Lakefield 22lr vs. Sears Roebuck 22lr

andremajic · 11-02-2009, 04:49 PM

Hey guys!

I have a tough question - for me anyways.

I've never bought a 22lr before and I wanted to get one, just like what we used to plink with in Boy Scouts.

There are 2 different 22lr rifles available at 2 different shops. One is a Lakefield 64b bolt action in 22lr for 59.99 I believe that Lakefield was later merged with Savage in Canada.

The other is a Sears Roebuck and Co. 22lr for 69.00 (I didn't get the model number.) I believe that Mossberg, among other companies used to make a lot of sears bolt actions.

Has anyone here owned rifles made by either company, and what have your experiences been? I would appreciate some input before I go back tomorrow and buy one.

My brand name snobbery is starting to kick in, and I'm leaning towards the Sears, but the Lakefield might be a hidden gem that I'm not aware of.

Input?

Bret4207 · 11-03-2009, 04:32 AM

Brand snobbery with either of those names is an odd thing. Both are "cheapies" so take whichever appeals to you more. Personally, I'm a sucker for anything marked "Ted Williams" since I grew up reading the "Big Book" and Ted's advice on which item to choose. Yeah, I know Ted probably never used a Sears product in his life, but it's just something I like.

richbug · 11-03-2009, 04:52 AM

The Lakefields I have experience with have been great shooters(FWIW, Lakefield, and current Savages are the same gun).

Not Win 52's or Remington 51_'s, but for $60 I think you will be impressed. I know if I stumbled upon a $60 Lakefield it would come home with me.

andremajic · 11-03-2009, 04:22 PM

Thanks for the advice guys. Say,were a couple bricks at walmart on CCI mini-mag 22LR. Is the "mini-mag" just part of the name, or is it the more powerful "magnum" 22? I wouldn't want to shoot 22 mag in a normal 22 that's not rated for it.

I went ahead and bought the Sears, because it was marked on the barrel "Made in USA". It's a model 273 and it's chambered in 22 short/22long/22 LR. Still need to find a magazine for it, but it was in better condition than the lakefield. The lakefield also had some "rednecking" done to it, (painted over the wood stock, paint on the action and barrel, etc.) and I felt the Sears one was more original and untouched.

I know it's not a collectors item or anything, but I wanted something that was close to what I grew up shooting and this was a pretty nice deal. I'll post some pics when I get it cleaned up.

Andy.

andremajic · 11-03-2009, 04:33 PM

I did a little more research, and it turns out it was made by Winchester for Sears! Nice.

Here are some pics from an identical one being sold on gunbroker

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=136803009

docone31 · 11-03-2009, 04:52 PM

Lots of magazines here.
http://www.gun-parts.com/magazines2/
I even found one for my Viper V-22. I even got it working reliably!!!!

Buckshot · 11-05-2009, 12:06 AM

.............Sometimes those older 22RF rifles are a great deal. The danger to them was 'Over zealous cleaning'. Picture a couple generations of 12 year olds and those worthless Hoppes and Outers 3 piece aluminum cleaning rods being worked energeticly back and forth in the barrel, yeesh! The end of the rod and the 2 joints banging into the crown or the breechface with each stroke

Makes my teeth ache just thinking about it.

Bill, one of the regular old timer pistol shooters at the range always sat at the picnic table with us Burrito Shooters while we all had lunch before our match. One day he said he has a friend who was interested in selling some of his guns. He said he'd bring them the next Tuesday. I ended up buying a real nice parkerized Victory model S&W in 38 S&W and a Stevens M84C 22RF bolt action magazine rifle.

I mean heck for $50? No tax, no paperwork .............. a no brainer

. It's actually a decent rifle. Complete with a factory painted on black faux nosecap on a genuine walnut stained hardwood stock, ha. I call it my Western Auto 22, naturally I have no idea where it came from, but it strikes me as that kind. All kidding aside the only plastic on it is the buttplate. The triggerguard is cast non-ferrous metal but everything else is steel. I was impressed that it has dual extractors and they're both solid machined steel, each powered by it's own coil spring.

