I'm a sucker for old .22 rifles - Winchester Model 74

[sigp220.45]

I was in Cabelas looking at overpriced used guns when I spotted a long barreled .22 rifle in the rack. It was a Winchester Model 74 semi-auto, circa 1948. They were made from the late thirties til 1955, though the design is actually from about 1903. It is kind of an odd duck, and I left it there but came back the next day. It was $135.



Its a full-sized gun with a 24" barrel.



It loads through the stock, like a Browning. It looks like someone made the stock hole with a potato peeler.





The thing above the trigger is the cocking handle. The bolt and ejection port are far out in front.





I don't think there are many safeties like this around. It sits on top of the action and moves grudgingly from side to side.



I cleaned it up and took it to the range today. Uh-oh, the first round won't go in. I fiddle with it, and finally figure out if I load the first round by itself, then load the tube with 14 more it works fine. I only had two kinds of ammo with me, so I'll try it with some others. Definitely odd, though.

I popped off the first 15 without a lot of care, looking more for function than accuracy. It still did pretty well at 25 yards.



My right eye isn't really up to iron sights anymore, so I figured I would teach myself to shoot this one lefty. The weird forward ejection worked out great for that, and I was able to get some decent groups.



These things actually have a little history, too. We lend-leased a few hundred to the Brits, set up with silencers and scopes, for their home guard to shoot invading Krauts without disturbing the neighbors. I bet there are still some squirreled away in the English countryside.



Anybody else have one of these old timers?

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Cannot add anything about your Winchester but I will say I do enjoy the older .22 LR rifles. My favorite ones are those wild and sometimes wacky Mossbergs. To my mind a lot of the newer ones have no "soul" so to speak. Enjoy that one!

 

[radar1972]

What a beauty!! If I had room for another safe, I'd start collecting old 22 rifles like that. I took 2 far newer 22 rifles to the range today, a Remington Speedmaster and a Browning semi-automatic takedown model, both from the 70's to 80's era. Had a ball!

 

[2152hq]

Neat old Winchester.
Should be the 'Late' version by the yr/mfg and the smooth faced bolt handle. Many parts for these come in both 'Early' and 'Late' style versions so you need to get the correct version when repairing /replacing.
..added..they made these rifles in both 22LR only and 22short only, So some of the parts are caliber specific, Know what you need and want for the caliber of rifle you have.

The only thing I can think of about the first round not manually feeding from the tube to the chamber when the bolt is operated is that the Safety may have been in the Safe mode.
Seems to me there was something about the Safety,, that it had to be in Fire mode when the bolt was manually operated to feed the first cartridge into the chamber,,,,but maybe I'm remembering wrong again.
Try it and see,,,doesn't cost nuthin'.

The bolt has to go back far enough to trip the cartridge cut-offs (2 of them,,right and left) to release the round from the tube into the feed throat.

Love the old 22's, I spend way too many hours on them tinkering with them.

 

[crankyoldlady]

The model 74 is a dandy little .22 and quite underrated.

While you can load from the stock, you can also use the magazine tube located in the butt plate. It is best to use standard velocity in your 74.

Whilst shooting, please count your rounds to avoid dry firing as the 74 has a delicate firing pin.

 

[30-30remchester]

An older gentleman I knew when I was just a lad, had one of these. He worked out of Jal, New Mexico on oil leases. I would go with him as he visited each battery of tanks. He had a model 74 on the dash of his truck at all times. He would shoot quail off the telephone lines for supper. Wish I had both his gun and him back.

 

[Camster]

I would like to have one of the .22 short versions.

 

[jimmyj]

What is impressive is the real walnut wood used in the stocks of the older
.22 rifles

With Mossberg the purchaser got a lot of gun for his dollars.

 

[tops]

I was in Cabelas looking at overpriced used guns when I spotted a long barreled .22 rifle in the rack. It was a Winchester Model 74 semi-auto, circa 1948. They were made from the late thirties til 1955, though the design is actually from about 1903. It is kind of an odd duck, and I left it there but came back the next day. It was $135.

