I love .22 rifles and have them by the bushel or so it seems. I reckon I have collected them because I really never had a lot of money to buy toys, especially when I am trying to feed my three little kids and my two furry ones to boot! My days of buying expensive toys are probably over until I get the little ones thru college. Of course, as rough as it gets some times, my kids will always be the apple of their dad's eye.
Well, the extent of my firearms purchases over the last decade or so have either came from auction houses, estates of "wanna be" gunsmiths, yard sales and the "back rack" of the local gun shops. You know the guns, some assembly required, no directions included and throw in the rust for free. Most would consider them junk, I consider them stress relief from the "rat race" for a few hours.
I have just about finished up this old J.C. Higgins 103.18. I purchased it in at an auction in Charlottesville, Va, which was one of those "wanna be" gunsmiths. This one was a $5 rifle that he had disassembled and left to rust in pieces with a heavily sanded stock including a crack. I ended up buying every gun at that auction that day because everyone was scared of their condition. My oldest daughter was with me an we made a haul, including some really good stuff like Remington Model 12, a Winchester 61, Remington 552 Gallery Special, and a Savage 19 NRA (best shape of the bunch). We came back with 11 rifles and shotguns not to mention a truck load of stocks including some Bishop Mauser stocks. I sold off all of the stocks that I didn't need, and paid for the guns twice over (I had one Bishop Mauser stock fetch $244 on eBay). It was kind of like someone paying me to take possession of their junk, and that was a win for me!
So this little rifle started off as one man's junk. The bore was good, I checked the head space, and slipped out the back door and test fired it in a dirt pile. It worked, so I have been tinkering with it the last year or so. I am always tinkering with about four or five guns at a time. I know a lot of you are against cold bluing, but that is about all I have funds for and I am not going to invest that much in a $5 rifle. I did end up buying some Marble's Game Getter sights for it as it was missing the originals. The sights are worth more than the rifle, lol.
As long as you do the prep right, cold blue can look very nice.
Prep is KEY, along with a warm room and slathering it with cosmoline or motor oil after...
Some guns are worth a couple hundred for a hot tank job...
heirlooms, rare and expensive ones come to mind...
but for anything worth less than $500, cold blue or parkerization is the right tool
That's the first rifle I bought for myself......
At Sears, Roebuck, and Co. and I had to
throw a lot of papers to pay for it, after I
paid off my Schwinn.
I'm pretty sure I was 11yrs old.......
guess that wouldn't work today.
I read somewhere these things originally sold for around $8.00 new. It is crazy how things have changed, but if they sold for $8 bucks than that was a lot of money in the day. Now it cost $8 bucks for a combo of fast food in my area. My dad always called the little glass bottles of Coke, "Nickel Bottles" until the day he died. He also told me he sold many a gallon of gasoline for 25 cents when he owned his service station. Johnny Cash's first royalty check was for $2.41 in 1955. My dad told me that you feed yourself for a week on that back then on that check. That is hard to imagine in these times!
Yep, I had already cross referenced it. It is funny how people will sometimes shy away from a store brand firearm, but they shoot just the same as the original manufacturer's. They might not have collector's value, but they still shoot good and make good plinkers!
I don't remember.......I think it was about $10, but it did come with a box of 50round.
I stuck it in my paper bag, sticking way out above the handlebars, and rode to my
Uncle Ed's.......and he and I and one of my cousins shot it in his yard. I think it was
before sales tax was levied, but if not, it was a penny on the dollar if it had started.
I do remember [I guess, Ha!] that just before I went into the service [1959] my
cousin wanted to buy it from me, but I wanted to keep it [at Grandma's] so we went
to Sears to look/buy him one, and they were $23 or $24........
The little pet shop on my paper route was fun, I always took her paper inside for her,
and I looked at the critters in there.......and she had a Coke machine with the 6oz
bottles for a nickel. She usually bought me one, but I had to drink it there because
the bottles were returnable.
I do clearly remember my Candy Apple Red Schwinn, with the whitewall tires,
high-rise post and T-handlebars, a paperboys dream, was $39
I don't remember.......I think it was about $10, but it did come with a box of 50round.
I stuck it in my paper bag, sticking way out above the handlebars, and rode to my
Uncle Ed's.......and he and I and one of my cousins shot it in his yard. I think it was
before sales tax was levied, but if not, it was a penny on the dollar if it had started.
I do remember [I guess, Ha!] that just before I went into the service [1959] my
cousin wanted to buy it from me, but I wanted to keep it [at Grandma's] so we went
to Sears to look/buy him one, and they were $23 or $24........
The little pet shop on my paper route was fun, I always took her paper inside for her,
and I looked at the critters in there.......and she had a Coke machine with the 6oz
bottles for a nickel. She usually bought me one, but I had to drink it there because
the bottles were returnable.
I do clearly remember my Candy Apple Red Schwinn, with the whitewall tires,
high-rise post and T-handlebars, a paperboys dream, was $39
Just think, our kids will be saying " I remember when I was a kid in 2014, obozo was still President, and gasoline was under $4.00 a gallon! You could buy a cheap burger for a buck! They still had lead in their ammo! They still believed that they had a say in their Government!
It is a fun hobby picking up old 22 rifles, I'm up over thirty of them now. I make two to five trips a week looking for 22 ammo, old 22 rifles, old 410 shotguns and decent priced handguns.
