doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com BA single shots?

"Everybody that is anybody" loves single shot rifles, right? But do any of you love BOLT ACTION single shots?

I'd love to see any pics of some good ones; the only ones I have any more are a Winchester 68 in .22 WRF/Special (classic? maybe...) and a Krag .22 Hornet by an un-named Vermont gunsmith from back in the 1930s (classic and custom, I think, if hardly "best quality). But I once had an Austrian 6.35x52R that was a gem, butterknife bolt handle, schnabel and all.

Tempted to build a "modern" one on a Savage single shot action, just for the retro/perversity of it! (Butterknife bolt handle, schnabel, and all....).

(If somebody could reproduce Husquvarna Model 25 extractors, we would have a whole new source of such rifles: Simson Ltd. has a passle of them w/o extractors.....).

I own three of them - all .22s. A Walther SportModell (probably pre-WWII), a Remington 33 (from my late father) and a J.C. Higgins (never did figure out who was the manufacturer) I bought from some old gentleman outside a gun shop after they refused to take it even on consignment. I'd really like to have one of the Krags, maybe in .25-35 Ackley Improved to use as a varmint/deer rifle, but there are a whole host of projects in line ahead of that particular idea.

Mann-Niedner Model 1912 rifle in caliber .25 High-Power (.25-Krag) and stocked by Tom Shelhamer.

Beautiful .25, Mike!

40-X, I'd guess by your handle that you have a 40-X Remington? But perhaps it's one of those newfangled repeaters?

A .25-35 Krag SS is an excellent choice, too, but I'd be leary of the AI version, which can get kinda hot for a Krag, IMO. Since you'd be doing the loading, that would be OK. BUT(the big BUTT) what happens when you pass it on to some "well-meaning" but NOT "well-read" soul who loads it with Hi-wall-level AI's???? Hope my kid isn't standing next to him on the firing line....just sayin'.

My Austrian 6.35x52R/.25-35 was on a small ring Mauser Kar98, and would have made an OK AI. But it had a 25" barrel and I could get enough steam out of the regular chambering and didn't want to alter it.

Krag action was used for a lot of US-made BASSs (Bolt Action Single Shots--one more acronym for the record) mainly because it was cheap. But also the slick working bolt is sweet when you have to reload fast. Or even if you don't!

One of my first projects back in school was a shortened 1891 Argentine Mauser converted to 222-size bolt face. It was a single shot by necessity rather than choice since back then I hadn't yet figured out how to make it a repeater. Long since traded off.

The 91 is one of the simplest to convert to a different case head since it's a push-feed; it's comparatively easy to re-heat-treat the smaller extractor after welding to lengthen the hook. I've used both soft-solder and epoxy to affix the collars to the bolt faces, with equally-good results. On the single-shot I used a wooden block for a loading ramp but coulda/shoulda used a steel plate to fill-in and thus 'rigidify' the receiver. It's also easy to convert to upcock with short 3/8" striker fall if wanted.

Later did a sporter conversion of a Mauser military trainer in 22LR, a splendid little single-shot squirrel rifle with Leupold variable, ebony forend tip & grip cap, figured walnut, low bolt handle & safety, classic-style straight comb with cheekpiece, etc etc. I and the owner always planned to do a magazine conversion for it but never got a tuit. Wish I had a photo of it but I never owned a good camera 'til the middle/late '90s.
Regards, Joe

I have an early single shot 40X, .222 722 action. Bought it from an older gent close to 20 years ago. I guess he was a pretty good shot back in the day, had quite a few medal and trophys he won with the rifle.

My favorite was a high condition Mauser 350 ES, a beautiful rifle that can be scoped without drilling. Everyone should have one. Another was a heavy bench rest gun on the smooth as silk FN #6 single shot action. I always wanted to separate that action from the stock and barrel and make a proper sporter out of it. I got traded out of both guns before I got a chance to properly enjoy them. The one I really messed up on was the Griffin and Howe Krag 22-3000 that was offered for sale at Griffin and Howe in Bernardsville for $2600, just before the "auction". The week after the "auction", Griffin doubled the price of every Griffin rifle on the rack.

Craigster, a 722 action made into a single shot is just what I have in mind for a BASS sporter, although I'd probably get rid of the sheet metal trigger guard since I've "gotta" meet the "custom" criterion a little anyhow. Finding a 722 that is in "teardown" condition isn't easy in CA, tho. People LIKE those old things for some reason...

Eightbore, an FN benchrest action would also be just right. But there's that old pocket book thing again; you just don't find those sitting around in a drawer... If I went the Mauser route, and I suspect the majority of the kinds of guns I'm thinking about were made on Mausers of some kind if they were made overseas, I'd probably look for a battered/bubba'd/buggered Swede.

Mike:

I'm so embarrassed. Of course there's a single shot Remington 40x (and don't I wish it was one of those newfangled repeater versions), a rimfire with a 24x Redfield 3200 atop it. At least at present, it's the most accurate rimfire I own, although I haven't yet been able to wring out the BSA International Martini Mark III that I recently acquired.

Rem

X, don't be embarrassed for my sake; my memory banks are much like banks: out of business or living on borrowed time!

I envy you your 40x, although it ain't really a "sporter" unless you have the upper body strength of King Kong. I just missed buying one on Calguns for peanuts; somebody types FAST over there! It was priced right up there with a Stevens Model 15--to him, apparently, a single shot .22 was just... a single shot .22.