Old 22's Warning - kind of a long post...
 

Since my wife got me addicted to old 22's I realized I've accumulated a few of them over the years and so I figure I'll post some pic's up here for those of you who appreciate such things.

First one I got was this Winchester Mod 75. Made in about 1948. I paid 350 for it which was too much probably but I didn't know much about these things then and I'm happy I got it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...S/IMG_8047.jpg


Then I bought this 1937 Remington Model 41 Target Master for 99 bucks.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...1/IMG_7970.jpg


The next purchase was this Sears Model 42. Actually made by Marlin sometime in the early 60's I believe. It was also only 99 bucks but is so far just about the most accurate 22 that I have.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...2/IMG_9116.jpg


Then came this Winchester Model 74. The only semi-auto I have - rifle at least - and it cost me 150. It's also a dream to shoot and was made in the 40's as well I think. Beautiful walnut stock.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...074/74four.jpg


Then I found this gunsmiths special. Montgomery Wards Western field Mod48a. Made by Mossberg in about 1938. Cost me 40 bucks because it has a trigger problem. Turned out to have the wrong trigger in it amongst other things and be in externally very rough shape. So it's my first "project gun".
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...A/IMG_1180.jpg

That's how it looked when I first got it. The stock was even worse than it looks in the picture. I've stripped the wood preparatory to repairing a a crack and refinishing it. Currently it looks like this...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ps0c44068f.jpg


Then another Remington Model 41 came in to my possession. This time a 41-P with a receiver mounted reticle sight. Wonderfully accurate old gun. Also from 1938 and cost me 99 bucks.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...2041P/41Pa.jpg


Then I got a circa 1940 Stevens Model 56 Buckhorn for 50 bucks. Shoots well but is cosmetically challenged. So it's the next on the list for a refurb after the Wards.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psf68e5a5e.jpg


Then a Hawthorne Warrior Model 820b. Also by Mossberg for Wards. I think this was from the 50's. I paid 80 bucks for it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psc9d20d23.jpg


And finally a Savage Model 3a. From 1936 or thereabouts. Cost me 70 bucks.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...psdc8e1d63.jpg

I swear I didn't realize I had so many till I started this thread. They just seem to accumulate :eek:

- Peter.

I have 6 or 8 as well. They do accumulate. Faves are my Marlin Golden 39A lever ca. 1972, it has a Williams peep sight. My raccoon gun that has also taken bobcat. A very old Remington bolt truck grade Sportsman, late 40's, and a single shot Stevens Favorite. I taught my son to shoot on it and he can drive tacks with those iron sights. I have a Remington Nylon 66, first generation from when I was a kid. Great bombproof kid's gun. There are others, notable among them a Savage .22/410 OU.
http://i44.tinypic.com/257oz8j.jpg

I had the same Sears Model 42 when I was a kid. It, and a handful of other 22s didn't make it out of the house fire of 2007 alive, to include one of my Remington Apache 77's.

Now I have a Savage Model 60, and two Remington 597s...one with a scope and one with sights, and a Mossberg 702 Plinkster. Counting those that my wife and kids have, we have 7 different 22 rifles of varying flavors. Once the kids grow upand move out, I'll have more room in my safe.

22 rifles, especially the old ones, are a blast to shoot and very simple to work on, if needed. The old model 42 that I used to have had a problem with the firing pin after a number of years. I broke the bolt down only to find a drill shaving in the spring, left there from it's construction. I only had to remove it and the rifle was back up and running.

My first .22 was a 50s/early 60s bolt action Sears J. C. Higgins rifle with a scope. Got it from my Uncle when I was 13.
Looks very similar to the above Sears 42.

Last year I loaned it to my nephew along with my first gun, a Stevens single shot break action 20 gauge shotgun (with a shortened stock and with a pad - for youthful shooters).

For his 13th birthday, last September, I gave him the J. C. Higgins .22.
He called me that evening and told me that is the best present he's ever received.

Satisfying.

Jim

I've been telling myself I need to get a .22 for ages. I think I'd really like a Ruger Bearcat or a Single Six. I also wouldn't mind an M4 clone in .22 lr. Other priorities have been getting in the way. I do really enjoy my Romanian AK variant, along with some other guns I've picked up along the way.

