I have in my care a very unique .22 caliber rifle. The rifle as the story goes,was purchased by my great grandfathers. It was one of the first .22 caliber rifles Sear & Roebuck sold. And he paid six or eight dollars or some such amount. But remember six dollars might seem like nothing to us now, but back in 1915 that was a large sum of money. My Grandfather in the 30's used to work with a road crew building Hwy 2 across Minnesota, with his own horse team and was only paid two dollars a day for a ten hour day.
This is the rifle. All I find on the rifle for identification is Provin Favorite Rifle. It was made by Stevens Firearms Company. The rifle is in very poor shape as it was a barn rifle. Used for killing or butchering live stock. So knowing my grandfather, it probably never saw a oil rag. Although my father used to hunt with the rifle and said it was very accurate.
To load the rifle you unscrew that ring hanging under the rifle. Then the barrel turns clockwise 1/4 turn and slides out of the receiver. You then put the .22 cartridge into the end of the barrel and again, insert the barrel, 1/4 turn down to match the receiver, and then screw in the ring again.
I did clean the rifle. Like I said, its in very poor shape. The stock was broken over the head of a cow that would not go down. But as the old timers know.. bale wire can fix anything. Now we use Duct Tape. I did shoot it one day. It shoots pretty good, but the sights are very poorly made.
I saw a matching rifle in a fancy antique shop on time. It was framed and real pretty. As I stood there staring at it the owner came to tell me the story of the rifle. He was shocked when he discovered I owned on. He immediately wanted to know if I wanted to sell it. But I told him it was a hand me down, and not for sale.
Since we are showing some interesting rifles....
