I think everyone should have a Beater Gun....this one is an old Remington 512 that my ex bought for me as a project gun about 14 years ago.   The last 4 inches of the barrel was trashed so it became a 19 inch carbine.  I pilot faced the muzzle and then, for fun. bedded the action and floated the magazine tube and barrel.  THAT was a bitch!

I then scrounged up new parts, a butt plate and restored the stock and put a zillion coats of linseed on it.

Even with the shitty old Tasco on it....it shoots like a friggen' shark with laser beamz on it's head.  I had only zeroed the gun about 12 years ago, cleaned it and neve fired it again.

I pulled it out of the safe, cleaned 12 years of dust off the lens and took it out today.

WHAT fun!  This thing is just a dead nuts shooter!!!





This is a pic from right after I zeroed it back in the day.  This is the first time it has been shot since ( I just checked )  2008!!!  I will remedy that!

So...do you have a Beater (or resto beater )22?  If so, show it off!

This was a thrashed 10/22 my little brother left with me a long time ago.
It got its stock ironed and stained, a few dozen coats of BLO. A garage trigger job, left handed safety, and a set of Tech Sights..
It's one of my favorite walking around in the desert rifles now.

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I love the old 10/22s.  So easy to get back in the game.

Very nice!

22s are my Kryptonite. Especially bolt actions and single shots. That said, my favorite just out plinking 22 is an early Marlin 60! It’s killed a ton of Squirrels and bunnies, as well as a good bit of everything else! I would hate to guess how much ammo has gone through that Magazine tube.

Bolts and single shots (specifically single shots) are also my weakness. None of my other gear from a Stey AUG to my AutoMag provides me CLOSE to the amount of joy that a single shot Stevens does.

Savage MKII from Wally World. In fact, it all came from there.

Scope, rings, bipod and a sling (not pictured) for just under $200

back in 2006? I free floated it using some thin washers under the action,

shim trigger job and a hillbilly over travel stop behind the trigger.

I also "slicked" up the bolt with some 1000g sandpaper and use grease

instead of oil for a buttery smooth action.

Shoots better than it should with ammo it likes. Still pretty good with

bulk Fed or Blazer.

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Only “beater” .22 I ever had was this Mossberg 151 that I bought from a co-worker for $35. Cleaned it up and sold it to someone who appreciated its “historical value” much more than I did.

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No pictures but I agree .22’s are my kryptonite as well. I used to enjoy searching out old classic steel and wood guns like Winchester and Remington rifles from the 60’s or older, but lately prices are going up and they are harder to find ( ironically when I lived in an anti gun northeast state they seemed easier to find than now where I live in free America) so I am currently on a savage kick. My NRL22 rifle
Is a mark II my entire rig ( scope sling bipod mags etc) cost less than 700 bucks, and you won’t mistake it for a beauty queen, but it shoots pretty well. Some of he shooters are using vudoo rifles which are beautiful no doubt, but for the price of one vudoo I could by a dozen savages!
I recently picked up a savage 64 brand new for under $120. Every bit as accurate and reliable as any of the box stock 10/22’s I have had, at 1/2 the cost. At prices like that having a spare in the trunk of every car is not painful to the budget at all.
In the past I have had a number of Winchester and Remington holy actions, and they are fun, but finding decent used ones at my 99 bucks or less price point has become impossible

Beautiful.  Looks like fun.

Springfield  Unique chromed rifle I picked up 20 years ago.    

Marlin  Killed many critters with this.

Mossberg Friend gave me with no mag, Have never shot

Ithica My first rifle also killed many critters with this.  

 Nice stuff, Gang!!!!

I have several. I dont actually own any nice 22s. This is one of my faves.

Another Savage MarkII for the thread
My buddy did a little trigger work on it and slicked up the bolt. He also did some wood burner stippling on it.
AFG
see through scope rings
$50 Simmons scope
I made a fancy knob for the bolt out of a big nut welded to the ball then shaped with a file
I threaded the barrel and made a little thread protector out of a socket. One day I'll get a can
I painted each side different because I couldnt decide which color to use
Appropriately named Two Face
Shoots very well. My most accurate beater



More home brew magic to come

BSA Supersport Five I picked-up for $50.00.

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It's a 5-shot mag fed but there was no mag (unobtainable) so I made me a single shot "sled" for it and I've taken quite a liking to it.

It's a man-sized rifle with a tough adjustable rear sight. Excellent adjustable trigger, and very accurate.

I stuck a old Uncle Mike's pouch on the side to hold loose .22 rounds.

It just seems to follow me when I head down to my river property.

 NICE!!  Like the sled thing....good move!!!

This is a 1975 10/22 that I acquired from my father in law. The wood stock was cracked all the way through at the wrist and the barrel finish was pretty rusted from its decades of Iowa farm life. Never been cleaned i don’t think but still functioned great. Traded him a cleaned up mosin nagant for it (back when mosins were only $100). I took the bead blaster to the barrel, receiver and trigger guard. Coated everything in oven cured brownells alumahyde in the stainless grey. Perfectly matches bead blasted aluminum. Picked up a cheap modern ruger stock to get it back in action (may get another vintage wood stock someday), added the nodak rear sight, Tech sights front, and a chunk of weaver rail with the PA micro. It’s stashed with ten 10 round mags always ready to dispatch a critter or an impromptu plinking session.