When I was young there was a neighbor that had a M74 in .22 short. He said it was the best .22 ever made and it was the only gun I ever knew him to own. Thanks for the memory. Larry

 

[mauser9]

For $135 not bad at all. Like the build quality of these vintage rifles and would love to find something like this one. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[ky wonder]

I am surprised

not that it is a good rifle,I have had one for decades,

my surprise is that you got a bargain at Cabellas, with a clean shooter around here bringing in the $350 range, I would have expected Cabellas to have wanted $500 for a gun of that quality

great old gun from the hands of old school craftsmen at Winchester of old

 

[italiansport]

A Model 74 was my 1st 22 rifle which unfortunately was stolen while I was in college. I have since acquired others and everyone has been a first class shooter as long as they are cleaned frequently. if you buy one try and find a late example as these are the only ones cut with dovetail slots for a scope mount.
$135 is a heck of a good price for your rifle and they typically bring $300 + at gun shows.
Jim

 

[kevin in nh]

Here is my model 74 with a model 55 single shot semi auto and a model 77....the 74 is in 22 short. I have two other 74s both in 22 short and one has the peep sight.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I have one. A fine example from the Steel and Walnut Era.

 

[DWalt]

"Here is my model 74 with a model 55 single shot semi auto"

The Model 55 .22 is really not a semi-auto as it is a single shot (load one round at a time into the chamber) with no magazine. It loads from the top and ejects from the bottom. And it fires from an open bolt. But it is faster to reload than a single shot with a bolt action, as there is no bolt to manipulate. It's an odd design, and they are not often seen today. I once had a friend who had one of them, and I have fired it a few times. BTW, there are two Winchester Model 55s - the other one is a modification of the Model 94. I wonder why Winchester did that? I'd think it wouldn't have been difficult for them to come up with another number.

Never owned or fired a Model 74. I passed on buying one of them some years back because I was aware of the firing pin problem.

 

[Tam 3]

Do not cock the 74 with the safety engaged. New, it had a hang tag to that effect.

Regards,

Tam 3

 

[DWalt]

An even older Winchester .22 rifle is the Thumb Trigger Model (I don't think it had a Model number), from around the turn of the 20th Century. It was a bolt action single shot. It had no conventional trigger or trigger mechanism at all, you just pressed down on a sear bar just behind the bolt with your thumb. It's about the simplest .22 you could imagine, and the story is that John Browning designed it as an exercise in how simple a useful rifle could be constructed. It had no safety, and therein lies a tale. My wife's cousin had one, and on a visit he let me take it out in his back yard to fire it a few times as I had not seen one before. I had an unintended discharge, but fortunately I didn't hit anyone or anything. I quickly learned that you do not carry around one of these with a cartridge in the chamber. I have understood they were big sellers in Australia, but relatively few were sold in the USA.

 

[PeterDE]

I live very close to a Cabelas and I pop in occasionally to see what they have. They do on rare occasions have a bargain, but you have to know what you are looking at. Nice rifle. Have fun with it.

 

[alwslate]

I have two, both in .22 Short and both made in 1939. Neat old rifles
but sort of a weird design. The safety is probably best left in the fire
position and ignored. Keep your finger out of the trigger guard. As
mentioned the firing pin is a bit weak and expensive to replace. If you
take it completely apart to clean it and get a spring back in incorrectly
you will own a full auto .22 rifle. Have fun.

 

[wundudnee]

Winchester .22s are my addiction and passion. I do have one model 74, but shamed to say I've never fired it. Like you I got it for $130.00 from a guy walking out of a gun show. I'll put that on my priority list. I have heard many good reviews on the 74s.

I have mostly pumps, bolt actions and single shots. This year I finished getting at least one example of every single shot Winchester made.

It's a never ending quest.