The JC Higgins Model 31

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You're in, Bob. You're in charge of the yearly banquet. :D

BTW I assume you've cleaned the inside of the receiver... I recently cleaned mine for the first time (second-hand gun, and I haven't shot it in about 10 years because the last time I did the extractor decided to vacate the bolt). I had cleaned the barrel and action as well as I could without field stripping but I didn't have a manual and didn't want to break anything.

Well, long story short, I have never seen more gunk, grit, sludge, and general funk as I found in the trigger group and action of my 31. Holy smokes.

I tried Hoppe's, I tried a toothbrush, I tried q-tips, I tried scraping it out with a screwdriver, I tried brake cleaner:eek: ... I worked on it for about 2 hours in all until it was clean enough that I wasn't embarrassed to be associated with it.:D

I still couldn't get all of the crud out of the receiver, partially because of the horrible design. Lots of little shelves, nooks and crannies in there... not to mention the back right of the receiver is completely open to the wooden stock!:scrutiny: I was dumbfounded by that design decision.

Pity, because I personally find this rifle to be one of the more graceful designs in .22 semis. I love the triangular-cross-sectioned palm swell in the forend, and the thin (and fragile, I'm sure) wooden slats that extend to the rear of the receiver. It handles and balances beautifully for me, and I love the overall lines of the rifle.

Now if I could only find the proper extractor... I'm not sure if mine is a single or double claw. I suspect the latter but I don't want to guess wrong and order the wrong part (which I've done three times for other guns).

Also, am I right in my observation that the only serial numbers are INSIDE the receiver, on the top? That's the only place I've found any numbers...:uhoh:
 
I just picked up a model 31 the other day. Thought it looked like an interesting design. The spring for the retractable sling is broken but i will fix that. I went out and shot it and after about 10 rounds it quit working. Tore it apart and found that the sear spring gave out. Being a bit impatient and not wanting to have to find the part and then have to wait for it to be shipped I scounged around the house until I found something to fit. After a bit of fitting on a spring from a garage door opener I am back to running. What a shooter. Now to find parts for the sling.
 
Wow... you want to make a slide stop spring for my Browning Challenger out of a coat hanger or something? I haven't been able to get anything to work.:D :cool:
 
I don't know about the coat hanger thing, but I did fix my retactable sling by using a 12' tape measure. $1 at Harbor Frieght. Now maybe I will find an old Sears scope for it.
 
How about a J C Higgins 29

This anything like the others mentioned. It is a .22 sold through Sears years ago.
 

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That's the one... I can't remember the difference between the 29 and 31. Caliber, perhaps? The 31 will shoot high-vel short, long, and long rifle. And it came with a crappy scope, as I recall.
 
Not sure what those numbers are, but I have a nice JC Higgins 12 gauge pump that I bought cheap and heavily used. It work great and shoots good.
 
The 29 will shoot long rifle only. Neat little rifle. I like the triangular thickness of the barrel stock grips which fits really good in the hand. Difficult to take down and give a good cleaning but not impossible.
 
I like the triangular thickness of the barrel stock grips which fits really good in the hand.
Click to expand...
I agree. The stock feels really good in my hands. Takedown was okay... it was cleaning the inside of the receiver that was more difficult than most, due to all the ledges, nooks and crannies.

I need to find an extractor for mine one of these years...
 
I have one, many cool elements. I disassembled it to try and take a picture of the trigger group for someone, and a day later found a pin on the floor of my junk, uh, gun room. Been afraid to shoot it ever since!
 
Take it apart again and see if there are any pins missing... if you didn't actually disassemble the trigger group there aren't many pins to lose.:)
 
Model 33

Is a Model 33 close enough to get me in the club? Being a pump and all, but it still shoots .22 short, .22 long, and .22 LR...

shootemup
 
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