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Winchester 74

Sam06
A friend of mine asked me to come to his house the other day.  His Dad died and he had 3 guns he had found in the house.  He had a as new in the box S&W #3 top break in 32 S&W, the thing looked brand new and it was a nickel gun.  He has a INI revolver in 32 S&W that was a little beat up and a ratty looking Winchester 74.

I told him what the guns were worth about.  He knows nothing about guns and has not even shot a gun in over 20 years.  He asked me if I could get the 22 to shoot.  Well I was looking at the thing and it has rust freckling all over the action was dirty and stiff and it looked like a pile of crap, but I said let me take it home and work on it.

So I got it home and did some reasearch on the gun, I had never messed with one before.  I found this blog and learned alot about the Model 74 including how to disassemble it.

I got out the kroil and my Big 45 rust cleaner and went to work.  20 min later the rust was about gone, no more freckling and the blueing looked great.  I pulled the guts out striped them down and cleaned them, oiled the thing and put it back together.  It turned out pretty as a picture and the action was smooth as silk.

I took it out back to my range and loaded it up with 5 rounds 22LR.
It would not chamber and got all jammed up.

I put my reading glasses on and yep..................its a 22 Short

Un jammed the gun and rummaged around and I found a box of 22 shorts with about 20 rounds in it, no telling how old they were, at least 25 years old.

The old girl ran like a top.  I went to a gun store in town and got 200 round of CCI 22 Short ammo and put another 100 through it without missing a beat.  I cleaned it again.

I took the gun back to my friend, showed him how it worked, showed him how to load and unload it, how the safety works and some safety rules.  We shot 10 rds in his back yard and he had a blast.  He gave me $20 for the ammo and cleaning the gun(He offered me more but I said give me 20 the ammo was $10 a 100).

The gun was made in 1951 the last year they offered it in 22 Short. It has no extra holes in it and is a kick to shoot.


Now I want one in 22LR

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Comments

8 comments

Date Votes
  • Smitty500mag
    I used to shoot .22 shorts when I was a youngster in an old single shot rifle I had. You could see the bullet in flight they were so slow if you shot it in a shady area. Only thing lower powered that I remember was the old 22 C. B. Caps. My grandpa used to use them to shoot pigeons in his barn because they wouldn't make a hole in the metal roof while he was shooting at them. 


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  • Grasshopper
     Ohh yes, the Win 74. Have had over a dozen of them from rats to riches and they ALL worked. Just needs to kind of keep them clean. Over looked rifles imo, very well built and a classic, imo.
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  • dcon12
    I bought mine for $30.00. Of course it came with a custom stock. Don



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  • Grasshopper
     Hey Don, I recognize that work. It was on a Remington 742 and had a bear and a deer? carved in it. Priceless art it is. Most conventional artist would call yours "Tiger" striped.
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  • toad67
    Love mine too.. IIRC, they say never try to move the bolt with the safety on.
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  • dcon12
     Hey Don, I recognize that work. It was on a Remington 742 and had a bear and a deer? carved in it. Priceless art it is. Most conventional artist would call yours "Tiger" striped.
    I can see not problem with the rifle and can not understand the reasoning behind the "stripes". Don
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  • Grasshopper
    Well, it looks like a "tiger paw" did the engraving, I see it.
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  • hillbille
    got one from my dad,  couldn't tell you how many bricks of 22 have gone through it between me and my kids/grandkids.  still one of the most accurate rifles I have, keep golf balls dancing out to 75 yards, kids/grandkids with better eyes can dance em at 100 yard or better......
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