.22 HP - 24hourcampfire

I picked this up some time ago and was interested in knowing more about it. All the numbers match 135XXX. It looks to have been used quite a bit. There is some surface pitting in places. It has a Lyman tang rear sight. Some one has "decorated" the stock with what appears to be burn marks under the finish. They have also used a wrench or pliers or ??? to take the barrel off at one time or another. I have shot it and it does pretty well with S&B ammunition. Any idea the value and any other info. I have more pics but thought this was about enough for one post. Thanks.

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Hey Oldfriend, I expected someone else to reply but let me step in and say just a few things. First of all, your gun was made about 1913 although you might already know that. The condition of it does not help as far as collector value goes but for a shooter you've got a good one. If you like shooting it, you might also enjoy shooting with cast bullets at reduced velocities. Bullet moulds are available from Northeast Industrial, look for them at NEI on their website. Shooting with reduced loads makes the gun great for small game and your cases will last a long time when compared to reloading and shooting full loads. There have been some treads here recently about using .224" diameter bullets in the .22 HP and you might enjoy reading those for more information.

Look's to be an H featherweight Takedown.with what appears to be a special order buttplate.(Steel,rather than bake-o-lite)

Yeah, that buttplate looks a bit strange. Is it the lighting in the photo or is it flat, kinda like an '03 Springfield? Mayhaps someone flattened the end of the stock and installed a flattened out steel buttplate. Like I said, could be the lighting.

Jed, I thought those early shotgun-style plates were made of hard rubber. I thought Bakelite came along in the late 20's. [I could be mistaken but didn't Henry Ford tout Bakelite (made from soybeans,believe it or not) as the best thing since sliced bread? I have seen a pic of him wailing away at a car fender made from soy bean resins with a sledge hammer to prove his point. Think of it as depression-era fiberglass.]

Interesting history on bakelite.Thnx.I stand corrected.
Not sure where that came from.
Removal of that buttplate might remove the mystery.If the numbers on the plate and end of stock match the rifle.

Just an observation but the buttplate on my little .22 HP is the same as on his. Mine's from the same time era too, #143000. I thought the steel buttplates were standard on the .22s from that time and the rubber buttplates stayed on the Featherweights in .25/35, .30/30, and .303. The 1899 Featherweights were advertised with the rubber buttplates (as a weight saving feature) but the .22s were not. In the catalog the .22s are treated as separate versions of the 1899 even though they were the same price as the Featherweights in take-down form.

I took the butt plate off and here is what I found. The plate is indeed steel. As you can see, it matches the numbers on the gun. The plate is straight, as in not curved, but is slightly dished or concave as looking at the numbers. I could find no numbers on the end of the stock as you can see. The butt plated does not appear to have been altered as the edges are smooth and even.

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Oldfriend, The buttplate on your rifle is quite correct. It's just like the one on mine and the buttplate on mine is numbered to the rifle as well. Now that you've taken it off, however, it's a good time to stuff some matches and a cartridge or two in the cavity of the buttstock, just in case you use that rifle for your survival gun. With mine I include some .22 Short ammo along with a Marbles auxillary cartridge and some .410 shotgun shells.

That's a good idea. I did pickup one of the auxillary cartridges right after I bought the rifle. I thought it to be handy, if not novel. Why the .410?

I have a six pack stashed in the butt stock of my "T"...

Mike...

Well there you go, I learned something. I thought the buttplates on 1899H Imps were all black rubber, like mine (#1259xx). I consulted the Gospel According to St. Murray, Chapter 3, verse 25: steel shotgun-style buttplates were available on special order.

Maybe the hollow buttstock is where one should put the highly prized Savage/Dick Tracey buttstock compass instead of inletting it on the outside. Think about it- if s**t hits the fan and you bug out for the Great North Woods (or Albuquerque) and Big Brother shuts down GPS you would be darn glad to have that compass!

...that was funny!!

I've got a bottle of yellowtail in my R!

ROFLMAO

Oldfriend, I have the extra .410 barrel to go along with my .22HP. Take out the rifle barrel, screw in the .410 and you've got a single shot that takes the 2 1/2" .410 shells. I've used mine to gather a few grouse.

303Mike,

That's pretty good. I have not heard of the interchangeable barrels. Were they standard or custom? Did they come available for only the HP or universally fit the takedowns? Where can I read more information on them? Thanks.

Where are you guys buying your auxillary cartridges?I'd like to get one for my HP.

Oldfriends,
That's a neat little rifle you have there.Take it out hunting some time.I hunted with my 99 G 22 HP this year,and even though I never got a shot at a deer with it,it made being in the woods a lot more fun!

