…and that would be “Free Guns!!!”
Greetings and Salutations!
My, what an interesting day.
Sapper started working full time for GunGirl, and I had to go down to do MY paperwork, but not on the ‘operational immediate’ sort of thing… I got to go back to bed whereas he had to make a 0930 SP.
I got to the shop around 13:00, as I wanted to wait for the lunch rush so to speak. I hung out for a bit, and while I was there, some older-ish female came in with a BIG towel wrapped around what was obviously a couple of long guns.
She told us that her Grandad had died (I was like, she’s in her 60s, how fucking old was Granddad FFS???) and while cleaning out the house, they found these two rifles, and just wanted to “…get rid of them.” She stated that she didn’t want to drop them off with the cops, and after GunGirl checked them, she was like “Nope, don’t want them sorry!”
They were pretty grody.
I said that I’d LOVE to have them as I’m the local gunsmith, and restoring old grody guns is my ‘thing’. The lady was like “No problem, they’re all yours!”
BOOM!
FREE GUUUUNZ!!!
Whoo Hoo!
Sooooooooooooo…
That’s how I ended up with one really fucking cool rifle, and another??? Well notsomucho…. Both are .22 Caliber,have/had a pretty bad case of surface corrosion, and the stocks are/were pretty Gah-Nasty!
The first one I couldn’t even see what it was. There was soooo much crap on the barrel markings, I had to clean it AND ‘chalk it’ to figure out what it was. I just knew it was a full sized stock .22 single shot bolt action:
As I said, it’s pretty nasty, with a LOT of surface scaling.
No MAJOR pitting that I can tell, and the patina UNDER the rust looks pretty good:
I think it was designed to be a training rifle.
Not sure. Reason being is that tab sticking up about an inch-inch and a half behind the bolt? That’s the safety, and every. single. time. you cycle the bolt, the weapon automatically gets set to ‘safe’. I did get my scrub on on the barrel, which after chalking it, I got this:
A Western Field Model M815.
AKA Montgomery Ward’s finest entry level bolt action .22.
It’s actually a Mossberg single shot, marketed by Montgomery Ward’s chain under the “Western Field” name brand in the 1960s and 1970s. The Model M815, is the same rifle as the parent Mossberg 320 and 321 rifles that were manufactured from 1960 until 1980 and well known for their accuracy.
It fires .22 Short, Long, or Long Rifle caliber rounds, and has NO SERIAL NUMBER, which according to my research means this was made prior to 1968, when the Feds made it that a weapon having to have a s/n became mandatory. I’ll see how it cleans up. They seem to be slightly collectable as I found them going (in great condition) for about $200 and change.
Now, the other one?
Well… sometimes I get a bit ‘hot to trot’ on my weapons…and get waaaay ahead of myself. As in I forgot pix. Dammit.
I failed to get the “before” pics ‘cos I got really wrapped up in this one. However, It’s AWESOME IMO.
It’s a Remington Model 12 Pump Action .22 in perfect functioning order.
And as you can see, it cleaned up magnificently.
I still have some detail work to finish, as well as a test-fire, but DAMN if this isn’t sweet and a GREAT addition to the BCE Museum of Mayhem. The reason being is THIS particular rifle I –think- (but can’t be 100% certain) was a “Carnival Rifle”.
This particular one by way of the s/n on it, was manufactured in 1925. One Hundred and One Years ago!!! That, to me is pure awesome-sauce.
During my research on the Model 12, I found out the action was originally designed by Pederson with a patent date of October 1906, when they started making them. It’s actually stamped right on the barrel like that. It also was INCREDIBLY popular, and was used extensively in and by Traveling Carnivals. Back in the day shooting galleries were an important attraction of almost every amusement park, county fair, and church carnival back in the day.
You’d go up, pay the man running the shewtin’ gallery a quarter, he’d hand you a pump-action .22 rifle containing 10 or 12 rounds of .22 Short ammunition and then it was off to the races so to speak… time to blaze away at various moving targets in hopes of winning a Kewpie doll for your current ‘flavor of the week’ so to speak….
The reason I’m so utterly tickled is that I’m 99.9999% sure that THIS rifle was used in a Carnie… The wear on the front pump furniture has me utterly convinced, as well as because of where I live.
There’s a town right up the road, a stone’s throw literally called Gibsonton. Gip-Town is pretty famous for real. It’s where the Carnies would ‘winter over’ and for that matter still do. The pic below is of the International Independent Showman’s Museum, AKA The Carnie Museum.
This’s the town that the freaks live in
Like literally
The famous bearded lady, the world’s tallest man, people like that. In fact there’s still a pretty sizable contingent of them that you can see at WalMart on the regular… and no… we’re talking for-real Carnies. They also retired here back in the day, and there’s several films about the location, and the people.
