Old .22 long rifles great accuracy and value.

S

sharpie443

New member
I took some of my older .22 long rifles out to the range just to show that the older guns are a great value. Good accuracy and can be had for dirt cheap most of the time.

I brought out my
Mossberg 46M
H&R sportster 250
Ruger 10/22
Winchester 67A
Savage arms model 74

All very nice guns and very fun to shoot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OBC16IfgmE
 
My favorite old .22 Long Rifle is the Remington 521-T that my father bought new in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

Extremely accurate and a lot of fun to shoot.
 
Look at Larry Moore's test of inexpensive 22 LR's in the Dec 1956 issue of Gun's Magazine.

http://www.gunsmagazine.com/1956issues/G1256.pdf

At Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Larry Moore tested every prospective service rifle from the late 40's up through the 60's. He also was a Nationally ranked competitive shooter.

I printed this issue and gave it to someone who shot with Larry Moore. He pointed at the scope on page 19 and said "I have that scope!".

I bought this Sears Ranger Rifle in 1976, it was made before WWII, probably 1937-39. I had it scoped in the 80’s. It is a prewar Stevens M416 sold by Sears. I decided to shoot it at the end of a 1600 point small bore prone match, just for the heck, and this is how I did with it at 50 yards. With practice I believe I could shoot a 200 with it. These older rimfires will shoot very well, this one has caused the untimely end of a number of squirrels.

StevensM416DSCF1025.jpg


DSCF2352SearsRanger50ydprone.jpg


DSCF2353SearsRanger50ydprone.jpg
 
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I inherited this Mossberg 340-KC,,,

When my best friend passed away last February,,,
Her brother gave me her S&W Model 34,,,
And her Mossberg 340-KC .22 rifle.

340-KC_1.jpg


This was the rifle she used in the late 60's - early 70's,,,
She was on the Ponca City High School rifle team.

Her father mounted these precision peep sights on it for her.

340-KC_Sights-RearView.jpg

340-KC-FrontSight-Front.jpg


The barrel is right about 28" long,,,
This gun is like my CZ-452 Military Trainer,,,
It's level of inherent accuracy is more than I can utilize.

A young buck friend of mine with good eyes likes this rifle,,,
He consistently hits 8 oz water bottles at 100 yards,,,
This is off of a bench of course.

Old doesn't necessarily mean bad performance. ;)

Aarond

.
 
Old .22 riflews

Sharpie like your style...

I have a some favorite .22's:A Revelation 120 (Model 60 Marlin)50 years old,510 Remington Match Master single shot, a Winchester 55 single shot semi auto and a Winchester 69A. When I bring them to the range folks always meander over. Cliff: The 55 is for sale

BTW the rifles that are listed are nice
 
Rifle: Grandfathers Marlin 81DL 1956 Bolt Action-- Williams Rear Peep Sight
What fond memories this always brings back.

Ammo: Wolf on the top 3 -- CCI SV on the bottom 3. I know you should never change ammo when shooting for score. I was trying to find what it liked most didn't really seem to matter.

Position: Sitting with elbow rested on the bench

Yardage: 25

Score: Top 10-3-10 Bottom 5-8-10 Total=43-0X Top middle target (3) excluded

Marlin81%20DL.jpg
 
Both of my 22 rifles are very accurate ,built in Germany in the 1930s ,and the rifles I learned to shoot with.Still use them, won't part with them !:D
 
I'd like to get my hands on a nice Weatherby Mark XXII. I don't think they have been in production for a while.
 
All of the Remington 5-teens are excellent shooters and great values.
This is my favorite, a Model 511 with a vintage Weaver C4 scope.
SANY0847.jpg
 
Hey Larry, I have a Weaver C-4 on my 521-T.

It originally had Lyman peeps when Dad bought it, and those are what I learned to shoot with, but one day Mom came home with an as new in box C-4, complete with the paperwork, that she had found at a yard sale for $1!

