Unknown 22 cal semiauto rifle

kartking22

I have just purchased a property and there was a .22 cal rifle left there in one of the garages. It was a bit rusty so I wanted to clean it up a bit. After cleaning, I noticed that there was no makers mark or serial number on the barrel. Only says, "Cal 22 long rifle smokeless greased only" on one side and "patent 2094577 others pending" on the other side. No other markings on this rifle.
I did serch the patent number to find that it was registered to a Nicholas L Brewer. Oct. 6, 1937 but the patent showed a bolt action rifle. Nicholas L Brewer was assignee to the Savage arms Co. as well which was one of my questions answered. The big question that I have about this rifle is that the barrel is plugged. I thought that the previous owner might have tried to fire this rifle with a rusty barrel and jammed it up. I tried drilling out the barrel and succeeded in removing 2 projectiles from the back side of the plug. After these were removed, the plug was too hard to drill. Tried drilling from the barrel end next but again was too hard to drill.
Only got a bit of rust.
My only conclusion for this situation is that this rifle might be set up for firing blanks only. Why a semiauto rifle with tube load would be produced for blanks only is beyond me but could also answer another question of why a serial number was not needed.
If anyone has any input on this topic, please let me know.
Thanks.

charliemeyer007

Might have been made to be a non-firing kids gun out of an ole beat up rifle by pounding a section of drill rod down the muzzle - think Bubba's kid. Would have been a lot safer from the breech end with a ground off firing pin, Bubba doesn't often do great work.

Barrel could have come from a bolt gun. I have an 'improved' Winchester 1906 that wears a Remington 510 targetmaster barrel.

I think serial numbers were required after the 1968 gun act on all real guns.

Look threw the Savage/Springfield/Stevens line maybe you can identify it from pic's of ones with a schematic if you can't post some pic's. Like this one https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/savstevspgfld/rifles-sav/60

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/savstevspgfld/rifles-sav

11b6r

As Charlie said up there ^^^- prior to the 1968 Gun Control Act, Federal law did not require serial numbers on rifles and shotguns- and most lower cost 22 rifles did not have a SN. I have about 20 Mossberg 22s from the 40s and 50s. ONE- made as a trainer for the US military- has a serial number.

BTW, the markings you listed, including the patent number, are present on the Springfield Model 87A. If you rifle has a set of slots on the left side of the bolt, and a large cocking knob, that might be it. We used to call them "click clacks". Pull trigger, rifle fires, bolt goes back and STAYS back until you release trigger, at which point bolt goes forward, chambering another round.

rufe-snow

I ran a GOOGLE search using your info. The rifle comes back, as being made by Savage. Sold by them under their name, as the 6A. Or the more common, Springfield Model 87A. Same,same.


GPC is selling the barrels for $42. If you want to make your functional, if you can't get out the plug.

kartking22

Don't think that it was made to be a non firing gun Charlie because of the fact that I did extract two projectiles from the back side of the plug. Rifle seems to be fully functional with firing pin and everything where it should be. The plug is the only thing keeping it from being a fully funtioning rifle. 11B6r, this rifle does have the slots on the left hand side. It may be the Springfield 87A. I will research the pics of these to verify what I have. Don't know if the gun is worth fixing. New barrel for $42, extractor is broken and also the butt plate. Might be good for parts only. Only investment that I have in it is a drill bit to try to clear the barrel. Doesn't take much more to invest in a gun that no one wants.

kartking22

I have found that the Savage model 6 is also the same or similar to what I have. Might be dumb but found a barrel on the auction for $10. For a Springfield model 87A. What the heck. I have spent more money on stupid things before. You never buy beer of coffee, it is just rented for a little while. Raised kids that were never mine and engaged four times to women that used me for a place to put thier kids till they found a new guy. Sad to say but I might enjoy restoring this old rifle more than sticking my money into a dead horse.

charliemeyer007

I would be all over a "good" $10 barrel. A hand drill and a few good files or even better at least small drill press and a Dremel tool with a good assortment of bits/stones; a chunk of proper starting steel; some time and skill you could make an extractor.

My 510 barrel was rescued from a trash can. No bolt and the rest of the rifle wasn't all there, so not worth fixing IMHO. I took the barrel with the intent to use it for a small bottle jack handle or maybe a lead hammer handle. Then this 1906 came along that had been turned into a repeating pistol. A little work and a few store bought replacement parts - a legal and functional rifle.

Skills and knowledge to fix things are the lightest things you can carry on your back during hard time. You do not learn much just buying new stuff at the store.

Bubba is the name given to a lot of 'poor' gunsmithing done by people at home. Sometimes it even comes that way from the factory.

kartking22

Thanks for the info Charlie. I'm just torn between replacing the barrel with one from a different rifle. If this rifle was used as a trainer of sorts, it may be worth more original than a working daily shooter. Maybe not. With pics of all of the different Springfield, Savage, and Stevens, I have yet to find one with the plastic trigger guard. Trigger guard does not look to be a bubba made. It fits the stock too well and curved too perfect to be made for the rifle by a bubba person. Being a maintenance person, I can tell if something is made in a home shop vs. being factory made. Just repaired a Wards .22 cal. pump rifle for a friend tonight. Suspect that it was originally made by Savage too according to similar rifles. Problem was that the safety switch was always falling out and wouldn't fire at times. Found that the spring that held the safety in place was missing and cup was modified by someone in the previous past. After reshaping the cup with my dremel, and modifying a spring from a ball point pen, I got the gun to work properly. I consider this repair as a bubba move too.

perry shooter

Sears sold many 22 rifles and I know some had plastic triggerguards under the name ranger I DON'T THINK i WOULD EVER ADVISE THE USE OF A DRILL ON A BARREL WITH RIFLEING[V] BUT it is your gun

Tflogger

The same barrel markings are on Marlin A1s.