About a year ago, maybe a little more, I dug my dad's .22 out of the garage and went and bought a box of ammo and went out to the BLM and shot a bunch of plastic bottles and paint cans with my boys. The paint cans had great results, spewing paint everywhere and the cans flying up in the air. It was great fun for us all!
Since figuring out that the old rifle still worked, I decided to clean it up. So, internet here I come. I found the manual and instructions on how to disassemble it and reassemble too. So, I went to Bi-Mart and got a cleaning kit which included some Hoppe's No9. BTW, This was my first ever experience with this product, and let me just tell you this. It was love at first whiff! I also picked up a package of targets and a 3-9X32 scope which came with rings.
I disassembled the rifle to the point where everything I read, said to stop, but I kept hearing a rattle deeper inside the action. I turned the rifle upside down and shook it. Nothing fell out. So, I kept going on the dis-assembly. I finally got inside deep enough that a small piece of 1/4" wide, spring steel about 1/4" long fell out on the kitchen table. I looked at it and saw that it had been broken and there must be more of it inside the rifle. So I got inside deeper and found the rest of it lodged under something. I dug it out and found it on a blow up parts list I had and found that it is part of the bullet feeding assembly. I found the part at Numrich's for around 3.00, but they wanted 5 or 6 bucks to send it. I know a stamp only costs .44 cents so I wasn't going to pay that kind of highway robbery. We shot it after that for a little while, but we couldn't get it to feed right for the most part, so eventually, I put the rifle back in the garage and went about my merry way.
Fast forward to about a month ago. I am out shooting my M1917 and the scope won't hold zero. I find that the screw that holds the sight leaf is broken and needs to be replaced. Where would I find such a part? You guessed it... Numrich's. Now I needed 2 parts and I figured since I am getting a new screw, I might as well get the nut too! So, I ordered the spring clip for the .22, and the screw and nut for the M1917.
The part arrived here at the house on Tuesday. I installed it and went out shooting for the rimfire competition on Wednesday. I did pretty good with it. I was actually pretty impressed how well the rifle shoots. But then again I was using the open sights, which is where my quandry comes in.
Way back when I had installed the scope, I was having problems with the wandering zero. When I had inquired here on THR, how to stop this problem, I think we deduced that because the scope is not mounted to the rifle's barrel it will be prone to a wandering zero if a scope is used. Looking back to the days of my dad shooting it, it had a scope on it and he never seemed to have any trouble with it.
Here is the second story for you all!
I must have been about 6 which would have made it about 1973. it was about 5am when my dad came into my room and woke me up, saying; "You want to see me shoot a dawg?" My eyes popped open and said "Sure!" I got dressed as fast as I ever could and ran out to the kitchen, where my dad stood waiting. He had a rifle in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. The rifle was the Nylon 66 I referred to before. He sat his coffee on the counter and said "Come on..." We snuck out the back door, closing it ever so quietly. We went down the walkway towards the pasture. As we got closer, I finally got a glimpse of the source of my dad's ire! It was an unimpressive dog, but come to find out the dog had gotten in the chicken coop overnight and had killed about 100-150 chickens. Right when I saw that dog, my dad raised up, and with the accuracy of a true marksman, dad fired that ol' Nylon 66, and even though that dog was running full stride from left to right of us, at 100yards, that bullet found it's mark and dropped that dog right there in it's tracks. If you looked for 100 years, you couldn't have found a more impressed 6 yr old boy than I was right then and there!
I will never forget that morning when dad woke me so early. We ended up burying that dog with the chickens. Dad said, "You wanted them, you can have 'em! G'Da** Dog anyway!" I saw a tear roll down his face. I am not sure which he was more upset at. Losing his chickens or taking a life. I never did get a chance to ask him. He passed away about 10 years later, and that's when mom gave me dad's rifle. It had a scope on it that dad used that day to shoot that dog. It never was taken off and put back on but dad never had problems with wandering zero's or anything like that. When dad needed to shoot something, he just grabbed the gun and pointed it and shot whatever he would try to hit.
I often wonder if his time spent in WWII maybe came rolling back into his thoughts that morning. I don't know, but I never had seen my dad cry before that.
What I am wondering is was there a package sold with these rifles that included a scope or was this an added thing my dad bought. The scope was a little thing and has since broken and has been thrown away many years ago. It was something like a 4X scope. Does anyone know where I could find a scope like this. Not a new style scope, but one of the exact types of scope that my dad had on it.
Would a fixed scope be better than a variable one? Does this rifle really need a scope? or should I just leave it with the irons. Has anyone ever figured out a way to make the scope mount as mentioned by others already in this thread as I wrote this between working and etc. more secure without altering the "Original" look of the rifle?
I really would like to scope it with a fixed scope and put it back the way dad had it. I just wish I wasn't a dumb teenager who broke the original scope by trying to open it up to find out what made it tick!
Thanks for reading, and helping if you can.
And NO... This rifle is at home here with me and will be my daughter's first real rifle. She has a BB gun a red ryder, but when she gets a bit older I am going to give it to her. Grandpa would want it that way!
Mikey!
