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Some friends and I were discussing classic shotguns, I mentioned the Winchester model 97, the model 12, and the Browning Auto-5, one of the guys proposed the Remington Model 11, I told him that the Browning design is the classic, and that the Model 11 is just a spin-off of the Auto-5.

I welcome your thoughts.

Berettaman7

To me, one criteria would be that the model is obsolete(no longer produced by the original mfg.) and that it's use has lasted beyond it's obsolesence....Jack

Well, take into account what a Model '97, Model 12, A-5, Model 42, Model 11, Model 37, (both Winchester and Ithica) L.C. Smith, Fox Sterlingworth, Superposed, 101, as well as many others, truly was and is yet today. Make a list of the attributes you can assign to each of them. Now you have your definition of a Classic shotgun. Those are all indeed truly classic shotguns in every sense of the word. Find one that favorably compares today and it will become a classic one day also. Heck an 870 Wingmaster may even fit that definition, and they still make it!

Very good and very popular are a couple of the main requirements.

BP

A friend, who owns a Remington Model 11-48 insists that gun is a classic, he alleges that sheer numbers of production justify that as well as the number of guns still in use. I dont agree with that, since, the 11-48 is a gun that did not gain the appreciation of other brands such as the Winchester Model 12, Browning Auto-5, Ithaca model 37 as most people would rather pick up one of those named, (I am excluding Fox, Parker, L.C. Smith, Ithaca SXS because the price was higher than the previous) than the 11-48.

Berettaman7

I do not think the definition of "Classic" is an absolute. If your friend thinks his 11-48 is a Classic, then so be it, it wouldn't be to me.

The term "Classic" is thrown arround like so much change at a dish toss at the carnival.

Marketing seems to try to hang that title on most anything they are trying to convince folks to pay too much for. I think it has become a come-on to get us aging 'boomers to identify with something we liked in the ancient past and buy it.

Heck, hereabouts the Chamber of Commerce started a livestock show with an auction. After a few days of lying, er, aha, discussing their cattle and attributes amongst themselves, they sell them, or at least try to. Now, for the life of me I don't understand how this function could be labeled as a "Classic" but it is! In fact the very first year they held the show it was billed as the "Cattlemen's Classic"! Whatever that may be? I guess if you are into livestock, you automatically know the word classic means cowshow?

Regarding guns? I guess Classic can mean anything you want it to mean. Some folks think of the word as referring to the "good ol' days"! '03 Springfield, '17 Enfield, SMLE, '98 Mauser, Krag-Jorgenson, 1911, Model '76, Model '73, Model 29? Depending on what you think classic means it could go on and on. Yes, maybe even an 11-48 to someone.

BP

I found that one of the meanings for classic: A creation of the highest excellence worthy of being imitated.

Berettaman7

Car collectors have some technical definitions such as Classic, Vintage, Antique based on age and production status of cars. Maybe the same system could apply to shotguns.

Most of my guns are classics just because of my age and the length of time I've had them! LOL.

If it's older than me and I'm still shooting it, it's a classic.

If I am trying to buy a shotgun then I say it is a run-of-the-mill gun with few redeeming features. If I am trying to sell the same gun then it is a classic.

If you look at some of the gun sales websites, you will have to agree with Golfswithwolves!

As a Supreme Court justice famously said (concerning the definition of pornography):

I know it when I see it.

(I am going through my poor old Mama's lifelong accumulation of glassware and knick knacks. I know nothing about them, except the classic collectables from years ago has a certain glow of timeless quality the later reproductions and cheap imitations just can't match. And, even if you don't smoke,,,,I'll bet you could pick the old classic four digit four hole stinger Kaywoodies out of a big pile of Dr. Grabows and other old pipes. And if you put a 1930's Kaywoodie beside one from the 1970's or newer Kaywoodie of the same grade and shape, anybody can see why they only call the old ones a classic)

Cynergy is so evolutionary it is an instant classic. The rest of them had to be discontinued for them to be widely revered and appreciated. Of coarse the two guns that killed many of them are also still in production Remington's 870 and the 1100.

Classic or not i love the rem 48,s nice to handel and shoot. Easy to repair . bcofmt.

I'd say it has more to do with recognition. For instance nobody mistakes an A-5 for an M-11 but alot of folks may call an M-11 an A-5 sitting on a table at a gun show. The 97, M-12, and 37 are all as recognizable to a gun nut as a '69 charger is to a gear head. I wouldn't call an 11-48 a classic.

I really think the 870 has met the test-nearly 60 years old with over 10 million sold, and still in production and selling well. There wil never be an exact criteria for the designation, but it's fun to argue about!

Sometimes a certain oddball feature can make a gun a classic to some folks. Most wouldn't consider a Winchester model 50 a classic but that floating chamber short recoil system and the fact that it was designed by none other than "Carbine" Williams makes it a classic in my book.

I guess that the word classic is in the eye of the beholder. There is no way that a gun made from machine stamped parts with no hand fitting such as a M870 or a Norinko will ever be a classic in my mind. I don't care how many they have sold to the public or how dependable and cheap they are.

Just my opinion.

For what it’s worth, there are Federal standards that regulate the U.S. Auto Insurance Industry regarding the qualifications for insuring a vehicle as a “Classic Car”.
1) The date of manufacture must be before January 1, 1973
2) The vehicle cannot be used for general transportation
3) All Ownership transfers and Modifications must be documented

Of course, these standards do not apply to a gun; however, I wanted illustrate that there are formal government qualifications, definitions and applications to the word “Classic”.

I would be willing to bet that there is a Federal definition of “Classic Gun”, for tax purposes, under laws governing the Import/Export license regulations.