Hallmark of innovation: The Remington Model Eight: Old fashioned doesn't necessarily mean obsolete. The sleek Remington Model 8 is still fit for the game trails

Guns Magazine, May, 2002 by Timothy Case

With its semiautomatic action, shrouded barrel, streamlined magazine/trigger guard unit and Kalashnikov-looking safety, the Model 8 was as much on the cutting edge at the turn of the century as Remington's electronic rifles are today. At the time of its 1906 inception, the Model 8's clean and modern look was unspoiled by excessive external controls: slide handle, slide release, safety and trigger -- that's it.

An Old Soldier Speaks

While the first four rounds fired from the Model 8 produced a two-inch group at 50 yards, subsequent groups tightened to 11/2 inches. When tested at 200 yards, the limiting factor was clearly my eyes and the iron sights, not the inherent accuracy of the gun. Nevertheless, at this range the gun was able to put every shot in the vital area of a deer silhouette.

Shooting .30-caliber 170-grain factory loads, velocities clocked out in the 1,900 fps range. While the ballistic tables list speeds of up to 2,111 fps for 170-grain loads and over 2,300 for the lighter 110-grain loads, the pressures associated with those speeds are risky in an early 1900's gun.

Given that this was a first-generation semiautomatic, I had held some doubts regarding reliability and went to the range expecting some missfeeds. However, during the range test, the Model 8 functioned flawlessly. The action cycled the full five rounds from each magazine without a single jam -- a tribute to John Browning's design genius.

The Model 8 performed as well for me during the range test as it did for "Big Bill" Hillis many years earlier. Hillis' exploits are reported in Peterson's The Remington Historical Treasury of American Guns (Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1966).

"Experienced hunters knew that sometimes the availability of quick shots could mean the difference between life and death to a hunter. Take, for instance, the adventure of 'Big Bill' Hillis of Alaska. One day Bill and a companion named King went bear hunting on Kodiak Island. They were inching their way along a narrow ledge on a sheer cliff when they suddenly found a family of five bears right in their path. This was a good deal more than they cared to tackle, but they could not retreat fast enough to get away from the bears, who very apparently were in an ugly mood. As the lead bear (who turned out to be a big male) reared up, Bill 1eveled his Remington autoloader and fired, [t was a clean hit, and the huge animal dropped in his tracks. Meanwhile, King had fallen down and let fly with his own rifle at the mother bear. His aim was not the best; he succeeded only in wounding the animal. Enraged, the beast charged, with the three youngsters right behind. It was a tight situation in every sense of the word, but Bill was equal to it. With four quick shots he killed all four of the remaining bears before they could reach him. It was tremendous shooting, but if Bill hadn't had a rifle as fast and as powerful as the Remington autoloader, he could not possibly have done it."

My own adventures with the Model 8 may lack the adventure of Hillis', but I have found it a delightful rifle to take to the field. Tracking Columbia Blacktails along dark forest trails has has given me plenty of time to enjoy the Remington and to savor the nostalgic atmosphere that it brings to a hunt. Yes, that $12 tin sign turned out to be an expensive purchase - and I couldn't be happier.