Dad agreed that I could scope it, so I freighted the bill to have mounts installed.

Very nice little scope, and made it even deadlier on squirrels and even greater distances.
 
I have an old JC Higgins which is another family hand down but it is a weird one. It is great shape and shoots well especially for its age almost looks new but it is an odd duck. When you the pull the trigger everything operates normally to todays's spec but meaning the bolt cycles back but the bolt will not cycle forward on the next round until you release the trigger from having fired previously.

Shoots well though.

I have been shooting more 22 lately than anything else and absolutely having a blast.
 
I love old .22 rifles, ever since being given my first one (a Winchester Model 67 single-shot) on Christmas day in 1957 when I was fourteen years old (I still have it, of course). Over the past few years I've been giving some thought to finally getting a rifle I always wanted as a kid-a Winchester Model 77 (either with the tube or box magazine). I've seen them pretty reasonably priced and in good condition at gun shows.
 
My love of the old .22's began in my BB gun years, with dad's "butchering gun," a sadly mistreated Remington 514. I have loved that rifle from the first time I shot it. I shoot that old style sight better than most other irons as well. I eventually grew up a few years and bought my first rifle, a Marlin 981T. 10 years, later I have 5 .22's and 4 of them are older (by quite a bit) than I am. I fell in love with the Marlin bolt guns, but decided to get the older ones. I now have 2 Glenfield 25's, a Coast-to-Coast 40, a Mossberg 42m(b), and my 981T. I will gladly say that I shoot the two Glenfields more often than any of them. One is scoped and the older one (a '72 I believe) is left iron-sighted with the older style sights. I dream of one day putting together a collection of Remington 5-teens, as that whole line is just way too cool for me not too. I also have picked up an acquired love of the old Mossbergs, the 42's, 44's, 46's, 142's, 144's, and 146's. Those guns were made so well, and love the full stocks! I just love thinking back to what these older guns have done in their lifetime, when bought used, who know's the past! I just love them!
 
my favorite 22 is the one my dad gave to me before he died. a stevens 87a. not the pretiest one of the gills is cracked a little but a more straight shooting gun ive not seen. remember sitting around dads repair shop prob about 5yrs old when my uncle pulled up in a car he just bought. the antenna was flopping back and forth from the coons tail he had tied to it. on of dads friends said bet you cant shoot it off and by god while it was moving back and forth dad shot and the tail and top 1/2 inch of the antenna flew off...good god the laughter that rolled from that group is something i will never forget. and yes my dad went out to his junk yard [yes they were called that then not salvage yards] and got a antenna off a car and put it on my uncles car for him.
 
My M-2 Springfield is the best shooting bolt action 22 I have.

A fun beat around gun is Norinco's scaled down version of the Mauser 98k in 22 LR. But that's a newer gun so it doesn't count.
 
I inherited a Winchester model 99 thumbtrigger, and, having narrowed down it's mfg. date to between 1915-1917, I have to say, the right user could drive nails with it using the factory-set iron sights. Almost 100 years and it's never jammed, failed, or broken down.

I had no idea what it was when I received it; it hung on some pegs in my Grandfather's barn for as long as I could remember, and I grew up shooting Lite beer cans ( back when they had the easy-to-spot red seal in the label ) with my Grandfather and cousins. It was a general-purpose varmint deterrent and plinking fun when there wasn't anything else that need shot at. Only when I took it to a local gun store to have it inspected and cleaned up was I told what it was and offered 350$ on the spot. ( probably worth more, but it's priceless to me ). It's only flaw is the bluing is mostly gone...Gramps would use steel wool on it anytime it got even slightly rusty and rubbed it off...the stock, buttplate, everything is original.

My 8year-old loves it for it's size...fits him perfect.

m8.jpg


edit: took a decent pic of the trigger...pull the firing pin back to cock, push the thumb button to fire...simple as all get out but effective even today
22Ttrigger2.jpg
 
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