Another project begins.

Well once again another rimfire follows me home from work. This time it is a Springfield 87A 22 cal rifle. For those that have not seen one of these old 87A's they are kindof a odd old rimfire. They are a semiauto/singleshot. They shoot 22 short. long & longrifle but only shoot LR in the semiauto mode. When in singleshot mode they will shoot all 3. To make it a singleshot you push the bolt handle in after chambering a round. This stops the bolt from cycling after the shell is fired. For semiauto mode you simply leave the bolt handle out. Its kind of a neat setup really.
This 87A came into the shop looking pretty sad. So I decided to bring it home and show it a little love. The receiver and barrel are in pretty good shape, but the stock looks like it has ben sitting in a bucket with 5 inches of water in it. Then someone decided they needed to take it apart, so the clamped a pair of vise grips on the take down bolt and cranked it loose, gouging the forearm around the bolt.
All I have done so far is tear it down and give it a good looking over. Everything is there so this one should be a pretty easy refurb.
I will update this thread as work progresses on the old girl.

JB

 

Shooter, I will strip what finish is left, Soak and steam the area where it is gouged around the take down screw. That should raise the wood enough for me to light sand it smooth. Then stain and seal it usind TruOil. I am still trying to figure out weather to go dark with the stain or keep it close to original. I will sleep on it a few days before I decide.

I refurb these old girls just for the fun of it. Sometimes I go back to original and others , not so much. Either way its a nice way to fill my time between working on customers firearms.


JB

 

I just had to do a little something to this last night and not knowing what I was going to do with the stock limited me on what I could work on. So all I got done last night was repairing the buggered up take down screw.

I repaired it by chucking it in my drill press, turning the press on and using a large file leting the press do the work. I just had to work the file. Then I blued it. It no longer has the knurling around the outside edge but it is once again round and a thousand times better than it was.

I just had to do something to it, I could not just let it sit there waiting like a patient on a gurney in an emergency room, Hahahahahahaha.



JB

 

Well, after taking a better look at the screw I am not happy with it . . . yet. Yes its now round and yes I knew I needed to add another coat of blueing before I buffed it, but I did not see that the channel was not perfect yet. SOoooo, you guessed it, I will be at the bench with a tiny little hand file to bring it up to my standared's.

JB

 

Well the experts over at RFC came through again for me. I wanted to date this Springfield 87A rifle so I asked the stevens,savage,springfield group and this is what they said... The Springfield rifles are pretty easy to date.
That name was used for a short time after the factory move to Chicopee Falls around '46 & dropped in '48 when the name was changed to the Stevens 87A, replacing the Stevens 76 Buckhorn.

I can't say enough good things about the members of RFC. If you ever need any rimfire info make sure you give them a yell.


JB

 

Rim Fire Central. It is a forum for rimfire lovers.



On another note. Since I now know the age of this rifle and the fact that they were only produced for two years under the Springfield name, I will end up keeping the finish stock and get it as close to factory as I can. I am not real hip on the blond wood, but that is a factory look so Blonde it will be.

I removed some of the clear off the area around the take down screw so the H2o can soak in. I then started apying H2o to the area that I nead to raise. Later today, after it has enough H20 soaked in I will hit it with my wifes Iron and give it a little steam to help the swelling along. The OL is out and about right now so she is picking the citrus stripper up so I can remove the rest of the clearcoat.


JB