It's only happened a half-dozen times in my life: a friend asks for guidance upon finding a firearm in a deceased relative's possessions, a firearm that, sometimes, no one remembers as having been owned by the dearly departed.
Fortune last smiled on me a few years ago when a friend was liquidating his mother's estate. A forgotten Mossberg Model 42B, bolt action rifle in .22 rimfire, was found in the basement of her home. The rifle had belonged to my friend's father who died years earlier. To the best of everyone's knowledge, this rifle had not been fired, nor has it seen the light of day, in more than 50 years.
Now, a utilitarian Mossberg doesn't stir the soul like a Kimber, Classic or a Ruger 77-22. But, I was offered the rifle free of charge if I wanted it. The rifle was disassembled and still in the original box, a box in really ratty condition. Also included were several boxes of vintage ammo as well as a very old container of Hoppe's cleaning patches, curio quality.
I enjoy returning long-dormant firearms to active duty. It's one of the few endeavors that still makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also enjoy researching the firearm in question. I learned that the Mossberg Model 42B was produced from the late 1930s to WWII and a military variant was used as a military training rifle in England. It came factory equipped with both peep sights and open sights, a hooded front sight and the receiver drilled for a scope mount. Fortunately, the detachable magazine was still included!
To be sure, this rifle is not in league with a Winchester Model 52 or an Anschutz. However, it has a 24" medium weight barrel and I suspected that this rifle would make one heck of an accurate plinker, even with its haphazard bedding.
My eyes no longer tolerate target grade peep sights so I removed them, purchased a scope mount from Brownell's and installed a spare Tasco Pronghorn scope. The scope is parallax-corrected for a centerfire rifle but it doesn't matter for my purposes.
The rifle was in excellent condition. There were some minor rust spots on the barrel and a bit of worn blue where the bolt dust cover rubbed against the receiver.
I put the rifle on my workbench and gave it a good cleaning. After a few passes of a wire brush and solvent, the bore sparkled like new. I removed gunk from the nooks and crannies. As with most firearms in the hands of people who mean well but don't know how to maintain them, this rifle suffered from too much of the wrong kind of preservatives. Fortunately, whatever was used had not migrated to the stock, which would have softened and ruined it in critical places.
I fired the rifle, benchrest, at 25 yards using 80s vintage, Winchester Match ammo. The first two or three five-shot groups averaged about ¾". Then, we both settled down and I fired five shots into one ragged hole of about 3/8" diameter. This was indeed a very accurate plinker.
This rifle would be right at home on a rural farm. Here in the suburbs where I live, it will punch paper and reactive targets but that's about it. But, if a rifle could have feelings, I'm sure that this one is simply grateful to be back in the starting lineup, pretty or not.
Fortune last smiled on me a few years ago when a friend was liquidating his mother's estate. A forgotten Mossberg Model 42B, bolt action rifle in .22 rimfire, was found in the basement of her home. The rifle had belonged to my friend's father who died years earlier. To the best of everyone's knowledge, this rifle had not been fired, nor has it seen the light of day, in more than 50 years.
Now, a utilitarian Mossberg doesn't stir the soul like a Kimber, Classic or a Ruger 77-22. But, I was offered the rifle free of charge if I wanted it. The rifle was disassembled and still in the original box, a box in really ratty condition. Also included were several boxes of vintage ammo as well as a very old container of Hoppe's cleaning patches, curio quality.
I enjoy returning long-dormant firearms to active duty. It's one of the few endeavors that still makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also enjoy researching the firearm in question. I learned that the Mossberg Model 42B was produced from the late 1930s to WWII and a military variant was used as a military training rifle in England. It came factory equipped with both peep sights and open sights, a hooded front sight and the receiver drilled for a scope mount. Fortunately, the detachable magazine was still included!
To be sure, this rifle is not in league with a Winchester Model 52 or an Anschutz. However, it has a 24" medium weight barrel and I suspected that this rifle would make one heck of an accurate plinker, even with its haphazard bedding.
My eyes no longer tolerate target grade peep sights so I removed them, purchased a scope mount from Brownell's and installed a spare Tasco Pronghorn scope. The scope is parallax-corrected for a centerfire rifle but it doesn't matter for my purposes.
The rifle was in excellent condition. There were some minor rust spots on the barrel and a bit of worn blue where the bolt dust cover rubbed against the receiver.
I put the rifle on my workbench and gave it a good cleaning. After a few passes of a wire brush and solvent, the bore sparkled like new. I removed gunk from the nooks and crannies. As with most firearms in the hands of people who mean well but don't know how to maintain them, this rifle suffered from too much of the wrong kind of preservatives. Fortunately, whatever was used had not migrated to the stock, which would have softened and ruined it in critical places.
I fired the rifle, benchrest, at 25 yards using 80s vintage, Winchester Match ammo. The first two or three five-shot groups averaged about ¾". Then, we both settled down and I fired five shots into one ragged hole of about 3/8" diameter. This was indeed a very accurate plinker.
This rifle would be right at home on a rural farm. Here in the suburbs where I live, it will punch paper and reactive targets but that's about it. But, if a rifle could have feelings, I'm sure that this one is simply grateful to be back in the starting lineup, pretty or not.
