Remington 121 routledge bore

[Stu R]

looking at getting some information recently looked a Rem 121 smooth bore that I am considering purchasing trying to find some information on the different types that were offered and if there are ones that are more desirable than others according to bluebook of gun values there were 4 versions made but they did not get into specifics of what the differences were, this particular one seems to have a larger diameter muzzle....

ANY wisdom out there would be appreciated

 

[Gordon]

A true Routledge bore .22 has about 4-6" of .375" bore . The difference in it's Rat shot capabillities are astounding compared to rifled and smooth bore only. The ultimate Routledge system was used by Geco and Anschutz on their later garden guns which had a 12" first section of normal rifling and then the remainder opened to about 9mm with a 020" or so end constriction. The rifling throws the shot to the Routledge and then get slightly choked. This allows shooting bulleted ammo no problem. I have a Remington 131 smooth bore with Routledge "choke" and it can kill starlings to 75 feet easily and rats and gophers to 50 feet with the CCI #11 shot. The crimped shot a little less. That Routledge Fieldmaster 121 in excellent to near mint is a $600 gun, and less as the condition warrants down to about $200 in "fair" condition
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