Great save!

My “beater” was a Remington 514 single shot my dad gave me at age 11.  It was used then.  I’m 70 years old now.  Thousands of happy rounds through it.  Squirrels, rabbits, tin cans, you name it.  When I got older, I had the receiver drilled and tapped for a cheap 4x Tasco scope in Weaver rings and bases.

I still have it.  I recently refinished the hardwood stock and cold blued the barrel and action after polishing down to 1000 grit paper for a high gloss finish.  It will be a gift to my granddaughter.  The Tasco scope is still there.  It was made in Japan in those days.  Still amazingly clear and bright considering its age and use.

Mine also sports a Japanese Tasco. (STILL has the sticker!!!) a great little optic!!!

Here's another one.
High Standard model 30.
It was given to me in a box, completely taken apart and missing the forearm and some pins.
I was able to find a correct forearm on Gubroker for $18 beans, but someone had removed the "wings" that cover the receiver. No biggy, I made a trigger housing pin from a boiler sight glass guard and mounted an old Prominar 3x scope that was also given to me in a set of Weaver tip off mounts that I had lying around.
 It loves CCI SVs and shoots straighter than hell with them. Chokes on high velocity stuff, though.
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This is my Remington 514.  It's the very first gun I ever owned (excluding BB guns).  I was around 9 or 10 years old and was with my dad while he was visiting a friend.  I saw this old rifle leaning in a corner covered in dust.  I just sort of gravitated towards it and kept looking at it.

 My dad called me over and told me to ask the owner (his buddy) if he would sell it.  I figured he was messing with me, my dad was a jokester, but I walked over and asked him anyway.  He looked me in the eye and said "I'd be willing, how's $10 sound to you?".   Sounded great to me but I still thought they were messing with me.  I walked back over to my dad and gave him my "what do you think" look since he obviously heard the price.  My dad just looks at me and says "I don't know why you're looking at me, this is your deal".  I was a little confused as I had never done business with an adult lol.  I leaned over and whispered to my dad "umm..but dad, I don't have ten dollars".  My dad started laughing and said "I suppose I could spot ya the ten bucks if you really want it".  I assured him I did very much want it and they both busted up laughing.  Dad handed me the money and I bought my first gun.  

Mom was less than enthusiastic but dad assured her I'd be safe.  I had to lock it in the cabinet with his until he could take me shooting.  He had already taught me about gun safety with my Daisy Winchester 1894 BB gun so he pretty quickly gave me permission to shoot on my own.

The rifle was already old when I got it and the front sight was broken.  My dad took it right after I got it and had it drilled and tapped for a scope.  That Christmas, very soon after I bought it, dad got me a Bushnell 4X scope for it.  He would always joke that the cost of putting a scope on it was several times the cost of the gun.   Many years later the wire reticle broke and Bushnell couldn't fix it since they didn't make that kind of reticle anymore.  

The rifle just sat for several years with a broken reticle until a couple years ago when I got it out and replaced the Bushnell with a 4X Nikon.  I kept the Bushnell scope for sentimental reasons though.  Although the trigger has a lot of side to side wobble it still shoots very accurately.  It's still a great little rifle

@Brandi
That is a fantastic story about your 514. I am glad you still have it and it shoots well. Sucks to hear about the old scope. But since you are still hanging on to it, have you ever thought about having one of the vintage repair places restore it? L&K scope repair or Iron sight Inc seem to be the two most recommend.

I don't have a picture of it and don't feel like getting it out of the back of the safe but picked up one of those Romanian M69 rifles, very nice training rifle although my magazine is a bit lose and heeds to be held to feed the 5th round properly.
TTAG article aboutit.

I'll have to dig up photos or take more. my beaters are my old Savage/Stevens Model 120 single shot and my Romanian M69 trainer. Both are rough looking but accurate.

I looked into it at the time, after Bushnell said they couldn't fix it.  I can't remember why I didn't do it, I think it was too costly but I'm not sure.  I need to revisit that now that you mentioned it.  I'd love a to be able to put that original scope back on it.

UPDATE:  L&K doesn't seem to be in business anymore and Iron Sight won't repair Bushnell scopes.  

You might be able to fix the side wobble with a shim.


My beater is a Marlin model 39a, a 1951 “peanut”.   I got it a bit below prime price because it had been drilled and tapped on the barrel by a hack.  I removed the dim 3/4” tube scope and filled the hogged out and misaligned holes. The misalignment was what was actually tensioning the screws.  


I filled the screw holes and cold blued the barrel.   Replaced the rear sight, used first a Williams aperture then a used vintage Redfield aperture sight.  
I changed the hammer spring out, repaired the bullet guide which was jammed into the top of the receiver.  It’s not flawless but is functional.


I like vintage guns.


Sorry about the lack of pics.   I never bothered after the photofuckit debacle.

What gun is that because I have one and I can't identify it.