Hence why I’m sure this was a ‘Carnie Gun’
Location, Location, Location.
It adds up right?
Now… here’s a Model 12 that was auctioned a ways back. It is NOT as nice as mine, but look at the pump:
The finish on that one is shot-out… but notice the pump? It’s ribbed (for our pleasure of course). The rifle is also famous for being able to be broken down:
See the ribs? Yep.
There’s a big set-screw on the left side of the receiver that holds it together. Mine is tight as the day it was made with ZERO wiggle when it’s together.
Another mad plus amiright?
Now… this’s part of the reason I’m sure that this was a “Carnie Gun” if you will… this one is my pump:
That wood is worn the fuck down to the nub!
How many DECADES did it take to wear the pump action wood down like that!?! Crazy right??? Like as you could see on ALL the other examples the front stock slide is ribbed like a mother.
Mine?
Notsomucho.
Truthfully it looks like someone strapped a burnt keilbasa on the front…
And, if you look exceptionally closely, you can see the faintest marks where the ribs used to be. Add on the front sight blade is juuuuust a wee bit boogered up with a teeny bend to the right, which would make it really hard to hit your target?
THAT’S how you never could get that Kewpie Doll!
The Carnies boogered up the sight!
Cheating bastards.
I’d say this thing was in a Carnival back in the day, due to it’s location, age, and the ‘fair wear and tear’ plus the bent front sight. I wish I had the true background on it… however there IS hope!
The aforementioned Museum (the Carnie Museum, not mine) has a INSANELY intensive collection of paperwork and like ALL the administrative ‘stuff’ from ALL the Carnivals dating back from the late 19th Century. It’s a rather impressive collection.
Sapper and I talked about it, and I’m pretty sure that a Carnival would have something as valuable as a rifle (be it only a .22) listed or written down in a logbook –somewhere- for insurance purposes and tracking. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that IF this thing, per my gut hunch, IS a Carnie-Rifle and is registered -somewhere- in the vastness of their extensive records, I might be able to get the provenance established for it, which then makes it a very collectible piece of Early 20th Century Americana!!!
A PERFECT addition to the Big Country Museum of Mayhem!
How cool would that be???
So I’ll keep y’all updated as I roll
More Later
Big Country
As far as #2 goes, it would be a very long shot (pun intended) but one possible source for records would be the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wi.
But, as good as the action works, I’d bet that the bore looks like a piece of plumbing pipe. Maintenance and cleaning probably wouldn’t have been high on the chore list.
Good lord, you got yourself a gen-u-ine factory made “GHOST GUN”! No Sn#! Heh heh heh.
I have a soft spot for its Mossy base model. Shot my best 5 shot, 50 foot score, offhand with a 321 while working Staff at a Scout camp in 74. Cloverleafed the 10 ring with a flinch just between the 9 and 10
The identical Mossberg single shot I inherited from Papaw is a “Revelation 101B” marked for Western Auto. According to some research I did years ago it’s the same as the Official Boy Scouts of America rifle, which makes sense since the old man was very involved in Scouting back in the 1960s and -70s. Glad you can confirm using one at Scout camp!
A common issue is a cracked plastic trigger guard, my specimen is cracked but the rifle still works just fine.
Good luck confirming the provenance on your carny rifle, Biggie. There used to be a combination bait and tackle shop/diner on US 41 in Gib-town called “Giant’s Rest” owned by a sideshow freak. Ate breakfast there a few times. You might be interested in the true crime story about the Lobster Boy murder; he was an abusive alcoholic whose family hired a local metalhead kid to do the deed, it’s about the biggest news to yet occur in Gibsonton.
I have a Savage single shot bolt .22 from 1907 and a Remington pump .22 from 1911,both work great and yes,they were me grandfathers guns.
I have a slightly different Monkey Wards .22 bolt action. It has a side to side thumb safety at the rear. It also was made by Mossberg. My father bought it when I was around six years old. I’m now 71. It is extremely accurate. Heavy too.
Mom and Dad unit loved going to those shooting galleries. Dad unit was the spotter while Mom unit did the shooting. They made a great couple and Mom into a super shot. Carnies absolutely hated seeing them walk up. Got to hear a lot of fun stories.
Wife and I went to the State Fair with the 6 month old baby. A friend bumped into us and said let me get a teddy bear for her. Oh, no need to buy her anything we said. Not at all, she says, my daughter is a shill for the fair.
A what? Friend tells us her daughter is the pretty girl that throws rings onto bottles, pops balloons with darts and hits the moving target with the rifle. All to entice the gents into doing better than some stupid blonde.
