The local gun shop owner steered me toward a rifle that just came in. He then offered it to me at a killer price, so I had to take it home.
He knows I have a weak spot for unique designs it is that. While John Browning designed things with an eye toward simplicity, Irwin Pedersen designed with an eye toward elegance, often at the expense of much greater complexity.
The Remington Model 121 (and it’s Model 12 predecessor) is a great example as it doesn’t use an action bar, but rather uses the magazine tube to operate the bolt.
The tube incorporates a slot for the lifter and an arm to engage the bolt. It’s arguably the smoothest operating pump rifle ever made.
It was introduced in 1936 to replace the Model 12. There were some detail changes but the major improvement of the 121 was the ability to manage a steady diet of the new high velocity .22 LR ammo, introduced by Remington in 1930. The receiver is a bit thicker and is supposed to be a little stronger.
It was discontinued in 1954 when the Model 572 was released, but they still produced just under 200,000 of them even with WWII interrupting its 18 year production run.
The Remington 572 had an aluminum received and a slide bar and lacked the quality feel, IMHO, of the earlier rifles.
The blue on this Model 121 is very good coverage wise, with just a little wear on the sharp edges (more than the low evening “sellers light” shows) and of course the magazine tube where it slides through the barrel hanger. However, it’s also showing clear indicators of going over to a purple-brown patina, which isn’t a bad finish on an old gun. It has a bright bore with sharp rifling, and little internal wear. I suspect it spent most of its life in closets.
The low four digit serial number puts it’s manufacture date in early 1937 making it 86 years old. Here’s hoping I look as good at age 86.
He knows I have a weak spot for unique designs it is that. While John Browning designed things with an eye toward simplicity, Irwin Pedersen designed with an eye toward elegance, often at the expense of much greater complexity.
The Remington Model 121 (and it’s Model 12 predecessor) is a great example as it doesn’t use an action bar, but rather uses the magazine tube to operate the bolt.
The tube incorporates a slot for the lifter and an arm to engage the bolt. It’s arguably the smoothest operating pump rifle ever made.
It was introduced in 1936 to replace the Model 12. There were some detail changes but the major improvement of the 121 was the ability to manage a steady diet of the new high velocity .22 LR ammo, introduced by Remington in 1930. The receiver is a bit thicker and is supposed to be a little stronger.
It was discontinued in 1954 when the Model 572 was released, but they still produced just under 200,000 of them even with WWII interrupting its 18 year production run.
The Remington 572 had an aluminum received and a slide bar and lacked the quality feel, IMHO, of the earlier rifles.
The blue on this Model 121 is very good coverage wise, with just a little wear on the sharp edges (more than the low evening “sellers light” shows) and of course the magazine tube where it slides through the barrel hanger. However, it’s also showing clear indicators of going over to a purple-brown patina, which isn’t a bad finish on an old gun. It has a bright bore with sharp rifling, and little internal wear. I suspect it spent most of its life in closets.
The low four digit serial number puts it’s manufacture date in early 1937 making it 86 years old. Here’s hoping I look as good at age 86.
