The Remington XP-100 (from eXperimental Pistol number 100) is a

bolt-action Bolt action is a type of manual Action (firearms), firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt (firearms), turn-bolt via a cocking handle, bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (a ...

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

produced by

Remington Arms Remington Arms Company, LLC, was an American firearms manufacturer, manufacturer of firearms and ammunition. It was formerly owned by the Remington Outdoor Company, which went bankrupt in 2020 with its lines of business sold to several purchase ...

from 1963 to 1998. The XP-100 was one of the first handguns designed for long-range shooting and introduced the .221 Fireball and

6×45mm The 6×45mm is a rimless, bottlenecked Cartridge (firearms), cartridge based on the .223 Remington or 5.56 NATO cartridge necked up to .243 (6mm). The cartridge is also known as the 6mm-223 Remington or 6mm/223. History Soon after the release ...

. The XP-100 was noted for its accuracy and is still viewed as competitive today in the sport of

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

varminting Varmint hunting or varminting is the practice of hunting vermin — generally small/medium-sized wild mammals or birds — as a means of pest control, rather than as games for food or trophy. The targeted animals are culled because they are cons ...

, which it helped create, as well as in

metallic silhouette shooting Metallic silhouette shooting is a group of target shooting disciplines that involves shooting at steel targets representing game animals at varying distances, seeking to knock the metal target over. Metallic silhouette is shot with large bore rif ...

Overview

The XP-100 was based on Remington's short action bolt action

carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and ligh ...

, the

Remington Model 40X Remington may refer to: Businesses * Remington Arms, an American manufacturer of firearms, ammunition, and related products, 1816–2020 ** Remington Ammunition, an American brand operated by Vista Outdoor since 2021 ** Remington Firearms, an ...

, which influenced the later

Remington Model 600 Remington Arms Model 600 was a push feed bolt-action rifle produced by Remington Arms from 1964 to 1968. While it is commonly believed that production ended in 1967, according to Remington representatives records indicate that it actually ended i ...

rifle. The XP-100 was initially introduced with a barrel set into a

nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

stock with an unusual center-mounted grip. Chambered in .222 Remington in early prototypes, the short barrel produced significant noise and muzzle flash. Subsequently, the case was shortened to reduce powder capacity to a volume more suited to the shorter barrel of a pistol. The resulting cartridge, the .221 Fireball, produced factory-loaded velocities of over 825 m/s (2,700 ft/s) from the short barrel, and accuracy rivaling the parent .222 Remington, one of the most accurate cartridges made. All but the XP-100R model were

single-shot In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have ...

designs, while the XP-100R had a small internal magazine (holding four rounds), similar to most bolt-action rifles. The R model - for "repeater" - was made 1991–1997 in .223 Rem., .250 Savage, 7mm-08 Rem., .308 Win., .35 Rem., and 350 Rem. Mag. It was reintroduced in 1998, this time without sights, in .223 Rem., .22-250 Rem., .260 Rem., and .35 Rem.

Model history

The XP-100 went through a number of changes during its production run, and many variations were only available through the Remington Custom shop. The most significant changes in the later versions were to barrel length, which went to , and the grip location, which was moved to the rear of the stock. Stocks with a rear grip use standard Remington 700 triggers, while stocks with a center grip need a special trigger linkage system with a long transfer bar. The calibers changed; with the elimination of the original barrel, the reduced powder capacity was no longer such a requirement, and the chamberings switched to standard commercial rifle cartridges. By the time the XP-100 was canceled, it faced stiff competition from other bolt-action pistols such as the

Savage Striker The Savage Striker was a bolt action pistol produced from 1999 to 2005 by Savage Arms for metallic silhouette shooting and hunting. The pistol was based on the action of the Savage Model 110 and was sold with a composite stock, originally with a ...

as well as the versatile

Thompson Center Arms Thompson/Center Arms is an American firearms company based in Rochester, New Hampshire. The company was best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles. Thompson/Center also manufactures muzzle-loading rifles a ...

break-action Break action is a type of firearm action in which the barrel(s) are hinged much like a door and rotate perpendicularly to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of cartridges. A separate operation may be required for ...

Contender.

Model production by year

*XP-100 (1963–1985) *XP-100 Varmint Special (1986–1992) *XP-100 Silhouette (1980–1997) *XP-100 Hunter (1993–1994) *XP-100 Custom (1986–1997) *XP-100R (1998) *XR-100 (2005–Present)

Caliber production by year

*.221 Remington Fireball (1963–1985) *7 mm BR Remington (1980–1985) * .223 Remington (1986–1997), (2005–Present in XR-100) * .35 Remington (1986–1997) * 350 Rem. Mag (1991–1997) *.250 Savage (1990–1992) Custom Shop only * 6 mm BR Remington (1990–1992) Custom Shop only * .22-250 Remington (1992–1994) Custom Shop only, (2005–Present in XR-100) * .308 Winchester (1992–1994) Custom Shop only *

7 mm-08 Remington The 7mm-08 Remington is a rifle cartridge that is almost a direct copy of a wildcat cartridge developed around 1958 known as the 7mm/308. As these names would suggest, it is the .308 Winchester case necked down to accept 7 mm (.284) bullets wit ...

(1993–1994) * .204 Ruger (2005–Present in XR-100)

Current production

The XP-100 action was used as the basis for a new single-shot rifle from Remington called the XR-100 Rangemaster. While the XP-100 has disappeared from Remington's lineup (Remington is primarily a maker of rifles and

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

s), the .221 Fireball remains in production. The Model 700 rifle has been available since 2002 in a .221 Fireball chambering; while it lacks the velocity attainable with the vastly more popular .223 Remington, the short .221 Fireball delivers most of the performance with far less noise and flash.

Factory recall

In 1979, XP-100 pistols and Remington Model 600 rifles were recalled because of a safety issue. It was impossible to unload the gun with the safety on because engaging the safety locked the bolt in place. Remington made a free modification available that allowed the bolt to open while the gun was on safe, allowing it to be unloaded without disengaging the safety.

References

External links

User Manual

The American Handgunner, Jan/Feb 1979 Coverage

The American Handgunner, July/Aug 1982 Coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Remington Xp-100 Single-shot pistols .35 Remington firearms Remington Arms firearms Bullpup firearms Pistols of the United States