If you're lucky enough to grab the ammo off the shelf before the knuckleheads do, 22s are a blast. The nice thing about the old bolt actions is that they will fire the 22 shorts, so that gives you a sporting chance at getting your hands on some ammo. I have about 1000 of them leftover from when was a kid that I can only run through one gun...my mom's revolver.

Bearcat is a great trail gun for pack or waist. Single Six feels more like a heavier caliber and for me is more accurate.

Keep an eye out for an H and R 626. Great convertible shooters. I recently picked one up NIB with both cylinders for a hundred bucks.

That 39a is a nice rifle. I'd like to acquire a single six as well some day. But all those I've encountered around here start at around 400 and up for pretty beat up looking examples.

- Peter.

My 39a is bullseye accurate way out there. I tagged a bobcat at about 200 yds. There is a LOT of difference in fit and finish between the old ones and the new. Mine's a 70-something and the new ones don't come close to it. I'm not even sure they're U.S. made any more.
Single Six's hold their value like crazy. Security Six's even more so. I have a 6 inch one in .357 and am always keeping my eye out for a mate. Got a double rig just waiting for them.

Aw mannn, leave the bobcats alone.................
they need to enjoy some chicken once in a while too.:(

They aren't exactly an endangered species around here and are one of the few critters my dogs aren't good at cornering and dispatching.

The last one I saw was on the windy road from Carmel Vally back to the interstate-n-Paso Robles, but they are around here on this side of Texafornia too.

Beautiful guns.

My only .22's are a 10-22 and a P22. Nothing worth posting a picture of. :)

There is an entire industry built around aftermarket 10/22 stuff. You can even get a hundred round drum magazine for it.:D

(good luck filling it up though, the preppers have more .22LR ammo in their basements than they have brown rice and macaroni)

yea well when those creepy DARPA critters start showing up im with you maaaan, ill swing by the Ft Worth gun show and pick up an ought 6 , or somethin and head west.

http://www.mobilemag.com/wp-content/...ot-cheetah.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ztO-Kn0syr...T-large570.jpg

My uncle got me a .22/.410 combo rifle/shotgun from walmart when I was probably about 13. It's nothing fancy obviously but I enjoyed it more than the .54 black powder rifle he also gave me, as well as the other higher powered rifles in his collection, which, the last time I visited, was probably over 150 locked in probably 15 gun cases of various sizes, many pistols, sniper-style rifles, shotguns, a few "assault rifles", but no automatics (he cited costs and the fact they are not too accurate and expensive to feed). He isn't a prepper as every time he goes out to his shooting range, he buys ammo and goes through about all of it that day. What I like about the .22 is it is pretty accurate and the one he gave me had a very balanced trigger so you knew when the gun was going to fire, unlike the black powder rifle that had a very touchy, heavy trigger so you rarely knew exactly when the gun was going to rip your shoulder out of its socket (I'd probably fair better now but those things use a lot of powder for one shot).

Not with 22 he doesn't. At least not now. I thought a little while ago that it looked like the supply was easing up. Wrong I was. Everything else is out there but the nutjobs are still shooting up on 22 like it was the ultimate heroin/crack/whathaveyou.

Actually, I have a confession. Since I posted this thread I another has surprisingly wound up on layaway at my local "provider". Another Winchester 74 in fact.

- Peter.

Yes, I haven't shot any of my guns in years because ammo is difficult to come by. Now that I think of it, last time I shot mine was when Bush was in office, so I was probably 11 when he got me the .22. I tried to get ammo probably mid-November of 2008 and was told all .22 was out of stock and an immense amount was back-ordered.

I always was attracted to the savage over and under. I wanted it with the 20 ga.

unfortunately mine just had 2 separate removable barrels and wasn't an over and under. I think it's about $100 at walmart, one of their cheapest guns. I would love to try one of those as well as a blunderbuss, which my dad claims to own one but I have never seen it.

I have an old Savage model 24. It's been re-released as the model 42. Remington put their stamp on a Rooskie made 410/22 OU for about three or four years around 2005. I guess it didn't sell as it's discontinued now.

New Savage Model 42 22 LR / 410 Shotshell Combination Gun - Gunblast.com - YouTube