Vintage Remington Chainsaw Advertising and Company History

It’s vintage Remington Chainsaw ad time!

We’ve been sharing a lot of old chainsaw advertising lately, from STIHL and Strunk ads to Husqvarna and Poulan ads, but now it’s Remington’s turn.

You will find many of these old adverts for sale on eBay from sellers like:

• adscetera
• Mantiques and baseball
• Retro Print Ads
• Advertising Shop

Now, let’s get into the ads and Remington company history.

Remington’s chainsaw heritage traces back to the mid-20th century but is rooted in the much older Remington Arms company (founded in 1816) known for firearms.

In 1956, Remington Arms expanded into power tools by acquiring the Mall Tool Company, an Ohio-based maker of chainsaws and other tools. Arthur Mall had founded Mall Tool in Milwaukee in 1921.

The Mall Tool Co.’s chainsaw line was folded into the Remington Power Tool Division.

Over the following decades, Remington (and later licensees) produced a range of gas-powered chainsaws.

Major corporate milestones included the 1969 sale of Remington’s power-tool division to Desa Industries, Desa’s later acquisition by AMCA in 1975, and finally MTD’s acquisition of the Remington chainsaw brand in 2009.

Mall Tool Co. had produced some of the earliest portable chainsaws.

Its Mall 6 model (1940s–50s) was a large 2-cycle engine saw (12.2 cu in/200 cc). When Remington Arms acquired Mall in 1956, it inherited these designs and began engineering its own saws.

The 1960s saw several “Power Lite” (PL) models:

Remington PL-4 (1965)

Introduced 1965, powered by a 3.6 cu in (59 cc) 2-stroke engine. It weighed about 12.5 lb (powerhead only) and used a .404″ pitch chain on guide bars from 15″ up to 23″. The PL-4 had no chain brake, a manual bar oiler, and a rigid handlebar. Its engine used a Fairbanks Morse centrifugal clutch and Tillotson HS-series carburetor.

Remington PL-5 (1966)

Introduced 1966, with a larger 4.0 cu in (65.5 cc) engine. Weight 13 lb. It used .404″ chain on roller-nose bars 12″–26″ long and likewise had no chain brake.

Remington PL-6 (1966)

Also 1966, this was a heavy-duty saw with a 5.7 cu in (93.4 cc) engine and weighed 16.5 lb. Guide bars ranged from 18″ up to 41″. Like other PL-series saws, it used .404″ pitch chain (Remington “PowerFlite” type) and had no chain brake.

All these PL models used magnesium alloy construction, aluminum cylinders (chrome-plated bore), reed-valve intake, and featured manual oiler pumps.

These saws were relatively light for their time but lacked modern safety features. For example, none of the 1960s PL-series saws had a chain brake.

Later in the 1960s–1970s, Remington redesignated some models as “SL” (Silver Logmaster) series while keeping much of the same internals. For example, the SL-4 introduced in 1972 was essentially the PL-4 under a new model number.

Similarly, the SL-10 (1970) was a lighter-duty saw with a 3.1 cu in (50.7 cc) engine and 10 lb weight. All these older Remington chainsaws used .404″ or 3/8″ chain, rigid handles, and Fairbanks Morse clutches; they were primarily handheld one-man saws (though the PL-6’s 41″ bar nearly required two-man handling).

In 1969, Remington Arms (by then part of DuPont) divested its entire power-tool division. The division was sold to a new company named Desa Industries.

Desa continued to manufacture “Remington” branded chain saws (as well as other power tools, heaters, staplers, etc.) through the 1970s–1990s.

In 1975, Desa’s assets (including Remington tools) were acquired by AMCA International, though management of the Remington lines remained largely local.

During the 1980s–90s, Desa released updated Remington products, including electric chainsaws (e.g., models EL-1, EL-7, etc.) and gas saws (often under codes like RCS or RS).

Desa’s Remington Outdoor Products (which included chainsaws, pole saws, and garden tools) operated until late 2008, when Desa filed for bankruptcy. In the spring of 2009, MTD Southwest (a division of MTD Products) purchased Desa’s Remington chainsaw assets.

After 2009, all new Remington-brand chainsaws in the U.S. were produced by (or for) MTD. (In Australia, the Remington name was used earlier by another company, but today Remington Tools in North America is exclusively an MTD brand.)

Under MTD, Remington chainsaws became lower-cost consumer saws, generally with small gas engines.

For example, in 2016 Remington offered two-cycle chainsaws in the 42–46 cc range with bars from 14″ to 20″. In that year, models RM4214, RM4218, and RM4620 (with 42cc and 46cc engines) were sold through retailers like Lowe’s and Amazon.

These saws use modern safety and convenience features: they include chain brakes, low-kickback Oregon-brand chains, automatic bar-and-chain oilers, and side-mounted chain tensioners.

Technical specifications for these modern saws (notably, engine size, weight, and bar length) were similar to competitor consumer models.

For example, the RM4620 and RM4218 saws had approximate dry weights of 14–15 lb. Unlike the 1960s Remingtons, the MTD-era Remington saws do have chain brakes and use .325″ pitch chains.

In late 2016–2017, approximately 8,000 Remington-brand gas chainsaws (models RM4214, RM4218, RM4620) were recalled for a hazardous fuel-line defect. This recall underscores that modern Remington saws are essentially rebranded imports (made for MTD), similar to other big-box chainsaws.

Each period brought improvements: vintage Remington saws were quite advanced for their day (lightweight magnesium bodies, high-RPM engines) but lacked today’s safety features. The modern Remington saws built by MTD leverage decades of chainsaw technology (anti-kickback bars, auto oilers, improved carburetion) under the old Remington brand name.

If you liked this Remington Chainsaw advertising, you’ll also like these ones from Pioneer and Jonsered!