Common to a new (to me) 22RF rifle the norm is to drag out a 50 round box of all the various types of 22LR ammo I have on hand to test. The one major thing that blew me away was that this rifle WILL SHOOT those Aguila 60gr SSS Super Snipers! I immediately grabbed my cleaning rod and a patch to check the twist, but it was the 16" common to most all 22's. I have no idea why it will shoot those so well. None of my other 22's will come near this rifle shooting those. Weird?

Anyway it showed a real liking for a couple types. I'd put a cheap 4x scope on it and was shooting at 50 yards. Just sitting there at the bench looking at it and not really thinking of anything in particular, I picked it up in both hands. At the tip of the forend with my right hand, I had my thumb under the forend and index finger on the barrel. My left hand was the same but the thumb inside the triggerguard and index finger on the top rear of the acton.

Alternately squeezing back and forth I could see the barreled action moving slightly in the stock. Typically the whole barreled action was retained via one large slotted screw about an inch ahead of the action. It screwed into a piece dovetailed into the bottom of the barrel. This is also the front mag plate screw.

I figured that I might be able to make some inprovements to it's, ah, er .................bedding? Very handily placed on the rear end of the magazine housing was another screw to hold the back end of the mag housing to the action. I removed the rear screw and it happily wasn't something like a #11-3/4 screw threaded 29 1/2 tpi or such foolishness. I forget now what it was but it was a common thread and size. I Loc-tited a threaded stud in place and then ginned up that headed piller affair to thread down over the stud.

Years ago I'd bought 4 of those "Loose Screw" packets that GPC sells that are all from guns, and they've come in handy several times, just like now

In the left hand photo the added action screw came from that GPC pile and was the same thread as the original on the rifle! Almost looked the same too! I threaded the top of the piller to accept it.

The area of the stock that the action more or less 'floats over' is pretty much a big long routed out hole. As you can see, the trigger and sear assembly is NOT a nice neat compact design, HA! However while it was a headache trying to figure out some bedding scheme it had everything laid out in the wide open spaces. I stoned and polished all the sliding and contact areas. A couple of the pins were a bit wobbly so I replaced them (had to redrill a couple holes larger) with pieces of drill bit shank.

I added a sear engagement adjustment screw and an overtravel adjusting screw. I routed wood out around the original attaching hole in the stock, and also some of the wood under where the head of the rear piller I added was going to sit. I blobbed in some epoxy to both places and then set the barreled action in place and put 2 gum rubber bands around the barreled action and stock.

After it was all set up I scraped the barrel channel out so the balance of the 24" barrel ahead of the front attaching screw was floated. You can run a slip of paper down between the barrel and stock to the front screw.

So, did all this turn my Stevens 84C into a Model 54 Anschutz? No it didn't, but it DID improve the accuracy to the tune of no more un-explained fliers. That was all probably due to the previous barreled action wiggle. Besides the flex I mentioned seeing before, via pinching the barrel and stock between my fingers, when you'd lift the bolt handle if you watched the rear of the action you could see it move very slightly counterclockwise in the stock. Didn't do that anymore.

It'll shoot right alongside my M581 Remington now, and for a $50 rifle that ain't bad! I had toyed with the idea of trying to fabricate some type of solid rest for the rear of the action. However as you can see the entire underside of the action is absolutely covered with odds and ends from stem to stern. At the very, very bitter end is about 1/8" clear that sits on a cresent shaped strip of wood.

I'd though of maybe drilling down the back of the inletting and epoxying in a piece of 3/8" steel rod, whose top would be shaped to have the bottom rear of the action sit on it. But to what result? I'd probably have to re-bed the other 2 positions too. If I knew it's knock off another 1/4" in group size I'd do it and have a sub inch shooter at 50 yards with good ammo. As it is it'll put 10 rounds in a ground squirrel's skull if it'd stand still for it.

However I'm not completely without folly! About a year after having done all this, another buddy gave me another rifle exactly the same, except it a Savage "Springfield'

Yup, GAVE it to me. Well it doesn't have that racy painted on forend tip, but otherwise perzactly the same. Did I do anything to it yet? Nope, but one thing I did do, and that was to order a Green Mountain heavy 20" barrel with a Bentz chamber to put on it! They've been resting quietly a couple years now, and if I live long enough they may both get put together.

