Mystery .22

A note about serial numbers.

I have a 1940's Remington .22 with out numbers.
Then one day my wife brings home her dad's collection of fire arms because "she had a safe to keep them in" I always have room in the safe for old guns. In this collection was another Remington .22. This one, after looking up info on it was from the 1930's and had numbers. Well this was before the days of the internet so I called Remington. They told me that on the lower end guns they did not put serial numbers on them because they were not required to and that it was a cost saving thing. Side by side these two old Remington shoot very well and they look well made.

Damifinow fish

Finn said:

*** EDITED NOW WITH PHOTOS!!!***



Ok here is the story as I have been told it since I was a lil kid.

It was a dark and stormy ni.... just kidding.

My great Uncle was part of the D-day invasion of Normandy in WW2. As he was going through the French countryside he was picking up ummm "stuff" that was left laying about and shipping it home (Dad said his basement was full of backpacks flags helmets and all sorts of stuff).
He came along a french farmhouse and found a small .22 cal bolt action single shot rifle and decided that it needed to be sent home as well.
Long story short.... yea I know too late, my Dad and Uncle were given the rifle and they learned to shoot with it (in Baltimore no less). I learned how to shoot on it as a child as well. My Dad was down visiting his folks in GA and decided to surprise me and brought back the old .22 for me to have.
Yea a sweet guy I know.

Now here is the problem. There are NO markings on the rifle at all. I mean NONE!! zip zero nada blank gooseegg. The wood has been refinished as well and has no markings either. So all I have to go on is that my Dad thought that he remembers my Great Uncle saying it was orginally and English Rifle.


What I am hoping for is someone who can either say ... oh thats a .... or know of a site that has photos and info on some old bolt action rifles.

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It looks like a english (might be Austrian) garden gun to me. They can be rifled and sometimes smoothbore. They were for pest control. Nice rifle better story!

I know I'm gonna sound like a dick here, but I have to ask...

What, exactly, is the term for "wandering around finding stuff in farmhouses to send home"?


Cause to me, that sounds like looting. I'm sure the Nazi's were doing a fair bit of "wandering around" in Paris, too - and sending home things like art and gold.


Just askin'....

im guessing its not looting if its been abandoned...and no one is there to protect it...especially in those days...now days yes it would be...that would be my guess

rrrrrrkevin said:

Sweet lookin .22

My Grandad gave me an old .22 last year and I tried to fix it up and I really should have taken it to a professional. I think I did a great job on the stock but the metal was trashed,I used steel wool to remove the blue and the rear sight was missing the elevator and was a little bent so when I tried to remove it I broke it. I thought it could not get much worse so I then began to dremel it off the rest of the way!! That was about the dumbest thing I have ever done. Now I am left with a family heirloom that was only worth about 25$ to begin with but priceless too me(didnt realise til I destroyed it) thats now an eyesore I hope I can one day fix. Accurate as hell tho and blows my scoped 10/22 out of the water with a 5$ gunshow scope that I bought for it because I thought it matched the older look of the rifle.

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the dremel marks are relatively easy to repair...you have to sand/smooth a lot....start out with aproximately 120 grit and work your way down till its smooth as the rest of it....ending with quite possibly 1000grit or even 4000....then either take it to get reblued or parkerized...soda blasting will help but doing it by hand would be the best method in my opinion...

mudskipper said:

I know I'm gonna sound like a dick here, but I have to ask...

What, exactly, is the term for "wandering around finding stuff in farmhouses to send home"?

Cause to me, that sounds like looting. I'm sure the Nazi's were doing a fair bit of "wandering around" in Paris, too - and sending home things like art and gold.


Just askin'....

Click to expand...

yea nowadays it might be called looting but at the time it was refered to as "spoils" or "prizes of war". I never heard if it was taken from a civilian or if he found it abandoned. The family story as I heard was that it was found in a French barn. The wondering about the country side was refered to as "patrols" by his CO.

... and yea you DO sound like a dick for just having to ask.

GNLaFrance said:

Many pre-68 Gun Control Act guns have no serial numbers. They are not a problem and neither is this rifle, especially since it's a family heirloom and has a known history.

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This +1

I have Mossberg 151m(a) that is from 1945 and does not have a serial number on it. There's not a problem with it at all.

mudskipper said:

I know I'm gonna sound like a dick here, but I have to ask...

What, exactly, is the term for "wandering around finding stuff in farmhouses to send home"?


Cause to me, that sounds like looting. I'm sure the Nazi's were doing a fair bit of "wandering around" in Paris, too - and sending home things like art and gold.


Just askin'....

Click to expand...

Consider it the price to be paid for being liberated and not under Nazi rule, sorry i will not say German not all Germans were pro-Nazi.

Yeah the Nazi's did it too but the winning side gets to make the rules.

