Remington model 81 F

[54bullseye]

This is a new one to me. It was on an auction site recently for a lot of money. I made the guy what I thought was a reasonable offer and he declined. Two weeks later he got back in touch and we made a deal. The 81F isn't perfect by far but it sure is scarce !!! It has a bit of finish loss on the stock which looks like something might have spilled on it not sure. It has been shot a lot !! One of the dirtiest 8s or 81s I have ever seen inside. I have taken it all apart and cleaned it and re lubed it. I also tried to clean up stocks, in my opinion not bad enough to refinish I don't like that.

The engraving was done by Robert P Runge. It was some of his earlier work and not up to par with his later stuff. Some of the borders are a bit rough but in my opinion the game scenes are nice !!!The serial # 32566 is one number above the 81 F with the scope on it in the Great 8s grades of 81s.

Not perfect but I am very happy to own it. I took a bunch of pictures which aren't great because they need to be shrunk for this site. They also will probably be out of sequence as you can only load 3 at a time.

Thanks for looking !! John Taylor

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

More pictures of the 81-F

[54bullseye]

Couple more batches

[54bullseye]

Last 3 pics. Hope I didn't bore you !! Thanks for looking ! John Taylor

[54bullseye]

I especially like the scene with the bear with salmon in his mouth. John Taylor

[Hibby83]

Howdy John. You did a fine job getting that ol' F grade cleaned up! I didn't know what to expect from the gun considering the photos from the auction weren't the greatest.

All the game scenes are neat, I like the bear and elk scene best! Sweet piece of history and to my knowledge F grade 81's are about as rare as these guns can be, 2nd to the E Grade 81's!

[MinnesotaDan]

Well done, and thanks for sharing the photos, John!

There is certainly a lot to like about this fantastic old rifle.

[Roger]

Hey John, Thanks for sending these to me and also for posting them here on the forum. I still believe it’s a real beauty. These are definitely a rare variation of our beloved M8s and M81s.You are definitely gathering an impressive collection. I’m glad you got this one.
Thanks for your time
Roger

[81police]

You did such a great job cleaning up that gun! I don't think it's just better lighting either, you can see the engraving much better and the wood looks great.

I love that you have historical provenance with the rifle which is a rare treat to go with a rare gun!

[54bullseye]

Thanks
Luke, Dan, Roger and Cameron for the nice words about the gun. Cameron I agree with you that some of the engraving isn't the best especially the single line borders. I think his scroll work and game scenes are pretty darn good though. I have some other guns done by Runge in his later years that are much nicer !! I read that Runge did some checkering as well through the years.

This gun was made in 1947 and I believe Runge was there from 1934 or 39 through 1979. I have a 760 Remington that was done by him in 1976 that is just mint !!

Thanks for looking. John Taylor

[9.3shooter]

What a beautiful rifle!

[Phyrbird]

My compliments, I have had one of the M8s in hand but will likely never have one of my own.
They are very special.

[54bullseye]

Here are some pictures of a model 760 F engraving done by Runge in 1976. He certainly improved in detail in the roughly 30 years since he did the 81 F. In the last picture you can see his initials in the rock below the deer. RPR 76 John Taylor

[54bullseye]

More pictures of Runge's engraving

[54bullseye]

More pictures of Runge's engraving

[54bullseye]

Last bunch of pictures. Gene Myszkowski ( Remington's engraving expert ) who unfotunately passed away a short while back owned this gun and it's one of the featured guns in his book on Remington Autoloading & Pump action Rifles. Gene said he had the Runge records on this gun and it took him 81 hours to engrave it. John Taylor

[Hibby83]

Hot damn! The scroll work engraving and those game scenes on that rifle are jaw dropping quality.

I forgot just how pretty that rifle was! Very cool to have 2 guns engraved by the same engraver.