................Buckshot

Bret4207 · 11-05-2009, 05:05 AM

Well done Bucksnort! All the "elites" look down on anything less than a Kimber or Cooper these days, but I've seen Mossbergs, Savages, Marlins and no name store brand cheapies shoot some great groups. Nothing in world better than a $37.50 rifle outshooting some dude driving a Mercedes SUV and shooting some high dollar mega buck rifle.

andremajic · 11-05-2009, 01:06 PM

Update: I took it to the range today after attaching some weaver rings and put the el-cheapo chinese scope that I got at a gunshow and zeroed it at 50 yards.

Not bad grouping from CCI mini-mag LR and actually got about the same groups with Some Remington short gold tip. About 1" groups with the occasional flier that hit low about 3 inches.

Interesting thing was, when I got it zeroed with the LR, and switched over to the Short, the groups moved to the left. I can't figure this out, because you would THINK that less powder would mean it would stay straight vertically, and group underneath, because of less velocity. If anyone can figure this out, let me know why, cause I'm scratching my head.

Switching back to the CCI LR, and using the mil dot reticle at 100 meters, and observing where the dirt kicked up when I shot at it, I aimed 1.5 to 2 mils high and came pretty close to hitting a small leaf on the backstop.

After an afternoon of shooting, I still have leftover rounds that I didn't shoot, and it was CHEAP! Until the primer/powder shortage ends, I will be shooting this rifle a lot. It's really enjoyable.

Andy.

11-03-2009, 04:32 AM	#2
Bret4207 Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St Lawrence Valley, NY Posts: 12,087	Brand snobbery with either of those names is an odd thing. Both are "cheapies" so take whichever appeals to you more. Personally, I'm a sucker for anything marked "Ted Williams" since I grew up reading the "Big Book" and Ted's advice on which item to choose. Yeah, I know Ted probably never used a Sears product in his life, but it's just something I like. __________________ Yes, I am cynical, contrary, opinionated and cranky. So what? Nobody much liked John Adams or Howard Hughes either.

11-03-2009, 04:22 PM	#4
andremajic Boolit Man Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Cackalackee Posts: 138	Thanks for the advice guys. Say,were a couple bricks at walmart on CCI mini-mag 22LR. Is the "mini-mag" just part of the name, or is it the more powerful "magnum" 22? I wouldn't want to shoot 22 mag in a normal 22 that's not rated for it. I went ahead and bought the Sears, because it was marked on the barrel "Made in USA". It's a model 273 and it's chambered in 22 short/22long/22 LR. Still need to find a magazine for it, but it was in better condition than the lakefield. The lakefield also had some "rednecking" done to it, (painted over the wood stock, paint on the action and barrel, etc.) and I felt the Sears one was more original and untouched. I know it's not a collectors item or anything, but I wanted something that was close to what I grew up shooting and this was a pretty nice deal. I'll post some pics when I get it cleaned up. Andy. __________________ ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

11-03-2009, 04:33 PM	#5
andremajic Boolit Man Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Cackalackee Posts: 138	I did a little more research, and it turns out it was made by Winchester for Sears! Nice. Here are some pics from an identical one being sold on gunbroker http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=136803009 __________________ ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

