Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles JC Higgins Model 50

I just bought one last night in nice condition chambered in .270. It had scope bases of 2 different heights and a 7 lb trigger pull. I ordered stuff to correct both issues and will be shooting it when they are installed.

Built by FN?

Did yours have .500" rear base spacing or .860"?

All the Higgins 50's and 51's were built on FN receivers. The 51-L was built on an HVA action.

Nice rifles. We are restocking my youngest's 50 at the moment.

Mine has .860" rear base screw spacing, which is a little harder to find. Warne makes 'em. It's a FN action. Someone had put a Weaver #47 on it, which is about .050" lower than the #46 front.

Nice rifles.

WEIRD triggers!

Sounds like you have that covered. Enjoy!

The weird trigger remark valid in some Sears Model 50 rifles. Something of an unheralded fact, some of these rifles with two piece triggers, lower half pinned to bottom metal! Really!
Below a Sears Model 50 ad Website. Looking carefully at the exposed view upper right, to observe such two-piece triggers. The question as to whether to 'swap-in' a conventional mauser 98 trigger, I've never seen an answer. Just as much, wishing to know the "why" of such. My only WAG is possibly FN dictating "not the same action as their considerably more expensive Firearms International Corp, FN rifle import offering! My belief one of the quality FN model aftermarket triggers available would likely fit such FN produced action. The barrel should be High Standard, manufacture featuring chrome bore.

These JC Higgins Model 50 rifles, branding and physical countenance, "quality understated" were absolute sleepers! I bough a few in 'the day'! ONe packaged with original early Higgins scope (Weaver - as I recall).

Congrats!!!
Best & Stay Safe!
John

https://www.gunvaluesboard.com/jc-h...l.-270-what-year-is-this-...-515773.html

I ordered a Timney for it. Timney tech support recommended the featherweight 201 or 301(side safety) trigger for it. I ordered the 201. I also found that I had acquired, years ago, the JC Higgins scope that came with these as a package rifle.

I installed a Timney on my 50, , had to lengthen the trigger slot in the bottom metal to fit.

The two piece triggers used can be problematic is the action screws are allowed to loosen. Accidental discharge can occur if the bottom metal is not held secure. Any 98 trigger can be easily fitted, to the action. The stock will typically require some modification.

I have heard it opined that the trigger is "left over" from a set trigger design, but I do not know if this is true.

To fit a "no safety" Timney lightweight, I had to do a bit of work on the "sear slot" in the bottom of the action as well.

That's a relatively easy fix. Some blue Loctite and they won't come loose. I have five M50s, four in 30-06 that I originally planned three as donors and one that was chambered to the .270. The .270 was one of the early ones and had the dovetail slot for the rear sight centered over the chamber and not in the normal place on the barrel. I rebarreled that one to 7x57 and put a different stock on the gun. The fellow that owned it before me was a little guy and had trimmed about an inch and a half off the butt.

Several came with Timney triggers when I bought them but two still have the original two piece triggers and the Loctite has held up just fine so far.

I posted a while back that I had a copy of other owner's manual and would copy it for the OP of a different thread if I could get my printer working. Still doesn't BTW and it's a brand new one. Someone sent me an address but didn't say what for? Cleaning up the computer and it's gone so if it was the OP here, I'll see if I can get it done.
Paul B.

Gazillions of SMLEs have a similar trigger. Never felt like it was a problem on mine. I put a Timney Sportsman (IIRC, had the safety) in a 1948 FN commercial barreled action. I had to widen the slot in the guard a scootch.

Great rifles.

Slight hijack of the thread:

My M50 / .270 came to me in an unfinished mess of a replacement stock. It is to become a 9.3 x 62, and the project has lingered far too long. The good news is I now have all parts in hand except for a replacement safety.

I believe I will go with a two-position Wisner, but I haven't decided if I am going to try to do it myself or buy one already done. I welcome sources / suggestions for two position safeties.
If I try to do it myself, I will likely get a replacement bolt sleeve in case I mess up. I don't want to risk the original. I welcome sources / suggestions for bolt sleeves as well.

The Boyd's stocks that are made for the M50 fit the action and bottom metal pretty well, or at least mine did. It did not fit the original barrel well at all. The chamber area was too long. But that is not an issue for me.
Mine has the .860 spacing of the rear holes. I can recommend the Warne bases. If you are new to Mauser rifles, note there are not a lot of threads in those rear holes, so apply torque accordingly.
Mine has a weird rear sight installation. The dovetail cut is above the chamber, just in front of the receiver ring, and the "long leaf" rear sight is reversed from what we are used to seeing.

If mine had come to me intact, I would have been reluctant to cannibalize it. But it didn't. Good thing, I already have enough .270 rifles!

My uncle was a long-time employee of Sears. Almost everything we got in the '50's was JC Higgins, bought with, I'm sure, his employee discount. (For my 9th birthday I got a BB gun, a JC Higgins "Cactus Carbine." Anyway, my uncle had one of these in .270. It was probably the most hot-shot rifle anyone in our family had at the time, plus he handloaded. I can recall his telling me what a great bullet the Nosler Partition was, based on the amount of penetration he got in a cherry log out behind his house.

Jim Kobe typically offers two position Model 70 style safeties for sale.

I wonder if the OP knows the rules hereabouts . . .
PICTURES OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!
We want our rifle porn!

They are good rifles once you get the weird trigger sorted out. They make a fine basis for a custom classic FN-98 rifle or use as is with a couple tweeks.

I have two. One was used for the full route custom route and the other will be a spare here while I think about it's future.

My JC Higgins model 51-l is small ring HVA clone and is growing on me fast ,my model 50 came to me as a 338-06 and needs no changes at all just more time in the field. MB

MY SIL has one of those M-51s. It was his father's who was killed on a sled when Jeff was 12. He gave it to me to have it fixed up. The tang was cracked so I had that fixed, glass bedded and floated as well as the stock re-done.

When I got it back, it looks great, I put a M8 4x Leupold on it and the 1st time out it was shooting 3/4" groups with factory ammo. We were both pretty happy with that and nice to see Jeff's father's rifle used again.