Monday morning she came back with a 4 foot tall Tony the Tiger, 4 feet sitting down. I almost couldn’t get it in the car.
“Remember, there’s only two kinds of people – Carney and freaks.” (Extra points if you can name the Bill Murray movie.)
God loves fools and drunks. Me? I’m double covered. I recognize my kin when I meet them…
Free guns? There is hope.
Take care of heaters, even a flea market or carnival one.
I’ve inherited the Winchester version of your Remington pump…
Without pulling it out to look, it seems it’s the model 61
I believe mine is from the 40’s… Breaks down as well…
It’s the finest shooting rifle I’ve ever shot… Shoulders Perfectly !
There’s No searching for the sights… They’re just there as it all lines up naturally…
Nice score.
Those old pump .22s are something special.
That 1st gun is great for teaching a kid about guns and shooting under your watchful eye.
Maybe when the grans are a bit older you could start teaching them ?
The 2nd gun brings back memories, a buddy of mine in High School’s Dad had 2 of those.
We’d load them up and go out back to a field way on the back of their property and setup a shooting gallery.
Honestly those shooting sessions with that 22 rifle were some of the most fun I’ve ever had shooting.
My favorite was our shooting club had a ton of local police as members including the SWAT team.
One of the Captains ran the police range with all of the popups and would invite a bunch of us to go shooting there as his guests.
MASSIVE fun but it’s funny you quickly in the moment you forget tactical order AND to take cover.
You understand how QUICKLY a situation can develop, you HAVE to react quickly to a threat and most people (including me) will stand in one spot shooting and not take cover even though they were instructed to. Good lessons I learned and I understood police shootings MUCH better after that.
What a haul! Awesomeness on the part of the lady who gave them to you, instead of to the cop shop that would have inevitably destroyed them, instead they get the Big Country TLC treatment. (If they are collectible, don’t refinish them – just clean them up and oil them.) I had sort of gotten over my itch for a pump .22, enough that I ordered a M16A1 clone for my collection. The A1 clone hasn’t even arrived yet, and you re-ignited that itch for a pump .22. I’ll probably settle for a Rossi Winchester clone, if I do decide to scratch it.
Dude those old .22 rifles are absolute treasures. Personally, I love the bolt action – and I would agree it’s a training rifle. You scored big time on those. You ate the bear!
(some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you)
Sounds great all around. Finding/being given wonderful old guns like that is a real gift. And you have given them a whole new lease on life.
My Great-Uncle Floyd gave me his .22 squirrel rifle 5 days before he died in 1967. It is a Remington Model 12, NRA Target Model 12-C. Made around 1932, it has an octagonal barrel, Lyman rear tang sight and globe front sight that is adjustable for windage. It is a beautiful rifle.
Some years back I acquired a Remington 514 single shot, bolt action .22 at an estate auction. These were produced from 1948 to 1972 and mine is pre-68 with no serial number. The stock is a bit beat up and the exterior of the barrel has pitting as the finish wore off long ago. The bore however is in excellent condition and it is the best shooting, most accurate .22 that I own. That kind of craftsmanship is very high dollar these days.
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Just my two cents worth: free guns >free beer.
The beer leaves after a little while. The guns hang on
Congratulations!
You’re in your element as a writer when you’re happy like this, not pissed. Fun post thanks! Dad gave me a similar carnival 22.
Nice haul! I have a soft spot for gun tinkering and enjoy your “adventures in gunsmithing.” I own a magazine fed version of the Mossy and also a Rem 12. There’s a website – havlinsales.com – that has a lot of parts for the old Mossbergs. The Havlins are nice folks too with encyclopedic knowledge of the old guns and the company. The old Mossbergs are generally very accurate. If your bore is decent, you might be pleasantly surprised at how well it shoots. I sanded off the finish to the raw birch then blended an oil and stain combo that barely darkened the blonde wood. Finished it with a satin poly/oil. Came out nice. Put peeps on it and an old leather sling.
My Rem shows it’s 109 years but looks good and shoots very well. Didn’t do much but a good clean up on it. Bore is pristine and shoots well. Put serious spankage on some steel plates at 25 yards shooting with my grandson who was shooting a scoped .22 auto. Loved hearing that “Dang, grampa!” You get those two cleaned up and shooting, you’ll be smiling!
I got a $99 Mossberg Model 320B, with a 4x scope and factory, hooded front sight with target, peep rear sight, about 15-20 years ago. Basically, the “Deluxe” version of your rifle. Accuracy wasn’t great. Then I remembered an old timey trick. I cut a piece of bike inner tube and put it under the barrel, at the end of the forearm. It’s now one of my most accurate rifles and it’s not ammo sensitive.
I’m a notorious horse trader, but this light weight, little rifle, is NOT trading stock.