I have heard it said that not many comfortable antique chairs survive in good condition, because those were the ones that got used, and eventually were worn out over time.

I think a similar thing could apply to accurate guns - congrats on finding a good one, regardless of the condition!

 

Enjoy

 

Great writeup on your rifle I enjoyed it! great shooting by the way.

 

Ha ha sometimes the old ugly dogs are the best shooters not that yours looks bad now that you d fixed it up some

 

What a cool story and truly interesting rifle! Man, that is seriously accurate.

 

Oh what a situation to be stuck with - knowing what you want, having a beautiful stock blank to accomplish the sporter configuration transformation...and then to find out how the original rifle shoots! That sweetheart of a rifle has received some much-needed TLC from you, and what are the chances that it would've been purchased by someone who had no idea nor cared about those things. It might've wound up having that excellent accuracy destroyed - albeit unintentionally - by someone who was far more concerned with its physical appearance. Take solace in the knowledge that you're doing your best to preserve a special rifle that someone with Mike Walker's knowledge of rifle accuracy and skills might very well have had a hand in creating.

 

Admittedly, as "problems" go, it's not a bad conundrum to have.

BRP

 

"a fairly early pre-war 37, from about 1937 or 1938"

Have a look at post #20 in this link, and then follow the link to the Remington factory record book, p. 114. You may be able to get a more precise date of manufacture.

Remington Date of Manufacture (DoM) and ID Code stamps

Below are documents (Courtesy of the Rem. Custom Shop) that highlights the latest Date of Manufacturer (DoM) and Barrel ID Code Stamps for CF as well as rimfire: Remington Barrel date Code Remington never used serial numbers to identify the date of manufacture of it's firearms, they however...

www.rimfirecentral.com

 

Thank you for the link to the Remington Society of America.

Those records indicate this rifle was made in August 1937. Lacking a date code on either side of the barrel, I was at a loss to know date of manufacture.

It's always a good day when I learn something new. Thank you!!

All the best---
BRP

 

Honestly, if someone other than BRP had posted this, I think I would have probably disregarded it as fiction, or wishful thinking. But, since it is BRP, I have to say OMG!

 

TBR,

Come on out to Big Sky Country, and fire it !
Honestly, I have a hard time believing what this homely old 37 can do, but it does it anyway, in spite of my deteriorating skill as a marksman.

Some people are born FAST, or SMART, or BEAUTIFUL. If you're not born those things, you probably won't become those things. You can't put in what God left out.

Some rifles are just born accurate. I have struggled with dozens of rifles that should have been accurate, but just never were. No amount of tinkering on my part, or on the part of the top notch gunsmiths I hired, could make a frog into a prince. Those inaccurate rifles all went down the road, eventually. Now I seldom tinker with any dud for very long.

So I guess this old 37 is the universe's way of compensating me for all the duds.
I don't know the "why" of this rifle, but I have come to accept the "what" that it is capable of.

BRP

 

I love a rifle with a good story. It sounds like this one was meant to stay as is in your collection.

 

Now you must find another 37 for that beautiful chunk of walnut!

 

Now you must find another 37 for that beautiful chunk of walnut!

Great!
I will let you explain to my wife why I NEED yet another Remington 37!
(I can hear her now: "You can only shoot one rifle at a time.")😲

Seriously, if I found another decent candidate for my 37 Sporter project, I probably would spring for it. I just don't see many of them around.

BRP

 

That walnut can't wait forever.... I hope that you can find another rifle for it soon without breaking the bank.

 

I sent you a message BRP

 

Got it. I will keep an eye on it.
Thank you.
BRP

 

No prob 👍

 

Smart move

 

Given all that I have read here about what elements must be present on an accurate .22 rifle, I'm not sure I can wrap my mind around how a rifle can possibly shoot so well without a custom barrel, tuner, 2 oz trigger, epoxy bedding, pillars, or mounted in a chassis, and a 34mm 56X FFP scope .

