Type Pump action rifle Manufacturer Remington Arms No. built 1.03 million | Place of origin United States Produced 1952–1981 | |
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Designer L. Ray Crittendon, William Gail Jr. | ||
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 calibers with spitzer bullets.
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Design
Following World War II, many of Remington's pre-war firearms resumed production. This created a dilemma for the company as they 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. 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.
Historical significance
James Earl Ray used a .30-06 Model 760 Gamemaster to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr, 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.