I just received a remington 40x rimfire barreled action from the CMP. I plan on building it as a training rifle so I can practice dialing, holdover, etc with 22lr. I imagine it'll also be a good rifle to wreak havoc on the wildlife with. 
There are a few things about it that have me scratching my head, however. All of the pictures of these rifles I've seen have "22 LONG RIFLE" stamped on the left side of the receiver. On the surplus rifles, "US" is stamped on either the right or left side of the receiver.
Manufacture date looks to be Feb 1967
The rifle looks like it's seen very little use, and overall is in quite good shape. There is a little bit of surface rust in a few areas, and on top of the receiver steel wool was used to remove some of it.
The idea of it being a commercial rifle used to fill the contract did come to mind, or perhaps a commercial rifle used to replace a rifle that was destroyed somehow maybe, but I don't know.
Either way, that doesn't really explain the lack of the "22 LONG RIFLE" stamp on the receiver. All of the pictures of 40x rimfire rifles I've seen, even the commercial ones, have that stamp. Today, the ATF requires manufacturers to stamp the caliber on the barrel or receiver. I don't know if that was the case in 1967, but it's interesting nonetheless.
It's parkerized, as opposed to blued as most of them were supposedly delivered. Being refinished was my first thought, but I just can't see any signs of mechanical wear. All of the edges are crisp, all of the flat surfaces are flat. The crown looks like a factory crown from that era. The filled white letters look like they were done quite a while ago. does anyone know if Remington did that, or is that something the military did?
The more I look at it, the more it looks like a factory finish.
The guys at rimfire central has helped provide a little insight, but a friend suggested I should ask here.
Here are a few pictures.
As you can see, the only marks on the rifle are the inspection marks, serial number, model number, and Remington's logo. No caliber anywhere. That's the part that really has me perplexed.
The logo, model, and serial numbers are filled white.
You can see the shiny bit at the top of the front of the receiver where they took steel wool to it to remove some surface rust. A little bit of surface rust can still be seen in the above pictures, on the recoil lug, for example. Overall it's in quite good shape for a 40+ year old rifle, I'd say.
The orange spots here are actually grease or gunk or something, not rust. A bit of solvent, and it was wiped out easily. You can see how little wear there is on the locking lugs. I'd be surprised if this rifle has seen more than a couple hundred rounds, if that much.
Again, no markings on the right side of the rifle, apart from some inspection stamps on the barrel.
There are a few things about it that have me scratching my head, however. All of the pictures of these rifles I've seen have "22 LONG RIFLE" stamped on the left side of the receiver. On the surplus rifles, "US" is stamped on either the right or left side of the receiver.
Manufacture date looks to be Feb 1967
The rifle looks like it's seen very little use, and overall is in quite good shape. There is a little bit of surface rust in a few areas, and on top of the receiver steel wool was used to remove some of it.
The idea of it being a commercial rifle used to fill the contract did come to mind, or perhaps a commercial rifle used to replace a rifle that was destroyed somehow maybe, but I don't know.
Either way, that doesn't really explain the lack of the "22 LONG RIFLE" stamp on the receiver. All of the pictures of 40x rimfire rifles I've seen, even the commercial ones, have that stamp. Today, the ATF requires manufacturers to stamp the caliber on the barrel or receiver. I don't know if that was the case in 1967, but it's interesting nonetheless.
It's parkerized, as opposed to blued as most of them were supposedly delivered. Being refinished was my first thought, but I just can't see any signs of mechanical wear. All of the edges are crisp, all of the flat surfaces are flat. The crown looks like a factory crown from that era. The filled white letters look like they were done quite a while ago. does anyone know if Remington did that, or is that something the military did?
The more I look at it, the more it looks like a factory finish.
The guys at rimfire central has helped provide a little insight, but a friend suggested I should ask here.
Here are a few pictures.
As you can see, the only marks on the rifle are the inspection marks, serial number, model number, and Remington's logo. No caliber anywhere. That's the part that really has me perplexed.
The logo, model, and serial numbers are filled white.
You can see the shiny bit at the top of the front of the receiver where they took steel wool to it to remove some surface rust. A little bit of surface rust can still be seen in the above pictures, on the recoil lug, for example. Overall it's in quite good shape for a 40+ year old rifle, I'd say.
The orange spots here are actually grease or gunk or something, not rust. A bit of solvent, and it was wiped out easily. You can see how little wear there is on the locking lugs. I'd be surprised if this rifle has seen more than a couple hundred rounds, if that much.
Again, no markings on the right side of the rifle, apart from some inspection stamps on the barrel.