Actually, there are individuals here that do just this with dead stock vintage rifles. They go through dozens of stock 52s and 40Xs to find "the one" like your 37.

 

Given all that I have read here about what elements must be present on an accurate .22 rifle, I'm not sure I can wrap my mind around how a rifle can possibly shoot so well without a custom barrel, tuner, 2 oz trigger, epoxy bedding, pillars, or mounted in a chassis, and a 34mm 56X FFP scope .

While any of the above measures may improve accuracy, I just don't go down that road anymore, for I know that a good rifle shoots well without any of that bling and a poor rifle won't be made a great one by all that tinkering.

I find it laughable when folks say with dead seriousness that a trigger must measure in ounces (usually low single digit ounces) and also swear on that a huge high powered scope (that would be right at home in a stellar observatory) must be employed to shoot accurately. I know that's just not so. Look at the world records set by proficient marksmen of the 1930's and 1940's who had none of that junk, and shot itty bitty groups with a 3 pound trigger and metallic sights. Great groups begin with a great rifle, the best possible ammunition, and a skilled person on the trigger. Then, all that is necessary is a repeatable sight picture.

It makes me groan when I see otherwise nice trim rifles burdened with huge scopes, heavy bipods, reticle leveling devices mounted on barrels, etc...

When I went on my first moose hunt back in the 1990's, I told the guide I wanted to confirm my sighting in of my rifle since I had traveled a very great distance, with all the bumps of unimproved gravel roads. That kind of thing can wreak havoc on a scoped rifle. He took me to his impromptu range where I fired three shots which were all where they should have been. As I was putting the rifle away, he told me that he heaved a huge sigh of relief when I uncased my rifle, and it had none of those "accuracy enhancing" gee-gaws that were becoming all the rage. He said. "I know a guy can shoot, and shoot in a hurry, when his rifle is unencumbered by that stuff." Two days later I took my first moose. with a single shot.

BRP

 

BRP, I absolutely agree that an accurate rifle is just accurate, and many of the "enhancements" are employed in the pursuit of accuracy that just is not there.

Of all the "must-have" mods, though, pillars are my pet peeve. They were first employed on early fiberglass BR stocks that had low compressive strength, to prevent crushing when torqueing the action screws (Yes, Mauser used steel-sleeved holes for the action screws, but that is a very different bird). Many simply assumed that the pillars were accuracy enhancements and started placing them is every wood-stocked sporter known to man, including 10/22s...if the BR boys do it, it must be good, right? I guess pillars in wood stocks make people feel good, since that wood is so crazy "unstable," but those aluminum cylinders are still suspended in...you guessed it, that unstable WOOD!

I can honestly say I've never had a rifle lose zero during a match due to the wood stock warping spontaneously, and I also check zero before any match, anyway.

End of rant

 

Absolutely correct!
BRP

 

I have Mike Walkers personal model 37 with a 22 inch custom barrel made for him at the custom shop

 

For a very long time, I have wanted a rifle that Remington never made: to wit, a Remington 37 Sporting Rifle with a fancy walnut stock and a nice light sporter barrel. I have seen a few custom rifles that others have made (TeddyBearRat’s 37 project springs immediately to mind) and have wanted to have such a rifle of my very own.

Toward that end, ten years ago I purchased what seemed to be the perfect donor rifle for my imagined project. It was, to be blunt, a real mess.

The rifle in question is a fairly early pre-war 37, from August of 1937, that had the early trigger, and not the Miracle Trigger. The barrel was 24 inches, and so I assumed it had been shortened. (More on that later.) The stock had some very novel “improvements” including a hideous off-center grip cap and a rotting butt pad, both of which looked like they were made from an old gym shoe. UGLY!

Here it is, as purchased

As the pictures show, there were no sights, no scope blocks, no magazine and the bluing was entirely patina---which is another word for rust. In other words, I could not possible be accused of a crime against humanity by altering a rifle in such an already degraded condition. You can’t be accused of messing up something that’s already messed up.

