Got a message from a friend recently advising that he knew of a decent Rem 81 in 35 Rem that was for sale. Don't know the particulars but he's shot it and says it's a solid rifle that has been taken care of but not babied. Says it has 4-6 holes drilled/tapped in the receiver from scope mounting over the years. Plan to drive up and take a look at it sometime next month. Assuming a rating of "good" what would you guys think is a fair price?

Anyone got experience with these? Do they have any pecular quirks? This is intended to be a shooter so will want to disassemble it and such. I really like the way the 81 (and 8) look but have never even handled one before that I recall. The newer rifles just don't twist my knobs. Maybe it's age but the older, unique designs have more character I think.

Good 80-90 percent guns have been going for $300-$350...but they are popular in the South and that may influence their value.. The functional but finish-free are getting $210-260. Of the rounds chambered, the .35 and .300Savage bring a primium.

Never had an 81...did have an 8 in .25Rem. (and a pump 14A in that little round as well). Would pay to find a good exploded diagram and take down instructions...it isn't an easy one.

Shooting is not unpleasant...just a bit different. The action contrbutes it's own motion/clanks/ and vibrations...not the quick motion of a modern semi-auto, so you do get some feel of things going on when the rifle fires and reloads. Not really distrubing.

Holes drilled....well, if yoiu were a collector you;'d only want a 90% plus rifle, so not much harm done...and perhaps a place to wiggle on price.
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Understand the pull of the odd-ball...last semi-auto I bought was one I'd look for for years, Win. 1910 in .401WSL. You won't have to go through gymnastics making ammo to shoot.

Hi, Bart:
I hear that hot loads can hammer those oldies up. It's best to keep the 200 grainers down to 2000 fps. That's equivalent to current factory loads, or maybe a bit better.

Bye
Jack

Kinda figured on keeping loads down to factory levels to take it easy on the older action. Don't know how much I'll even shoot it. I have an older Win 94 in 30WCF that I treat the same way. Although the 94 can probably take some abuse I see no reason to even try. I load it to factory or a little less. My biggest cmplaint about autos is having to find all the brass after shooting. I'll likely just buy some factory loads from Wally and reuse the brass.

I would guess that the mechanics of shooting one of these probably feels/sounds about like shooting an SKS with all their noise and vibration...possibly a little worse. I don't really care. Just want to have one of these in my stable.

Ran across another of these online that doesn't have the holes for about the same asking price as the one I was on to. Got to figure in shipping and FFL fee but might be worth not having to look at the holes.

Thanks for the info gents. I figured someone here knew about the 81. They are a neat looking rifle.

Bart I have an 81 in 300 Savage and got one for my brother in 35 Rem. Paid 150.00 for the 35 on Gunbroker.com. Both shoot very well. Expect the recoil to be pretty sharp. I was surprised how much the 300 kicked. It's a long recoil action kinda like an Auto-5 and all that mass moving backwards provides a bit of a wallop. It's a very quick sharp recoil.

Only thing I noticed is my 300 throws the first round low. The other 4 will group in an inch or less at 100 yards with #1 about 3 or 4"s low. Can only contribute this to the parts not settling the same from just letting the bolt fly home compared to the whole action. Brothers 35 does not seem to have this problem.