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targshooter · December 29, 2008, 08:14 AM

Winchester_73,
I hunted Maine in the 1970s with an elderly gent that used one of these. His was a .35 Remington chambering. I sighted the rifle in for him a couple of times and found it a pleasure to shoot. Odd recoil as the mechanism responds to the cartridge's kinetic energy, but quite a reduction in felt impact at the shoulder when compared to the .35 Rem Marlin 336 I used to shoot. I believe the .300 Savage chambering was rarer than the .35 Rem. Also, the .300 Savage was not one of the original cartridges offered (the .30 Rem was the .308 diameter cartridge of choice initially), thus the rifle you are looking at is probably not an early manufacture. His had a takedown lever in the forestock, perhaps they all did. The Model 81 was heavy, being much heavier than the Browning Lever he bought to replace it. Supposedly the gun rarely broke parts, but it wore out and quit functioning properly as the tolerances became too large (like the Auto-5 shotgun, another Browning design). The tight tolerances and the somewhat lower service life per high volume fire are the reasons the military had no interest. Some of these were sold to law enforcement, and they may be worn out. If your original owner was a hunter like the gents in Maine, the rifle probably is lucky to have seen 500 rounds. Here in MN a decent specimen goes for $450 (NRA good) to $600 (NRA excellent).

December 29, 2008, 08:14 AM	#2
targshooter Member Join Date: June 1, 2008 Posts: 19	Remington Model 81 Winchester_73, I hunted Maine in the 1970s with an elderly gent that used one of these. His was a .35 Remington chambering. I sighted the rifle in for him a couple of times and found it a pleasure to shoot. Odd recoil as the mechanism responds to the cartridge's kinetic energy, but quite a reduction in felt impact at the shoulder when compared to the .35 Rem Marlin 336 I used to shoot. I believe the .300 Savage chambering was rarer than the .35 Rem. Also, the .300 Savage was not one of the original cartridges offered (the .30 Rem was the .308 diameter cartridge of choice initially), thus the rifle you are looking at is probably not an early manufacture. His had a takedown lever in the forestock, perhaps they all did. The Model 81 was heavy, being much heavier than the Browning Lever he bought to replace it. Supposedly the gun rarely broke parts, but it wore out and quit functioning properly as the tolerances became too large (like the Auto-5 shotgun, another Browning design). The tight tolerances and the somewhat lower service life per high volume fire are the reasons the military had no interest. Some of these were sold to law enforcement, and they may be worn out. If your original owner was a hunter like the gents in Maine, the rifle probably is lucky to have seen 500 rounds. Here in MN a decent specimen goes for $450 (NRA good) to $600 (NRA excellent).