[marktwain]

There are a lot of neat old guns out there. I rescued the tubular magazine version of this rifle (model 86) from a gun "buy back" in Phoenix for $40 in 2013.

[NorthMountain]

I have been wondering if I should refinish the stock, maybe have the rifle reblued. But the stock dings and wear have been honestly earned with thousands of miles of carry in the field.

Leave it as-is, IMO. If that rifle could talk, what tales it could tell ...

Maybe those scratches and dents and worn bluing will help it tell some of those tales to your grandson.

[riverrunner]

One of the very reasons 22LR is hard to find it is one of the most useful cartridges out there,.

[Mat_Helm]

Dear hunting in the high Sierra’s in late October with no snow up at 8,000 feet near Grizzly Lake and Quartz Mountain, where we were raised and taught to hunt by our father, my brothers and I had no luck this season and little sign of deer that were all still up high because of no snow, and we passed the time plinking mid day with our old .22LR bolt action rifles. My younger brother with our fathers Remington Targetmaster Model 33 the old man had since his childhood from Alabama new back in 1940. Our father had lots of guns to hand down after his passing but the USMC Mater Gunnery Sergeant’s bolt action .22 was the most cherished. It still shoots accurate and true. I had an inherited Targetmaster model 510 from my wife’s German /Polish grandfather who grew up shooting in the woods of Wisconsin. We had more fun plinking with these old rifles than anything else during the whole hunting trip.

The fathers model 33 is still all original with most of the bluing gone and 86 years of dings and scratches in the stock. My model 510 was rusted pretty bad so I did re-blue the metal and refinish the stock. We have many other .22’s in our collections (to many to count)from our own younger years and more guns added in our adult years, but we always go back to those open fixed sight single action bolt .22’s when it is time to hunt squirrels or plink with and have the most fun. You feel like a ten year old again and every squeeze of the trigger is as fun as the first. My daughters do not hunt or shoot, but hopefully someday I will pass the guns on to a lucky grandson.

[Lurker]

I was gifted an ancient Remington Model 12-A a few years back. It’s in miserable condition. The rear sight is missing and it’s badly pitted. The rear sight is missing.

But it still shoots. By God it still shoots.

L

[Lazamataz]

Wait. Hold on. You gave away a .22 rifle and I NEVER EVEN CROSSED YOUR MIND???!?

;)

[Jet Jaguar]

Good read.