J C Higgins Model 88 22 Cal Double Action

H

Harris304

New member
Several months ago I bought an old nine shot JC Higgins Model 88 22 LR revolver. In SA mode this gun has fired over two bricks with no failures or jams. When I fire in DA modes I get about 10%jams and have to extract the cases and reset the revolver in single action to get the revolver to shoot in DA again.

Don't know if the guns fault or mine. In DA mode the trigger pull has to be about 15 pounds. Real tuff to shoot in DA. If I squeeze the trigger slowlely, and hold trigger prior to shooting, I find that I can put the shots where I want them to go at 25 - 50 feet. The problem is when I shoot DA this way, slow squeeze, It's prone to jam. I shoot DA rapid fire less jams but my shots are all over the place.

In the single action mode I never get any jams, the trigger pull is greatly reuced and the bullets are going pretty much point of aim.

Any suggestions other then to just shot in signle action mode?
 
I suspect you have a POJ. It needs to be seen by a gunsmith soon. Parts wear or broken parts are most likely the culprit. The Higgins was a Sears house brand. IIRC, Hi-Standard actually made the alloy framed revolvers for Sears. I wold stop shooting that example and take it to a gunsmith. You may have a wallhanger.
 
I suspect you are right. Just noticed that when I shoot in DA mode the hammer only falls back two third of the way back. It does not go all the way back like in SA mode. In Sa it goes all the way back and locks tight. That's the way I tested it at the gun store. Didn't do any double action test there.

I owned for a couple of months now so taking it back isn't a option.

No more DA unless I get a gunsmith to fix this.
 
I would not fire it in SA mode either. It would seem that it is forcing the revolver to fire when it is malfunctioning. I suspect that it will eventually become a safety liability. It may be easily repaired by a gunsmith. The question is, how much money are you willing to invest?
 
I'll call up a couple of gunsmiths on Tuesday. I it can be restored cheaply ($50.00 - $75.00) I'll probably let him do it. E guns has parts rather cheaply.

Wouldn't mind acquiring these parts to the gunsmith to save cost if he would go that way.

Maybe this won't be impossbile to fix but if it's over $75.00 I am thinking about packing this gun up and learn from my mistake of not checking out this gun fully after I bought it.
 
On the bright side my nephew felt sorry for me and gave me a Harrington Richardson 733 32 SW Long in mint condition. So I do have some luck. Now I just need to find cheap 32 SW Long. Becaues I live in MA no mail order purchases can be made. This sucks as there's ammo out there $7.00 for 50
packs in mail order discount internet sites.
 
A friend of mine found this in his closet and having no use for it, gave it to me...pretty cool gun...love the box....

IMG_0045_1.JPG
 
I've got one of these in a 9" barrel. Excellent shooting gun.

I had a problem where the hammer wouldn't stay back in SA mode -- it would unexpectedly release and fly forward.

Not sure exactly what he did, but a guy I know worked on the "sear" and got it fixed.

My 9" is incredibly accurate. Hard to believe that Sears used to sell pistols, even snubby's like the picture above.

BTW -- thanks for the pic!
 
Well today I took the gun back to the shop i bought it from. The clerk was pleasent and agreed to check the gun out. He took into a back room and fired off nine shots in DA. I could hear the shots but did not see him do it. When he came back he told me that he could not find anything wrong with the revolver. He showed me the spent cases and pointed out the uniform pin strikes on the cartridges. He thumbed through the action and stated that "this gun is working fine and i can't find anything wrong with it".

Since i am still recovering from an illness it will be a couple of more weeks before i can test this gun out again. The last time I used Federal bulk capitols. I have some Remingtons I'll try then and perhaps I'll take to another gun shop just to have it checked out as i remain skeptical. I guess another opinion from a qualified gun smith wouldn't hurt. Thanks everybody for the sound advise I always get in this forum.
 
Hey Don't Shoot me! Do you have any extra friends? I could use some like yours along with a couple extra gun lovin kind hearted nephews.
 
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