At the Grand, one of my friends and I were discussing the great Remington Model 31 shotguns. During the conversation he mentioned he had a rare "Long Range" model. In fact he had it with him. Sorry that this is a
"worthless" thread without photos, but out of respect for him I agreed not to take a picture.
We did measure the bore and choke on this 32 inch barrel and the results surprised me! Can't say they were all made like this, but most likely, to be "Long Range" they had to be. I have a Stan Baker bore gauge set so the accuracy is there. Gun has a 5-digit serial number.
Would you believe that the bore was actually "over-bored" to .747"? This dimension ran 18" deep [depth of the gauge] and did not vary more than the width of the markings on the gauge that entire length! For those who don't know, the M31 barrels were bored out from a solid steel bar!! Who says you could not get accuracy in the early 1930's?
The choke started 2-1/4" from the muzzle and was basically a straight taper to .699". A whopping .048" constriction!!
I would love to have a 40 yard pattern on paper just to see how that choke translates to pattern density. My friend used that 31 at turkey shoots as a boy with his father holding the gun while the small son pulled the trigger. He said at 30 yards, it would just hammer the card and he won a lot of meat back in the day with it. You can imagine that it is not for sale!!
Hope you enjoyed the info.
Remington Model 31 Long Range, 32" barrel w/Simmons vent rib added. Bore .747 with .048" choke.
Scott Hanes
"worthless" thread without photos, but out of respect for him I agreed not to take a picture.
We did measure the bore and choke on this 32 inch barrel and the results surprised me! Can't say they were all made like this, but most likely, to be "Long Range" they had to be. I have a Stan Baker bore gauge set so the accuracy is there. Gun has a 5-digit serial number.
Would you believe that the bore was actually "over-bored" to .747"? This dimension ran 18" deep [depth of the gauge] and did not vary more than the width of the markings on the gauge that entire length! For those who don't know, the M31 barrels were bored out from a solid steel bar!! Who says you could not get accuracy in the early 1930's?
The choke started 2-1/4" from the muzzle and was basically a straight taper to .699". A whopping .048" constriction!!
I would love to have a 40 yard pattern on paper just to see how that choke translates to pattern density. My friend used that 31 at turkey shoots as a boy with his father holding the gun while the small son pulled the trigger. He said at 30 yards, it would just hammer the card and he won a lot of meat back in the day with it. You can imagine that it is not for sale!!
Hope you enjoyed the info.
Remington Model 31 Long Range, 32" barrel w/Simmons vent rib added. Bore .747 with .048" choke.
Scott Hanes
