doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com R.C. Pope's Dubiel (?) Remington Model 37

Thurman Randle (1890-1957), of Dallas, TX, was one of the country's top smallbore shooters in the 1930's, and also a prominent sporting goods dealer. He received a pre-production Model 37 upon its introduction at Camp Perry in September 1936, which he used to dominate the October 10-11 1936 Oklahoma State Small Bore Championship. Randle, however, was not happy with the 37's stock, and provided feedback to Remington that by 1940 resulted in the "Randle stock".

R.C. Pope (1901-1988) was another 1930's top smallbore shooter who lived in Dallas, and had Thurman Randle as a mentor, shooting buddy, teammate, and competitor. Pope was a member of the 1932, 1938, and 1940 US Dewar teams, as well as the victorious 1939 US Pershing Trophy Match team.

Pope's main competition gun was a 1929 Winchester Model 52, with a custom stock by John Dubiel and a barrel by Eric Johnson. He also owned a Dubiel stocked & barreled Winchester 1885 22LR.

See: Dubiel Win 52 Thread
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=601440

See: Dubiel Win 1885 thread
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=601424

John Dubiel (1892-1937) was the former stockmaker for high end custom gunmaker Hoffman Arms, and opened his own gunsmith shop, Dubiel Arms Co., in Ardmore, OK in 1930. Ardmore is only ~110 miles (~2 hrs) from Dallas, so it was an easy trip for Pope to visit Dubiel, considered one of the the best stockmakers in the US.

In 1938, Pope was also shooting a Rem 37, and a Remington ad in the November 1938 American Rifleman says Pope "took home" a Rem 37 from Camp Perry, and switched from his Win 52 to the Rem 37 to win the 1938 Southwestern Smallbore Championship, beating Thurman Randle by one point (see below).

In 1939 Pope went to the UK as part of the US Pershing Trophy Match team. He used his Win 52 to help the US team win the Pershing Trophy on July 9. The next day he switched to his Rem 37 for the individual matches, including the Vickers Challenge Shield, which he won, shooting a perfect 400x400 on a Dewar course. For winning the Vickers, Pope got his name on the shield, a cash prize, and a 9 karat gold medal. Pope memorialized his perfect score by having the medal inset on the side of the Rem 37 stock.

See 1939 PERSHING CUP THREAD
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=601454

Pope's Rem 37, still owned by his family, is SN 01894, making it 1937 production. The rifle has been rebarreled with a Remington barrel with a "XSS" date code (December 1947). The equipment list for the 1939 Pershing Cup team includes Pope's Rem 37, but as there is no mention of any special barrel (e.g. Eric Johnson), it is likely the original barrel was a factory Remington.

The rifle has a beautiful custom stock, which looks very much like a Dubiel stock. It makes sense that if Pope got an early Rem 37, and given Randle's issues with the factory stock, Pope would have Dubiel do another custom stock for him. The shape of the fore end, the wooden hand stop, the shape of the cheek piece, the type of checkering at the wrist (although this stock is even nicer than the Dubiel Win 52s), and the checkering at the butt (identical to my Dubiel Win 52 SN 19011) are all consistent with other Dubiel guns.

However, in deciding whether or not this is a Dubiel stock, there is an issue - John Dubiel died on August 19, 1937, after a short illness. Also, as noted above, the Remington ad says R. C. Pope came home from Camp Perry in late 1938 with a Remington Model 37 (this one?).

The time window between production of Rem 37 SN 01894 and Dubiel's death in August 1937 seems very small. I have seen reference to a Rem 37 with SN 01421 with a 2/37 barrel date, but most seem to have a later date.

QUESTION: If not Dubiel, is there anyone else who could have made the Rem 37 stock?

It's a bit of a mystery. In any case, it's a beautiful gun!

More photos:















Finally, here is a close up of the 9kt gold Vickers medal, the last of just 19 ever made (hidden side of Vickers medal provided by British NSRA, successor to SMRC).

Here's a side by side comparison of two Dubiel Win 52's vs. Pope's Rem 37.

l would say that the Rem 37 also has a Dubiel stock, except that it looks like Dubiel died just before the rifle was made. If Pope commissioned another gunsmith to make him a Rem 37 stock in the Dubiel style, he certainly found someone who knew what they were doing!