[phideaux]

I seen this ad in our local ads,
So I call the guy and set a time, to go see if it would be worthwile.
I know .22 cal is not a REAL man caliber,

like .50 bmg, or 45-70 , and the such.
What can I say, Im a sissy I guess. I am becoming more atracted to these little shooters.
Anyway I drove to Paducah , met the guy at G Mountain, we talked , I examined.

Bores are shiney on both, wood on the one (Marlin) is beautiful walnut with nice grain., bluing is 95%, bolt is nice fit, cheapo original Bushnell scope, firing pin is good, crown good, iron sights good.,
I will probably refinsh the wood. Has original Marlin factory sling.
Mfg in 1982. Marlin model 783 .22 magnum.

Got it home. fired 3 shots thru it at a pop can, 30 yrds , hit all 3. This thing is LOUD. Its the bottom one.

The other one is a Stevens/Savage model 87A,
Mfg , somewhere between 1938 and 1950, has NO serial #.

It is a semi auto/bolt action .22 .
The bore is shiney, the bluing is 10% , has that brownish petina, action seems to work good, NO rust, the wood has nice grain (looks Maple), needs to be refinished, (the black tip fore arm is factory paint), no way to mount a scope, iron sights are easy and nice, brought it home, fired 3 shots out the back door, works fine.
Notice the charge handle on the bolt of the Stevens Savage..
You can pull it out for auto, or push it in and use it like a bolt action. It will not cycle in auto with shorts or longs, only LR.

Its the top one.

The guy needed money, I got both for $225 ,

did I pay too much ?


Jim

 

[TxLobo]

I think you did great...

I've got a Marlin just like that.. a guy needed some money 23 years ago and asked if I could hold the rifle for 40.00.. if he didn't come back at the end of the month, I was welcome to keep it. Haven't seen him since.. (local officer checked for stolen..)

I refinished the furniture and had a friend parkerize the metal.. 3x9 scope and I was popping bunnies at 150 yards..

I hope you have a supplier of .22 and .22 mag.. both are still a bit rare to find here in Central Texas..

 

[paulkalman]

you did fine. .22 are great, we do a lot of paper punching and bunny snuffing with these things!

 

[buster40c]

If having fun shooting 22 makes me a wuss then so be it. I am a wuss that has fun shooting 22 then.
I think you got a good buy. I don't know if I would refinish it. It has plenty of character as it is.

 

[phideaux]

I don't know if I would refinish it. It has plenty of character as it is.

These are not really collectors ,
They made a bazillion of em.
They are just for fun and projects.
I will restore them to same as new, shoot em a little then rest them in the safe for the grandkids to inherit.

I needed a project to have something to play with.
I reworked the trigger onthe Marlin this evening, NICE now.



Jim

 

[buster40c]

lol Your grandkids might inherit an arsenal.

 

[Joew]

Me and the wife have Henry 22lr lever actions that we shoot once in a while, because we go through a brick before we know it. This is a problem now because it is hard to find 22lr at realistic prices in this area. The main reason we got Henry's in the first place is because they are made in my home town of Bayonne, NJ and also they are made in the USA.

Nice find on the rifles

 

[jeeper1]

I had a Stevens 87B many decades ago. Two of the things I remember about it was that as a left handed shooter I got hit in the face by a lot crap and if I kept the trigger pulled it would hold the bolt back until I released the trigger.

 

[phideaux]

Well after exhauting my search on the WWW, and finding out that the cheapest anywhere is now 30 cents a roun.
I stopped by a little, tiny, new shop in next town over. He only has about 10 guns, no accessories, and a little ammo.

This is what I grabbed, all he had.
300 rnds Blazer .22 lr @ 10 cents/rnd
250 rnds Win Super X .22 magnum @ 30 cents/rnd

Too much, but I wanted.

Jim

 

[BAMF80]

A good but indeed. 22cal is ridiculously hard to come by here in AZ

 

[BAMF80]

Sorry I meant buy* not but

 

[buster40c]

Go to your nearest WalMart and ask when they get their ammo shipments in. Find out how late in evening do they sell ammo. Some stores do not sell ammo after 8PM. I was getting .22 ammo by going in the evening and they would open the boxed ammo shipment and sell me the .22 ammo.
I guess the morning scavengers got pissed off and complained because then WalMart wouldn't sell the ammo till next morning after shipment came in. I heard many of the morning scavengers were cops so it figures their complaints were heard. So if you I want to get .22 ammo I need be there when doors open.
I did find when I looked in afternoon they did have a 333 rnd box of .22 sitting on the shelf. Some stocker asked if I needed help and I said I wanted some .22 ammo. He said he will check and he came back saying they didn't have any. I pointed right at the box and said well then what do you call that box sitting right there?? He got a clerk and I got the one box for around $17+ which was around .06 a rnd.
I have maybe 2-3 thousand rnds of .22 that all was bought from WM. It is there so you just have to find out when you have to be there to get it.
All my .22 guns will just sit before I will pay even .10 a rnd. LOL I will not take getting robbed at gunpoint.

 

[BAMF80]

I'm going to have to try that. I've been to gun stores and Wally World as well but I still haven't been able to find them. I guess I will have to go at different times.

 

[TxLobo]

Found this while cleaning the office... Posted under another thread.. but almost brought a tear to my eye....

 

[BAMF80]

That's a beautiful view.

 

[paulkalman]

yep txlobo, those days seem to be gone forever. ½ cent a round for 22, what a sweet dream...

 

[BAMF80]

Those were the days

 

[phideaux]

Well I finished those 2 Rifles I got 2 weeks ago.
The Marlin 783 .22 mag and the Savage .22lr was completely disassembled cleaned ,stripped old bluing, stripped and sanded stock, reblued, refinished and trigger job.
I used a Simmons 44mag 4x12x44 scope that I had on hand and I really like.

Now I gotta sight em in , which btw is the MOST fun part.

Jim

 

[buster40c]

Very nice job refinishing and bluing. What did you use for re-bluing?

 

[phideaux]

I use the old Birchwood Casey cold bluing.
Prep is the key, ( bright shiney metal and denatured alcohol), and I apply heat, and I spend hrs applying it in as many as 20 applications, then cure it ,by soaking in gun oil for 24 hrs, the a good wax job. It always looks like factory.

I am a 40 yr woodworker.



Jim