Given its many shortcomings, it was quite inexpensive, and absolutely perfect for my intended purpose. So I happily bought it, fully intending to use it as the basis for my long dreamed of 37 Sporter. I already had a nice walnut stock blank set aside, and I could almost taste the sweet rifle I hoped to create.

I replaced the original trigger with a later Remington 37 “Miracle Trigger” which is so much better than the trigger found on the first Remington 37 rifles. I also installed the correct ejector with the hole required by the Miracle Trigger— both of which I had in my parts stash.

I also supplied scope blocks, a magazine, a Vaver receiver sight and a proper Redfield front sight and base. (Sometimes, my tendency to hoard old parts and pieces really pays off!) I didn’t need to buy any of those parts, as they were in my parts bin waiting for me.

The ugly grip cap and butt pad were relegated to the dumpster, where they belonged. In their place I put a grip cap and steel butt plate from a contemporaneous 1930’s Remington centerfire rifle, a Model 30-S Express rifle, which adds a nice vintage correct touch. I fully intended these cosmetic stock modifications to be a short interim measure until I re-barreled and restocked the rifle.

Here it is, restored to a slightly greater degree of its original dignity.

But then, I made a fateful decision: I took the rifle to the range and fired it. My, oh my!!! And all my plans came to a grinding halt, because this rifle, AS IS, is the most accurate .22 that I own. (And I own tons of very high quality .22’s.) It is monotonously accurate, stacking bullet upon bullet upon bullet into essentially the same hole. Groups well under 1/2 inch at 50 yards are the norm, and that is TOTAL group size, before one subtracts the .220” of the bullet diameter. Lest you think this accuracy is a one-off fluke, let me assure you it always shoots like that,

EVERY
SINGLE
TIME!

Here are four consecutive 5 shot, 50 yard groups shot this morning, by this old senior citizen, in a moderate Montana breeze, which are representative of what this rifle ALWAYS does. For these groups a Lyman Super Targetspot 25x was employed.

It is more accurate than all of my Winchester 52’s, more accurate than all my other Remington 37’s and 40x rifles, more accurate than all of my Anschutz 54’s, Walther Target Match rifles, Kimber 82’s, etc… It is the single most accurate .22 that I own. How can I possibly mess with that?

Back to that 24” barrel: as you probably know, the Remington 37 as advertised came with one barrel length — 28 inches. The barrel on this rifle has NOT been shortened from the breech end, as the roll markings line up exactly with my 28” Remington 37 barrels when measured from the receiver. This barrel has not been shortened from the muzzle end, as the muzzle crown and all the screw hole locations line up exactly with the 28” barrels as measured from the muzzle. The telling clue: on the bottom of the barrel, which is invisible unless the rifle is removed from the stock, is the date code WW, denoting the year 1950. No month code is stamped anywhere on this barrel. That would indicate that the original factory barrel was replaced by this shorter factory barrel sometime ca 1950. Those in the know will remember that it was about 1950 when Remington’s Mike Walker essentially invented Bench Rest shooting. I believe this barrel was one of those Mike Walker had made up while he was at Remington, as he was experimenting on the effect of barrel length on accuracy.

This rifle, as is, is essentially bench rest accurate, shooting groups measured in the .1’s and .2’s (that is tenths of an inch) when fed its preferred ammunition — and there’s the rub. I cannot bring myself to alter the most accurate rifle I own to try to create something that will in all likelihood be substantially less accurate than it already is. While I could use one of my other Remington 37 rifles as a source of parts for a sporter project, all of them are excellent unaltered examples, and I just can’t see tearing into them either.

So there we have it. The best laid plans of mice and men…

So I have resigned myself to use this Remington 37 as it is, and bow my head in wonder at the near perfect alchemy of man and machine that makes this rifle the wonder that it is.

All the best—

BRP

I has me one as well

 

My own Model 37 is a puzzle - original special order or refinished with a spectacular stock?