Nothing Like a Classic .22 Rifle

[wundudnee]

I am a .22 rifle addict and have a pile of them. I especially favor old Winchesters. The top rifle in this picture is a model 58, the bottom one is a model 1900. The 1900 is the only bolt action .22 designed by browning.

Here are a few older single shots including the top rifle a Thumbtrigger.

A couple of Winchesters classics, a model 75 Sporter and an 1890 .22 long Rifle.

My favorite .22 classics models 61 and 62A Winchesters.

 

[Jake Stevens]

Nothing like all the beautiful rifles shown but mine is a pristine Stevens (Savage) model 15 bolt action single shot. I bought it new in 1967 at the local hardware store for about $25 upon returning from my 2nd tour in Vietnam. My father-in-law had a much older one just like it we had always used when fishing to shoot Cotton Mouths. My son now has both of them.

 

[Muley Gil]

My first firearm was an Ithaca M49, a single shot that looked like a lever action, but was actually a Martini falling block. I got the Ithaca on my 15th birthday and I was also given my granddaddy's Stevens .22/.410 that day.

Growing up, one of my neighbors had a Mossberg Trainer and a thumb trigger Winchester. Another had a Winchester 75. I enjoyed shooting all of them. Then in college I got to shoot a friend's 1890 Winnie in .22 short and yet another friend had one of the Remington bolt actions with the plastic magazine.

Two other classic .22s has come my way over the years-a 1870-1970 Century Marlin lever gun and a solid frame Remington Model 4 .22 LR rolling block.

Now that I've dredged up these old memories, I need to dig these rifles out of the safe and do some shooting.

 

[DWalt]

One of the two accidental firings I've experienced in my life was with a Winchester thumb trigger .22 rifle. The other involved a M1903A3. Fortunately, no disasters resulted from either.

 

[Andyd]

The Walther KKJ is a classic sporter; the name translates to small bore hunting rifle.

I gave this to my youngest son but he is storing it in one of my safes since December and I plan to fit a DST trigger group and trigger guard.



Larry,

the third rifle from the top is just around the corner from you. My son has it in Westlake, OH.

 

[Old Navy]

Mossberg's are a strange bunch of rifles that over the years were brought back to use with parts from salvage companies or the like, the T-bolt was only used on model 142A's originally.

I still have the one my dad bought me for my 6th birthday in 1951, my late nephew who was 2 years younger got his in '53 but it was standard round bolt knob. It was lost in a house fire in the 80's.

Some years back I found a 142A that once cleaned up looked like it was new. I have period correct Weaver K4 scopes on both and original two magazines for the gun dad bought me and an unused spare I bought in SC gun shop in mid 70's and the adapter for shorts that all 142's came with.

 

[Jebus35745]

Wow, some really neat guns have come out of the woodwork. Get your old .22's out and rediscover the fun they can be. I have owned a few of the guns viewed and more memories came back. Every Tuesday morning I take a different gun to the club to shoot. Limited to 50 ft but that's OK. Good group of people that come. Wouldn't believe the neat old guns that show up.

Andyd, plan a trip to Westlake the first weekend in May and join us at the NE Ohio Bunch on Saturday. If interested, PM me for details. Would be great to meet you. Tell your son also. It's all about S&W's though, unfortunately not classic.22 rifles. Larry

 

[BearBio]

Mossberg 640K in 22 mag!. Biggest game was a coyote or two.

 

[Valmet]

Love seeing the vintage 22s in this thread! Keep them coming

 

[Andyd]

Wow, some really neat guns have come out of the woodwork. Get your old .22's out and rediscover the fun they can be. I have owned a few of the guns viewed and more memories came back. Every Tuesday morning I take a different gun to the club to shoot. Limited to 50 ft but that's OK. Good group of people that come. Wouldn't believe the neat old guns that show up.

Andyd, plan a trip to Westlake the first weekend in May and join us at the NE Ohio Bunch on Saturday. If interested, PM me for details. Would be great to meet you. Tell your son also. It's all about S&W's though, unfortunately not classic.22 rifles. Larry

Larry,

incidentally I am planning to go to Westlake in May but the exact time depends on my son's work schedule. I have a few S&W revolvers, too, so that is no problem at all. My son is coming to Texas in two weeks to pick up the "family .22" that him and his brother tortured with over 110,000 rounds when they were growing up. He will teach a fellow doctor who loves airguns shooting with it.

It isn't a classic rimfire really but for my sons it is THE rimfire pistol with the most memories.

 

[PALADIN85020]

I am a .22 rifle addict and have a pile of them. I especially favor old Winchesters. The top rifle in this picture is a model 58, the bottom one is a model 1900. The 1900 is the only bolt action .22 designed by browning.

Here are a few older single shots including the top rifle a Thumbtrigger.

A couple of Winchesters classics, a model 75 Sporter and an 1890 .22 long Rifle.

My favorite .22 classics models 61 and 62A Winchesters.

The model 1900 and 58 gradually evolved into the Model 60 and finally, the Model 67. I have both of those. Browning's mechanism was ingenious - one part served as extractor, ejector, and sear!