11-05-2009, 12:06 AM	#7
Buckshot Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: So. California Posts: 9,123	.............Sometimes those older 22RF rifles are a great deal. The danger to them was 'Over zealous cleaning'. Picture a couple generations of 12 year olds and those worthless Hoppes and Outers 3 piece aluminum cleaning rods being worked energeticly back and forth in the barrel, yeesh! The end of the rod and the 2 joints banging into the crown or the breechface with each stroke Makes my teeth ache just thinking about it. Bill, one of the regular old timer pistol shooters at the range always sat at the picnic table with us Burrito Shooters while we all had lunch before our match. One day he said he has a friend who was interested in selling some of his guns. He said he'd bring them the next Tuesday. I ended up buying a real nice parkerized Victory model S&W in 38 S&W and a Stevens M84C 22RF bolt action magazine rifle. I mean heck for $50? No tax, no paperwork .............. a no brainer . It's actually a decent rifle. Complete with a factory painted on black faux nosecap on a genuine walnut stained hardwood stock, ha. I call it my Western Auto 22, naturally I have no idea where it came from, but it strikes me as that kind. All kidding aside the only plastic on it is the buttplate. The triggerguard is cast non-ferrous metal but everything else is steel. I was impressed that it has dual extractors and they're both solid machined steel, each powered by it's own coil spring. Common to a new (to me) 22RF rifle the norm is to drag out a 50 round box of all the various types of 22LR ammo I have on hand to test. The one major thing that blew me away was that this rifle WILL SHOOT those Aguila 60gr SSS Super Snipers! I immediately grabbed my cleaning rod and a patch to check the twist, but it was the 16" common to most all 22's. I have no idea why it will shoot those so well. None of my other 22's will come near this rifle shooting those. Weird? Anyway it showed a real liking for a couple types. I'd put a cheap 4x scope on it and was shooting at 50 yards. Just sitting there at the bench looking at it and not really thinking of anything in particular, I picked it up in both hands. At the tip of the forend with my right hand, I had my thumb under the forend and index finger on the barrel. My left hand was the same but the thumb inside the triggerguard and index finger on the top rear of the acton. Alternately squeezing back and forth I could see the barreled action moving slightly in the stock. Typically the whole barreled action was retained via one large slotted screw about an inch ahead of the action. It screwed into a piece dovetailed into the bottom of the barrel. This is also the front mag plate screw. I figured that I might be able to make some inprovements to it's, ah, er .................bedding? Very handily placed on the rear end of the magazine housing was another screw to hold the back end of the mag housing to the action. I removed the rear screw and it happily wasn't something like a #11-3/4 screw threaded 29 1/2 tpi or such foolishness. I forget now what it was but it was a common thread and size. I Loc-tited a threaded stud in place and then ginned up that headed piller affair to thread down over the stud. Years ago I'd bought 4 of those "Loose Screw" packets that GPC sells that are all from guns, and they've come in handy several times, just like now In the left hand photo the added action screw came from that GPC pile and was the same thread as the original on the rifle! Almost looked the same too! I threaded the top of the piller to accept it. The area of the stock that the action more or less 'floats over' is pretty much a big long routed out hole. As you can see, the trigger and sear assembly is NOT a nice neat compact design, HA! However while it was a headache trying to figure out some bedding scheme it had everything laid out in the wide open spaces. I stoned and polished all the sliding and contact areas. A couple of the pins were a bit wobbly so I replaced them (had to redrill a couple holes larger) with pieces of drill bit shank. I added a sear engagement adjustment screw and an overtravel adjusting screw. I routed wood out around the original attaching hole in the stock, and also some of the wood under where the head of the rear piller I added was going to sit. I blobbed in some epoxy to both places and then set the barreled action in place and put 2 gum rubber bands around the barreled action and stock. After it was all set up I scraped the barrel channel out so the balance of the 24" barrel ahead of the front attaching screw was floated. You can run a slip of paper down between the barrel and stock to the front screw. So, did all this turn my Stevens 84C into a Model 54 Anschutz? No it didn't, but it DID improve the accuracy to the tune of no more un-explained fliers. That was all probably due to the previous barreled action wiggle. Besides the flex I mentioned seeing before, via pinching the barrel and stock between my fingers, when you'd lift the bolt handle if you watched the rear of the action you could see it move very slightly counterclockwise in the stock. Didn't do that anymore. It'll shoot right alongside my M581 Remington now, and for a $50 rifle that ain't bad! I had toyed with the idea of trying to fabricate some type of solid rest for the rear of the action. However as you can see the entire underside of the action is absolutely covered with odds and ends from stem to stern. At the very, very bitter end is about 1/8" clear that sits on a cresent shaped strip of wood. I'd though of maybe drilling down the back of the inletting and epoxying in a piece of 3/8" steel rod, whose top would be shaped to have the bottom rear of the action sit on it. But to what result? I'd probably have to re-bed the other 2 positions too. If I knew it's knock off another 1/4" in group size I'd do it and have a sub inch shooter at 50 yards with good ammo. As it is it'll put 10 rounds in a ground squirrel's skull if it'd stand still for it. However I'm not completely without folly! About a year after having done all this, another buddy gave me another rifle exactly the same, except it a Savage "Springfield' Yup, GAVE it to me. Well it doesn't have that racy painted on forend tip, but otherwise perzactly the same. Did I do anything to it yet? Nope, but one thing I did do, and that was to order a Green Mountain heavy 20" barrel with a Bentz chamber to put on it! They've been resting quietly a couple years now, and if I live long enough they may both get put together. ................Buckshot __________________ Father Grand Caster watches over you my brother. Go now and pour yourself a hot one. May the Sacred Silver Stream be with you always Proud former Shooters.Com Cast Bullet alumnus and plank owner. "The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

