This is another advance look at a draft of a coming article. As always, comments welcome.
John
Remington Models 8 and 81 semiautomatic rifles
The date was May 23, 1934. Clyde Barrow and his girlfriend Bonnie Parker were racing down a country road in Louisiana in a stolen 1933 Ford V8, hell-bent on their way to make yet another bank robbery. The pair was already responsible for numerous other robberies, and also for as many as 17 vicious murders in the process. A carefully-assembled law enforcement team headed by legendary former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer had spent 102 days of sleuthing to figure out where the two were and where they were headed. Hamer had painstakingly studied Barrow’s patterns of movement, and these patterns fit a tip he received that Bonnie and Clyde were on their way to a rural bank in Bienville Parish, Louisiana to make an unauthorized withdrawal. It was well known that the two were well armed and that Barrow had vowed he would never be taken alive. Figuring the probable route of their travel, Hamer had “persuaded” the father of one of Barrow’s friends and known accomplices near that road to act as a decoy to stop the car so an ambush could take place. The police took up positions and waited for hours. Finally, at 9:15 that morning, the stolen car was seen careening down the road toward the ambush site, just as anticipated. The decoy waved his arms as the car approached, and Barrow, recognizing the man, slowed down and stopped near him. That was his fatal mistake.
The lawmen visibly deployed, and Bonnie and Clyde were cut off from escape. There were six men in the posse - four Texas officers and two Louisiana lawmen. All were armed to the teeth with rifles, shotguns and handguns. Two of them, Hamer and Sheriff’s Deputy Prentiss Oakley, carried Remington Model 8 semiautomatic rifles. Barrow, in the driver’s seat, looked around frantically for a way out. There was none. One of the officers called Barrow out, but there was no response. Deputy Oakley, well-known as a crack marksman, responded immediately, using his Model 8 chambered in .35 Remington to fire the first shot of the day through Barrow’s left temple, killing him instantly. Over 130 shots were then fired into the car, and Bonnie Parker’s life was snuffed out quickly.
When the smoke cleared, there was no doubt about the deadly outcome. The Swiss-cheesed car eventually wound up on display in a Las Vegas casino.
The Bonnie and Clyde death car, riddled with bullet holes
The future Remington Model 8 was designed and patented on October 16, 1900 by John Moses Browning, who sold the patent rights to Remington. He at that time also worked on what was to become the Browning Auto-5 shotgun. The rifle and the shotgun shared the same long-stroke recoil operating system. For the first 5 years after its introduction in 1906, the rifle was known only as the “Remington Autoloading Rifle.” It became the Model 8 in 1911. This was the first semiautomatic rifle capable of reliably firing full-power cartridges on a par with the popular .30-30 Winchester. The innovative rifle had a 22” fully-jacketed reciprocating barrel. The fixed-in-place box magazine could be filled using stripper clips. Four then-new rounds were developed for the Model 8. The first was the .35 Remington, then the .30 Remington in 1907, and then finally the 32 and .25 Remington. The .35 Remington magazine had a capacity of 4 rounds, while the others could accommodate 5.
John Browning entered into an agreement with Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium to make this rifle as the FN Model 1900. Sales were restricted to areas outside of the United States. This model was made from 1910 to 1929, with only mediocre sales. A total of 4,913 were produced and sold, mostly in Europe and Canada. They are found only rarely today in the U.S.
In operation, the bolt (with a rotating bolt head) and the barrel, locked together, recoil to the rear in firing while compressing a pair of recoil springs. Then the bolt is retained to the rear while the barrel moves forward by one of the springs as extraction and ejection take place. Then the bolt is released and returned forward by the second spring, in the process stripping another round from the magazine and chambering it. The bolt has a hold-open mechanism that activates when the magazine is empty. The Model 8 can be taken down for transportation, as the barrel and receiver will easily separate without the need for tools.
