Meriden Model 14 factory deluxe grade.
Was a heavily buffed and hot blued mess of parts in a cigar box with the bbled frame, stock & mag tube wrapped in newspaper.
Left to rust, but the bore was still excl.
No one had touched the orig wood, so that was a plus.
I polished everything backup to get square corners and flat surfaces. Recut all the lettering. Then upgraded with some custom engraving.
Finished off with slow rust blue.
Shoots very nice. The sights were orig and in with the parts in the box.
The rifle was designed by the two sons ( John & ??.. can't recall the others name) of Arther Savage, founder of Savage Arms Co.
At least that's who's name is on the pat's.
The two brothers also pat the design(s) for Meriden's 12ga Pump shotgun, the Model (19)12. A very nice pump repeater hardly ever seen and known about.
(I happen to have one w/ 2 bbls.,,another project as the stock was broken!..kind of a Meriden geek I guess.)
Meriden went bankrupt at the end of WW1. Never recovered from the New England Westinghouse takeover to make M/Nagant and other WW1 small arms parts.
Fledging O. F. Mossberg & Co bought the rights to the Meriden Model 1914 pump .22 at auction in 1920/21.
Mossberg put the rifle into production as the Mossberg Model(s) K , L & M 22 pumps.
Differences in Model were bbl length and oct or round.
Meriden did offer the rifle with factory engraving but the pattern was much different from what I chose to put on it.
Way less of a chance of some profiteer a pass off as orig plus it's marked w/ name.
...Not that that hasn't stop them in the past though...
I like doing up classic .22's as projects.
Here's the Meriden..
Here's a Winchester Model 63
This ones restocked and checkered as well as engraved and inlayed.
I've done quite a few Win 61, 62 and 63's in this style of upgrade.
Then some are just as I find them.
These are both Marlin Model 97 .22 lever action.
The one on the left is a pretty nice Deluxe.
PG stock , fancy wood, checkered, Oct/Rd bbl, 1/2 mag, tang sight, 2 blade folding bbl sight and Beech front sight. Excl bore,
The one on the right is what a lot of collectors call a 1/2 Deluxe.
It has all of the above but the wood is plain straight grain Amer Walnut.
This particular rifle has had it's bore relined. By who I don't know but they did a very nice job. I think the bbl was also chopped 2". With all that and the lack of case colors (worn to the brite nickel plate look) the rifle was very inexpensive.
Oh,,and the ejector was missing too. It's a pre 1910(?),,befor the ejector was actuall mounted into the frame with the 2 screws. So when the rifle was taken down and the bolt removed from the frame for cleaning,,the ejector on those just falls free from the frame.
Many are missing.
Luckily repros are available and though they need a bit of fitting, they work just fine.
M97 rifles are accurate, are StdVel only arms, are smooth operating and a fun to shoot.
