Favorite Vintage .22 Rifle, Favorite Hunting Use For it too

[Mustangs Rule]

Part One,

What do you think was the coolest vintage .22 rifle ever..

For the record, my definition of vintage would be pre-scope use. I know there would be some over lap. I have had a Marlin Model 39 for close to 50 years. It can have a scope installed, the drill/tapping are there, but the low stock is really meant for iron sights. I use it with peep sights


I also have a Model 511 Beehive Remington bolt action which has no ability to wear a scope at all. That rifle is ferociously accurate.

I once had and foolishly sold a Remington Model 14 pump 22. I keep looking for another but have become aware that parts a near impossible to get for them. I talked to a gunsmith a few years ago who had several in his shop for years waiting on parts.


My close friend has a pretty little Browning semi-auto



Part Two,



What would your favorite hunting use be with such a rifle?



For me, hunting mountain grouse in the west is my greatest pleasure with a .22. It is legal of course. I use my real light Model 511 Remington but would really enjoy using a Model 14 Remington pump.


Have fun.

 

[Pmacc60]

Coolest 22 rimfire vintage for me is the Nylon 66 . Light fast and accurate , only trouble with it was it shot up a ton of ammo . Hunting 22 was a Stevens 66 , it was my dads and I still have it , it took a lot of rabbits, squirrels , crows Ground hogs and foxes . No scope mounting capabilities .
The 22 that was used the most is.a Remington 582 that’s nearly 50 years old and has been used over that period of time to take hundreds of animals . Grouse, groundhogs , rabbits , squirrels , foxes , crows and any pest you could imagine. It was the favorite gun of my sons when they were home and I still use it for all pest including three duck killing foxes this summer.

 

[jeff_gibbons]

My little Winchester 69a shoots amazing. Love that gun. Desert Jack Rabbits.

 

[morley.tyler]

I'm lucky to have grown up w/ a lot of cool 22's and have kept all of them, w/ the exception of a Savage Falling Block (model 72) that was used in part-trade for my 77/22.

But this is about vintage 22's and the use thereof. I have 2 rifles that come first to mind; the first is a Browning(FN) SA-22, and the second is another FN Browning, but this one is the venerable T-Bolt.
These were employed on 1000's of empty beer and soda cans, tree stumps, dirt clods, and even the occasional paper target. I burned a brick of 22's about every two weeks.

For the pot, these were grouse killers, of the highest order. September, daily after school, found me and my faithful Black Lab walking through the woods behind the house hoping to flush one or two up into a tree.

As an aside, I also love my Colt Diamondback(s) 22, but you asked about rifles...

 

[mtmuley]

Neat little rifle. Belongs to my son gifted from his Grandpa. mtmuley

 

[diamond hitch]

I have remington hammerless pump. Take down model. Pat. Number jan 5, 1909. Dad got it for $20 in the 20s. Only seen a couple since. Just looked it up - it appears to be a model 12.

An accurate sob.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

When somebody mentioned a Remington Nylon 66 this true story resurfaced. My first .22 that I loved was the Remington model 14 pump. At that time my friend was using his dad’s very old Marlin Model 39. Another friend had his dad’s 1890 Winchester pump.



At some point we all got bit by the auto loader bug.



I bought a Colt, “Colteer”, One friend bought a Nylon 66 with the tube feed, and the other fellow bought a Ruger 10/22.



We were at the home/farm of the fellow with the 10/22 which was at least a ½ mile from the next homestead. Lots of privacy. We were all about high school senior age, 18 or just under that.



The fellow with the 10/22 was named Jack. He had two sisters one around 12 and the other 10 years old.



It was past X mas break. During the vacation his two sisters had really gone all out in making a snowman on the huge lawn,,,almost a field actually. They did it all the way, with lots of carrots for eyes, noses ears, necklaces, fingers etc.



It had been cold enough so that the snowman was holding up very well.



I cannot recall who started shooting first,,,the first target was one of the carrot “fingers” then another and then we all opened up on “Frosty”,,kept shooting, and reloading,,,so much noise we did not even hear Jack’s younger sisters screaming to stop hurting their snowman.



We probably put 100 rounds into “Frosty”. Carrot parts were everywhere in the snow, his eyes were all shot out, hat was shot to shreds,,,pure teenage boy carzyness.



It would have wise of us to clean up the mess but didn't. Lots of small casings all over too of course



The two sisters had complained to their father, eyes full of tears.



The father was a WW2 vet, a tank sergeant who served in Europe and the Battle of the Bulge. He was pretty deaf and talked loud anyway.



He did wait until we three were all there at once and he served us up a dose of discipline the likes of which we had never seen before,,,in the presence of the two sisters.



We all lost so many land use privileges. He was the father of just one of us, but it was like he was sergeant to all of us.



We cleaned up our mess, paid for our actions in loss of priviledges,,,he however never raised his voice again or brought up the incident one more time.



He went right back to being the polite man he was and as usual invited us in to share supper with his family.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I have a Winchester Model 63 that my dad got in the 50s. It killed a lot of ground squirrels when I was younger.

I also have an unscoped 1968 Marlin 39A that I keep planning on taking out after gray squirrels. Maybe this year.

 

[300_WSM]

I have two that I love.

First is a Browning SA22, im a lefty, so most semi auto 22s eject right into my face, but this one is bottom ejection and I love it for that! So smooth and never jams even with cheap ammo. I had a Ruger 10-22 and sold it cause I always grabbed this instead. Just general plinking and grouse hunting.

Second is an Old Kimber set trigger 22 hornet, man its so accurate!! 10 shot, 1" group at 100 yards the first time I took it out. No super great hunting purpose, but sure is fun!

