another salvage project

[Freezer]

My nephew's wife found her fathers rifle in the corner of a damp basement. the metal had a red fuzz covering, The stock was black and the butt plate was caked with mildew. I wish I had taken before pictures. The metal cleaned well with only a little minor pitting. the butt plate took over an hour to clean. The wood came out better than I expected being hard wood not walnut. I didn't want to overwork this project, I want to make it look like what it is, a neat old rifle. I had never seen a slide action 22 mad before but here it is, Winchester 275. The product of the post 64 thinking, cheaper is better. A range report will be coming soon, maybe Monday. I used Minwax "gun stock" stain on the butt stock and it matched the forend perfectly. Six coats of tung oil and it has a nice low gloss finish like it originally had. I ordered the rear sight elevator from Numrich and was happy to see it is a perfect match. It is now what it should be, a neat old looking gun.

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[Wambli Ska]

That looks amazing! BTW, for you or anyone else that needs this info this company NC Ordinance makes replacement vintage buttplates annd grips for old models of guns including some rather obscure models, and their molds were made from originals.

They are relatively inexpensive and virtually identical to factory. A great way to replace a cracked part with the equivalent of an OEM part. I’ve used their products and they are very good

Their website is https://gungrip.com/

[Japhy]

Freezer that is good work! It’s great these older pieces are back in working order and will have many more years of life.

[bullsi1911]

That is very cool. Good save.

Was the bore affected?

[Chiro1989]

Nice save, that came out nice, hope it is a shooter.

[Freezer]

The bore is pristine. The action was sticky from the old grease and dirt. It is very slick now and the trigger isn't bad. I feel confident in this rifle but like most of my projects, its not mine. I removed the ear sight to clean everything so I'll have to drift it back into place.

[sakodude]

Nice work! That model looks very similar to a Sears branded pump .22 I have that I'm pretty sure was built by Winchester. Mine is a pretty good shooter so expect your's would be as well.

[Elk Creek]

Looks great! Nice work.

[Gene L]

I have the lever action in that family, a Winchester 250. It is the first rifle I ever bought. It's accurate enough to suite me.

[Big Al1]

Nice save!! Looks great! I've cleaned up those moldy butt plates by putting them in the dish washer!!

[T'owd Mon]

A new lease of life! The trouble with the British system is that for every additional rifle a separate Firearms 'Variation' form has to go in. Each variation can have more than one rifle listed a a time. This can be costly and they will argue as to why you want more than one rifle in the same calibre. Usually with a .22 it might be one for hunting and one for target work. I have three in .22rf. A Sako Quad bolt action for hunting, a Winchester 9422 which I use for small vermin shooting very often with shot cartridges for rat shooting and sighted with a red dot for CCI CB long ammo for close use and a German Drilling by Greifelt which has two 16 bore shot barrels and a .22rf rifled barrel below that has been sleeved down from a 7x57R. My certificate has just gone in for its five yearly renewal so I have added a request for a .22rf semi auto for target and game; I intend to go for a Ruger 1022 and also for a .303 Enfield for target work. Shouldn't be a problem but all this Faff makes second hand .22's almost valueless. Some really interesting project guns just go for scrap and it's a damn shame. With not having a vacant slot for an additional .22rf. I missed a real good buy one time. The gunshop owner didn't know what he had. BSA made a small number of Martini action single shot .22rf rifles which had a fully moderated short barrel. It made them look a bit odd with the apparent thick barrel. They are rare and this one was mint. They were made for the use of Home Guard units in the Second World War for use by special units that would go to ground and come up behind the enemy and be used for assassination jobs. Luckily they were never used. There was a sealed list of targets to be eliminated and top of the list was the area Chief Constable because he was one who knew who the stay behind members were and may divulge it to the enemy. Life expectancy for these units was put at about 2 weeks.

[Gene L]

Guard that front sight. Mine brook off and the old sight was a grizzly bear to get off. Back in 63-64. I paid 45 bucks for it at a hardware store. I also got a 1/2' scope for it, the first time I ever used until I broke it also.

[bullsi1911]

I have the lever action in that family, a Winchester 250. It is the first rifle I ever bought. It's accurate enough to suite me.

My brother has the 22mag version. It’s fun, and more accurate than I expected. Convinced me that I need a 22Mag

[Gene L]

I reread the OP which stated the rifle is a .22 Mag. Mine is a .22 LR. But it's still in the family.

[Freezer]

That's what I found interesting! 22 mag, why? 22 Mag was meant for longer range. A novelty?

[Wambli Ska]

That's what I found interesting! 22 mag, why? 22 Mag was meant for longer range. A novelty?

Not just longer range. The .22 mag delivers more terminal energy and is pretty decisive and better than the .22lr for killing rural pests like Coyotes and Foxes and it was pretty popular for that and as a “poaching” round for deer in rural America for a loooooong time. A gun like your rescue would have been a perfect chicken coop guardian for behind the kitchen door.

[Gene L]

IMO, the .22 Mag is an excellent round and has been since its inception. It's also expensive to shoot. I don't have one and likely won't buy one as it's a niche round for which I don't have the need. Go .22 Hornet!

[Wambli Ska]

Yep, the .22 mag has proven its worth in pest control and opportunity hunting as well as a very capable round for fast dispatch of farm animals that need to be euthanized. My old large animal vet had one in his truck at all times and he dispatched many horses and cows expediently with that old rusted out Mossberg.