Remington Model 81

[Doublebit]

I have an old Remington Model 81 in 30 Remington that I haven't fired in years. It's in very good condition, but the wood was refinished years ago before I got it. The refinish is not an oil finish. The metal is in very good condition.

I'm thinking of selling it to finance another purchase. Do any of you have any idea of what it would be worth?

LT

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Check closed auctions on gunbroker. Being in 30 rem with no ammo avail. could lower final price. Also list it here in our classifieds with pics.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Mike's right about the ammo. But at least .30 Remington was discontinued recent enough where someone might still find ammo in the right gun shops. That will definitely be a factor, though, with a potential buyer. I just looked at an original finish Model 81 showing use and it was priced at $500. My Model 81 is .300 savage.

 

[ggibson511960]

Difficult to Price

In this crazy market you just don't know. Without seeing it I would opine that your 81 is south of $500, but who knows? A collector seeking to round out his 81 stable with that hard to find .30 Remington might bite hard. They are pretty common in .300 Savage and .35 Rem, neither of which is a big deal to find ammunition. .30 Remington is a different deal. The head size is unique to Remington so forming it from something else is out of the question, unless you wanted to down grade even rarer .32 Rem. The .30 Remington AR has the same head size, but is too short. Dedicated loonies are making the stuff out of .30-30 Win. by turning off the rims and cutting an extractor groove, one at a time, on a lathe. Long term, this may be the only source. Old Western Scrounger still sells loaded .30 Rem. I haven't bought any, so I have no idea where they get the brass to make it.

81's are beautiful guns. I treasure mine. They are quirky but reliable Browning designs made the old fashioned way out of forged and machined parts, the first successful sporting semi-auto (counting its predecessor the Model 8).

 

[Valmet]

Those old Model 8s and 81s are such cool old guns! I have a 1914 mfg Model 8 in .35 Rem that was handed down to me thru the years. For one like yours, realistically I'd guess $350-450 for a quick sale mostly due to ammo availability.

 

[Drm50]

I agree on refinished 81 in 30Rem will be south of $500. Same
gun in 35R or 300s will bring $700. I like the old Rem 8-81 and
14-141. I have several and have owned many. I recently bought
a well used 14 in 30R. Main reason was to get ammo that went
with it. 2 boxes of the ammo were Rems, in the Green & Yellow
box, I would say 70's or 80's production. I load it, so I am in petty good shape. In the woods it's easy to loose brass out of
the autos. 32s are a little harder to come by, but not as hard
as the 25Rem. One bonus that may be encountered on these
rifles are after market tang sights, they can be worth $100+.
Something to take into consideration when buying or selling.

 

[DWalt]

.30 Rem brass is not that hard to find, and it can be reloaded using .30-30 dies. Occasionally, .30 Rem ammo is found at gun shows. If you have access to a lathe, it's simple to make .30 Rem brass from .30-30 brass, just reduce the rim diameter and cut a new extraction groove. The first firing will fire-form the brass to fill the .30 Rem chamber. Not knowing the condition of your 81, I might say anywhere in the $300-$500 range. Now, there were higher grade Model 81s made with premium wood and engraving, and the price can go way up on those. Go to The Great Model 8 & 81 That's the forum where you can find ANYTHING about these rifles.

 

[Rubone]

Love my 81 in .35 Rem. It was a great price as it was gifted to me by a neighbor who's father had passed away and no one in her family wanted "that old rifle". I always helped her out with little tasks so she refused any payment for it. My wife refers to me as the "neighborhood husband" due to the many times I'm out doing stuff for the neighbors. But in this case it paid off!

 

[DWalt]

There's a lot of history surrounding the 8s and 81s, and not many today are familiar with it. FN made them in Belgium before Remington did. The Army evaluated them for potential military use. Pancho Villa's bodyguards carried them. TR carried one to Africa. The FBI used them for many years. And many law enforcement agencies and prisons did also.

