Does the serial # on the barrel ring match the serial # everywhere else? A few months back I bought a Sweet sixteen at too good a price to pass up. I don't need another so I was going to make a few bucks on it, and did. But it also came with an extra barrel that I kept because it was a 65mm barrel. Looking at it the other day (to contemplate selling it bc I don't want to pay to convert it) and it is serial # 2030 on the barrel ring.
The very first guns had the barrel ring mounted on a ramp, and the serial number was stamped on that. All of the numbers match on this gun, except for the forearm, which is a replacement, and the butt stock, which has no number and may not be original. Your 65mm chambered barrel may already have been converted to 70mm. If the ejector is movable, it's been converted.
Thanks @Rudolph31 Apparently mine has been converted because the ejector does move. And the barrel ring is not on the ramp like yours. I suppose the 2030 on the ring is just the final 4 digits of a serial #, or some other code browning used. Thanks as always for the info.
I don't know when the ramp was discontinued; S/V says "by 1923", but most other changes were finalized by 1909, so it could have been then. The whole serial number was stamped on the barrel ring, and 2030 is a 1909 16 gauge number, so you might have a first year (for the 16) barrel. If so, it's a shame it has been converted. On a side note, the ramp returned to the barrel ring on Japanese produced guns many decades later.
Bumping this thread, but I might as well say something useful. Notice that the bottom of the receiver is a straight line. By 1909 this changed as FN added a slight bump in the middle for a lock screw. Remington kept the original profile throughout production and is a way to tell at a glance what you're looking at.
It did, but 2 1/2 years later I'm rebuilding this post using Imgur. If they follow Photobucket's lead, this post will die.
Hello Skjalg, and welcome. On page 2 of this thread I discovered that my barrel was chambered for 70mm shells after all. The book says all the 12 gauge guns are, but Martin made me doubt it. Evidently the early chambers and forcing cones were shaped differently than the later ones, hence my confusion with my homemade chamber checker.
If you're barrel is actually marked 65, I'm sure that it is. Now, this makes no sense to me since the guns themselves are set up for 70mm shells. Short chambered 16 gauge guns must go through many modifications to cycle the longer shell. So, your gun may very well cycle modern shells but pressures may exceed safe levels when the crimp unfolds into the forcing cone. The good news is that the only modification required would be to the barrel itself. Note: All of the above assumes we are talking about the 12 gauge gun!