Remington went full-bore with its promotional advertising for its new rifle, and professional artwork showed hunters confronting bears, wolves, and other intimidating animals with it. The idea was conveyed that here was a powerful, fast-acting and reliable semiautomatic rifle that could be counted on in desperate situations. It worked. Sales were brisk, not only among civilians, but also by police organizations, who often had their rifles modified to take extended magazines.
In 1936, with improvements by Remington’s C.C. Loomis, the Model 8 became the Model 81 Woodsmaster. In 1937, the .25 Remington caliber was dropped, making 81s in that chambering rare collector items. In 1940, it was also offered in .300 Savage chambering. There were 5 different grades provided. These were Standard (81A), Special (81B), Peerless (81D), Expert (81E) and Premier (81F). The FBI ordered a number of these Model 81s.
The Model 81 Police Models were specially customized. These had higher capacity magazines holding 10, 15 or 20 rounds. Many had larger fore-ends and some had special engraving for individual police departments. There were two main sources for these custom guns: Peace Officer’s Equipment (POE) of St. Joseph, Missouri, and Hawkeye Protective Appliance Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. Remington made plans to make their own police guns in 1938, and probably counted on working with the POE Company. Only a few of these were made; the quantity is unknown. Collectors pay high prices for them when found; one is illustrated as the lower gun in the photo here.
Production figures show that about 26,000 Remington Autoloading Rifles were made from 1906 to 1911, 80,600 Model 8s from 1911 to 1936, and 55,581 Model 81s from 1936 to 1950, when production ceased. Total production of all models was 162,181.
Five years after the Model 81 was dropped from the Remington line, in 1955 Remington came out with the Model 740, a gas-operated semiautomatic rifle. It inherited the Woodsmaster name from the earlier rifles. Over the years, the 740 evolved to become the 742, 7400 and then the 750. The 750 was discontinued in late 2016. The only centerfire semiauto rifles made by Remington now are the R-15 and R-25 AR-style models.
Model 8s and Model 81s are still found in the hunting fields today, and they have become popular collecting items that evoke nostalgia for the good old days and the good old guns that were made to last for a long, long time. They are landmark American rifles!
(c) 2019 JLM
John
Remington Models 8 and 81 semiautomatic rifles
The date was May 23, 1934. Clyde Barrow and his girlfriend Bonnie Parker were racing down a country road in Louisiana in a stolen 1933 Ford V8, hell-bent on their way to make yet another bank robbery. The pair was already responsible for numerous other robberies, and also for as many as 17 vicious murders in the process. A carefully-assembled law enforcement team headed by legendary former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer had spent 102 days of sleuthing to figure out where the two were and where they were headed. Hamer had painstakingly studied Barrow’s patterns of movement, and these patterns fit a tip he received that Bonnie and Clyde were on their way to a rural bank in Bienville Parish, Louisiana to make an unauthorized withdrawal. It was well known that the two were well armed and that Barrow had vowed he would never be taken alive. Figuring the probable route of their travel, Hamer had “persuaded” the father of one of Barrow’s friends and known accomplices near that road to act as a decoy to stop the car so an ambush could take place. The police took up positions and waited for hours. Finally, at 9:15 that morning, the stolen car was seen careening down the road toward the ambush site, just as anticipated. The decoy waved his arms as the car approached, and Barrow, recognizing the man, slowed down and stopped near him. That was his fatal mistake.
The lawmen visibly deployed, and Bonnie and Clyde were cut off from escape. There were six men in the posse - four Texas officers and two Louisiana lawmen. All were armed to the teeth with rifles, shotguns and handguns. Two of them, Hamer and Sheriff’s Deputy Prentiss Oakley, carried Remington Model 8 semiautomatic rifles. Barrow, in the driver’s seat, looked around frantically for a way out. There was none. One of the officers called Barrow out, but there was no response. Deputy Oakley, well-known as a crack marksman, responded immediately, using his Model 8 chambered in .35 Remington to fire the first shot of the day through Barrow’s left temple, killing him instantly. Over 130 shots were then fired into the car, and Bonnie Parker’s life was snuffed out quickly.
