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Need help with a Browning straight pull bolt 22lr rifle

4K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  Bindernut 
#1 ·
Neighbor and friend just gave me a Browning 22lr bolt action and I have no information and am mostly a handgun person. I have been to the Browning web site and still can't find much of any help. The gun uses a magazine that sits flush with the stock. Rear sight is huge with two big adjustment screws and arperature sight that screws out. The nearest I could find on the Browning site called out for the serial number to be on the receiver ahead of the ejection port but that is blank. There are numbers on the bottom of the barrel just ahead of the stock and are 16393 x6. The top of the barrel has "Browning Arms Company St Louis Mo. & Montreal P. Q. Made in Belgium."
The stock is nice looking dark wood but there is quite a bit of rust on the sides of the receiver and rear 50% of the barrel. I don't expect it to have any real value because of the condition except the fact it is a gift from a friend. Thanks for any help, Jim.
 
#2 ·
We'll need pictures to help out more with ID and value. But it sounds like you've got a Browning T-Bolt .22.

By the sound of it with the rusty metal near the wood it will be from the "salt-wood" stock era which is roughly 1967 through 1970 or 1971.
The salt-wood is called that because for a few years Browning was using Claro Walnut stock blanks that were dried using salt to speed up the curing process. Some of that salt absorbed into the wood and it attacks the metal rather quickly. There's not really any way to leech the salt out of those stocks to stop the rust problem, other than very frequent cleaning/oiling of the metal to stay ahead of the rust monster.

If by chance you are reading the serial number upside down, the number you've got would put it in the 1965-1975 era where they used an X in the serial number to denote the T-Bolt model. the X should be at the beginning of the serial though after a 1 or 2 digit year code.
If you can post a clear picture of the number someone here can probably provide a little more info.

Even if it is a salt-wood model with some rust damage on the metal you might be surprised that it still has a decent value yet. It's a safe bet that it's not just another $50 beat-around rifle. Pics of the condition will help pin a value on it. Even with some rust damage it should still be a fine shooter.
 
#3 ·
First I am sorry for putting this in the wrong forum and thanks for moving here. I called Browning this morning and got a lot of information and they are sending me an owners manual and a list of places to find parts since this is obsolete. It is a T-BOLT made in 1966 and looks to have been shot very little so I have hopes for a good shooter. The afore mentioned rust is the only problem I can see so will get it cleaned up and shot. It is too bad about the stock being the cause of the rust because it is really nice. Maybe I can get my wife to take some pictures and then if I can figure out how to post them I will ask about value. Thanks, Jim.
 
#4 ·
66 is a bit early for a salt gun. I also do not recall any T-Bolts being salt guns. The 2 biggest offenders in this category are the Superposed and the 98 Mauser Bolt Action Rifles. If it is a salt gun the rust would be at the wood line or below. It does not creep much beyond the edge of the wood. Pictures would tell us the story.
 
#5 ·
You're right. 1966 should be before the salt-wood stock fiasco.
I agree with more pics being needed to pin it down for sure.

I've seen two T-bolts with saltwood stocks. I almost got one of those two at auction many years ago. I know the guy who did buy that one and he showed me the damage later. That was the first I'd ever heard of salt-wood...I was just a dumb college student at the time.
 
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