Even though I keep saying I'm not buying anymore guns, I am a weak, weak man. Someone on the rimfire forum recently posted about the 2015 Shot Show special maple stocked Japanese T-Bolts for sale, and I had to have one to go with my old and much loved Belgian one. These are straight-pull bolt actions, and a lot of fun:



The older I get, the lighter I like stuff to be, so I put a Leupold 4x rimfire scope with a 28mm objective in Talley aluminum rings on it:



I could do without the gold trigger, but hey.

Not sure why you'd want one. You haven't even started to wear out the first. Those things last nearly forever. Do you expect to live forever? Of course you could give away that nasty old one to someone who would appreciate it.

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Dick Burg

The T-bolts are cool guns that have looked good since they came out years ago. The maple stock looks great. How do they shoot? What kind of groups are you getting? Larry

An interesting fact about the T-Bolt. It was reportedly designed in a small town in Colorado, by a highway department worker. When not plowing snow or painting stop signs, he would design and hand build guns in the highway department shop. He designed several guns and I have seen some of his examples in a local museum. The T-Bolt was his only successful design.

I have one of the older ones and like it much. That's a Weaver K4 on mine. The newer ones seem to have a different magazine; is it a Ruger magazine?

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I too have a Belgium T-Bolt but with a very light Sycamore stock. One of the last ones put together I'm told.

Congrats the t bolts are such a unique, beautiful rifle. I've had my eye out for one for several years now, but have not found the right one. I think the new production ones out of Japan are very, very nice.

I recently ran across a couple of new ones on the clearance rack at Gander Mountain. Unfortunately, they were both pretty dinged up by the horrible way that GM displays/racks and handles their firearms. Even in that poor condition, on clearance, GM still had the audacity to charge what a normal gun shop would charge for a new one in perfect condition! It really was a sad sight to see those gorgeous new guns all gouged up...

Anyway, congrats on those beautiful Brownings, enjoy!

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NRA Life Member

"The T-bolts are cool guns that have looked good since they came out years ago. The maple stock looks great. How do they shoot? What kind of groups are you getting? Larry"

I haven't grouped the old one since sighting it many, many years ago. Since then it has centered a lot of cans, dirt clods, clay pigeons and other assorted fun targets offhand.

I don't have an outdoor range that I like near me, so I've only shot the new one once at the local indoor range while leaning against the stall support - it seems to want to shoot very well for such a light rifle.
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"The newer ones seem to have a different magazine; is it a Ruger magazine?"

Nope, it's a 10 round magazine that Browning calls a double helix. It's interesting and groovy and all, but I still would rather have a plain old 5-round single stack magazine, because I'm a simple man.

T-Bolt Double Helix™ Magazines

I bought my rifle a few years ago and had a Burris scope installed. It is a fine rifle. The magazines that came with the rifle are packed in one of the boxes labeled Gun Stuff when I moved from The Peoples Republic of California. I haven't found them yet, so I had to buy another magazine. Spare Double Helix magazines are ridiculously over-priced.

I had a pair of Belgians; one right and one left handed for the wife. Unfortunately both were stolen. They were great shooters and I even managed to pick up a few extra magazines.

I've always admired the T-bolts, as far back as 1971 when I worked at a gun shop. I couldn't afford one back then. I have one of the Leupold .22 4x scopes on my Savage-Anschutz. It is a great, clear, scope.

You have to be careful with the Belgium models in the early 70's as they had the same exposure to 'salt' woods as other Brownings in this era.
I has my stock on a grade 2 replaced by Browning - no where near as nice as the original, but the new stock didn't affect its shooting ability.

Wait a minute here. Are you telling us the rifles went away, but not the extra magazines??

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Dick Burg

I own a Belgian T-Bolt. It's the style that doesn't have the rear peep sight. It shoots unbelievably tight groups and the trigger is smooth as butter. It was the second 22 rifle I purchased, after buying a new Marlin Golden 39A in 1987. I think I bought the T-Bolt in 1990.

I was able to find some extra original 5 round magazines for it a couple of years later at a gun show. Then many years back Browning made some 10 round mags, so I bought 2 of those as well.

T-Bolts are wonderful rifles and I would have a hard time giving mine up.

I think they all had the rear peep sight. It just mounted on the scope grooves. They also came with the single shot adapters, one for the action to let the shooter just drop in a round and then feed it. The other for the bottom of the action/floor plate to cover the hole. I keep those in a little cloth sack with instructions to include with the rifle when my ungrateful heirs sell it.

A problem with non-gun people is they have no clue what the accessories are for or even which gun they work with. All those folks want is the gun gone and money to buy electronic toys. I'm tempted to stop trying to make their job easier. That one long drawer filled with oddities. Forget the
Sig name, or that all the magazines seem to fit my P210s. Just toss those 9mm and 22 cal mages. It'd be too much effort to sell them for hundreds of bucks apiece.

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Dick Burg

I don't remember everything I know, but they definitely sold some with no aperture sight and a 'regular' rear barrel mounted sight.

I think it was toward the end of their importation to the USA in the early to mid-70's. They were in grade I, and may have had beech stocks.