Savage Model 6 .22 rifle ...... What to do with it

[Hugo]

I have a Savage Model 6 with slight rust on the barrel, nothing a brillo pad and 5 minutes wouldn't fix. It's a 22 that shoots short, long, or long rifle. Long Rifle only as automatic (hope they mean semi auto). No manual though and from a bit of research on the web no one sells them. Anyone got the manual scanned into .pdf format or oneline or something? It does have a 4x scope and a plastic stock though I'm guessing this rifle is only worth $100 or so. Probably going to trade it in unless someone tells me otherwise. What do you think? Also doesn't it seem shady how Savage and Sears seem to have washed their hands of these rifles? Not even letting you download the owners manuals, which they must have a few of in their archives seems negligent to me.

 

[Hugo]

Whoops forgot to mention it says on the barrel it is a J.C. Higgins 101.16, Sears Roebuck and Company. Does this make it less valuable?

 

[Jim K]

Hi, Hugo,

Good news and bad news. The good news is that the Sears marking really doesn't hurt the value, which is about what you said. The bad news is that those guns are hard to sell because they were not very good guns.

The Model 6 itself dates back to 1938, but there was a series of rifles, in both box and tubular magazines that continued until the 1960s. If you need parts, get hold of the Gun Parts Corp. catalog and see what they have. Their web site does not list any parts for the Model 6, but the Model 87 was basically the same and some parts interchange.

We used to clean them by taking off the stock and dunking the whole thing in the sonic tank. Worked like a champ, but the trigger mechanism still gave a lot of trouble. The gun is designed to fire, then the bolt locks back until the trigger is released, then the bolt goes forward and the gun can be fired again. Apparently this was to provide time for the slow acting feed system to present the next round. If the timing wasn't right (and it seldom was once the gun got some use), the gun jammed.

I don't know about negligence for not having manuals for a gun that has not been made for at least 35 years.

Jim

 

[Hugo]

So It's worth about $100. Hmmm. Aside from a Ruger 10/22 what's a good 22 to trade it in for? Maybe a Henry Lever action 22? They seem nice. Soooo many choices in a 22.

 

[TallPine]

If they are as bad as Jim says, then it's not worth anywhere near $100

You can buy a Marlin 60 brand new for a little more than that, and good used 22s for less.

Maybe you could trade it for a box of ammo ...?