The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post about everything from carrying a handkerchief to manly skills (sharpening a pocket knife, etc), to product reviews of items that may have slipped inder our radar (ie Grandpa's Pine Tar soap). No threads on anything 'new' unless it hearkens to old-fashioned sensibilities and ideals.
User avatar
Bloodhound
Door Greeter
Door Greeter
Posts: 1894
Joined: 19 Apr 2022, 08:14
Location: Eastern Slope/Colorado
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 280 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by Bloodhound »

When I was a kid I was allowed to buy my own .22 rifle. Stepdad said it would make me appreciate it more. He also said it had to be a single shot. What I ended up with with an Ithaca 49 cause it at least bore some likeness to a Winchester 94.

Well as I got older, my best friend and I would go shooting in his grand parents Grape Vineyards. He had a Winchester 72, with a tube magazine that held 15 rounds...I coveted that rifle...and began saving $$ for one of my own. But my stepdad nixed the idea. So the $$ went for car and girls and other stuff.

Years later I was in a gunshop and saw a Winchester 72 on consignment...it needed some TLC...it had been dripped with paint from a closet getting painted around it, it had a bent mag tube. The seller said it was her father's and when he died, her mother just kept moving it around in the closet, but now she was gone and it was being sold. I got it cheap and it was my first Winchester 72. I cleaned it up and replaced the mag tube and it shoots like a dream. About a year later, I was looking at Winchester 72s at an online auction. I made a bid on what looked like a very used and filthy rifle. When I got it, I asked the seller if she had any history with it. She said that it had been seized by a police department in California, and that the rifle had been ordered to the department's use and ownership for use at the department range by the range manager to address the ground squirrel problem. He was the sellers father and he had used the gun for many years. It sat in the corner of his office at the range. He was a very heavy smoker and he didn't take great care of the rifle, but other than the smoking residue, he didn't abuse it either. When he retired the police department gave him the rifle. He continued to shoot it until he passed. I stripped it down, and cleaned and scrubbed and cleaned and got the gunk cleaned off and I replaced the old 2X weaver .22 scope with a classy Weaver J4 scope and it is a great shooter.

I wish both of these rifles could talk and tell me their stories... These are OFG .22 rifles if ever there was. Both of them have seen lots of rounds since coming into my care, and while I did clean them up, they still have some of the signs of their former lives...I figure they earned every mark.
Image
Do Justice...
Love Mercy...
Walk Humbly with your GOD
User avatar
Biff
Darth Floof Floof
Darth Floof Floof
Posts: 1294
Joined: 05 Apr 2022, 17:26
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 146 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by Biff »

When I was a kid (neither old, old fashioned, or a gentleman) my dad was doing his pastoral internship in a prairie church. The nearest town was about 20 miles away but there were farmers everywhere. We (our family) spent a lot of time on various farms hosted by various farmers. Wonderful folks. Being the OFB that I was, I was curious and bound to explore. One day I found an old beat up, rusty .22 on a tractor. The farmer (McGregor not McDonald) had kept it on the tractor to shoot gophers. It got left out / forgotten and was rendered useless.

The .22 was a cooey repeater. Much like the rifles above. It had an under barrel magazine that would hold 10 - 15 rds. I was allowed to keep it because it was rusted into inoperability. Right? Wrong. I worked it, oiled it, and just generally fussed with it until I got it 'working' again. I didn't have any ammo for it which is just as well I suppose. Some time later I found a box of .22 ammo. My intuition told me to tell me dad before trying it out. Well both rifle & ammo were confiscated. The rifle was left with a friend who filed the firing pin down to nothing and then plugged the barrel w/ wood. If I had been a little stupider and tried to put a round through it, it would probably have blown up. The barrel was quite rusty and likely would have stopped a projectile from going down the barrel. Could have been catastrophic. I was spared, my parents were spared.

I don't know what became of that rifle. Probably got passed along or trashed when I stopped playing.
Cooey Model 60
Cooey Model 60
cooey.jpg (105.68 KiB) Viewed 3799 times
I have .22s now:
Ruger 10/22 - nice rifle
10/22
10/22
10_22.jpeg (1.41 KiB) Viewed 3799 times
GSG 16 nice, fun plinker
GSG-16
GSG-16
gsg 16.jpeg (2.25 KiB) Viewed 3799 times
GSG 1911
GSG 1911
GSG 1911
gsg.jpeg (930 Bytes) Viewed 3799 times
Ruger Wranger
Wrangler
Wrangler
wrangler.jpeg (2 KiB) Viewed 3799 times
Fun OFG type firearms.
Here I stand. I can do no other. :flags-wavegreatbritain: :flags-canada:
User avatar
FredS
A Rotten Mexican Woman
A Rotten Mexican Woman
Posts: 1687
Joined: 08 Apr 2022, 06:05
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 465 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by FredS »

I don't put my own guns online, but these belong to a guy I know. ;)

Image
L-R

- Winchester Model 69 - Ridiculously over-scoped. This gun is effectively a single shot but my friend will be really happy if anyone can turn him on to a replacement magazine. You can run the deal through me.

