Guys, I have been watching for years for a Model 8 in .25 Remington that I could afford. I spotted one Sunday at Guns International and reached out to the seller, Collectors Firearms of Houston. The deal was done and the rifle arrived Wednesday, very well-packed.
When I dug it out of the styrofoam peanuts, I was very pleased: wood sound, metal finish almost uniformly that olive blue shade, just a bit of freckling and a quick glance down the bore with a light in the receiver suggested that it might clean up very nicely. "Good bore, strong rifling" had been their description.
But alas, when I pulled the barrel assembly off and ran a bronze brush soaked in Hoppe's down the bore, I hit a wide spot near the muzzle. Fearing the worst, the borelight confirmed a badly rung bore about inch 17 of the 22 -- and three more shallower rings between the first one and the muzzle! I have never seen multiple rings like this.
So on Thursday, I sent photos and an e-mail to Collectors Firearms with the comment that the bore they described as "good" would be described by most riflemen as "ruined," and what incentive would they offer for me to keep the rifle rather than return for a full refund.
The most straightforward option would be to shoot it and see if it is accurate; one never knows. The second option would be to counterbore the barrel down to the first ring. The next most drastic option would be a reline and rechamber, but that would be very expensive. And no machinist in his right mind would attempt to turn, mill and rifle a duplicate. Browning designed for things to work; the machining needed to make the parts seemed secondary.
Anyway, I suggested it would cost about 25 percent of the purchase price to ship the barrel to a gunsmith and have it counterbored. Collectors agreed and promptly refunded the amount this morning.
I felt compelled to lay out this case first to note how easy it can be to innocently overestimate rifling condition. One would think sellers would at least run a patch down the bore of used firearms they consign or resell, but I cannot count the number of times over the years when I have examined a rifle for sale whose bore had scarcely if ever been cleaned, and I used to bring put a cleaning rod and patches in the truck when going on the hunt at gun and pawn shops.
I of course could not examine the bore of the Model 8 before purchase, but at first glance it looked OK to me, too. I do not believe Collectors intentionally inflated the bore condition.
The second point is simply to congratulate Collectors on their prompt, courteous and fair customer service. I would buy from them again without hesitation -- except to confirm bore condition is as described.
Here are a couple of images of the Model 8. Dies, brass and bullets arrive next week so I will be able to load a sample of cartridges for testing.

Glad it will work out and I feel your disappointment. Seller did step up. Please keep us posted in how she turns out.

I'm looking for a model 8 or 81 in .35 Rem...but purchasing on GB with all the taxes and fees tacked on is painful.

I'd sure shoot it first.

NTX: That's my plan. On their best days, Model 8s usually don't shoot much closer than 3 inches at 100 yards -- and 100 years ago, this was considered wonderful hunting accuracy.

Thanks for the post and pictures. I have my grandads Model 8 .35 and will run a bore scope down it.

What do you think caused the rings?

The cheapest fix if it doesn’t shoot to your expectations is cut the barrel down to 16” and have the front sight reset. That may be a terrible idea but is relatively inexpensive compared to other options. Considering that is not a long range gun and never will be you may like it more like that. I know I would.

Normally, a rung barrel occurs when a cartridge is fired in a barrel with an obstruction in it, for example, mud or snow in the bore, or a bullet that lodged before exiting and is struck by the next round fired. I have seen this latter condition in pistol barrels; it happens more often when someone is shooting a semi-auto in rapid fire and fails to note that the previous round "sounded a little funny" before firing again. It is always something to be on guard against. Taking apart the barrel assembly of a Model 8 with all its internal parts and springs is complicated, but if I or my gunsmith ever does so, it may well be that the barrel, measured at the ring or rings, may be slightly bulged. This is what is sometimes referred to as a "walnut."
Tbar, that Model 8 in .35 Remington that you inherited is a very effective rifle. Be ready for the recoil, though.

Made it to the range with the .25 and handloads consisting of 26.5 grains of CFE223 under the Hornady 117-grain RN in Grafs brass. Poor old Model 8 scattered the 117s at random. At 25 yards, four of five shots hit the 25-yard slow-fire pistol target -- oddly two a half-inch apart at 11 o'clock and two an inch apart at 7 o'clock. Bullet holes round.
At 50 yards, two out of 10 rounds struck that same 25-yard slow-fire target. The other eight apparently departed in a northerly direction toward Amarillo.

....so you're saying you are good to go, inside of archery range? I will see myself out.

Seriously though, a Model 8/81 in .35rm is on my bucket list, but lordy they are getting expensive. Keep us posted on this one, please.

The barrels on these rifles are inside of a barrel shroud and it is a long recoil action effectively a rifle version of the Browning A5 action. Cutting the barrel down is not really an option.

As a teenager I saw these rifles get rebarreled but I don't know if a factory barrel was used or if one was made from scratch. If memory serves me correctly the only difficult part about the barrel is the breach end and once again if memory serves me correctly I don't think it's that complicated. I think if you had a big enough diameter Barrel blank any competent gunsmith who can use a mill can make a new barrel for you.

Glad to see Collectors standing behind their offerings. I am surprised they didn't catch it when they bought it. OR, they may have and got it for peanuts. Glad all ends well.

I actually found a gunsmith in Washington State who would be willing to mill and a fit a new barrel. He has access to a .25 Remington reamer.

Im impressed!! I know people that cant shoot that well even with a brand new rifle!

I hope you get this barrel issue resolved to your satisfaction. Kudos to Collectors Firearms for standing behind it.

I thought I’d post a pic of my 35 Remington caliber rifles: front to rear, Marlin 336, Model 81 and at the rear an old model 8 in really good shape. I scouted around and bought them all over the last several years. The 8 and 81 run like my Dad used to say....a Singer sewing machine.

None of them are perfect but they suit me to a tee.

Awesome Blue. My favorite caliber for 35 years.

I think it was really the .35 that made Remington's reputation with this rifle. Truly a bear killer.

Kinda like to have a 336RC from 1951 in .35REM as my .30-30WIN and 39A are both from 1951.