Best-selling semi .22LR rifle before Marlin 60?

[MatthewVanitas]

Was puzzling over the market dominance of the 10/22 and Marlin 60 these days, and found myself wondering:

What was the most popular semi .22LR rifle before Marlin came out with the (later renamed) Model 99 in 1960?

Was there one standout, or were there just numerous competing products from Savage, Winchester, Browning, etc?


I did buy what appears to be a pretty old Stevens 87H semiauto recently, for $35. Looks kind of cool and retro, but lockwork designed by Rube Goldberg: pulling the trigger lowers a piece of cheese in front of a mouse, who then runs inside a wheel which turns a crank, winding up a spring which then swings a boot out to kick the firing pin into the primer... I sure hope that this wasn't the main rifle before Marlin.

Marlin's sold, what, 8 million of these puppies so far?

-MV

 

[Lonestar.45]

I would say the Remington Nylon 66, but upon further review it looks like they didn't start making them until 1959. Between 1959 and 1987 they made over 1 million. Before 1959, I don't know of a standout .22 semi auto...

 

[bubbygator]

Winchester 77

Try this link

http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/w2085.htm

 

[JohnBT]

The Browning Auto .22 was a standout. An expensive standout.

John

 

[rangerruck]

i dguess it was either the winny target sport model, the remmy , one of the "...master" series, or the semi auto savage , with the vent ribs on the left side.

 

[AJAX22]

I'd have to say the vent rib savage, was probably the most popular, it was also produced under many other names, but the design is the same.

it really is a good gun, I have one that came out under ranger and I find it much more reliable than my ruger for squirl killin when I have to drag it through the dirt.

 

[rangerruck]

yeah, i've got a savage with a blonde stock, shoots s,l,lr's. satisfies.

 

[foghornl]

Remington "Speed Master" ? ? ?

With my CRS syndrome, don't recall if that was the right name or not. Worked with all .22 ammo...held about 21 or so .22Shorts.

 

[Onmilo]

Winchester Model 74 or the Remington 241, there were a boatload of both sold.

 

[.45Guy]

What about the Winchester 03/63?

 

[AJAX22]

I'll play the gun pic game... here's my ranger, I refinished the stock myself, and the barrel is threaded to 1/2x 28 and yes that is an AR compensator on it (three slot), helps reduce the recoil when I'm blasting those .22 shorts

that is a weaver 2.5x scope on it and a military style sling that I had made.

the finish on the riffle is worn off it spent years as a boat gun killing big fish before it came to me.

I've never had a jam or misfire in the thousands of rounds I've put through it, and it kills squirl sized things at some rather impressive ranges.

It breakes down for cleaning without tools

only thing it really needs still is a good harris bipod. but then again I need to get those for three or four of my guns currently.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Huh, maybe I'll have to give the vent-rib a try before I get too harsh on it. What is the actual purpose of the vents?

-MV

 

[AJAX22]

.22 lr are dirty dirty rounds, or at least they used to be, as near as I can tell, the vents are there to allow gunk to be blown clear of the action,

additionally when you field strip the rifle, the firing pin can be used to scrape any deposits out of the action between the vents.

the coolest feature of this semi is the fact that the charging handle can be pushed in when the action is closed, which enables the rifle to be fired in a single shot mode which allows subsonic ammo to be used to great effect.

in semi mode, the bolt stays in the rearmost position untill the trigger is released, it looks odd when its being used, but it allows for the gun to stay on target very well.

these things are great, they are a almost full sized rifle, I'm a big guy and they fit me well, and I've never seen one that sold for more than 150 bucks out the door. usually gunstores have them for around 100 bucks.

add another 45 for threading and a scope mount, and then 10 for sling swivals and you've got a dandy little setup for not much money.

 

[Haymaker]

vote for the Winchester 74..........

Not as fancy as the 73, but longer barrel & sight plane & simpler takedwn.
Great bunnybuster

 

[KINGMAX]

Remington NYLON 66

I can remember an old Remington Nylon 66 that would shoot anything it was feed. Short, long, long rifle, any brand, any length. Light weight, didn't worry about scratching up any wood. It had a good sight system, very accurate. You could get them in a brown stock w/ blued steel, or a black stock w/ stainless workings. I had one of the brown one's. The black and stainless are a bit more rare. I think I traded mine for a RUGER 10/22 & got into that gig w/ a lot of after market stuff for the 10/22.

 

[rangerruck]

i think i change my mind , the winny 77 is a very common 22. i see them all the time.

 

[Onmilo]

The reason I chose the Model 74 over the 1903/63 models is that when you combine total production of model 1903 and Model 63 you end up with just over 325,000 rifles produced.
The Model 74 had a production run of over 405,000 rifles in just one basic design.
Winchester didn't vary the 74 all that much.
That is a boatload of one model rifles.
I chose the Remington 241 because I personally really like the rifle and because it predates the basically same as Browning Auto.22 and the 10/22 as well as Model 60 but at 56,000 rifles produced it didn't exactly have a corner on the market.
The Model 550 Remington was a real barnburner for that company with 220,000 rifles produced by 1971 when Remington terminated production.
The 552 Speedmaster kills all the Remington .22 auto rifles with well over 1 million produced but these aren't fair comparisons since they were in production AFTER the Model 60 and the 10/22 came on the market.
The Model 60 was introduced in 1960 and the 10/22 came on the market in 1964.
The Model 74 was produced between 1939 and 1956.
Model 63 production ended in 1958.
The Model 77 Winchester was produced between 1955 and 1963 with about 215,000 made and it too falls into that time frame of production that lasted after the introduction of the Model 60 and 10/22.
Anyway, I hope this explains my choices.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Wow, this has been pretty enlightening.

What was it about the 60 and the 10/22 that they took over the market as quickly as they did? Even my early-1970s Gun Digest has an article about how many millions of Marlin 60s had been built.

Did Marlin just have better marketing, was the design that much better, or were they just that much cheaper to build? Price savings with cast aluminum receiver?


-MV

 

[rangerruck]

the vent ribs are also cool,not only do they hep keep the gunk factor down, but if you have a primer or split case, all the stuff will go that way , and not in your face.