Finn said:

... and yea you DO sound like a dick for just having to ask.

Click to expand...

I'm very comfortable with that. The world needs dicks sometimes...


But I like the rifle and the story that goes with it. You can't buy character like that at Bass Pro.

wilcam47 said:

im guessing its not looting if its been abandoned...and no one is there to protect it...especially in those days...now days yes it would be...that would be my guess

Click to expand...

Kipling understood, and explained it very well:


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Loot


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IF you've ever stole a pheasant-egg be'ind the keeper's back,
If you've ever snigged the washin' from the line,
If you've ever crammed a gander in your bloomin' 'aversack,
You will understand this little song o' mine.
But the service rules are 'ard, an' from such we are debarred,
For the same with English morals does not suit.
(Cornet: Toot! toot!)

W'y, they call a man a robber if 'e stuffs 'is marchin' clobber
With the –


(Chorus) Loo! loo! Lulu! lulu! Loo! loo! Loot! loot! loot!
Ow the loot!
Bloomin' loot!
That's the thing to make the boys git up an' shoot!
It's the same with dogs an' men,
If you'd make 'em come again
Clap 'em forward with a Loo! loo! Lulu! Loot!
(ff) Whoopee! Tear 'im, puppy! Loo! loo! Lulu!
Loot! loot! loot!

If you've knocked a n*gg*r edgeways when 'e's thrustin' for your life,
You must leave 'im very careful where 'e fell;
An' may thank your stars an' gaiters if you didn't feel 'is knife
That you ain't told off to bury 'im as well.
Then the sweatin' Tommies wonder as they spade the beggars under
Why lootin' should be entered as a crime;
So if my song you'll 'ear, I will learn you plain an' clear
'Ow to pay yourself for fightin' overtime.
(Chorus) With the loot, . . .

Now remember when you're 'acking round a gilded Burma god
That 'is eyes is very often precious stones;
An' if you treat a n*gg*r to a dose o' cleanin'-rod
'E's like to show you everything 'e owns.
When 'e won't prodooce no more, pour some water on the floor
Where you 'ear it answer 'ollow to the boot
(Cornet: Toot! toot!)
When the ground begins to sink, shove your baynick down the chink,
An' you're sure to touch the –
(Chorus) Loo! loo! Lulu! Loot! loot! loot!
Ow the loot! . . .

When from 'ouse to 'ouse you're 'unting, you must always work in pairs –
It 'alves the gain, but safer you will find –
For a single man gets bottled on them twisty-wisty stairs,
An' a woman comes and clobs 'im from be'ind.
When you've turned 'em inside out, an' it seems beyond a doubt
As if there weren't enough to dust a flute
(Cornet: Toot! toot!)
Before you sling your 'ook, at the 'ousetops take a look,
For it's underneath the tiles they 'ide the loot.
Ow the loot! . . .

You can mostly square a Sergint an' a Quartermaster too,
If you only take the proper way to go;
I could never keep my pickin's, but I've learned you all I knew –
An' don't you never say I told you so.
An' now I'll bid good-bye, for I'm gettin' rather dry,
An' I see another tunin' up to toot
(Cornet: Toot! toot!)
So 'ere's good-luck to those that wears the Widow's clo'es,
An' the Devil send 'em all they want o' loot!
(Chorus) Yes, the loot,
Bloomin' loot!
In the tunic an' the mess-tin an' the boot!
It's the same with dogs an' men,
If you'd make 'em come again
(fff) Whoop 'em forward with a Loo! loo! Lulu!
Loot! loot! loot!
Heeya! Sick 'im, puppy! Loo! loo! Lulu!
Loot! loot! loot!



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Just brought over a couple .22s from the MIL's house, but alas, none match your pics.

If I see anything in my research on these, I'll def let you know.

yea i saw... a shame but some very nice old guns your FIL had. Treat them well there are plenty of stories that go with them im sure.

This one is of a similar design, but it is not the same gun.
This is a single shot Winchester Model 67 chambered in short, long, and long rifle.







The barrel is marked, but there is no serial number.

My dad bought this one for the princely sum of $17 when he was in junior high school.
Best I can tell, that would have been at least 70 years ago. Lucky for me, I was given the gun shortly before dad passed.

Dad used this Winchester to shoot on his junior and senior high school rifle teams.
He used to carry it to school over his shoulder with a box of shells in his pocket.
Just try to do that today!
Later, while in the Navy, he used it to shoot on the base rifle team.



I refinished the stock almost 50 years ago with a hot linseed oil finish.
The barrel is 27" long and she still shoots like a dream.

Gotta love these old crankers!

It's amazing how simple the "old" guns are. There are hardly any parts.

Great story and great gun. I learned how to shoot on an old single shot 22 (didn't know enough about guns back then to remember what it was). Wouldn't trade the experience for learning on a semi.