 

[Nick87]

Two for me also

The first, an old remington falling block no. 4 maybe? My dad has it and my youngest two boys will probably learn to shoot with it. I can remember countless hours shooting cans with that after getting off the bus. Pretending I was a buffalo hunter with a sharps.

Second a remington 572 bdl.was the first gun I bought with my own money probably around 9 years old. Love that gun.

 

[F250]

I carried a Nylon 66 on the trapline in high school in the mid '70s. It once spent the night submerged in an over flowing stream (after a dumb teenager move !!).

 

[geetar]

I only own one .22 and it’s a 1972 model Remington 552 semi auto. I like it and it shoots accurately with irons.

 

[Don Fischer]

I have two 22 RF's. One is a marlin 22 mag and don't count but I do use it now and then for coyote's, never shot one with it but from a stray dog I shot bigger than any coyote, I know it will work. The 22 RF is a Winchester mod 62A. Have never hunted anything with it! Not big on hunting small game but it'll bust a clay pigeon pretty well. If I was to go small game hunting for fun I'd take my S&W mod 15 32 Long with cast bullet's. If I needed the food by way of small game I'd take my Marlin 22 mag and it's scope, old eye's suck! But I had a urge for a 62A ever since high school, 57 yrs! And I got this one about 15 yrs ago with worn out eyes. Not for sale! When I hunt grouse I use either my AyA or CZ in 28ga, I look good carrying them and my dogs like them better! Ya know thinking about it, I've only killed one grouse with a rifle in my life. Went hunting black bear one spring with a friend up in the Yaak, Montana. Going in to set up camp we saw a grouse and believe it or not, one shot and down. 7mm Rem Mag with 160gr Speer Hot Core! Took it's head right off! Never even shot at a grouse with a handgun.

 

[Millsworks]

Marlin golden mountie, 39A.

 

[shrapnel]

Vintage guns are my favorite. I have a couple vintage 22’s, one is a Winchester low wall 22 long with a half round half octagon barrel and a tang peep sight. It was also shipped to W.F. Sheard in Livingston, Montana, sometime before 1892. The bore is exceptional, which is rare for any frontier 22.

The other is a Winchester 1873 in 22 long also. The 22 long is rare in the 1873, as most were 22 short. The bore on this one is exceptional as well, and the gun functions and shoots perfectly...

 

[JEB]

I'd 2nd the Marlin 39A "Golden" Mountie. My father traded a .38special for one for me back in 1973. I love that rifle. So much so, that a gentleman was selling one locally of early 60's vintage and in mint condition so bought it for my 6 year old grandson so HE will enjoy a lifetime of shooting it!

 

[Mustangs Rule]

I'd 2nd the Marlin 39A "Golden" Mountie. My father traded a .38special for one for me back in 1973. I love that rifle. So much so, that a gentleman was selling one locally of early 60's vintage and in mint condition so bought it for my 6 year old grandson so HE will enjoy a lifetime of shooting it!

The Marlin 39A, in either rifle or carbine version, is to .22 rifles, what the early pre 64 model 70 Winchesters were to centerfire rifles. State of the art. Top of the heap, As good as it ever got. The equivalent in handguns were the Smith and Wessson double action revolvers, K, J and N frames fron the pre and post war eras, when barrels were still pinned and cylinders were recessed.

I once had the pleasure of owning a "retirement" Marlin model 336 in 30-30. When a Marlin employee of long standing retired, they were given a model 336 that was hand carried though the production line and given all the special attetion is could get, including a high grade walnut stock.

The one I had was so accurate that with peep sights it could shoot under and inch as 100 yards. I sold it to a young man who is like a son to me.

I have two .22 rifles. One a full rifle version of the 39 A that I have had for near half a century. Honing the trigger is a laborious task. A master gun smith did mine when I first bought it. So sweet.

My other ,22 is a vintage model 511 "Beehive" Remington. It has original factory peep sights. My Marlin can have either Lyman peep sights ot a scope.

At the range the Remington will sightly out shoot the Marlin 39.

In the field when actually hunting some fast moving samll game the Marlin 39 is in a world of its own. Working a lever action is "mother's milk" to any American

I have had when I was young man a Remington Model 12 pump .22. I greatly enjoyed it.

There was a period when I lived in cabin four miles in on a dirt road in desert moutains. I was training horses then. I lived with a long brown haired hippy vegetarian yooung woman in her early 20's. We lived on beans for protien,

I used to take off for several days at a time on a horse during the winter months when the rattlers were hibernating and just go wandering and sleep out on the ground, just me, my horse and that Model 12 pump in a saddle scabbard. I shot many cottontail rabbits and quail on the run and standing in the thickets looking at me and feeling safe.

As night I would make a fire with dry mesquite branches and roast the rabbits or quail over the coals, My horse was hobbled and out in the night I coud hear him grazing the fresh winter greens that grew in moist desert canyons.

It was a great period in my life. After a few days of eating meat I woud ride back to the cabin and enjoy what the young hippy woman "had to offer" beyond cooked beans.

MR

 

[BrentD]

Part One,

What do you think was the coolest vintage .22 rifle ever..

There really isn't much argument over what is the coolest .22 ever. Vintage or not. It's the early Winchester 1885 Low wall. Most beautiful gun ever made, most functional too. With scope or tang sights, it is the ideal rifle. And it should be used on squirrels, of course. And targets as well, in the off season.

In a pinch a Ballard #3 works pretty well

But there is nothing wrong with the 1890 Winchester if you feel the need for a multishooter.