Pawn Shop Save 1980 BL-22

Discussion in 'Browning BL-22 Rifle' started by jstanfield103, Feb 3, 2018.

  1. Well guy's/gal's I had to sell all my guns last year. Rough year. Anyway I have recovered and in a buying spree to get some of them back. I was in the LGS today and placed an order for a BL-22 Micro Midas ( Love that small rifle) while there I noticed a very patina BL-22. The stock was all beat up. The receiver was drilled on the side for what I think was a side mount site I believe a Williams . The barrel was missing the rear sight and the back of the top of the barrel had two holes drilled in it for I guess a scope mount.
    Looked at the price and it was marked $345. Asked what was the best price he could give me on it. He looked what he had into it (he also made the comment he did not realize what bad shape it was in). Came back and said he could let it go for $275.00. Still not as cheap as I thought it should be but I did take it.
    Got it home and found some screw plugs for the barrel holes and an old cheap Williams side mount receiver sight. Can not find a sight that would work ( if someone has a BL-22 rear sight I sure would be interested in it ) Cleaned the barrel and whipped it down with oil. Not sure if I will redo the stock or not. But at least the gun looks respectable. I will see how the old girl shoots tomorrow. I bet she is a shooter. Tell me, do you think she was worth the $275. I will feel better when I get a sight and a front arm band which is also broken.
    Here are some picture of her
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    SHOOTER13 likes this.
  2. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    Nice score JS...
  3. Thanks Shooter, I took her out today in the sloppy mud. Had to do a little grinding to get those Williams peep sight hitting point of aim but a shooter she is now. Now I just have to get the proper fold down sight for the dovetail and I have a line on the correct Williams peep sight for it. At 25 yards free hand I was dinging a 2" plate easily with her.
    SHOOTER13 likes this.
  4. SHOOTER13

    SHOOTER13 Guest

    Good to hear my friend...
  5. Well Guy's/Gal's
    I never can leave well enough alone. Always been that way. I was not going to strip the stocks down, or at least I was trying talk myself out of it. That did not happen, stripped the stocks down last night (2-10-2018) used two different kinds of stripper. They helped but did not get all the finish off. After stripping I then sanded the stocks down avoiding over sanding the edges. all the scratches and gouges are gone. Refinished the stocks with one wax that would soak in and another one after the first wax was soaked in and dried. I used a paste wax and rubbed that in. I am satisfied with the result. Stocks look good and dark and feel good in the hand.
    You will have to wait on pictures, I have the new flip up sight on the rifle but I am waiting on the BR22 Williams sight to come in on Monday and the new barrel band to replace the broken one. I believe that will be in on Wednesday. After those are on the rifle will be done and pictures will be taken and posted. Rifle is really going to make a great shooter.
  6. Finally have gotten all the parts in and re-did the stock on the old girl , so yes she is finished. I took some rainy dark pictures to post. I will get better ones if it ever quits raining here in Kentucky (2 straight weeks of rain). Any way I really like the way she looks now, she looks like she is a lot older than she really is. Born in 1980.

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  7. Finally a Sunny Day

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    Rudolph31 likes this.
  8. Replaced all the levers in her today. Cocking Lever Link, Carrier extractor and ejector with new spring. Works great but even with the new innards you can not baby the lever on these rifles or you will get failure to feed. Love this old rifle. I take it out before the new BL-22 Micro Midas that I have and over everything else also. Just a great shooter.
  9. huskerbob

    huskerbob .410

    I realize you've finished your project but thought I'd pass this along. I have had very good luck with a product called "Citristrip". You brush it on, wrap the stock in plastic wrap, like Glad Cling Wrap, or something similar. Let it sit for about 24 hrs. Then remove the wrap and wipe the wood down with paper towels. May take a couple of applications. Once that's done I brushed on mineral spirits and lightly scrubbed with a green scotch pad and again wiped the gun down with paper towels. I let it dry for 24 hrs then applied a 50 / 50 mix of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. As crazy as it sounds, I heated the wood for about 15 - 20 minutes in a 200 degree oven before each linseed/turpentine application. I let my stock dry for 24 hrs, wiped it down and repeated that process 3 - 4 times. Finished with multiple coats of Tom's 1/3 Mix Natural Wax. My stocks and forends came out great using that procedure!
  10. Thanks Bob,
    I appreciate the info. It would be great if you posted a picture of it so we can see what it looks like. I bet it looks awesome.
  11. huskerbob

    huskerbob .410

    Last edited: Apr 23, 2018
  12. Looks Beautiful. Thanks for posting
  13. huskerbob

    huskerbob .410

    Thanks!
  14. Thank you Huskerbob

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