 

[poordevil]

You can buy new ammo for it from Old Western Scrounger

 

[DWalt]

Firing the M8/M81 in .35 Rem and the M81 in .300 Savage will loosen the fillings in your teeth. The recoil from the .25/.30/.32 Rem is much more tolerable. Several years back, my brother, not a small guy, fired my .300 Savage M81 once with a full load, and decided he didn't really want to fire a second shot. I usually underload the .300 Savage to about the .30 Rem level. And .300 Savage cases are very easily formed from .308 Win brass, just a pass though a .300 FL die, followed by trimming to length. You can easily form .25 and .32 Rem cases from .30 Rem brass.

 

[2152hq]

I have a soft spot for the Model 8 and 81. I have several and the 'odd' calibers don't deter me from purchasing them. But for the off the shelf ammo buyer, it can be a problem unless it's a 300Sav or a 35Rem. even the latter is starting to be a ghost item in most areas.
Remington was making an annual run of 30Rem brass which can be used to make 32 and 25 rem easily. I don't know if they're still doing that. I have enough of that and some other factory once fired 60's ammo to keep me satisfied.

Sometimes people will switch out bbl and recv;r units, so it pays to look for the matching ser#s and bolt caliber ID. Recoil springs can differ betw calibers, a few are the same like 30 and 32. Others not. Breech bolt face differs from the 25/30/32 to the 35 to the 300.

$500 +/- is a decent price range for a shooter Model 81 depending on caliber and originality.
Add things like Police Markings, or a Lyman or Marbles tang & bbl sights, Kreiger or other detachable mag, factory 'graded rifles and the price goes up quickly.

 

[koz5614]

This is my only 81 right now, but I'd like to pick up one in .300 Savage:

 

[DWalt]

For those interested in making .30 Rem brass from .30-30 cases, here is a writeup I did some 5 years ago on my experience: thegreatmodel8.remingtonsociety.com

I have made up about 50 such cases, but I don't do it any longer, as I have accumulated over 200 original factory cases in the interim. Reed's in Oklahoma City usually stocks .30 Rem, but they show it back-ordered at present. Ditto Buffalo Arms.

This Model 8 in .30 Rem is from 1915:

Note the three charger clips. They are quite rare and valuable, if you ever run across one.

 

[Valmet]

Koz- that thing looks awesome! Yours is nice as well DWalt.

 

[DWalt]

Some time ago, a quantity of Remington "White Box" .30 Rem ammunition with FMJ bullets came on the market from somewhere, probably a larger LE agency. It all dated from the early 1960s. I bought two boxes of it a couple of years ago for $30/box, but haven't fired any. I once saw an ad for a full case of the FBI .30 Rem ammunition for sale, in commercial-style 20 round boxes. I had read the FBI used a lighter special load, not the normal sporting load. There must be a story there, but I don't know what it is. The FBI guns were somewhat special themselves, and came with a fitted hard carrying case. Very few of those found their way onto the market. I also heard once about the U. S. Navy using the Model 8 in some limited role, don't know any more than that, but there is a picture of some Navy guys firing a Model 8.

 

[Doug627]

Frank Hamer used a Remington Model 8 during the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde.

 

[DWalt]

Frank Hamer used a Remington Model 8 during the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde.

Actually, he probably didn't. Best evidence was that he used a shotgun on that occasion. The gun often stated to have been used by Hamer was an engraved Model 81, which hadn't yet been made at the time of the B&C ambush. But apparently there was at least one and maybe two Model 8s there. I won't get into who used what, as there are numerous conflicting theories on that, and no one knows who is correct. But there were no Thompson SMGs there, just one BAR.

 

[bigolddave]

Had an 81 in .300 Savage, that had an upgraded, checkered stock. Never got around to shooting it, as it seemed rather awkward although classic looking. I believe that 30/06 charger clips for the Springfield can be used for .300 and .35, but not for the others.

I found four very clean late boxes of .30 Rem at a gun show, and snapped them up for a Stevens 425 I have. The Stevens is marked .30/30 Remington, and unlike the 8 and 81, requires round nose bullets, due to the tubular magazine.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

My 81 is one of my all time favorite guns. A .300 made in 1949.