this ole rifle...my first "real" rifle

back in the mid fifties, we had just returned from a tour in Germany...dad was posted to Ft. Sill, Okla.

i was a teen then and getting interested in the huntin', fishing' and such things; Oklahoma is a great place for that sort of thing for a growing kid. (at least it was then)

i used to hang out with an Indian kid by the name of Jerry that supplemented his family larder by hunting and fishing; he had ten (10) sisters and brothers. he was about the same age as i. he had an ancient .410 single shot shotgun and a hickory longbow.

we used to manage to get to "hunting grounds", outside of town, where we could hunt for 'coons, possums, prairie dogs, squirrels, moles, gophers...basically, anything that is edible. he would take them home for the stew pot. i normally would borrow his longbow. wow! i never imagined what a journey that would start me on.

i was also at the age where i began working part time for spending cash...and...got my social security card. back then, the middle 50's, soldiers were NOT paid very well at all and dad could, in no way, afford to buy me a rifle. so i worked and saved some cash for one and since i was not of age at that time to legally purchase it myself, i asked dad to buy it for me. he and mom agreed he would.

i went to a pawn shoppe in town and selected the rifle, gave the $15.00 I'd managed to save, to dad to purchase for me.

it was a "beauty"...a sears & roebuck, model 101, bolt action, manually cocked, single shot .22 rimfire that will shoot shorts, longs and long rifles. i did some research on it recently and estimate it was made somewhere around 1939 by Marlin.

i recall that i seldom had enough cash to purchase ammo and i occasionally lent the rifle to Jerry for his hunting; dad would occasionally give me a box of shorts to feed it.

as many of you may, or may not know, these rifles are very rugged, quite dependable, simple, efficient and tend to be very accurate once sighting has been 'figured out'. and, by the way, came with the finish being "browned" instead of blued.

after dad retired from the Army, he and mom decided to relocate to California, where's mom's parents had migrated to from Oklahoma; the rifle came with me.

once settled in California, i decided to make a Jr. high school (now called 'middle school') wood shoppe "project" of refinishing the stock...it has the finish to this day! it's in very sad shape and i intend to re-do it in the near future.

i gave the rifle to two of my sons (at different times, of course)...they didn't want it...it's "to old fashioned" ya know...being a single shot and all...oh well...it's mine forever now.

at one time, one son was using it and left the bolt in the glove compartment of my truck, to legally transport the rifle here in California, which he borrowed for some long forgotten reason, and when he brought it back i later wanted to re-install the bolt in the rifle so as not to lose it, i discovered the bolt handle had been severely bent. it was bent so badly it would not close. of course, "i don't know how it happened" was the reply to the question of how it got bent. i have to imagine what force it took to bend that handle! no...on second thought...i probably shouldn't...

i had to cut the handle off, drill and tap it for a handle. it now looks like one of the old Moisin rifles. i will redo it soon, too.

i recently managed to replace all the springs in it and installed a lighter trigger spring, recrown the damaged muzzle and am preparing to replace the trigger itself as it's worn so badly it has side-to-side movement but it still locks into the "cocked" position securely.

this ole rifle probably cost less than what i paid for it when it was new, but i surely have gotten a LOT of use and enjoyment from it. i have take my share of small game with it and have shot so many tin cans it's beyond my 'guesstimate' at how many there have been.

i wonder if i will be able to restore it in a manner that's befitting of it?

I'm gonna find out...soon.














































































i'm somewhat capable and have limited tooling and knowledge to do most of the rewstoration of it