- Marlin Model 39A

- Remington Nylon 66 - A gun with a plastic stock may not seem like an OFG gun but it has some history and it belonged to my friends dad so yeah, OFG.

- Ithica Model 49 - This shorty is commonly called a "saddle gun". My friends dad built a shooting range (a box with the big ol Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog backed by a foot of sand) in the basement of their house and they used to get a big bowl of popcorn and have family shooting contests with this gun in the evenings.

- Springfield Model 53A - This is a beater that bounced around for thousands of miles behind the seat in my friends 69 Ford PU.
If we ever get to heaven boys, it ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong. - Kris Kristofferson
User avatar
Biff
Darth Floof Floof
Darth Floof Floof
Posts: 1294
Joined: 05 Apr 2022, 17:26
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 146 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by Biff »

FredS wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 09:33
- My friends dad built a shooting range (a box with the big ol Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog backed by a foot of sand) in the basement of their house and they used to get a big bowl of popcorn and have family shooting contests with this gun in the evenings.
Were we friends in a different time / location? My dad did exactly this. When I grew up I marveled that mom put up with it. But then, she was mostly deaf.
Here I stand. I can do no other. :flags-wavegreatbritain: :flags-canada:
User avatar
FredS
A Rotten Mexican Woman
A Rotten Mexican Woman
Posts: 1687
Joined: 08 Apr 2022, 06:05
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 465 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by FredS »

Biff wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 10:02
FredS wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 09:33 - My friends dad built a shooting range (a box with the big ol Sears & Roebuck Christmas catalog backed by a foot of sand) in the basement of their house and they used to get a big bowl of popcorn and have family shooting contests with this gun in the evenings.
Were we friends in a different time / location? My dad did exactly this. When I grew up I marveled that mom put up with it. But then, she was mostly deaf.
Back in the day, it was cheap entertainment. .22 shorts were probably 5 for a penny (that's 12.75 Canadian) in the 60's.
If we ever get to heaven boys, it ain't because we ain't done nothin' wrong. - Kris Kristofferson
User avatar
Jocose
Usher
Usher
Posts: 2305
Joined: 09 Apr 2022, 12:10
Location: Ulaanbaatar
Has thanked: 299 times
Been thanked: 261 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by Jocose »

Edit
Last edited by Jocose on 30 Apr 2022, 22:23, edited 1 time in total.
The views expressed here are either mine or not my own, not sure.
The opinions expressed here may or may not be my own.
I post links to stuff.
Make your own choices.
User avatar
Bloodhound
Door Greeter
Door Greeter
Posts: 1894
Joined: 19 Apr 2022, 08:14
Location: Eastern Slope/Colorado
Has thanked: 803 times
Been thanked: 280 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by Bloodhound »

Jocose wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 12:03 ONLY THE POLICE AND MILITARY SHOULD HAVE GUNS!!!
:laughing-rolling:
Do Justice...
Love Mercy...
Walk Humbly with your GOD
User avatar
DLJake
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 517
Joined: 09 Apr 2022, 18:05
Has thanked: 51 times
Been thanked: 73 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by DLJake »

dang - too cool.

Army days I had an amigo that had a .22 single shot rifle.

We'd put a hard red ball candy on a stump out in the woods in Yellow Springs and that dude drilled it from 30 feet. Glad he was on my side.
Nothing destroys cowboy boots faster than mare's urine. - JimVH as published in Equine Quarterly September 2022
User avatar
Biff
Darth Floof Floof
Darth Floof Floof
Posts: 1294
Joined: 05 Apr 2022, 17:26
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 146 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by Biff »

DLJake wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 15:49 dang - too cool.

Army days I had an amigo that had a .22 single shot rifle.

We'd put a hard red ball candy on a stump out in the woods in Yellow Springs and that dude drilled it from 30 feet. Glad he was on my side.
.45 @ 25yrds last weekend .... wanna be on my side?
bulls eye1.JPG
bulls eye1.JPG (94.33 KiB) Viewed 3658 times
Here I stand. I can do no other. :flags-wavegreatbritain: :flags-canada:
User avatar
joegoat
The Naughty Grand Poobah
The Naughty Grand Poobah
Posts: 724
Joined: 09 Apr 2022, 21:04
Has thanked: 34 times
Been thanked: 83 times

The OFG's .22 Rifle

Post by joegoat »

Biff wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 16:23
DLJake wrote: 29 Apr 2022, 15:49 dang - too cool.

Army days I had an amigo that had a .22 single shot rifle.

We'd put a hard red ball candy on a stump out in the woods in Yellow Springs and that dude drilled it from 30 feet. Glad he was on my side.
.45 @ 25yrds last weekend .... wanna be on my side?

bulls eye1.JPG
This is fake news. I noticed a gross error. Y'all use meters up there. Bunch of metric minded weirdos.
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati (When all else fails, play dead)
Post Reply