,,they extract and eject OK. (A touch less all the better!)
Any longer and the fired cases will start to hang up on ejection.

Bbl is pretty stout and a rechamber to 3" along with the forcing cone alteration most likely doesn't approach slim wall dimensions but careful measurements before any such work should be done first to be sure.
I haven't seen any X-ray vision'd gunsmiths yet though I've seen their work around.

Kutter it would be a "4" grade marking.

It may have been converted to 3in, but not many modern 3in shells have been through it since the original stock is still in one piece! Lol

Will