- Browning serial numbers auto 22 serial numbers#
- Browning serial numbers auto 22 serial number#
- Browning serial numbers auto 22 manual#
- Browning serial numbers auto 22 code#
Browning serial numbers auto 22 serial number#
The serial number now preceded the calibre code, followed by a two figure year code.
Browning serial numbers auto 22 code#
22” Long Rifle with the serial number 1156.ĭuring the move of production, in 1974, from Herstal to Miroku, Japan, the order of the serial number code was, in effect, reversed.
Browning serial numbers auto 22 serial numbers#
From 1969, two digits were used for the year of manufacture, with serial numbers starting with 1000. However, the “A” was changed to “E” for Short and a number added for the year, e.g. With the importing of rifles to the US, the serial numbering system was changed to a combination of letters and numbers.
That said, the numbering system appears to be straightforward, digit only and sequential. Browning’s own website simply states that “no serial numbers are available. A close copy has also been made by Norinco of China which, at one time, was imported into the US by Interarms under the name of the Model ATD.ĭating pre ’56 rifles can be difficult, in as much as matching numbers to dates. In 1976, production resumed but now in Japan by Miroku. These were produced by FN, at the Herstal factory in Belgium until 1974. In recent years, barrels have been available with a ‘cantilever’ scope sight mount that extends back over the receiver, thus ensuring that the alignment of the barrel and scope remain constant. Production of the Model 241 ceased at the Ilion, New York plant in 1949.įN first began exporting the SA-22 to the US in 1956, after the expiry of the Remington manufacturing rights, with all rifles grooved for scopes. As with the later FN versions, both Model 24 and 241s had the side opening loading port. 22” Short only – until 1935 when it was replaced by the longer barrelled – 23.5 inch – Model 241 Speed-master. In the U.S., Remington had obtained the manufacturing rights and, from 1922, marketed it as the Model 24 – initially in. patents had been granted in 1913 (1,065,341/1913 & 1,065,342/1913) and in 1914 (1,083,384/1914), with FN obtaining manufacturing rights for Europe and for most of the rest of the world in 1914, production commencing in the same year, only to cease almost immediately for the duration of the First World War. Factory made leather cases were also available to store, display and carry the taken down rifle. That said, the overall quality is still high. In earlier Belgian examples, engraving was hand cut, whereas work on Japanese rifles was machine initiated, including use of laser cutting, with finishing by hand. There were six grades, in total, with the higher grades including gold inlay and elaborate wood carving. With no side ejection port the receiver had a large “canvas” for engraving. It is not uncommon to find examples where the butt-stock has been gripped, instead of the receiver, to gain extra leverage on disassembly, resulting in a split developing in the wood. The firing mechanism can be removed from the receiver with no need for tools. By rotating the barrel a 90 degree turn to the left, it can now be pulled forward and out. This prevents the extractor from catching during disassembly. The barrel lock, located underneath in front of the breechblock finger piece, is pushed forward while the breechblock is moved back about a quarter of an inch. ‘Taking down’ the rifle is relatively straightforward. (I speak from experience.) However, the downward ejection makes it suitable for either right or left handed shooters. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop the occasional hot spent case from going down the shooter’s sleeve. The one piece receiver has an opening at the bottom for the ejection of spent cases, with FN’s brochures claiming “complete protection of the user from hot powder gases or defective cartridges are assured”. A cross-bolt safety is positioned at the front of the trigger guard. 22” LR to eleven rounds and eleven rounds of. This enabled the capacity to be raised from eight rounds of. In later versions, this was replaced by a side-loading port on the right side of the stock.
A small bead front sight was common to almost all models.Ī tubular magazine is located in the walnut butt-stock and, in early rifles, loading was by means of a port located in the top of the stock. A leaf rear sight with a knobbed wheel adjustment was later replaced with a simple fold down rear sight. It was also known as the ‘Browning Semi Automatic 22’ or ‘SA-22’. Introduced in 1914, this blowback action self loading rifle has an overall length of 37 inches (94cm) with a round, ‘take-down’ barrel of 19.25 inches (489mm).
Browning serial numbers auto 22 manual#
> FN factory manual for “The Browning Automatic Rifle” > The latter became the most successful of Browning’s small calibre sporting rifles, also taking credit for being the first production semiautomatic. In each, he is holding examples of his genius, the unmistakeable FN Browning Auto-5 (the ‘humpback’) and the FN Browning.
Anyone who has read about John Moses Browning will, no doubt, have come across those two iconic photographs of “le maitre”.