The Remington Model 8- ‘Gun Stories’

By G&A Online Editors

I think this may be the most famous gun advertisement in the world. “Do or Die,” as a huge grizzly bears down on a cowboy, armed with not with a lever-action carbine, but a semi-auto rifle, the Remington Model 8.

As you might gather for “Do or Die,” the Remington Model 8 was the first mass-produced semi-automatic rifle, chambered in a round more powerful than the most popular hunting cartridge of the day, the .30-30. Said hunting guide, John Goff in numerous Remington ads for the Model 8, “It loads itself, it is solid breech hammerless, and it is big enough for the biggest game.”

Like so many other landmark guns, the Remington Model 8 came from the fertile mind of John Moses Browning. In fact, the Model 8 was something of an afterthought. Browning was working on his hugely successful Auto-5 Shotgun, when he realized the same system could be used for powerful rifle cartridges.

In 1911 the Model 8 took to the skies. Lieut. Jacob Fickel, who had pioneered shooting the Springfield 1903 bolt-action, from the flimsy bi-planes of the time, changed to a Model 8 in .25 Remington. His after action report noted that the auto-loader was the only practical …Read the Rest

Source:: Guns and Ammo