doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Remington 1900 SxS

Hi again folks, I have a nice 1900 Remington KED 12 gauge that sat against a kitchen wall corner for a good half century, hardly used or fired at all. I've known about this 12 Ga. myself just about as long. I went to school with the original owners son, we graduated high school in 1959. The overall condition of wood, checkering, and screws are as good as could be hoped for, the metal finish has faded from sitting in the sun all those years. My question is, "what might the chamber length be, & what would be a safe & comfortable load to use in this SxS?" I know this is a difficult question, without seeing the SxS, but I would like to shoot it at Skeet and maybe some Cotton Tails. Tanks in advance, Martin 1940D28

Sorry I left out the "H" in Thanks. Martin

A KED would have damascus barrels; don't know what the chamber length might be. If your barrels are in good shape, there's no reason not to shoot the gun. My personal practice is to shoot my damascus barreled guns only with low pressure 2.5 inch shells. They're commercially available from RST Shotshells or Polywad (google'em), or you can reload from a number of readily available recipes.

You won't find any disadvantage from using the low pressure ammo on either bunnies or clays and they'll be easier on your shoulder and on your 100+/- year old wood. Good shooting!...Geo

geo: dittos

Remington Model 1900s are a simplified, cheaper, version of the Model 1894, built on the same patents -- No. 528,507 and No. 528,508 both granted Oct. 30, 1894. The Model 1900s were all K-Grades, with E added to the designation if the gun had ejectors and D if it had Damascus barrels -- K-, KE-, KD-, or KED-Grades. The K- and KE-Grades had Remington Steel barrels. The Model 1900s had a snap-on/off forearm and their serial numbers were in the 300,000 range, often preceded with a stock letter Q. Remington only used the terms "Model 1894" and "Model 1900" in the parts lists. The the Remington Arms Co. retail catalogue, the guns were all "Remington Hammerless Double Barrel Shotguns" and just differentiated by grade.

Most of the old 12-gauge Remington doubles seem to have been chambered 2 5/8 inch. A few graded guns, ordered by serious shooters, may have been ordered with longer chambers, but not likely an entry-level gun like the KED. This seems kind of odd in retrospect because the Remington Autoloading Gun was chambered for 2 3/4 inch shells from its introduction in 1905.

My Father owned a KED 12-gauge from the 1930s until just after WW-II, when he got a much nicer AE-Grade, and passed the KED on to his younger brother who was returning from WW-II. Both those Damascus barrel Remingtons have digested many cases of Super-X, Nitro Express, and Federal Hi-Powers. They saw lots of service in those great years right after WW-II when Pheasants and Ducks were so thick in the Dakotas. My Father continued to use his AE-Grade 'til he quit hunting at age 80 after the 1988/9 season. His old AE-Grade is in my gun room, still tight and on-face.

The old KED finally was damaged by early steel shot bulging the chokes and breaking the ribs loose when my cousins used it for Geese in Minnesota when no-tox first became manditory.

I don't shoot Damascus guns myself, and I don't recommend anyone else do either.

Understand the concern with shooting old Damascus guns but I have had great success and fun shooting a Remington 1894 with BP loads for pheasant. Best fun I have had in years. Also have shot Damascus Parker 10 gauge goose hunting last year with great results.