11-05-2009, 05:05 AM	#8
Bret4207 Boolit Master Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: St Lawrence Valley, NY Posts: 12,087	Well done Bucksnort! All the "elites" look down on anything less than a Kimber or Cooper these days, but I've seen Mossbergs, Savages, Marlins and no name store brand cheapies shoot some great groups. Nothing in world better than a $37.50 rifle outshooting some dude driving a Mercedes SUV and shooting some high dollar mega buck rifle. __________________ Yes, I am cynical, contrary, opinionated and cranky. So what? Nobody much liked John Adams or Howard Hughes either.

11-02-2009, 04:49 PM	#1
andremajic Boolit Man Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Cackalackee Posts: 138	Lakefield 22lr vs. Sears Roebuck 22lr Hey guys! I have a tough question - for me anyways. I've never bought a 22lr before and I wanted to get one, just like what we used to plink with in Boy Scouts. There are 2 different 22lr rifles available at 2 different shops. One is a Lakefield 64b bolt action in 22lr for 59.99 I believe that Lakefield was later merged with Savage in Canada. The other is a Sears Roebuck and Co. 22lr for 69.00 (I didn't get the model number.) I believe that Mossberg, among other companies used to make a lot of sears bolt actions. Has anyone here owned rifles made by either company, and what have your experiences been? I would appreciate some input before I go back tomorrow and buy one. My brand name snobbery is starting to kick in, and I'm leaning towards the Sears, but the Lakefield might be a hidden gem that I'm not aware of. Input? __________________ ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

11-03-2009, 04:52 AM	#3
richbug Boolit Master Join Date: May 2007 Location: Western PA Posts: 591	The Lakefields I have experience with have been great shooters(FWIW, Lakefield, and current Savages are the same gun). Not Win 52's or Remington 51_'s, but for $60 I think you will be impressed. I know if I stumbled upon a $60 Lakefield it would come home with me.

11-03-2009, 04:52 PM	#6
docone31 Boolit Master Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,860	Lots of magazines here. http://www.gun-parts.com/magazines2/ I even found one for my Viper V-22. I even got it working reliably!!!!

11-05-2009, 01:06 PM	#9
andremajic Boolit Man Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Cackalackee Posts: 138	Update: I took it to the range today after attaching some weaver rings and put the el-cheapo chinese scope that I got at a gunshow and zeroed it at 50 yards. Not bad grouping from CCI mini-mag LR and actually got about the same groups with Some Remington short gold tip. About 1" groups with the occasional flier that hit low about 3 inches. Interesting thing was, when I got it zeroed with the LR, and switched over to the Short, the groups moved to the left. I can't figure this out, because you would THINK that less powder would mean it would stay straight vertically, and group underneath, because of less velocity. If anyone can figure this out, let me know why, cause I'm scratching my head. Switching back to the CCI LR, and using the mil dot reticle at 100 meters, and observing where the dirt kicked up when I shot at it, I aimed 1.5 to 2 mils high and came pretty close to hitting a small leaf on the backstop. After an afternoon of shooting, I still have leftover rounds that I didn't shoot, and it was CHEAP! Until the primer/powder shortage ends, I will be shooting this rifle a lot. It's really enjoyable. Andy. Attached Thumbnails __________________ ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!