The Model 141 carbine is a sleek looking, fast shooting, easy handling woods type firearm. But, evidently the hunters of the late 1920s and early '30s did not appreciate these features, or perhaps it was the calibers that they didn't like. During that time, in the .30 caliber range, the .30-30 Winchester and the .300 Savage were among the top calibers, but it was decided not to introduce them in the new Remington Model 141. Instead, the old calibers from the Model 14 were retained. A decision was made by Remington management to discontinue the carbine model as they entered the Gamemaster era of the advertised 24 inch rifle because demand had almost evaporated for the short barrel rifle. But there was the matter of a few years supply of Model 14 carbine barrels to be disposed of in an economic fashion.
History

The Remington Model 141 entered the sporting arena in 1935. It was a remake of the Model 14 which had been introduced in 1912, designed by John D. Pedersen. In order to reduce manufacturing costs and to improve appeal to new gun owners, the stocks of the new Model 141 were made heavier, the length of the barrel was increased and made heavier, and some manufacturing steps were simplified. The profit margin had run out on the Model 14 and prices could not be increased due to the competition. The reduced manufacturing costs from eliminating several steps on the new model allowed Remington to hold the price at $46.⁰⁰. The Model 141 took on a new look and feel, however the me- chanical design and operation was the same as the previous model. The name Gamemaster was stamped on the left side of the receiver as well as the serial number from a new range of numbers. Three calibers were produced: .30 Remington, .32 Remington and .35 Remington, the .25 Remington was not offered

Between 1935 and 1951, over 75,000 Model 141 rifles and carbines were made. Model 141 carbines were made only as long as the left over Model 14 carbine barrels lasted, then they were dropped from production. Sales of Model 141 carbines with carbine length barrels lasted into the 1940s and are highly prized today. Remington carbine barrels remained in factory inventories as spare parts well into the 1950s. These could be used for special order guns or as replacement barrel guns. Some of these may surface with dates after the 1941/42 cutoff. The left over Model 14 rifle barrels were also used during the eight month transition period prior to March 1, 1936. Starting on that date Gamemaster was stamped on each receiver and it was advertised as a 24 inch barrel, so the few rifles on hand after that date were ordered to have the 22 inch barrels removed and replaced with the new 24 inch barrels.
Transition

The transition started in mid 1935, when according to an announcement to the jobbers, Model 14 guns ( 22 inch and 18½ inch barrels) were shipped with the new Model 141 wood until March 1, 1936. These guns had the Model 141 stamping on the receiver as well as a new set of serial numbers. Date coded guns of that time frame (mid 1935 to March 1936) have those characteristics, and fall in the serial number range of one to approx. 4000. These guns were not stamped Gamemaster. Based on sales from previous years a quantity of less than 20 carbines would have been shipped during this eight month period. They were marked Model 141, but without the Gamemaster stamp and had low serial numbers. Carbines produced after March 1936 were stamped Gamemaster.

There is not much excitement shown by collectors when a transition Model 141 rifle is discussed or examined. It is frequently passed off as a gun made of left over parts until the new model was released, but when a Model 141 carbine is discovered, the excitement and the price go up by leaps and bounds. The truth is they were both transition guns. The difference is that the carbines died in the transition because there were no Model 141 barrels made in carbine length.
Data Collection

Several Remington Society members pooled their data on the Models 14, 14½ and 141 to form a living data base. More information is added as it becomes available. Currently, there is history on over six-hundred Model 14 and one hundred and forty- three Model 141 firearms . Much of the data printed here comes from or is verified by this data base. RSA member Tom Hemphill is the data base manager and he solicits your input keyed by serial number with several other elements desired. His email is Hemphill@gvtel.com and he is also listed in the membership roster. Tom also maintains history on the Remington Model 25 and Remington Model 30 guns. He is an avid Remington Model 14 / 141 collector and has been a constant source of information for me.

A visit to the Remington Archives in December 2005 turned up a tremendously important document. It contains yearly totals of sales of Model 14 rifles and carbines, shipped by caliber, for the 12 years prior to the introduction of the Model 141. These figures were used to determine which calibers to retain for the new model. The figures can also be used to develop very close estimates of Model 14 production by caliber for its twenty-two year life cycle. Most importantly for this article, they can be used to estimate the number of Model 141 carbines shipped during their life cycle of approximately seven years as verified by Remington brochures of that time and from information from the Model 141 data base. The carbine yearly sales numbers fell steadily from 161 in 1927, to 27 in 1934. It is reason- able to expect that these numbers continued to fall until the left over barrels were exhausted about 1942. Based on a yearly production number of 30 carbines in the last years of the Model 14, it is reasonable to assume that a very small quantity of Model 141 carbines were produced during its seven year life, possibly fewer each year. Brochures and catalogs issued by Remington from 1936 through 1941 list the availability of calibers remaining. The .25 caliber lasted about a year. The .35 caliber lasted about three years. And the .30 and .32 calibers lasted about seven years.

There are other factors involved, but it appears that the number of Model 141 carbines produced would fall within the numbers in method 1. and 2. above... between 135 and 408. The demand for carbines was steadily decreasing from 1928 thru 1934, so it is likely that it continued to decrease during the years of 1935 thru 1941. If true, then the numbers in either method would be even lower. The carbines did not appear again until 1960, in the new Model 760 carbine. The well likes .35 caliber was in only 456 Model 760 carbines from 1952 and 1980.

You will note that the receiver production by serial number stays several thousand numbers ahead of the yearly production of rifles and carbines. This overage is needed to keep the pipeline full, supply special projects and testing, allow for damaged and rejected receivers and any other losses incurred. Underlined accumulative production numbers were used in Method 2 above to predict Model 141 carbine production.
Continue the Carbine or Not?

Much discussion took place by Remington manage- ment concerning the continuance of the carbine. In 1934 sales records were examined for the past twelve years, showing that a total of carbines were shipped in the four Model 14 calibers was 1,258. That averaged about 105 carbines shipped per year (sales for the last four years averaged only 30 carbines per year). Then it was thought that a carbine with a 20 inch barrel made in rimmed .30-30 caliber might sell much better. A cost estimate was prepared on December 30, 1935, which showed that 100 carbines with 20 inch barrels in .30-30 caliber would cost the factory $1,898 versus $1,901 for the current carbine.