When the smoke cleared, there was no doubt about the deadly outcome. The Swiss-cheesed car eventually wound up on display in a Las Vegas casino.
The Bonnie and Clyde death car, riddled with bullet holes
The future Remington Model 8 was designed and patented on October 16, 1900 by John Moses Browning, who sold the patent rights to Remington. He at that time also worked on what was to become the Browning Auto-5 shotgun. The rifle and the shotgun shared the same long-stroke recoil operating system. For the first 5 years after its introduction in 1906, the rifle was known only as the “Remington Autoloading Rifle.” It became the Model 8 in 1911. This was the first semiautomatic rifle capable of reliably firing full-power cartridges on a par with the popular .30-30 Winchester. The innovative rifle had a 22” fully-jacketed reciprocating barrel. The fixed-in-place box magazine could be filled using stripper clips. Four then-new rounds were developed for the Model 8. The first was the .35 Remington, then the .30 Remington in 1907, and then finally the 32 and .25 Remington. The .35 Remington magazine had a capacity of 4 rounds, while the others could accommodate 5.
John Browning entered into an agreement with Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium to make this rifle as the FN Model 1900. Sales were restricted to areas outside of the United States. This model was made from 1910 to 1929, with only mediocre sales. A total of 4,913 were produced and sold, mostly in Europe and Canada. They are found only rarely today in the U.S.
In operation, the bolt (with a rotating bolt head) and the barrel, locked together, recoil to the rear in firing while compressing a pair of recoil springs. Then the bolt is retained to the rear while the barrel moves forward by one of the springs as extraction and ejection take place. Then the bolt is released and returned forward by the second spring, in the process stripping another round from the magazine and chambering it. The bolt has a hold-open mechanism that activates when the magazine is empty. The Model 8 can be taken down for transportation, as the barrel and receiver will easily separate without the need for tools.
Remington went full-bore with its promotional advertising for its new rifle, and professional artwork showed hunters confronting bears, wolves, and other intimidating animals with it. The idea was conveyed that here was a powerful, fast-acting and reliable semiautomatic rifle that could be counted on in desperate situations. It worked. Sales were brisk, not only among civilians, but also by police organizations, who often had their rifles modified to take extended magazines.
In 1936, with improvements by Remington’s C.C. Loomis, the Model 8 became the Model 81 Woodsmaster. In 1937, the .25 Remington caliber was dropped, making 81s in that chambering rare collector items. In 1940, it was also offered in .300 Savage chambering. There were 5 different grades provided. These were Standard (81A), Special (81B), Peerless (81D), Expert (81E) and Premier (81F). The FBI ordered a number of these Model 81s.
The Model 81 Police Models were specially customized. These had higher capacity magazines holding 10, 15 or 20 rounds. Many had larger fore-ends and some had special engraving for individual police departments. There were two main sources for these custom guns: Peace Officer’s Equipment (POE) of St. Joseph, Missouri, and Hawkeye Protective Appliance Co. of Des Moines, Iowa. Remington made plans to make their own police guns in 1938, and probably counted on working with the POE Company. Only a few of these were made; the quantity is unknown. Collectors pay high prices for them when found; one is illustrated as the lower gun in the photo here.
Production figures show that about 26,000 Remington Autoloading Rifles were made from 1906 to 1911, 80,600 Model 8s from 1911 to 1936, and 55,581 Model 81s from 1936 to 1950, when production ceased. Total production of all models was 162,181.
Five years after the Model 81 was dropped from the Remington line, in 1955 Remington came out with the Model 740, a gas-operated semiautomatic rifle. It inherited the Woodsmaster name from the earlier rifles. Over the years, the 740 evolved to become the 742, 7400 and then the 750. The 750 was discontinued in late 2016. The only centerfire semiauto rifles made by Remington now are the R-15 and R-25 AR-style models.
Model 8s and Model 81s are still found in the hunting fields today, and they have become popular collecting items that evoke nostalgia for the good old days and the good old guns that were made to last for a long, long time. They are landmark American rifles!
(c) 2019 JLM
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