Identification of old, cheap .22 rifle

[BigJon]

Several weeks ago, a friend of mine showed up with an old, cheap .22 rifle. I can't find a manufacturer's name on it, except perhaps "PREMIER", which is says on the side of the receiver. Other than that, the only marking I could find was ".22 Long Rifle" on the barrel.

This is a cheap old .22. The parts are stamped, and even the trigger guard is screwed into the stock with wood screws. However, it does have a nice, long, heavy barrel, and I couldn't stand to not fool with it.

The gun had been stored in an old warehouse for decades. A dirt dauber had even built a nest in the muzzle. The gun was grimey, greasy, and just plain dirty. It was also rusted shut.

I started taking the thing apart, and it was very simple to do. It's a single shot, and I managed to get everything apart, cleaned, and reassembled. I even sanded down the old stock and refinished it. Everything is slick as a cat now, except for one thing ...

It won't fire. ... More specifically, it appears that the firing pin strike is too light.

Problem is, I have never seen a bolt like this, and I don't know how to fix the problem.The bolt is a two-piece affair. The firing pin looks at first blush like it ought to be the extractor - it has a lobe at its back end that fits into a recess in the back half of the bolt, and its main body lies inside an external dovetail in the front half of the bolt, its end protruding out into the concave bolt face.

The combination sear and trigger spring is flat, and it is screwed onto the bottom front of the receiver (this one with an obvioius replacement screw and a lock washer!) It was so weak that I had to do a little bending on it to coax a bit more tension out of it.

One cocks the piece by pulling on the rear of the bolt. The back half retracts and the sear catches a grove in the bottom of the back half of the bolt and locks it back. The back half takes the firing pin with it. The sear is integral to the spring and does not move. As the trigger is pulled, it levers the flat mainspring downward taking the sear with it, and the back half of the bolt is released. As the rear half of the bolt moves forward at the direction of a coil spring inside the back half of the bolt, it takes the firing pin with it, pushing it down the channel in the front half of the bolt and into the rim of the cartridge.

I have also noticed that the front half of the bolt is actually just a hair loose, even when closed, and the bolt handle has nothing to close down on - it just sits there against the side of the port, and when the rifle is dry fired, the handle even moves up about an eightj of an inch. (Yes, I know, ... it's worn out.)

Can anyone tell me the maker and model of this rifle? For some reason, I am unable to attach photos of the rifle, so here are links to photos online:

http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6864
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6865
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6866
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6867
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6868
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6869
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6870
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6871
http://www.armslocker.com/forums/att...achmentid=6872

Best,
Jon

[Sir William]

Links no good. Have you researched Floberts?

[Steve499]

I've had fits with the picture thing, too. Couldn't attach any.

I couldn't view your pictures with the link provided so this is a shot in the dark, but your description sounds just like my first .22, a Stevens, but I don't remember what model. It burned in a house fire in 1968 or I'd still have it. The description of the sear, bolt, trigger guard and everything sounds just like the one I had. One thing you didn't mention was the sights. The one I had was made with a flat blade front sight and a big screw for the rear sight. The sight wasn't adjustable for windage but could be shimmed with washers to get elevation. Mine was purchased by my uncle around 1930 or so, I don't know that it was even new then. I never tried to take the bolt apart on mine, don't remember how it was exactly but think there was a pin that held everything together.

The mail order houses around the turn of the century used to contract with the arms makers to have their own name or brand stamped on firearms. Later,Sears, Montgomery Ward and Western Auto still all had a name they used. I had a Marlin manufactured rifle that had WESTPOINT stamped on it. There's a possibility your old .22 is of Stevens manufacture but contracted for by some retailer stamped with the PREMIER stamp. I'm no expert on the subject of Stevens rifles but they have a collectors following and someone among that group might be of help.

Steve

[greeneggsnham]

Your Premier should be a Stevens Model 29A also called the trailblazer for Premier

Edit: Premier was used by several companies in revolvers, but in this case it was more than likely distributed by Montgomery Wards.

credit to Hoosier

[BigJon]

Thanks, guys. Here's the thread that shows the photos. I didn't put it up immediately because I believe you have to log on to the site to see photos, and I didn't want to put anyone to the trouble of having to do that. If the photos won't work, then heck, try the thread. Here is is.

http://www.armslocker.com/forums/sho...t=34010&page=1


greeneggs - I don't think this can be a Model 29A - If I could see the schematic on e-gunparts, I could tell, but that's the problem - I can't get the schematic until I know the model, and I won't know the model until I can see the schematic! Catch 22. The parts listing for the model 29A, though, shows a magazine tube. The rifle I have is a pure single shot - no magazine of any kind. The closest thing I have found is a Model 15, 15A, but the darned bolt handles are different. Am wondering if this may be an aftermarket bolt repair. Have never seen any other rifle or photo of a rifle with a bolt handle like it.

Best,
Jon

[greeneggsnham]

I certainly apologise. I've always had good luck using the Hoosier website.

Edit. Yep, from what I can make of it, the 29a savage is a pump gun but i'm not sure if the stevens is the same thing during that time

[BigJon]

No sweat (or apology needed!) This is really buggin' the crap out of me. From my admittedly limited knowledge of these old .22 rifles, my recent research suggests that a LOT of them had very similar actions - the Sears and Montgomery Ward brand rifles, and the old Springfields, Savages, Stevenses, etc. I have found that two big difference exist between all the ones I've seen so far. First, is the apparently unique bolt on mine. Second is that my stock is much more shallow (from the top where the receiver fits to the bottom where the trigger guard screws into the stock). I'm sure this is because mine is intended as a single shot (no magazine), and also because the stock is short, suggesting (maybe?) that my rifle is a youth model gun of some kind.

Best,
Jon

[greeneggsnham]

while i as many others own some real nice top of the liners, my fetish lies with the jc higgins', especially the twenty five dollar .22's

[Pointer]

greeneggsnham appears to have it right...

I saw something like this in "Monkey" Wards many years ago...

I thought it might be a J.C. Higgins, but Stevens is probably more likely.


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