Destroying a classic, Remington Sportsman 48 tactical.

dbarale

dbarale

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So I have been fascinated with the Browning long action shotguns for a while, and more specifically the infamous cut-down versions that Clyde Barrow was fond of. I don't care about his story, I just like the gun.

I looked for an affordable humpback of some kind, Auto 5, Savage 720, Remington 11... I never got lucky. The ones I found were either too expensive, too beat up (cracked forends), or sold before I could get them.

I recently sold a couple of guns and motorcycles and I had a little extra play money burning a hole in my pocket, and there was a gun local gun show today. Bad combo...

I went in with low expectations. Didn't see a single humpback, and I was on my way back to the door to go home when I spotted this turd. I mean, this beauty:

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Remington Sportsman 48, complete with Cutts compensator and hacked up stock.

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The good news were that the forearm had no cracks, the blueing on the receiver and barrel looked nice enough, and the price was right.

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I mean it was still overpriced for what at it is, but the seller was really nice and dropped it from $250 to $200 without me even asking. Being the idiot that I am I didn't even bargain any further and just bought it. Oh well, it's a long action, and I had the cash, and did I mention I am an idiot?

I lovingly took it home and gave it a better look.
The stock is REALLY ugly, and short, really short, like 12.5" LOP. I am OK with that as I actually prefer shorter stocks.

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As I started disassembly I remembered that the Sportsman had a dimpled magazine tube to limit the capacity at 2+1. Meh.

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But look at that pretty bird! Just look at it!

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THE PLAN: cut the barrel to barely legal and get rid of the Cutts, fix the stock and refinish the wood, remove the mag tube dimples and add a +1 or +2 extension.

The barrel is long enough and looks like it will end up right around 19". If I win the lottery I may get a tax stamp for it, someday, maybe...

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But first, complete disassembly and clean up. The bore is spotless and in great shape but the action looks like a septic tank.

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End of day one: the gun is 95% apart and I am not seeing any real issues. I removed the mag dimples using a 1/4 round file, a sandpaper flap mounted on a dowel rod, and finished it with a small bore hone (the three stones kind). It looks good and a quick check shows that four 2 3/4 shells fit in nicely and appear to feed smoothly.

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Now all the small parts will go in the ultrasonic cleaner for a spa day. But that will have to wait until tomorrow...
 
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dbarale said:
inished it with a small bore hone (the three stones kind)
Click to expand...
I was looking onto one of these myself last week. It's a "master cylinder hone," right? What grit did you use, and did yours come with replaceable/coarser & finer stones?

I have a Ramset that seized up; nylon bushing was shot, and misalignment of parts dug into the walls of the main cylinder. Also stuck some 80grit to a dowel, but it's still too small. May have to try the flap-doodle trick! Thanks for confirming my idea...

Given that it's a nail gun & not a "real" one, doesn't much matter f I F it up.
 
Windini said:
I was looking onto one of these myself last week. It's a "master cylinder hone," right? What grit did you use, and did yours come with replaceable/coarser & finer stones?

I have a Ramset that seized up; nylon bushing was shot, and misalignment of parts dug into the walls of the main cylinder. Also stuck some 80grit to a dowel, but it's still too small. May have to try the flap-doodle trick! Thanks for confirming my idea...

Given that it's a nail gun & not a "real" one, doesn't much matter f I F it up.
Click to expand...

Yep, master cylinder hone. This one only has the fine stones.
 
I had a Sportsman 48 that belonged to my dad that was stolen. I was a little earlier than yours and did not have the Cutts or customized stock.

Now I have my grandfather's Remington 11-48 shotgun.
 
First a picture of the bolt, all shiny and back together:

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And now, Part III: Of strippers, wood, and immature jokes...

Obviously the wort part of the gun is the stock. The finish is chipped, cracked, scratched, it was shortened with a rusty chainsaw, and some piece of copper inlet with an angle grinder.
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Here’s the piece that was in the stock.
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SRT? Sportsman Response Team?

Now I need to decide what to do. Do I:
- Buy another stock, strip and refinish it? That’s the easy way but it would dig into the non-existent budget and it’s still a lot of work.
- Square up the existing stock, add a little 1/4” spacer, fill up the holes with epoxy and cover it all with bedliner? That’s the easy way and it would add to the “tactical” look.
- Fix it properly. That is unlikely since I suck at woodworking. I don’t have the tools or the knowledge, and above all, I don’t have the patience. But it would be the right thing to do, and I like the look of the plain wood of old duty shotguns.

I am open to tips, suggestions, ideas. One of my questions being what kind of stripper to use (and no, Crystal the young lady who works late at night is not an option), and what kind of finish? I am thinking tung oil but open to others.
So what do you guys say?
 
Shopping list:
- some kind of bead
- magazine extension (+1 or +2)
- side saddle (I like them)
- recoil pad
- replacement stock?
 
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Schattenreiter said:
Save the stock. Have something properly inletted into the stock. Square up the stock and add a shim if needed to get the LOP right. I'm old school. Use and save as much as you can.
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Yep, find something you like a bronze medallion ... say matching the upland game bird grip cap ... and inlet.

Yes, a replacement stock is available for $60 or so plus shipping ... https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/remington/shotguns-rem/spt-48?page=5 ... but with it being your project I see it like Schatt ... for cost as well as doing it yourself.
 
NCFubar said:
Yep, find something you like a bronze medallion ... say matching the upland game bird grip cap ... and inlet.

Yes, a replacement stock is available for $60 or so plus shipping ... https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/remington/shotguns-rem/spt-48?page=5 ... but with it being your project I see it like Schatt ... for cost as well as doing it yourself.
Click to expand...


I look at it this way. If it is already broke ya can't break it any worse but ya might make it better. If not what's the harm?
 
beamernc said:
I had a Sportsman 48 that belonged to my dad that was stolen. I was a little earlier than yours and did not have the Cutts or customized stock.

Now I have my grandfather's Remington 11-48 shotgun.
Click to expand...

Does yours have the recoil bearing plate? Number 62 in this diagram. Mine is missing. I need to measure the stock to see if it actually had one.

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I hate woodwork. I really do.
I had a little bit of time so I stripped the finish off the stock and forearm. The forearm will only require a very light sanding and finishing.

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The stock, as expected, will be more involved:

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I was able to square off the tail reasonably well. I also steamed a couple of spots and worked on some of the damage from the previous recoil pad “fitting”. It looks better but there is still a ton of work to do.

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dbarale said:
If I had one, probably. The problem is that the stock flares out so it’s not a 90 degrees angle. And it’s not a consistent angle either.
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Do you have a flush cutting saw? Saw for cutting off dowels/pegs.
If so, the tape the stock and use the saw while pressing it to the stock couture.
 
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