Here is a picture of the two actions compared - the 60 on the left, the 67 on the right. Note that the 67 incorporated a paddle safety on the rear of the bolt, and the bolt handle was larger. Also the single part I mentioned is shown here in the center. It pulls the shell from the chamber, pops up to eject it, and the lower half has a hook on it, activated by the trigger - this acts as the sear.

John

 

[Tadeus67]

My favorite classic .22 is the Remington 550-1. It was the first .22 rifle I could call my own (1956). I sold that one about 25 years ago, and I still don't know whatever prompted me to do that. Last year I ran across one in very good condition at a reasonable (for today) price, and it's even from 1956 according to the date code. So of course I bought it. They aren't seen too often even though there were many of them sold. At least to my mind, it is the finest .22 semiauto ever made. And not a piece of plastic on it except for the buttplate. It sure brings back a lot of good memories whenever I shoot it.

It is indeed a great rifle. Mine is also from 1956!

 

[DWalt]

That 550-1 had a great deal to do with making me a lifelong gun nut. Prior to that, the only guns in our family were a decrepit single shot H&R 12 gauge and an old Montgomery Wards single shot .22 bolt action. Disassembling the 550 for cleaning taught me a lot about how guns are designed and what each part does.

 

[jimbo-indy]

My safe contains the Remington 341P that was my dad's since new (1938). It's the gun I learned to shoot. Also have a Remington model 12 (take down) pump that was my father in law's childhood gun. These keep the modern stuff, like the CZ 453 Varmint and the Henry, company.

 

[Narragansett]

Saw this gun 2 years ago at a gun show and I thought about it frequently since. He quit setting up at Berea because of health problems. The owner comes to the NE Ohio Bunch, I call him about twice a year to see how he's doing. Asked him last summer if he still had the gun for sale and it was, he never got back to me on the price. Finally connected again with him and bought it.

I shot it Tuesday morning after I met him and he went back home. It wouldn't feed ammo from the tube so I shot it single shot. Used the peep sights that were on it. It did great but it was 50 ft indoors. After I got home I took it apart, cleaned it and lubed it. It now feeds good and I put a scope on it.

These old basic .22 rifles are great shooters. They were cheap but well made. It took me back to younger days when I walked the woods with a .22 rifle enjoying the outdoors. This one was made abt 1949. It's a Mossberg 146 B with the early "T" blot. Tell us about your classic old rifle. Larry

Very nice!! This past summer I had a chance to pick up a mint 1942 Remington 512 Targetmaster for a couple hundred. What a beauty. I have a mid 70's Rem 583 too.

My great uncle died in 2009 at the age of 99. I got his early 40's Marlin 39A, and the small single shot Stevens youth gun that he got from his parents for being a good boy when he had his tonsils out on the kitchen table when he was 10 years old. I passed the 39A on to my youngest son years ago. I still have the Stevens

 

[Mercs]

Been trying to grab a 39A or 9422 for about a year but every time I find a good one they are very pricey. Always wanted to be a cowboy growing up


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[weatherby]

This is an oldie not sure about classic though.
It's a one of one from the savage R&D department.
I do expect good things from it.

 

[Alpo]

I'm wondering how OLD one needs to be to be a classic.


I've got a Remington #4 rolling block from the 20s. An 1890 Winchester 22 Short, also from the 20s. A Husqvarna 155(I think) bolt from the 30s. And a Marlin 39 from 1957. These, I reckon, all fall under that banner.


Next oldest is a Remington 572 pump from 1973. That's 45 years. Does it qualify?

 

[Qc Pistolero]

OP:your story brings back some found memories.
When I was 16(almost 50 years ago)I went to work in OH in a summer camp.There was a shooting range with Remington and Mossberg 22s.
I was working 6 days a week and then,the 7th was spent going to town to chase girls or,in my case,split the day 1/2 and 1/2 chasing girls in town and at the shooting range.
I passed marksman and Marksman 1st class with a Mossberg.
I know that the brand might not be as prestigious to some as other american brand names(altough Mossberg is)but to me,it ranks right up there with 2 other famous american brand names.

 

[StrawHat]

I have enjoyed this thread, lots of "classics". I have a couple but they have been modified to better suit the shooter.

I learned how to shoot with a Winchester (Model 67) and competed with a borrowed Remington complete with long barrel and peep sights. I wish I still had that one. It kept me in the top two.

Eventually, I wanted my own rifles. I bought a Ruger 77/22 worked over the action and trigger but the barrel was too short for me, I am old school. So, I found a Winchester model 52 barrrl removed and replaced the factory barrel. What a difference!!

The next rimfire I got was an old Springfield Model 1922. Completely stock with one tiny exception. It was converted to center fire and rechambered for the very young 22 Hornet! What a rifle! Heavy but capable of extreme accuracy.

I will eventually get a Model 1922 (of some variation) when my godfather decides he does not need it. For that one, I can wait.

I owe you photos.

Kevin