You did a nice job on your rifle you bought. 'The best 22 rifle I have is an old Western Auto tube-fed 22 bolt action that I bought out of a pawnshop for only$50, most accurate 22 rifle I ever shot.
If I can make it to the auction house this weekend, they have a Sears 41 (Marlin 101) listed. If it goes cheap enough, I am in. I don't have a lot of money, but I love collecting old banged up guns. Before it is over with, I will have the world's largest stock pile of old .22's and single barrel shotguns! I have to pick one up tomorrow that I won in a local online auction today. A Hamilton 51 for $39.00. Missing the bolt, but the stock and barrel appear to be decent in the photos. Have to check the bore when I pick it up. More than I wanted to pay, but it is a Hamilton and I don't have one of them yet! I see the bolts listed on GB for around $50-$55. I will see if it is worth the effort tomorrow, but I know I will make it happen. It will go into the project pile. My biggest competition on banged up guns at auctions are those who want them to cut up to make a profit on the parts. That is against my principles! When I sell parts, it is the left overs from a completed project. I have been working off and on a 1904 Savage that was in miserable shape when I got it (looked like it was left in a shed for 50 years including the bore being plugged up with dried red clay). But, hey it was a $12 rifle and something to do to take me out of the real world for a few ours while I am tinkering.
Go for it! My very first gun was a Marlin 101T, at age 8 or 9, and Dad probably got it from Sears, since we had one in town. All the 101s I've seen on the web had a ring to cock it, but mine had a very distinctive T-handle. I'm thinking they must have made the T version only briefly, then switched to the ring.
Of the several .22's that I own, only one was bought new. I used to know a lawyer in Shreveport, LA, that would cruse all the pawn shops looking for cheap .22's. He would buy everything that he could find that was single shot. All these guns were cleaned up, and made ready to use, and then donated to the NRA, and to the Boy Scouts. He wanted to do his part in teaching children how to shoot, and to learn the joy of shooting. To this day I always look for the cheap little .22's at the pawn shop.
New here and my first post. Been doing gun repair and especially restoration of older .22 rimfire guns for 44 years. Am currently working on a Stevens Maynard restoration and once I get the knack of posting a picture, will try and present a before and after.
Here's a Ruger Mark II that was a winter project as time allowed.
New here and my first post. Been doing gun repair and especially restoration of older .22 rimfire guns for 44 years. Am currently working on a Stevens Maynard restoration and once I get the knack of posting a picture, will try and present a before and after.
Here's a Ruger Mark II that was a winter project as time allowed.
SGWGunsmith, welcome to the forum. You've found the right place to be. From what you said, we'll look forward to hearing more from you. We have several gunsmiths onboard here and another one is always welcome. We're a friendly bunch and like to help each other out, like a good chat and a good laugh.
You did nice work on your "winter project"; nice shooting.
Pull up a chair and a keyboard and enjoy. Be careful, though...this place can be addicting.
New here and my first post. Been doing gun repair and especially restoration of older .22 rimfire guns for 44 years. Am currently working on a Stevens Maynard restoration and once I get the knack of posting a picture, will try and present a before and after.
Here's a Ruger Mark II that was a winter project as time allowed.
Welcome to the forum. I think you will find that rebuilding older guns will help you to appreciate the workmanship that initially went into making that gun. Since many of the older "junker" guns are cheap to purchase and don't require too much cash to fix up, you learn the art of gunsmithing, restoration, and preparedness doing the work yourself. It is a very satisfying hobby.
I have enjoyed restoring a few old 'junk' guns too. It's a good way to reduce stress, and gives good satisfaction. And those old 'vintage' guns often shoot better than the modern guns.
I'll put my old Mossberg Model 146B, that I bought as a $25 rusted up relic, up against any stock modern mass market .22 rifle. Once I found the crusty old tomato stake had a mirror bore, the rest cleaned up very nicely! Even the solidly rusted swing-away peep sight cleaned up and works fine. It's my favorite 'squirrel rifle'.
I used cold blue at first, but it just doesn't last long in the humid Florida air. So I now apply Semi-gloss Black Alumahyde II spray finish. Looks good and is tough.
Here are five of my seven Mossbergs. The M146B is second from the bottom. The 640KD in .22WMR is a 'store brand "Revelation". Just as good as a 'real Mossberg'......
Not shown are the Model 320BB Singleshot with target sights, and the old Model 40 that looks like it sat in the barn for a few decades - still awaiting clean-up.
Nice rifles! I let a 42M slip thru my fingers a while back. The stock had a pretty nasty crack and the auction price got drove up thru the roof (actually sold for over $200)! I have a 152 in my project pile that I was able to pick up for $10 two or three years ago. I let the little J.C. Higgins go on Saturday. I swapped it for a rough little Stevens 940E .410 for my kids. The guy to threw $40 bucks in to boot because he liked the little rifle so well. He needed a .22 for his grandson and I needed a .410 for my kids. I am hoping to have a Hamilton 51 bolt action finished up in the near future (next two weeks). I got it cheap and never had a Hamilton. Another reason that I let the J.C. Higgins go is that I had already picked another up two weeks ago for $55. It is a newer model and will accept scope bases. The metal was good, no cracks in the stock and just some scuffs to take care of. I just can't pass up guns rather they are single shots or single barrels when I can get them so dang cheap! My wife said I am a gun hoarder!
I've never thought about restoring any of my "old" guns. Some of them are butt ugly, but they shoot true, and that's all that matters to me.
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