The Remington Model 760 Gamemaster is a pump-action, centerfire rifle made by Remington Arms from 1952 to 1981. The Model 760 replaced the Model 141 in the product lineup. Being fed by a box magazine freed the design to use more powerful rounds with spitzer bullets. It was succeeded by the Remington Model 7600 series.
| Remington Model 760 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Pump action rifle |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | L. Ray Crittendon, William Gail Jr. |
| Manufacturer | Remington Arms |
| Produced | 1951–1981[1] |
| No. built | 1.03 million [2] |
| Variants | see variants |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 7 lb (3.2 kg) |
| Length | 42.6 in (108 cm) |
| Barrel length | 22 in (56 cm) |
| Cartridge |
|
| Action | Pump action[1] |
| Feed system | Detachable box magazine |
Design
Following World War II, many of Remington's pre-war firearms resumed production. This created a dilemma for the company as it had produced martial arms during the war. Production of military arms had forced manufacturers to streamline production and use more economical methods and materials that were not adaptable to most earlier designs. Remington set about creating families of firearms that shared a common design and parts. This trend began with the Model 11-48 and continues to this day. The Model 870 and 1100 shotguns share similar construction, styling, and share many parts with the Model 760 and 740 rifles.
The 760 featured a detachable box magazine, dual action bars, and a removable aluminum trigger group. The bolt featured 14 locking lugs laid out in an interrupted-thread pattern. These lugs locked into corresponding lugs in a barrel extension by means of a cam-rotated bolt.[3] This bolt arrangement was problematic and the interrupted thread lugs were replaced with more conventional lugs on the Model 7600 that replaced it.
Variants
A number of variants were manufactured mostly differing in finish, stock style and grade, sights, and other small details. One version, the 760C, featured an 18.5" barrel.
Criminal uses
James Earl Ray used a .30-06 Model 760 Gamemaster to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. The killing sparked riots across the country and was a factor in the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968.[4][5]
A .30-06 Model 760 was used in the 1999 OC Transpo shooting, The gunman killed four other people and injured two before killing himself in an OC Transpo garage in Ottawa.[6]
References
- ^ a b "Model 760 Pump Action Centerfire Rifle". Remington Arms. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
- ^ "Model 760 Gamemaster Pump Action Centerfire Rifle". Remington Arms. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
- ^ "Remington's Model 760 GameMaster". Shooting Times. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
- ^ Wilbur R. Miller (29 June 2012). The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: A-De. SAGE Publications. p. 720. ISBN 978-1-4129-8876-6.
- ^ "Gun Control Act of 1968". Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights. Glenn H. Utter and Robert J. Spitzer. 2nd ed. Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing, 2011. pp. 126–127. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 Jan. 2015.
- ^ Deachman, Bruce (7 April 2019). "Remembering the fatal 1999 OC Transpo shootings: 'I only wish I got to know him better'". The Ottawa Citizen.