Belgium Browning T-Bolt Grade II Question

Looked at a Belgium made Browning T-Bolt at the local LGS today. The serial number puts it at a ‘73 manufacture and a Grade II. It’s a solid 98% with a nice 4x Burris Scope mounted (vintage) and one original magazine. They are asking six-fifty and are pretty firm. Would it be worth it??????

Yes. But first check to make sure there is no salt wood. Check the metal to wood surfaces, pull the butt plate screws if they will let you. This would be late for salt wood, but I would check anyway.

Charlie

Its probably worth twice that. I bought a T2 back in 1966 and its been a great gun all these years. You've touched upon the one weakness, that being the one magazine. They're hard to find, kind of like hens teeth.

The other things they came with was a peep sight that uses the "tip off mounts" the scopes are mounted two, and the loading pieces. One was a bottom blank that covers the magazine hole in the bottom of the action and the loading or lift mechanism that serves to allow the single loading. Somewhere in my junk I have an extra magazine and the plastic pieces. Even a note that says they go with the T2 if I'm not around to include them.

I've seen a few up for sale used over the years. One I should have bought was at a flea market in Ohio. Too much hassle to do it legally, so I just left for someone else. From time to time they appear at the OGCA shows. Again, Ohio guns and not worth my time, even if cheap enough. Besides mine will easily last this lifetime.

The only problem I see is the finish is the high gloss browning standard. If I ever want to refinish it it will be a big project.

Thanks
I’m going to go get her tomorrow.

rburg said:

Its probably worth twice that. I bought a T2 back in 1966 and its been a great gun all these years. You've touched upon the one weakness, that being the one magazine. They're hard to find, kind of like hens teeth.

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Here you go for replacement magazines

GPC Mag Browning T-Bolt 22 Long Rifle Steel Blue

In 1978 I picked up a T-Bolt that Browning made up from parts after they discontinued the original rifle. It has a matt finished 24" T2 barreled action in a T1 stock with open sights.

I bought one of these T2 models some 25 years ago and it's an amazing shooter. Paid $210 for it out the door. Smooth trigger and very accurate.

Mine came with only 1 5 round magazine, but when I was at a gun show a few years after purchasing it, I bought 3 original 5 round ones. For some reason Browning made a new run of magazines around the same time the introduced their new T-Bolt rifle and at that same they made both 5 and 10 round mags, so I bought 2 10 rounders.

Decent price IMO for the condition and the fact that it's a Grade II.

The possibility of a 'salt wood' stock would concern me however.
The salt wood was all high(er) grade claro walnut.


Simply taking the bbl'd action out of the wood and examining it will tell you then and there if it is or not.

The metal be either rusted/ pitted from the salt wood contact and still have live rust working it's way into it.
..or it may have been 'saved' from prior damage by refinishing the rusted and pitted under the wood metal.
Takes quite a bit of polishing either by hand or power and then the bbl;d action and all the effected small parts involved in the repolish are reblued.
The outward uneffected surfaces are not touched,,they just remain pristine if so and go thru the hot salt blue and come out looking the same.
If anything any blue worn edges are now back to 'new'.
A lot of work and this usually leaves evidence behind of itself in the way of some of the deeper pits still being there. Or pitting still in hard to reach areas, ect. All depends on the person doing the work and how much time and effort they want to put in.

Also the stock, if the orig salt wood, will usually be heavily coated in the inletting with one of many magic sealers that some believe will prevent the rusting from happening again.
Many will be glass bedded in an attempt to prevent the salt wood from touching the metal from that point forward.

AFAIK, there isn't any sealer/coating that'll help. One might delay the effects for a while, but you can be sure the plain old rock salt/ road salt that they used to cure the wood and is now still imbedded into the wood as it drove the woods natural moisture from it to cure,,it's still there.
It draws more moisture from the air like salt on your car and rust continues.

Pulling the butt plate screws is another way to usually see the problem. Some of them just snap off as they are salt eaten down to near nothing in dia.
Others do come out but covered with live rust.

Here's a link to Arts Gun Shop. They do near exclusive Browning repair and restoration.
Under the 'Videos' scroll down to 'Restoration of a salt wood gun'.
You get a good look at the mess they are inside from the wood on an O/U in this instance,,,and what his opinion of what to do with the wood.
Art's Gun and Sports Shop

If the LGS isn't willing to simply remove a screw and drop the bbl'd action out of the wood to take a look for a well known & expensive to make it all good again problem that's been around for 50yrs,,,then I suspect the price is a very good one for a very good reason. For their unwillingness to turn a screw on the gun to inspect,,I'd walk away from it.
If they do TD the rifle and all is well,,sounds like a nice deal as I said.

Browning did for quite awhile restock salt wood guns as a matter of customer service. Their Bad,,they took care of it.
But no more AFAIK,,you are into it on your own now.

If it is mint, $650 sounds reasonable. I recently bought a perfectly restored (salt) 1968 T-Bolt and love the rifle!



Typical 50 yard group with CCI Mini Mag HP hunting ammo.



If you buy the GPC magazines and have any issue with them, take the followers out and match their shape (bends) to a factory follower. Mine run great after that tweak.

VMaxSplat, that is a beautiful rifle. Do you know who restored it? Thanks, Waldo.

Waldo said:

VMaxSplat, that is a beautiful rifle. Do you know who restored it? Thanks, Waldo.

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Thanks. I am thrilled with it.

The original owner's grandson did much of the parts swapping (stock, small parts) and I was told that a Browning authorized service center did the metal work, which is immaculate. I worked the original trigger guard and recoated it with epoxy and baked it. Basically, the rifle looks new. I have my doubts that it was very "salty", comparatively speaking.