A Good Rimfire

Sorry about the fuzzy picture. Photo is of a Marlin model 60 semi-auto rimfire.

Well, I don't know if anyone here is still a fan of the rimfire cartridge, but I know I still am. This lil Marlin came to me covered with rust, pits, a bent magazine tube-bent so bad that the brass insert would not seat, loose sights, and a scary loss of wood finish.
Unlike many model 60's, this one has a comb so high that a scope was almost a requirement. The scope is a Barska rimfire 4x, and if you like scopes, it works pretty darn good.
Well, I didn't have all that much hope for the old girl, but believe it or not, once the magazine tube was straightened-by using pliers padded with cloth, being careful not to change tube diameter, she fed and fired flawlessly, and I mean flawlessly. She digests old Remington target ammo, high velocity hollowpoints, copper washed plinker ammo, standard velocity lead, etc.
I treated the rust with that old military favorite, Break Free, worked the sights, and took her shooting with my son. Well, she shoots as well as I can, out to 50 yards. I might fiddle with the scope setting-or leave it alone, after all, I'm more of an open sight guy.
I love old rifles, more than just about anything. I don't know if you have an old rifle you like to shoot, maybe one you brought back from the dead, but I hope you do. If not, then you are missing a whole lot of fun.

Good job on reworking a tired rimfire.  You can beat a good old .22LR semiauto rifle.

Hi  Mak.
Yup, I like 22 rimfires, got a bucket of old Mossbergs from about the 50's, model 151 and 152's.
Also have a Marlin and a Remington (the Browning copy) and even a Kel-tek su22.
Got my first one back in the 40's when I was 9 years old (Steven single shot bolt action)
O yes, got revolvers and autos too.
 

I think just about anyone who has even a bit of rural experience has a story on their introduction to firearms, and it is almost always due to the rimfires. I've written here in the past on how the engineered drought in rimfire ammunition is cheating the youth from critical trigger time, but this is only one aspect of the famous 22s that make 'em irreplaceable.
In my own history, good 22 rifles were a mainstay, from dispatching pests, to even pre-drilling a necessary whole here or there to hang a sign or string a wire. Sometimes when you are out and away from your tools, you either waste lots of time heading back to get what you forgot, or you use what you have!
the report of an old Woodsman was enough to call back an old, deaf dog from running into trouble-guess she wasn't totally deaf-and I recall that when Ma needed to chase off trespassers, she preferred to save her more expensive centerfire ammunition whenever possible.
Even for today's old timers, rimfire shooting keeps the trigger finger working right, and offers important practice on sight alignment. Rimfires are my first choice when heading out to the hills for a little training with youngsters, and they tie us all to the great American marksmanship tradition.
My old 60 here won't turn any heads, but I'm extremely glad that she was a good rifle just waiting for some well placed effort.