New member here, and I have an old Winchester 74 in .22LR from 1948 that was a gift to me several years ago. It was in rough shape -- the stock had holes in it from a failed attempt to mount a scope by the previous owner, and it looked like it had never been cleaned since it was new.
I've cleaned it up considerably (stock still has holes in it), and broken-down the bolt and inspected everything, lubed it all and put it back together. It's a good shooter now -- very accurate for a semi-auto.
However, for those not familiar with the particular rifle, it's fed from a tube magazine in the stock (holds 15 rounds, IIRC), which I find somewhat odd. My problem is that I constantly get 1st round feeding problems. I have to always pull the tube, feed the first round manually (making sure to have the safety on), then feed the remaining rounds in the tube and fire away.
As a note, I am using the cheapo Federal .22LR from Wally World.
After the first round issue, it will normally cycle the remaining rounds as efficiently as a sewing machine, running as fast as I can pull the trigger. However, the last trip to the range resulted in several bent/jammed bullets (the bullet itself moved off-center in the cartridge from feeding), and I'm certain I'm finished with Federal.
Any ideas on how to address the first-round feeding issue? It gets really old to have to hold the rifle & chamber open with one hand and carefully insert a round through the ejection port with the other -- especially with the scope on the back end.
Thanks.
-Craig
I've cleaned it up considerably (stock still has holes in it), and broken-down the bolt and inspected everything, lubed it all and put it back together. It's a good shooter now -- very accurate for a semi-auto.
However, for those not familiar with the particular rifle, it's fed from a tube magazine in the stock (holds 15 rounds, IIRC), which I find somewhat odd. My problem is that I constantly get 1st round feeding problems. I have to always pull the tube, feed the first round manually (making sure to have the safety on), then feed the remaining rounds in the tube and fire away.
As a note, I am using the cheapo Federal .22LR from Wally World.
After the first round issue, it will normally cycle the remaining rounds as efficiently as a sewing machine, running as fast as I can pull the trigger. However, the last trip to the range resulted in several bent/jammed bullets (the bullet itself moved off-center in the cartridge from feeding), and I'm certain I'm finished with Federal.
Any ideas on how to address the first-round feeding issue? It gets really old to have to hold the rifle & chamber open with one hand and carefully insert a round through the ejection port with the other -- especially with the scope on the back end.
Thanks.
-Craig