The very first 22lr rifle I ever shot belonged to the dad of a friend. It was 1952 or 1953 and I was probably about ten years old and it was a Sears JC Higgins semi-automatic. It had a scope and the handle for the bolt was on the left hand side and pretty far forward. You loaded it by putting the bullets in a tube and then pushing a rod down the tube that held them inside. The rifle did have a scope on it and was an easy to take off or put on scope because he let us shoot both ways. It had a long barrel and was almost as tall as our shoulder.

Honestly I hadn't thought much about that gun since that summer but recently there was a YouTube video that caught my eye when I was looking for some info on my old JC Higgins 42. There it was. Just like I remembered it and sure enough, there was even one in pretty fair shape for sale and a dealer from whom I've bought some other C&R handguns. A quick phone call and the rifle is now headed my way.

The gun is the JC Higgins Model 28 which was a lower end 22lr made for Sears by High Standard. It was basically the High Standard Model 30 but without the fancier forend wood that extended back to cover the receiver. This particular model was only made for about 6 months in the second half of 1951. The barrel is almost 24" long so a really nice sight radius. Overall it appears to be in pretty good shape with one interesting anomaly, what appears to be a set of canine bite marks in the stock.

With shipping running slow it probably won't get here until sometime next week.

lovely!

Nice!

High Standard made some nice guns.

Nice gun! BTW, how pissed-off do you have to make a dog that it tries to shoot you?

Very cool.

senorgrand wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 12:49 am Nice gun! BTW, how pissed-off do you have to make a dog that it tries to shoot you?

Wish I knew the rest.

senorgrand wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 12:49 am Nice gun! BTW, how pissed-off do you have to make a dog that it tries to shoot you?

It happens about once a year. There are a few examples listed here.
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/spo ... 546121002/

According to The Washington Post, at least 10 people were reportedly shot by dogs between 2004-2015 in the U.S., and several other cases have been reported since then.

That is nice. I have a soft spot for tube fed .22s as well.

That is nice. I have a soft spot for tube fed .22s as well. When I grew up, young hunters weren't allowed .22s that were considered by parents to be much more "dangerous" than shotguns. My first firearm was a .12 ga. at about 12 years old. It was a single shot, with a long, full choke barrel, so it taught you to conserve ammo.

That old gun would bring a squirrel out of the tallest tree. In my neighborhood here was a disabled WWII veteran, wheelchair bound, who loved to eat squirrels, so he financed my shells, a significant cost for a 12 year old. I remember the first mess of squirrels I took him, all cleaned and ready for cooking, I was severely rebuked for removing the heads...."That is the best part, boy."

Three or 4years ago, Bud's gun store had a collection of older 22's, maybe a hundred or so. Priced from 99 to 300 dollars. Some semi autos but mostly bolt action and tube fed. I am still kicking myself that I didn't pick up one. Or 3 or 4.

My experienced 22lrs are all 20" or longer barrels, tube or magazine fed and bolt as well as semi-automatics. Each one has a peculiarity; the old Savage Springfield has the strange Click/Clack firing system where when you fire the bolt gets held back until you relax the trigger; a very distinct and unusual sound. One of the JC Higgins was made by Marlin and the other by High Standard and each was only available during a short one or two year window (only about 6 months for the High Standard). The JC Higgins Marlin is a basic Marlin 80 with a 7 round magazine. The Savage Springfield uses a 15 round tube while the JC Higgins High Standard has an 18 round tube.

The speed loader tubes for the tube fed rifles arrived today. Each tube holds 15 22lr.

Got to function test all three of the experienced 22s this morning and after their Spa Day all did great. But there was one mishap.

I had tested the latest arrival with first one round then two in the tube and then dumping a whole bunch in the tube. Sat down and got ready to see how it did with a whole string. Push the cross bolt safety button from "safe" mode to "Fire" mode only to find the button continuing to travel on out the left side and onto the shelf. The little spring was still in its hole and the button in the shelf but a worm hole opened and the detent pin escaped into another dimension before the worm hole closed. I made sure the spring and button were secured in a baggie and finished the function test but there is definitely a feeling of insecurity when there isn't a safety. Even though I was the only person on the range and everything was still functional and I could empty the tube one round at a time with complete safety it was still uncomfortable.

So pieces parts on order and in the morning I will head over to a local gunsmith to see if they have anything that will work as a detent until the parts do get here (and Numrich has been glacial lately) and if not I guess it will just sit until the new pieces parts get here.

Sure was fun though. Amazing how fast I got used to the left side and forward charging handle though.

A member on a different forum had the pieces parts and sent them to me. The JC Higgins 28 is feeling MUCH better now.





And the Savage Springfield 187M:


and JC Higgins 42:

One of the original pewpewpew guns. Nice for you to put hands on one again. Sweet.

CDFingers

Got the scope back on it but the local range is closed today.

pretty.

Very nice, happy shooting. I could spend hours with the Sears catalog, it had so many great things in it. At one time you could even buy a pre-fab (kit) house and even a Kaiser/Allstate automobile through the catalog. Ancient history now.

highdesert wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:00 pm Very nice, happy shooting. I could spend hours with the Sears catalog, it had so many great things in it. At one time you could even buy a pre-fab (kit) house and even a Kaiser/Allstate automobile through the catalog. Ancient history now.

Even a Henry J.

1950s Mossberg. This is the before pictures. I haven't started restoration yet, but I am going to soon. Hasn't been shot in 60 years. One owner (my dad).

(sorry not sure how to embed a video)

Finished Spa Day on another of the oldies, a New Haven (Mossberg) 251c carbine size (18½" barrel). Lots cleaner inside than expected so next it needs to get to the range for function checks.

Very nice. I have an odd tip about.22 tube loaders. In my younger, less financially secure days I didn’t want to spend the money on a speed loader and determined that I could cut the end off of a beat up aluminum crossbow bolt and the resulting tube is perfect for a speed loader (with a foam earplug as a stopper). The tube even fits inside of the magazine so you can slide it past the normal loading hole so nothing gets jammed. And what is the funny part - I learned the trick with a JC Higgins .22 (Model 25 I think) that my father-in-law gave me (which I’ve since given back because my daughter is a bit too wee for that one and he now has grandsons to take out in the woods.)