Browning classic take down .22 auto
Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 1:20 pm
I recently got custody of a Browning ,what is now called a model SA-22, rifle. It takes apart at the place where the barrel meets the receiver. I proceeded to take it apart.....and accidently loosen a catch with two small springs and two small detents that went flying. I then ordered the correct parts and as of the other day got it back together again after much trouble and not at all sure I have the adjustment ring adjusted right. I'm afraid to unscrew it at the moment for fear the catch with the two springs will come apart again. However, these rifles have been around since 1914 and generally bring a high price as .22 rifles go. First made in Belgium and later copied by Remington in the US under their own name but apparently licensed from the original Browning patent.
It loads through a loading ramp in the stock. First you pull out the spring loader in the butt. No tube under the barrel stuff with this gun and no magazine hanging under it.
According to the internet the break apart idea was to make cleaning the gun easer. It also had a small body at the grip and receiver and was a good one for smaller hands as a youth gun. It had an odd feature in that all the spent cases ejected downward and just forward of the trigger guard. Ok for shooting gallery rifles and as long as your support arm was angled out and elbow up and also were not sitting down and your crotch right under the ejection port....unless you had a table top with a friendly ricochet angle between your lap and the rifle.
It loads through a loading ramp in the stock. First you pull out the spring loader in the butt. No tube under the barrel stuff with this gun and no magazine hanging under it.
According to the internet the break apart idea was to make cleaning the gun easer. It also had a small body at the grip and receiver and was a good one for smaller hands as a youth gun. It had an odd feature in that all the spent cases ejected downward and just forward of the trigger guard. Ok for shooting gallery rifles and as long as your support arm was angled out and elbow up and also were not sitting down and your crotch right under the ejection port....unless you had a table top with a friendly ricochet angle between your lap and the rifle.