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.
Found a replacement for the first 22lr rifle I ever shot.
1To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim