Might be joining the ranks of the riflemen.

[mjfletcher]

There is a possibility that I may be getting a rifle in the next few weeks. A friend has a .22LR bolt action that he thinks is a ruger (im assuming it would be the 77/22, hes not sure because he hasnt even touched it in years). He's going to have me do some work on his computers for him (drive swapping, 10 minutes work and maybe 20 more moving files around) and since i offered to buy it from him, he's considering paying me with the rifle.

Its non functional right now, bolt doesn't retract fully, so if I get it, my first job will be figuring out whats wrong with it, determining if I can fix it, and if I can, learning a bit more about the inner workings of rifles. Even if its something that for whatever reason can't be fixed, it'll still be worth the little bit of time I spend on his computers to get it since at the very least I'll get an education out of it, but I'm hoping it is fixable by me because I reall really really wanna start shooting rifles.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

[Swarner793]

The barter system has always held a warm spot in my heart. The whole self reliance thing I guess. In your instance, the barter involves a firearm...man...sniff, sniff...I think I am going to cry... Capitalism in the fundemental form, I have everything crossed for ya!

Be safe (and freely exchange).

Scott

[mjfletcher]

I love barter too, its much fairer in so many ways than money is, and somehow it makes me feel dirty to say "a half hour of my time is worth this much (fixy fixy, five dolla me fixy long time)" Of course, I'll be giving him credit for future computer work even if the rifle can't be fixed. The educational experience I'll get from it is worth far more than I'd charge in cash for work.

[Brown-Bear]

AHHH, yes the good old barter sytem, tit for tat. Keeping it between neighbors. Good for you. I hope your rifle works out. I would suggest seeing a gunsmith 1st though. It may turn out that you have a non fixer-upper, and then you just have a wall hanger. POst some pice once you get it.

Dave

[mjfletcher]

My plan, if he goes barter instead of cash, is to get a copy of the parts list/schematic and give it a once over to see if i can spot the problem before calling in a gunsmith. I'll definitely be getting pics and posting them, especially if whatevers wrong with it isn't apparent to me. I want the educational experience of trying to figure the problem and fix it myself even more than I want a usable rifle. If I end up with a usable rifle out of it, even better lol.

If I can't figure it out and fix it without or with help, then ill see a gunsmith. Even if I can figure it out and fix it, ill take it to a gunsmith to have it checked out before I try to fire it just in case.

[gander215]

Hope it turns out to be something stupid and you end up with a good shooter. -BB

[mjfletcher]

Update:

He was mistaken about the brand, the rifle is a Marlin 122 Auto Safe single shot .22, and it is sitting in front of me right now. Now I gotta figure out how to break it down for cleaning and inspection. Ill pick up a disposable camera this week to get pics of it. (Found it, gotta remove the barrel and action from the stock to get at the bolt release pin).

The book: "Marlin Firearms: A History of the Guns and the Company That Made Them" states their model 122 auto-safe .22 single shot bolt action was made from 1962 thru 1965, and that 5648 were made in that time frame. The model 122 is the same as Sears models 103.274, 103.275, and 103.2751.

[mjfletcher]

Pics in the rifles forum.