[north country gal]

Since the topic is fun guns, thought I would expand the idea a bit and define what I regard as my "fun" guns. While I certainly have fun with any guns I shoot and while Contenders are the mainstay of my shooting and our collection, to me the Contender is more of a serious gun. It or the CZs are what I grab when I'm chasing down those great groups.

For me, my fun guns are what I shoot when I want to relax, do some plinking, just have a good time and not worry too much about shaving tenths of an inch off of group size. Maybe a better way to describe these guns is your favorite plinker. Anyway, have several of these little Browning SA-22s, now, and can shoot them all afternoon and never get bored. They fit me like a glove and, of course, the quality is second to none.

My favorite plinker.

 

[RidgeRunner]

I had an Auto 22 Belgium Browning. I shot snakes, light bulbs, leaves, twigs, even an alligator, and a pile of other stuff. I was about 12 years old, and me and a buddy would go to an old land fill and spend the day shooting. We'd work part time jobs after school so we could shoot on Saturday. Someone stole that gun and I still miss it. Mine did tend to jam once it got good and gritty, but that was after lots of shooting. It was a very special gun with stock loading and ejected from the bottom.
Very Classy. That's a lovely one you have NCG.

 

[north country gal]

Thanks, RR. The beauty of the SA 22 design is that you can easily remove the barrel from the action and then entire trigger assembly for easy cleaning. Designed specifically to be easy to clean.

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[RidgeRunner]

They are rather pricey now-a-days.

 

[Dennis H]

They are rather pricey now-a-days.

Even the Japanese made are north of $500. Always wanted one of the Belgium made ones.

 

[north country gal]

Dennis, trust me when I say this, but the Japanese made SA-22s lack for nothing compared to the Belgium made guns, either in fit or finish or accuracy. You'd have a hard time telling one from the other unless you looked on the barrel to see where the gun was made. I have both. You'll pay more for one made in Belgium, but only because it was made in Belgium, not because they were better guns.

As for the price, yes, they are pricey, but considering that there is absolutely no plastic, no aluminum, no stamped parts, only wood and tooled steel in any SA-22, not to mention excellent accuracy (as in half inch at 50 yards), the price is actually reasonable.

Here's my first group, yesterday, with a brand new 2018 SA 22, right out of the box. Have done the same with two other SAs, by the way. You'll spend as much to get a 10/22 to shot as well, anyway. Worth every penny to me.

 

[Dennis H]

That's surely minute of squirrel or rabbit in your capable hands NCG! I guess the Belgium made is more nostalgic for me. I suspect logic and reason will grab a hold of me at some point and I'll buy one of the Japanese versions just to finally have one. I've picked them off the gun rack and drooled over them long enough!

 

[Danwin22]

There are two Semi-automatic .22’s on my wish list; the Browning SA-22 and the Winchester model-63.

 

[Terry_P]

My Grandfather had one of the Brownings for as far back as I can remember. It was the first firearm I ever shot. He used it when he was a butcher and then later on the farm. I shot a pile of woodchucks with it. The last I saw of it he still had it until he passed away. His 2nd wife probably sold it. It was a sweet shooting rifle. As I remember it had a gold bead for a front sight and as my Grandfather said you had to draw it down kind of fine.

 

[north country gal]

Yeah, the little Brownings have been around for a very long time. First one hit the market in 1914, in fact.

Danwin, shouldn't be too hard to find a good used SA 22. Lots of them around. The Winchester 63, though, is going to be a real challenge to find because they get gobbled up by Winchester collectors and tend to sell very high. Love to find one, myself, but they are extremely rare in our neck of the woods.

 

[Danwin22]

I think he Browning SA-22 was originally a Remington model-24. Beautiful little .22 you can carry around all day.


I may look for a Taurus 63 which is a decent copy of the Winchester 63 but a less expensive.

 

[gunjunkie]

I think he Browning SA-22 was originally a Remington model-24. Beautiful little .22 you can carry around all day.

I think so too. My buddy had a Remington 24 when I was a kid, and I'm pretty sure it was a John Browning design.

 

[north country gal]

I think he Browning SA-22 was originally a Remington model-24. Beautiful little .22 you can carry around all day.


I may look for a Taurus 63 which is a decent copy of the Winchester 63 but a less expensive.

Actually, yes and no on the Remington Model 24. The Browning SA 22 was a John Browning design. The original SA 22 was an FN gun, production beginning in 1914 in Belgium, but FN didn't start importing the SA-22 to the States until 1956. Meanwhile, Remington was licensed by FN to produce the SA -22, here in the U.S. as the Model 24, starting in 1919 and running though 1949. The Remington was not exactly the same gun as the original FN version being made in Europe and in 1935 Remington added some more tweaks their own as the Model 241. The original, though, was the FN version and the current SA-22 is a direct descendent of that original FN gun from 1914. If you can find a nice model 24, though, you'll be getting basically the same gun, though the Remington never had the fit and finish of the FN version, in the same way a Remington Model 11 shotgun was a plainer version of the famous Browning Auto 5.

Have never run across a Taurus. Might keep an eye open for one, though. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Danwin22]

Good info on the SA-22 path to perfection.

The Taurus 63 was available in blued and stainless steel versions. never handled one but plenty of positive reviews out there.

Another one they made was a 62-LA which was basically a 62 pump that was modified into a lever action.

I remember seeing a picture of one in the Winchester museum so the concept does have history.

 

[Dennis H]

Hadn't priced the browning in a few year, looks like the goin rate is now up to $599 with a current rebate program taking them down to $524. Doubt the lightly used ones are any cheaper.

 

[north country gal]

Now and then, I've come across a light to moderately used Japanese SA 22 for $400 to $450. Don't necessarily pass one up that sows moderate use. The design of these guns makes them almost impossible to wear out and new parts are still readily available.

 

[gemihur]

Ya'll are great here!
I'll try to stop by more often.
Seems pretty nice forum.

 

[Terry_P]

Ya'll are great here!
I'll try to stop by more often.
Seems pretty nice forum.

Don't be bashful we are easy to get along with and have some serious firearm knowledge here.

 

[gemihur]

I ain't bashful but I've got a lot of other places to be.
I'm working to get the Gunner gang higher up on my go-to list.
I dig your casual attitudes and your welcoming ways.
Maybe with the weather warming I'll get to shoot more and have more to discuss with you.
Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[gemihur]

Fun and function

More contenders to 'contend' with and ever changing furniture.

... shooters note* when using 250 Savage in contender never use commercial ammunition carefully restrict hand-loads to under 39,000 psi