Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works Model X

Iver Johnson made very few .22 rifles. I found a beat-up Model X (that's it in the lower right) a while ago. It had a cracked stock someone had screwed together, a fair bit of rust, and very little finish, but I was attracted to the nice stock swell, the old-style "Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works" name engraved on the barrel, and the very low price. It had been sitting on the safe while I worked on other projects, and as it was raining today I decided to ignore my other pressing house projects and work on it for a few hours.

First job was to fix the cracks in the stock. Here, you can see the very obvious holes that were formerly filled by three large round-headed plated screws. Very elegant. I cleaned out the cracks, brushed on a thin layer of slow-setting epoxy, and clamped the stock together with a combination of small toggle clamps, waxed paper, and string.

While that was setting I went over the barrel and receiver with #000 steel wool to remove any remaining rust, and followed that with Brownell's Oxpho-Blue. I wasn't trying to get a like-new finish but to simply keep it looking like an older gun with wear while keeping it from rusting away or cracking any more. A full restoration with require draw-filing the barrel, and a lot of polishing, and it wouldn't really be worth any more. An original 100% Model X, even a very early one like this gun, is worth $250. A 60% gun goes for $140.

You can see the remnants of the original blue here on the receiver. I haven't touched this up yet though I've given it a good steel wool scrubbing. Everything works perfectly, but the trigger engagement is way too light, owing to wear on the trigger sear. I trued to deepen the engagement using a file on the sear, but in the end decided to order a a replacement, as Numrich still has a few left in stock for $8 and change.

The stock still needs a fair amount of work. Besides filling the screw holes and hiding the glue line, there's this area of the stock that was gouged (I've started to file the wood down a bit here) and a small chunk of wood missing at the butt.  I'm hoping I have a scrap of walnut around here I can use to patch that.

Being an older gun (the low four-digit serial number on this gun  suggests that it was made in the early 1930s) it's probably best to stay away from high-speed loads. The modern .22 spec calls for 30,000 psi, but if I shoot this I plan to use  low-powered .22 rounds, like CCI's CB Longs or their new Quiet .22. Both of these rounds fire a bullet at 710 fps. The CB long develops 32 foot-pounds of energy using a 29gr bullet and the Quiet .22 develops 45 foot-pounds firing a 40gr bullet. The Quiet 22 would probably be as loud as a .22 short.

Update: While working on the barrel I discovered something I didn't notice when buying it- a slight bulge about 12" from the breech. It didn't show up until I reblued the barrel, at which point it became obvious. No doubt this occurred when someone fired the gun with something blocking the barrel. This'll teach me to check guns more carefully when buying, and to be a little less likely to do business with the shop I bought this gun from ;-)

Postscript: I received an offer for the bolt (see comments below) and my first impulse was to refuse... but my second was to think, why not? I'll part the gun out. He'll have a working gun, and I'll hopefully break even. The bolt is now gone and the rest of the parts are on eBay, except for the receiver, which is the ATF-regulated bit, the barrel, which is useless as is, and the stock, which is partially restored.

Here's the bolt in its new home:

I still have a few parts for sale, including the trigger guard and complete trigger assembly. Email me if you need these pieces.

Update: All parts have been sold, sorry.