This Model 8 was headed for the dumpster!
Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 9:45 pm
I am a "newbie" having just joined this most interesting website and forum. By coincidence I picked up the current edition (May '14) of Rifle Firepower magazine off the rack at the local Walmart just to give it preview having never read the magazine previously. Lo and behold, I turned immediately to an excellent article about the Model 8 in which The Great Model 8 website was listed. So that is how I came to arrive here. By the way, the article is well written and is a real credit to the story and history of this great rifle. You may well wish to purchase it. Now let me introduce you to my wonderful Model 8.
The Remington Model 8 that I own was given to me by an old family friend in 1988. He was very casual about it and simply told me that it was a rifle that his father had hunted with but that he had no interest in keeping it. He said that he thought his dad had bought it new in about 1915 or before. Frankly, I thought he was giving me a piece of junk. It was in two pieces each in soiled cloth gun sleeves. The stock and forearm showed no appearance of the underlying grain and could have passed for two hunks of very ordinary looking maple. The metal surfaces were covered with rust and the bolt was frozen. Actually I accepted it only out of kindness since he said it had belonged to his father and I did not wish to seem rude. Otherwise I would have said “no thanks”. For years it laid behind some stuff in my garage. In about 2001 I was taking some work to my gunsmith. I grabbed the “piece of junk” in the garage to take to him to see if he might want it for parts or something. When I handed it to him I told him that if he didn’t want it I would like to throw it in his dumpster. “No, you don’t throw one of these away even in this condition”, he replied. “This is an old Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington”. He went on to say that I should leave it with him and that he would restore it on his own time at very minimal cost. Then he went on to say, “please don’t call me about it as this will take awhile”.
Eight years later (!) I received a call from him…“I’ve got a surprise for you. Come get your Model 8 Remington. I think that you will be pleased. By the way, I took it out and shot it. It works fine”. The pictures tell the rest of the story. He charged me $315 for his work. It was a profitless labor of love. And to think at one point this fine rifle was headed for the dumpster!
There is another twist to this tale. The original owner was the man pictured on the horse with the deceased antelope, George Q. Bruce. His grandfather was William Bruce and, by total coincidence, William Bruce was the founder of the town of Eaton, Ohio that my wife grew up in. So this old Model 8 has even added significance.
One last note. When I first fired my 8 I was reminded of my Army days when, believe it or not, I was issued an M-3 "Grease Gun" as my personal weapon (there is a story there but that will have to wait) in that it made very similar "ker-plunk" noises after each pull of the trigger.
The gentleman that restored this rifle for me is a craftsman .... I think we will all agree. His name is Scott Keller of Bradford, OH.
The Remington Model 8 that I own was given to me by an old family friend in 1988. He was very casual about it and simply told me that it was a rifle that his father had hunted with but that he had no interest in keeping it. He said that he thought his dad had bought it new in about 1915 or before. Frankly, I thought he was giving me a piece of junk. It was in two pieces each in soiled cloth gun sleeves. The stock and forearm showed no appearance of the underlying grain and could have passed for two hunks of very ordinary looking maple. The metal surfaces were covered with rust and the bolt was frozen. Actually I accepted it only out of kindness since he said it had belonged to his father and I did not wish to seem rude. Otherwise I would have said “no thanks”. For years it laid behind some stuff in my garage. In about 2001 I was taking some work to my gunsmith. I grabbed the “piece of junk” in the garage to take to him to see if he might want it for parts or something. When I handed it to him I told him that if he didn’t want it I would like to throw it in his dumpster. “No, you don’t throw one of these away even in this condition”, he replied. “This is an old Remington Model 8 in .35 Remington”. He went on to say that I should leave it with him and that he would restore it on his own time at very minimal cost. Then he went on to say, “please don’t call me about it as this will take awhile”.
Eight years later (!) I received a call from him…“I’ve got a surprise for you. Come get your Model 8 Remington. I think that you will be pleased. By the way, I took it out and shot it. It works fine”. The pictures tell the rest of the story. He charged me $315 for his work. It was a profitless labor of love. And to think at one point this fine rifle was headed for the dumpster!
There is another twist to this tale. The original owner was the man pictured on the horse with the deceased antelope, George Q. Bruce. His grandfather was William Bruce and, by total coincidence, William Bruce was the founder of the town of Eaton, Ohio that my wife grew up in. So this old Model 8 has even added significance.
One last note. When I first fired my 8 I was reminded of my Army days when, believe it or not, I was issued an M-3 "Grease Gun" as my personal weapon (there is a story there but that will have to wait) in that it made very similar "ker-plunk" noises after each pull of the trigger.
The gentleman that restored this rifle for me is a craftsman .... I think we will all agree. His name is Scott Keller of Bradford, OH.