Model 8 Buttplate question

[Headoftheholler]

In the process of restoring my 1907 dated Model 8 , it has a steel UMC buttplate, is blued the original finish for the buttplate?

[Roger]

Sir,
Would it be possible for you to post some pics of your stock @buttplate? And what is your m-8 serial #?
Thank you,
Roger

[Headoftheholler]

Here's the only pic I have at the moment, she's in a million pieces at the moment pending bluing,
Serial is 34163.
Will see if I can post a pic of the buttplate later tomorrow.

Very very similar to this one.
http://picturearchive.gunauction.com/55 ... bnail0.jpg

[Roger]

This appears to be one of those fairly rare shotgun buttplates,usually found only on round knob semi pistol grip m-8 stocks. I have a friend in Nevada who owns a 25 rem. Round knob m-8 with one of those buttplates. Unfortunately I only assume it was blued when original. I really don't know. Cameron or Corey, can you chime in here? Thanks for your time,
Roger

[81police]

This is a really good question, and I think the only way to know is to examine very clean, original rifles. I didn't know what a truly original, and I mean like it was mfg yesterday, Model 8 looked like until I started looking at a friends collection of "E" and "F" grades for our websites High Grade article.

Below is a "shotgun style" buttplate on a Model 8-E which, to me, appears factory blued. The rest of the gun is in incredible, unmolested condition so I don't have any reason to believe this was not original. I don't know if this is the exact same buttplate as yours Headoftheholler, but this is the second type of Model 8 buttplate I've seen blued. Hope that helps some.

[81police]

Headoftheholler,

Something else I didn't think of. You said your rifle was mfg. in 1907 and the buttplate is marked "UMC". Remington & UMC merger didn't occur until 1910.

[jack1653]

Hey Headoftheholler,

I would tend to think the butt plate is not original to the rifle. In addition to what 81police pointed out, the thing that I noticed in the above picture is the way the wood meets the butt plate. Remington was pretty good at fitting the butt plate to the rifle and in the picture you can observe some issues which is normally not present on the originals. One example would be the top ot the stock is above the butt plate. You can also see a simalar condition on the bottom of the stock. This is often observed on replacement butt plates. Another example would be the"gap" along the edge even though it is very minimal. if you can compare it to an original, you can see the original is a very thing line or it blends with the butt plate.

You still have a very nice Model 8 and I certainly would not worry about the issues unless you are a diehard collector and then these issue can drive you nuts.

Regards,

jack1653

[DWalt]

Even though Remington and UMC did not "Officially" merge until 1912, both organizations had been under common ownership control since 1888. I don't have any Remington guns from the 1888 -1912 period, so I do not know how they were marked. But it is possible that, if for no reason other than advertising, both Remington and UMC logos could have been used to mark guns.

[Headoftheholler]

Serial is 34163, even the bottom tang is stamped UMC, the fit of my buttplate to the stock was perfect the wood blended right into the metal.
I agree on 81's pics, I restore old guns on the side and always make sure that the buttplate or recoil pad blends in.

[jack1653]

The other thing you might check is to see if the serial number is stamped on the butt plate. You will have to remove the butt plate to see if it is stamped. The majority of the rifles do have matching serial numbers on the butt plate.

Regards,

jack1653

[81police]

Serial # 34163 equates to a mfg date of 1914. So...the buttplate marked "UMC" sounds correct then. There you have it!

[Rem8&81]

With regards to the "shotgun" style buttplate, I agree with Cam and Jack. The buttpalate on your rifle is probably a replacement to the original black plastic one it probably originally left the factory with. As Jack mentioned, there appears to be a couple of fit indications that this is probably the case. Cam is correct about the dates of the Remingon/UMC branding and thus too early of a rifle for that buttplate. Cam is also correct in that those "shotgun" buttplates would have left the factory blued, as his picture indicates. Most of the ones you encounter on rifles these days have long since lost most if not all of their blue. The blue both faded and practically fell off. Most are therefore almost entirely silver on used model 8's. I bet the gun will look great when you are done restoring it. Good Luck