campergeek
Member
With a group of firearms I inherited is a semi-automatic .22 rifle, marked "COAST TO COAST STORES MODEL 285N 22 L., L.R. AND 22 H. S. SHORT". All I've learned about it is that it was made by Savage. I found one cross-reference to a Savage model 7J, but can't find any info about such a rifle. I'm including a picture of the action for reference in hopes someone is familiar with such a rifle and might be able to help.
The first few times I took the rifle to the range it seemed to work okay. On one trip, however, it started having jams and/or misfeeds and has done so reliably every second to fourth round. Often it will eject the empty cartridge and load the next round, but fail to reset the trigger. Sometimes the empty cartridge is not cleanly ejected and becomes trapped by the bolt in the ejection port. Occasionally (but not often) it will eject the empty cartridge but fail to feed the next one.
I completely stripped down the action (twice) and have cleaned all parts with solvent and with breakfree, with no noticeable change in behavior. This first started happening after I had fired several rounds of CCI mini-mags and then started shooting Winchester Wildcats. When I went back to the CCI rounds, however, it behaved the same. I did buy a 10-rd. magazine in addition to the original 5-rd. magazine and the problems started during the first range trip when I was using the 10-rd. mag, but now it doesn't seem to function any better or worse with either mag.
I'm reaching my frustration point and am ready to take the rifle to a gunsmith, but before I do I wanted to post here and see if anyone had any experience and/or advice for my situation. Thanks for any help you can offer.
The first few times I took the rifle to the range it seemed to work okay. On one trip, however, it started having jams and/or misfeeds and has done so reliably every second to fourth round. Often it will eject the empty cartridge and load the next round, but fail to reset the trigger. Sometimes the empty cartridge is not cleanly ejected and becomes trapped by the bolt in the ejection port. Occasionally (but not often) it will eject the empty cartridge but fail to feed the next one.
I completely stripped down the action (twice) and have cleaned all parts with solvent and with breakfree, with no noticeable change in behavior. This first started happening after I had fired several rounds of CCI mini-mags and then started shooting Winchester Wildcats. When I went back to the CCI rounds, however, it behaved the same. I did buy a 10-rd. magazine in addition to the original 5-rd. magazine and the problems started during the first range trip when I was using the 10-rd. mag, but now it doesn't seem to function any better or worse with either mag.
I'm reaching my frustration point and am ready to take the rifle to a gunsmith, but before I do I wanted to post here and see if anyone had any experience and/or advice for my situation. Thanks for any help you can offer.