Anyone shoot these JMB guns?



I shoot modern rifles and pistols primarily (AR-15's), but I've recently become enamored by older rifles.

Remington's Model 8/81 attracted me because of its looks, but when I delved into its history I was floored.
When I read that it was the first commercially successful semi-auto rifle on the market, and designed by the legendary John Moses Browning, and was a favorite of hunters, as well as Prohibition-Era lawmen, I simply had to get one.

I did further research and browsed the auction sites awhile. I decided to pursue a Model 81 in .35 Remington because of the '81's price range and the availability of ammo for the .35, since the .25, .30, and .32 Remington rounds were no longer produced.

On Wednesday last I located a beautiful rifle at a shop in Mass. and jumped on it. The rifle arrived at my FFL near Green Bay, WI last night and I'm going to pick it up in a couple hours. I picked up 3 boxes a Hornady .35 ammo at Cabela's on Wedneday also. I find it strange that Remington makes ammo for so many niche rounds but not their own .35 caliber, which is still popular amongst levergun shooters. Ironically, the first rifle I almost bought many years ago was a Marlin lever-action in .35 Rem.

Remington makes .35 in 150 and 200 grain flavors. I was just looking at some today in a new shop I noticed as I was driving by.

the 32 remington round packs a punch. neat little round

you can reload for it, but you have to make the brass from  a parent cartridge.

personally the 200 grain loads hit things like a freight train. i have a marlin 336 in 35 remington that is a great shooter. plus the recoil is not that bad

I used to know a couple of old timers at home (they've since passed away) who switched from Win. 30-30's to Rem. M81's in 35 Rem.

Both said the same thing.  They got tired of shooting deer more than once.  After getting the .35 Rem. M81's they said they never had to shoot a deer twice again.

I think a found a clip for my father-in-law's M81 in his box of pocket/skinning knives several years ago.

I picked up one this past March.





Gotta love the take-down feature.

1srelluc, every time I turn around I see you have something else that makes me green with envy. Oh well, at least I can live vicariously through your posts here.


That one is SWEET! IIRC it has a reciprocating barrel like Model 11/A5 shotguns, correct?

I inherited an 81 in 300 Savage many years ago.  Never a malfunction, just a little heavy when hunting.

I owned a Model 8 in .25 Remington......aside from difficulty finding ammo, it was a really nice old gun.....

Firing pin broke on it one day......tip actually stuck in the primer of an ejected case.....complete dissassembly to replace it was a lesson I won't soon forget......

Range Report.

I fired a few rounds at 50 yards to make sure the sights were ok, then I moved the target back to 100 yards.
Off bags I can keep the groups to about three inches, which is pretty good with irons and an unfamiliar gun.

As I shoot it more, I think the groups will get smaller.

ckmorley

One issue: sometimes the bolt would lock back when there was still a round in the magazine.

It's a Rube Goldberg contraption that sort of works OK.  Good luck if it doesn't cycle properly and you need parts; Numrich is out of almost everything and what they have left probably won't fit your gun without gunsmithing.

Major PITA to field strip; barrel nut requires a special tool and the gun is full of parts that can be assembled incorrectly or fall out/go flying.  Browning had hoped for military contracts, but the gun failed miserably.

Remington discontinued the gun because it was excessively complex and expensive to manufacture (would be a $3000 rifle today)

You are 100% correct.

That said I'll have to kill me a deer with mine before I retire it.

Local Walmart has some too. Then again, that and the .444 Marlin ammo have been in the store so long(one box has a warehouse label from 1989) that it's wuite possible that both are discontinued.


I keep telling the manager to mark the .444 down to $10 per box(from $45) and I'll buy it all, just in case I buy a barrel in the caliber for my Contender.

That looks like a USGI M14 stripper clip you are using, if so how well do they work? From what I've ready even with original clips loading is finicky.

Looks like a Mauser- specifically, Ecuadoran- stripper clip.



Every gun designer "stole" something from someone else.

Ah yeah, you're right. The M14 ones only have 1 "prong" in the middle, supposedly that allows them to fit properly in the Remington.

I went looking at a few older gunshops and scored two boxes of Remington brand .35 ammo, as well as a vintage box of .35 Rem.