Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

[Brawny]

I was helping clean out my Grandpa's garage today (for the first time in 20 years

), and we uncovered a safe way in the back that he had completely forgotten about. I drilled out the lock, and we opened it to find an old crossbow and a couple even older guns. One was a pre '64 model 70 in 30-06, but the other was a .22lr takedown rifle marked "fabrique nationale d'armes de guerre herstal belgique" with "Browning's patent depose" underneath that. After a bit of research I thought it was just a regular Browning SA-22, until I read that FN produced them from 1914-1955. I also found that only the earlier ones fed from the top of the stock instead of the side. If anyone knows more about this cool little gun please share.

Feed hole on top of stock:

 

[RickH11]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

You've got a real beauty there. Clean it sparingly, cherish it and shoot the hell out of it ! One of John Browning's most elegant designs !

 

[woogie_man]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

Great find!!!

Now how does she shoot?

 

[Brawny]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

I'm not sure, just found it yesterday and haven't taken it to the range yet. I'm thinking of picking up a 500 box and taking my brother plinking this weekend. I will report my finding then

. I really can't wait to see how she does.

 

[Brawny]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

Well I took it out shooting today, and it shot much better than I was expecting. I don't have the magazine tube, so I had to go single shot, but it wasn't bad. It was keeping up with my 10/22 accuracy wise, but I was only shooting clays out to 100 yards. Next time I'll really try to push it, but the heat today (and the fact I forgot the beer) made me call it quits a bit earlier than I had hoped. The gun is so light it almost feels like a red ryder lol. All in all, this is a great little .22 to add to my collection, and something I can look forward to passing on to my kids in the future.

P.S. If anyone by chance knows where I can pick up a magazine tube for this PLEASE let me know!

 

[Victor N TN]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

Good shooting on your new find. Have you checked with Numrich Arms for the feed tube? Another thing to try is a search on Yahoo or Google. It may kick out 5 or 10 pages of wrong stuff. But I have gotten lucky doing that before.

Good luck.

 

[dread]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

About the feed tube ,try Browning .
It is a great rifle .
Also forgot to say ,visit rimfirecentral.com ,they have a browning thread . You will find more info than you can use !

 

[Brawny]

Re: Cool new find- Old Browning .22 takedown rifle

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Victor N TN</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good shooting on your new find. Have you checked with Numrich Arms for the feed tube? Another thing to try is a search on Yahoo or Google. It may kick out 5 or 10 pages of wrong stuff. But I have gotten lucky doing that before.

Good luck.</div></div>
Thank you for the suggestion, I checked Numrich and it was out of stock, but I sent them an email to see if they will be getting any more. Let's hope!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rockdog</div><div class="ubbcode-body">About the feed tube ,try Browning .
It is a great rifle .
Also forgot to say ,visit rimfirecentral.com ,they have a browning thread . You will find more info than you can use !</div></div>
Yeah I've spent hours browsing RC, lots of cool info on that site. I'll find that mag tube somewhere eventually, and then that gun will be a blast!