doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Can a Remington Model 17 pump be slam fired?

A friend was discussing the fact that the Model 12 will fire if the trigger is held back when the action is worked (which we always called "slam firing")and he asked if "the old Rem Model 17 pump, bottom ejection,20-ga only, discontinued 1933" will as well. I don't know why he wants to know, but figured somebody here would. Thanks...

No.


Best,
Ted

I've never had the occasion to attempt it, but that is what I've been told as well. Evidently, the spawn of the 17 (the M37) will slam-fire, but only up until the 1960s. Is that correct Ted?

With 37s, it depends on the era. The 17 used a well designed (the one in my gun is on the fritz, but, it isn't hurting anything) interceptor that made it's way into later model 37s. There are also other designs used in the 37, and if you are up on it, you can look at the trigger group to see which one you have, or, don't have.
I've never even tried "slam firing" the single model 12 I own, as I have enough trouble hitting things when I'm using a gun the right way, and slam firing never seemed like the right way to me.
Maybe someone like Earnest Hemmingway needed that feature in Africa.

Best,
Ted

Addendum:
I had a friend who's late Grandfather had a fire before breech locked incident with a model 12 in the 1940s. The gun had a broken firing pin, which made contact with the primer before the breech was locked. The gun is an early model 12 in 12 gauge, friend still owns it, and you can clearly see pellet marks in the receiver and chamber area of said gun. Grandpa fixed the gun himself, and it works well to this day. Grandpa's hunting companion that day didn't hear very well out of the ear closest to the gun for a few days after.
Even if a gun design will "slam fire" I suspect it isn't a good idea to make a regular practice of it.

Best,
Ted

Don't know about the model 17 Rem., but my old Ith. model 37 would sure slam-fire. I never did it intentionally, but sometimes it would fire the 3rd shot without me being ready. Often killed ducks that way after I'd missed'em twice.

I've never tried to slam-fire my model 12 Win or the Rem 17 and don't recall it ever happening with them. The Ithaca was bought new in the early '60s, possibly built earlier...Geo

My Rem M17 would not fire when holding the trigger back and closing the breech (so called slam fire).
It was a late production, solid rib gun, the only M17 I ever had.
Long gone in a forgotten trade for something better that I can't remember what it was. I'll get another someday. Nice handling pump gun.

The official end of the M17 may have been in '33, but Remington kept assembling them after that. My 2 M17s were both date coded from 1939. One major difference between the 17 and 37 is that the 37 incorporates an extractor on the top of the bolt. The M17 didn't. A few earlier 12 gauge M37's only had the bottom extractor/ejector, but Ithaca felt the need to add one to the top as well. The only 37's I own that won't slamfire are 28 gauge and 20 gauge TurkeySlayer, but they are Upper Sandusky guns. The mod that keeps them from slamfiring is that the hammer rides the firing pin on a longer arc of travel than before which dissipates the energy needed to dent the primer. Or so I've been told by Zak Amert of Ithaca Guns. Gil

Thank all. I've never owned a pump action shotgun so never had occasion to try to slam-fire one. I do know that you can slam-fire the heck out of a Winchester 61 rifle and that as a kid I thought it was a pretty neat trick. I sure wasted a lot of .22 ammo back then; couldn't afford to do it now even if I wanted to.

I paid $20.00 for my last brick of .22 LR about six months ago. I can afford to slam fire my Model 61 although I have never tried it.