Remington model 4..

Question
QUESTION: Hi Doug,
You've helped me before so, here I go again. I just bought an old Remington Model 4...22 caliber/rolling block..case hardened rifle. The serial number is J188230. Can you tell me how old and what the value is of this gun?

Thanks much,
Bill

ANSWER: Bill,

Sounds like you've found a fairly nice piece here...

The range of manufacturing dates on this gun is 1890 to 1933.  There were about 350,000 produced overall.  My rough guess is that your gun is probably early 1900 (pre-1911).  There are a couple of things to check to help date it.

If your gun has a smooth bore barrel, that series was introduced in 1911.  You should also check to see if you have a 'half octagon' barrel.  That will confirm the earlier series.  Later in the series the barrels were round.

Values are roughly as follows:

98% condition = $1,500; 95% condition=$1,300; 90% condition=$1,000; 80% condition=$700; 70% condition=$600.

I'd be really surprised to find one of these in more than 80% unless you bought it from a collector and paid a pretty high price for it.

Hope this helps you out...

Regards,

Doug



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Doug,
You really are a big help. I really do appreciate the info. The gun appears to have rifling in the barrel, although I'm not quite sure . The barrel is completely octagonal. I know it is somewhat subjective..maybe you can give me some pointers in how to rate the percentages. I would rate this at 80-85%...I bought it from a local gun dealer for $550.

Thanks again,
Bill

Answer
Bill,

If the barrel is full octagonal, it is on the older side.  The fact that it has rifling confirms this.

Regarding evaluating condition, that is a pretty lengthly discussion that involves a lot of factors.  Probably more than I could go into here, but to give you some guidance here are some things to consider...

An 80% rifle in this age range would show slight wear on the edges of the frame, but retain most of the original bluing.  There might be some slight rust on polished surfaces, but the metal should not be pitted.  Wood should have most of the original varnish, although the finish might be faded some.

A 90% rifle in this age range would have very little wear on the finish, very little fading of the wood and no rust at all.  Barrel should be bright and without any corrosion or pitting at all.  There should be no corrosion on pitting on the gun anywhere.

A 95% rifle in this age range would have the same characteristics as 90% but would be unfired on only infrequently used and in nearly new condition.

I hope this helps you a bit...

Still looks like you got a pretty good deal by the way...

Regards,

Doug