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kid0917 Offline OP
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I always have heard good about these guns. I finally nabbed one on gunbroker. Won't get to see it in hand until next week, but it does have checkering on stock and forend. Who has experience with these old guns?

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I have one that belonged to my Dad. Its a 31L with aluminum receiver. Very light and kicks like an angry mule. I killed my first 3 deer with it before I got a rifle plus a couple of ducks, some doves, and a squirrel or two when I was a kid. I used to shoot it all the time way back in the day. It has a very smooth action.

Mine is not checkered but has ribs on the forend. I think they quit making them in the 1950's sometime and I assume they were replaced by the 870.


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kid0917 Offline OP
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Yes, I think 1949 was their last run. I have seen the ones with the corncob forend and smooth rear stock in photos.

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Very nice shotguns... my son restocked one in some fancy maple when he was 10. His wife shoots it a bit and it works beautifully. No smoother action out there. I also got a screaming deal on a 16 a few years ago and gave it to Riley for Christmas that year. IMO, the best of the old pumps, hands down.


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Originally Posted by RJY66
I have one that belonged to my Dad. Its a 31L with aluminum receiver. Very light and kicks like an angry mule. I killed my first 3 deer with it before I got a rifle plus a couple of ducks, some doves, and a squirrel or two when I was a kid. I used to shoot it all the time way back in the day. It has a very smooth action.

Mine is not checkered but has ribs on the forend. I think they quit making them in the 1950's sometime and I assume they were replaced by the 870.


The Sportsman 48 was the lead-up to the 870. The 31 is not even close to the same gun. I think the swap to the 48 and end of the 31 was a little earlier and they made the 48 and the 870 together for quite a long time, but the 48 was first. 48 and 870 barrels are interchangeable, too.


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I may be showing my ignorance but isn't the model 48 a semi auto? As I remember the story they were just a round receiviered copy of the hump back model 11. They were both long recoil autos IIRC. My above statement may be proof that I don't know Remingtons and should stick with what I know, Winchesters. Back to the subject of the model 31 pump gun. I have had several over the years. These were built in an era when Remington took pride in their work. Except for the lightweight aluminum recievered model, the model 31's were made of milled steel including the trigger group. No mystery metal casings, mim, or stamped parts. These guns were well received and rugged. I read a report somewhere that their use as military training guns for air crews and had few instances of failure or fatigue reported. Remington during the war knew it would not last forever and was in development of new sporting arms for the fighting men when they got home. It was almost universally desired to make the guns lighter and cheaper. Knowing this, the expensive to make model 31 was soon to be scraped for a cheaper to make model. If I wasn't so heavily invested in Winchester model 12's the model 31's would be my main interest. Great guns.

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I've had four different twelve gauges, still have two of them. I too think they are the best of the classic pump guns. The screwy thing is that Remington redesigned the guns twice in the eighteen years they made them. It's not obvious what they accomplished by doing that but it certainly didn't make them worse. It's a really well thought out design, not cheap to make as noted, but looks great and works slick.

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Very nice handling guns. Turned into the Mossberg 500. They found a way to make it cheap. But not as Smooth !

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kid0917 Offline OP
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Originally Posted by Sitka deer
Very nice shotguns... my son restocked one in some fancy maple when he was 10. His wife shoots it a bit and it works beautifully. No smoother action out there. I also got a screaming deal on a 16 a few years ago and gave it to Riley for Christmas that year. IMO, the best of the old pumps, hands down.


This one looks like is has some type of finish wearing off on the stock, would you or Riley have some time this winter to take a look at some photos and give me a steer on it?

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I love pump guns.. I have half a dozen 870' s , a couple model 12s, a BPS, a 97, a moss 835, and i have had 4 or 5 model 37's.. My model 31 is a 12, with a solid rib 30" full choke.. Typical of pumps from that era... I just love it.. The full choke is not my favorite, but it is a great gun.. It was listed as the pump with a ball bearing action.. That is true...


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kid0917 Offline OP
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what's your fave of those pumpguns for sage chickens?

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Originally Posted by stuvwxyz
I may be showing my ignorance but isn't the model 48 a semi auto? As I remember the story they were just a round receiviered copy of the hump back model 11. They were both long recoil autos IIRC. My above statement may be proof that I don't know Remingtons and should stick with what I know, Winchesters. Back to the subject of the model 31 pump gun. I have had several over the years. These were built in an era when Remington took pride in their work. Except for the lightweight aluminum recievered model, the model 31's were made of milled steel including the trigger group. No mystery metal casings, mim, or stamped parts. These guns were well received and rugged. I read a report somewhere that their use as military training guns for air crews and had few instances of failure or fatigue reported. Remington during the war knew it would not last forever and was in development of new sporting arms for the fighting men when they got home. It was almost universally desired to make the guns lighter and cheaper. Knowing this, the expensive to make model 31 was soon to be scraped for a cheaper to make model. If I wasn't so heavily invested in Winchester model 12's the model 31's would be my main interest. Great guns.


Just saw this... you are absolutely correct. No idea what I was thinking!

The 48 is the semi-auto... It is the Sportsman 12 I was confusing... They are a bit obscure and not the model 12 pump 22lr.


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Originally Posted by NEBHUNTER
Very nice handling guns. Turned into the Mossberg 500. They found a way to make it cheap. But not as Smooth !

the Mossberg 500 could never be confused with the 31 in hand... They took out the bearings and added coarse sand... They added weight and made it clumsy... the 31 just feels good, the 500, not so much...


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Originally Posted by kid0917
Originally Posted by Sitka deer
Very nice shotguns... my son restocked one in some fancy maple when he was 10. His wife shoots it a bit and it works beautifully. No smoother action out there. I also got a screaming deal on a 16 a few years ago and gave it to Riley for Christmas that year. IMO, the best of the old pumps, hands down.


This one looks like is has some type of finish wearing off on the stock, would you or Riley have some time this winter to take a look at some photos and give me a steer on it?

Originally Posted by kid0917
Originally Posted by Sitka deer
Very nice shotguns... my son restocked one in some fancy maple when he was 10. His wife shoots it a bit and it works beautifully. No smoother action out there. I also got a screaming deal on a 16 a few years ago and gave it to Riley for Christmas that year. IMO, the best of the old pumps, hands down.


This one looks like is has some type of finish wearing off on the stock, would you or Riley have some time this winter to take a look at some photos and give me a steer on it?

The finish on ones i have played with is very, very easy to play with and clean up. No problem to help you with it.


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I assume you have a 12?


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kid0917 Offline OP
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smile heck no. I am a sub gauge man of late. a cute little 20 ga.

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Originally Posted by kid0917
smile heck no. I am a sub gauge man of late. a cute little 20 ga.

I can probably lay hands on the old stock from Riley's 31. It is in fine shape IIRC. Yours if you want it. Though the finish on a 31 is a short project to fix.


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kid0917 Offline OP
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Thanks!! I will send you mine to play around with. send me a PM yours are always full. (hate mail, maybe? :D)

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Yep, a 20 ga with MOD barrel. Beautiful guns. You’ll be impressed, and fall in love with it.


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I have two M31's in 12ga, one is a 31-S and the other a 31-H, both with solid rib 30" full choke barrels. They have been death on clay birds and open country dove. I also have a M31 standard in 16ga. It hasn't received a whole lot of play as I have had my 16ga M12 longer and gravitate to it whenever the need arises.

My Dad had a M31 solid rib skeet that I sold for some new fangled mess when I was young and stupid. This model will always have a special place in my heart that no 870 will ever fill.


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