or perhaps you have...JC Higgins Model 31 from Sears.
Yes, it's time again for me to roll out another gun you haven't seen, forgot about, or probably never had an interest in lol.
This little .22 semi was sitting in my local store for about the last couple of weeks. It caught my eye since I'm always on the lookout for the odd gun, and at $149.00 out the door, I didn't think I had too much to lose.
What caught my eye at first was the bright red sling originating from "inside" the stock. Turns out these little guns have a pulley under tension in the stock with the red sling that can be pulled and attached to a point under the magazine tube. Made from about 1952 to 1959 or so, these were sold under the JC Higgins name through Sears and built by High Standard (a company led in designs by a man named Harry Seifried who would later go on to work for Bill Ruger and help develop the 10/22).
Like many of the Sefreids designs, it features an aluminum alloy receiver (just like the 10/22, and about 10-12 years before the 10/22 was in production). Semi auto, with the aforementioned retractable sling (which isn't that sturdy it appears, but a neat gimmick anyway). The stock is a two piece unit using walnut and appears to be of finer quality than many of the stocks made toss for .22 rifles. The two pieces are bolted together in a clever fashion with a cross bolts aiding in holding the trigger assembly.
Now, besides the sling, here's where it gets weird: this gun is chambered in .22 long rifle, long, and shorts. Sure, there's been .22 rifles and pistols chambered in all 3 (High Standard's revolver line that started in 1955 comes to mind), but a semi auto?? Hmmm....
I was skeptical, but now I am certainly not. This gun looked like it had NEVER been cleaned when I brought it home. I grabbed all three sizes of .22 and headed to the range. Without cleaning, this gun ran 250 rounds .22 LR, CCI CB shorts, and CCI longs as well as Winchester, Remington Golden Bullets, and lastly, a hand full of a mix of different makes and speeds all in one mag WITHOUT ONE SINGLE HICCUP. My 10/22 will cough on some of the cruddy stuff once it gets really dirty. But this cheap department store .22 rifle just kept churning along.
Accuracy? Well, I didn't put up a paper target, but at 75 yards I didn't miss my 8 inch spinner if I did my part.
The only problem was I guess the old charging handle had enough, it cracked off while I was rapid firing some CCI Velocitors. But, I was able to keep on going with some help from a screwdriver.
Anyway, I personally had never seen a semi auto like this, and damn sure never seen one that could rip through every size of .22 cartridge aside from .22 magnum.
Here's some pics, you will see my S&W M&P .22 full size, and you might be able to see the "nub" of a charging handle on the Model 31 (took pics after I had noticed the handle had cracked). Last photo shows the sling pulled out and attached.
[URL=http://s1193.photobucket.com/user/OSUJACK/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2017-03/DBA8D69B-AA75-4E42-BF59-6CF4AD7C2885.jpg.html]
[/URL]
[URL=http://s1193.photobucket.com/user/OSUJACK/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2017-03/30133FF4-E0A3-44D2-91A6-F15B7345EA00.jpg.html]
[/URL]
Yes, it's time again for me to roll out another gun you haven't seen, forgot about, or probably never had an interest in lol.
This little .22 semi was sitting in my local store for about the last couple of weeks. It caught my eye since I'm always on the lookout for the odd gun, and at $149.00 out the door, I didn't think I had too much to lose.
What caught my eye at first was the bright red sling originating from "inside" the stock. Turns out these little guns have a pulley under tension in the stock with the red sling that can be pulled and attached to a point under the magazine tube. Made from about 1952 to 1959 or so, these were sold under the JC Higgins name through Sears and built by High Standard (a company led in designs by a man named Harry Seifried who would later go on to work for Bill Ruger and help develop the 10/22).
Like many of the Sefreids designs, it features an aluminum alloy receiver (just like the 10/22, and about 10-12 years before the 10/22 was in production). Semi auto, with the aforementioned retractable sling (which isn't that sturdy it appears, but a neat gimmick anyway). The stock is a two piece unit using walnut and appears to be of finer quality than many of the stocks made toss for .22 rifles. The two pieces are bolted together in a clever fashion with a cross bolts aiding in holding the trigger assembly.
Now, besides the sling, here's where it gets weird: this gun is chambered in .22 long rifle, long, and shorts. Sure, there's been .22 rifles and pistols chambered in all 3 (High Standard's revolver line that started in 1955 comes to mind), but a semi auto?? Hmmm....
I was skeptical, but now I am certainly not. This gun looked like it had NEVER been cleaned when I brought it home. I grabbed all three sizes of .22 and headed to the range. Without cleaning, this gun ran 250 rounds .22 LR, CCI CB shorts, and CCI longs as well as Winchester, Remington Golden Bullets, and lastly, a hand full of a mix of different makes and speeds all in one mag WITHOUT ONE SINGLE HICCUP. My 10/22 will cough on some of the cruddy stuff once it gets really dirty. But this cheap department store .22 rifle just kept churning along.
Accuracy? Well, I didn't put up a paper target, but at 75 yards I didn't miss my 8 inch spinner if I did my part.
The only problem was I guess the old charging handle had enough, it cracked off while I was rapid firing some CCI Velocitors. But, I was able to keep on going with some help from a screwdriver.
Anyway, I personally had never seen a semi auto like this, and damn sure never seen one that could rip through every size of .22 cartridge aside from .22 magnum.
Here's some pics, you will see my S&W M&P .22 full size, and you might be able to see the "nub" of a charging handle on the Model 31 (took pics after I had noticed the handle had cracked). Last photo shows the sling pulled out and attached.
[URL=http://s1193.photobucket.com/user/OSUJACK/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2017-03/DBA8D69B-AA75-4E42-BF59-6CF4AD7C2885.jpg.html]
[/URL][URL=http://s1193.photobucket.com/user/OSUJACK/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2017-03/30133FF4-E0A3-44D2-91A6-F15B7345EA00.jpg.html]
[/URL]
