"The old that is strong does not wither." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Sometimes it's hard to talk about what you love. We all know what sorts of things we love and the things that we do not. We have no trouble saying what these things are, we just can't as easily explain why we love them.
Take guns, for instance. If you have been reading these words for very long, you may have picked up on the fact that I like firearms. Worse than that, I don't hide this fact and may even be proud of it. Born this way, you know. Would not have it any other way, but when it comes to explaining exactly why a certain type of gun makes my heart go pitter-patter, I may bog down.
Larry CaseTalk to anyone who has a goodly collection of firearms, and they will usually have several older guns, including shotguns.
Why do those of us who love firearms so much have a thing for old shotguns? I really don't know. Rifles are nice. I like them, I have a bunch of them. There is just something about a stately old shotgun. They are tried and proven, battle- and woods-worn, been there and done it.
Now when it comes to saying exactly which make and model of shotgun we like best, this is when the fun starts. The Browning guy is going to swear that nothing compares with a Belgium-made A-5, and the Remington and Winchester guys will never agree. It is the old "I like Chevy, you like Ford" syndrome.
So just to give the boys at the barbershop and hardware store (do we still have those?) something to talk about, today I will make the case for that grand old favorite, the Remington Model 31 shotgun.
The year was 1931, and Remington trotted out this elegant weapon many consider to be a gold standard for pump shotguns. The Model 31 appeared in August that year, retailing for the princely sum of $48.50. While it is true many of us would gladly cut off a couple toes to get one for this price now, remember that this was during the Great Depression, a time few of us can comprehend today.
Remington's arch-nemesis at this time was, of course, Winchester. The boys at Winchester were riding high on a pump gun rock star known as the Model 12. The Winchester Model 12 appeared back in 1912, and by the 1930s it was still the darling of many hunters as well as plenty of trap and skeet shooters.
To this day there are Model 12 zealots who would gladly fight you on the courthouse lawn to defend the honor of the venerable Model 12 Winchester - and give you an hour to draw a crowd.
Remington wanted to basically shoot Winchester out of the saddle for the pump shotgun market, so they called upon a couple of in-house gun designer whiz kids, C.C. Loomis and John Pederson. These guys rubbed shoulders with no less a gunmaking genius than John Moses Browning.
We have talked about Mr. Browning here before, and he is considered an icon in the firearms design world. Browning himself told the ordnance people with the U.S. Army that John Pederson was "the greatest gun designer in the world." This is coming from the guy who is the subject of shrines in the homes of several very knowledgeable shooters I know.
The Model 31 was preceded by the Model 10, 17, and 19 Remington shotguns. Crawford C. Loomis, no slouch himself, took the design for the Model 17 and converted it to a side-ejection action, the first for Remington.
Right out of the gate, what the Model 31 became famous for was an incredibly butter-smooth action. These guns were said to have a ball bearing-smooth works - no ball bearings are involved in the action, but they appear to be that smooth.
What made this action so silky, though, also led to the end of Model 31. Its intricate workings were made possible by painstakingly hand-fitting the parts together. This required much time and skilled workmanship, and by 1949, when the 31 was going by the wayside, a new era in manufacturing of guns was dawning.
Gunmakers wanted their products to be good, but they also wanted them made quickly and easily. The genius of Loomis and Pederson took too much time and too much skilled labor to produce. Bye-bye Model 31, hello to the new kid that came out of the ashes of the 31 - a little number called the Remington 870.
Remington didn't just hit a home run with the 870; they hit a grand slam to win the World Series.
To date, more than 11 million have been sold, and you can't argue with that type of success.
Like I said, I can't fully explain to you why I like the Model 31 so much. When I pick up my 31 (a gift from my Uncle Bill) and go on target, it just feels "right." It is a lovely, elegant shotgun that may take you back to another time.
A time when making something that was strong and worked flawlessly was more important than how long it took to make. A time when people spoke to their neighbors every day and we were all a lot kinder to each other.
Progress? I don't know, you tell me.
"The Trail Less Traveled" is written by Larry Case, who lives in Fayette County, W.Va., has been a devoted outdoorsman all of his life and is a contributing columnist for The Times Free Press. You can write to him at larryocase3@gmail.com.