WB.

Originally Posted by WheelchairBandit

Where are you guys buying your auxillary cartridges?I'd like to get one for my HP.

When I first bought my rifle, there was an article in Field and Stream about them. the Auxillary cartridge was discussed and I thought I needed one. I placed a "wanted" post on another forum and a guy had one. It cost me about $20 after shipping. Now, where is the darn thing?

I have only taken it to the range once. I will have to get it out again and do some "tweeking" on the sights. It shot quite a bit off and I had to use a lot of Kentucky windage. Basically, it's not ready for hunting as is. You are right though, it would be fun to hunt with.

Oldfriend, The .410 barrels were available in cased sets with the 99G rifles and they were also available separately. Where you'd find one today would just be guess but they do pop up now and then.

WB, I've had my auxillary cartridges for many years but someone has made more recently. Let me snoop around a bit and I'll get back to you.

WCB, I just did a quick search and found one. Not sure it is worth the asking price. Guess it depends on how much one wants one.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=115679566

Here is a little better price

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=8881802

I wonder if a guy with a lathe could make an auxiliary chamber? Turning the outside for a close fit shouldn't be a big deal, I don't know what the "innards" look like though. Is the floating firing pin hardened steel? If so wouldn't the rifle firing pin take a beating from smacking it?

Be careful if you shoot your HP. They are mighty addictive. The previous advice re: cast bullets is sound. I shoot about 4-5 cast loads for every jacketed one. Requires pretty thorough bore cleaning when you switch back and forth to get optimal results with either. The Bull Shop sells a good .228" 60gr. cast bullet at a pretty reasonable price if you just want to try some. 6gr. Unique/ large rifle primer= an accurate load at about 1600fps. Dandy squirrel/turkey/plinking round.

Oldfriend, I'll give you one little hint of advice even though you haven't asked for it. If you shoot with your auxillary cartridge you might like using standard velocity .22 rimfires. The rifle and the cartridge can stand the high velocity stuff just fine but you won't be extracting the empty .22 hulls from te cartridge with your fingertips. The standard velocity stuff lets you take out the empties a lot easier. And I use Shorts quite a bit, the CCI Short CB's in fact. Very good for close range shots. The only problem with using Shorts is that the loaded auxillary cartridge won't feed from the magazine. When loaded with a .22 Long Rifle it will, because the protruding bullet can guide the auxillary cartridge up to the chamber.

WB, the outfit that made some recently was Alex Industries (or something like that) but I don't find anything about them currently. I was hoping they were still in business. Marbles made auxillary cartridges for years and if you're really lucky you can stumble across one for the .22HP at a gun show. Sometimes the folks who have them don't know what they are and then the price can be very low. Keep looking, an auxillary cartridge is worth having.

Mine has a steel buttplate but it is curved not flat.Here's a sideview showing the curve.I've been told this is a 1899H made in about 1917.Serial # 2057xx.I'm thinking if yours is an H and mine has a different buttstock,it must be something else.Can anyone tell me what mine would be?Sorry for the hijack if you like I'll start a new thread,just give the word.

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303 Mike, thanks for the advice.

RedForman, my buttplate, from end to end is pretty flat. From edge to edge (width) it is curved or rounded. It is "dished" if looking at the underside. Not too much though, just enough to be noticed.

303 Mike,

You might give the Aguila .22 Sniper Sub Sonic round a try. It has a 60 gr bullet and the 1 in 12" twist in the HP might be fast enough to stabilize it.

Or you could use the .22 CB longs. They are the same as the shorts, but with a longer case. I got tired of trying to feed the cb shorts in an old single shot rifle I have, so I switched. They work great on ground squirrels and rabbits inside 40 yards or so.

-Mb

.303 Mike, I'm so glad that you said that!!..I think I have a Marbles .22HP insert someplace and I forgot about it until just now. Gotta find it after hunting season.

Thanks for the hints about the CCI CB Longs, Pardners, but first I've got several boxes of CB Shorts to burn up. One reason for having the Shorts, if I may get "off subject" for a moment, is my old Remington Model 241 auto chambered for .22 Short, and it cycles with the Short CB Caps! The loudest thing about shooting that little auto with the CB Caps is the bolt slamming shut with the next round. It's quiet and it's fun. And, if it doesn't completely cycle with the CB Cap load, it's easy to clear. That makes it a good partner for my .22 HP in at least one way.

I think you can still get factory ammo from Norma. Hornady makes the correct bullet for the 22hp since it is actually .228 and not .224