Stevens Junior - Model 11 .22 "Cat Rifle"

[1srelluc]

I was in a shop and buying a Ruger 22/45 Lite and the owner asked if I wanted "an old .22" and produced a Stevens Junior Model 11. It uses a miniature rolling block-type action.

He took it in on a trade with a bunch of rusty muskets and was gonna put it up on GB penny auction but said I could have it for $50.00.

Of course. I jumped on it as I like the old boy's rifles....."Cat rifles" they are called around here.

Rifles like these were inexpensive ($2.00 to $3.00) and served more as a pest eliminator than a boy's rifle. Usually, they are not in very good shape due to hard use.

What got me was the metal and bore were in really great shape, almost excellent. The stock was sanded but not refinished so I took care of that. Turned-out OK.

It shot straight using CCI Standard .22LR ammo.

In most pre-war .22 rifles I use CCI Standard in them so as to not to over-work the actions.....They quit making this one in 1931.

No serial number or date code so no idea of the exact year of production.

There's not a lot of info out there about them but I did find this:

From "2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms" by Ned Schwing;

No.11-Junior-This is a single shot, rolling block rifle chambered for the .22 rimfire cartridge. 20" barrel, blue, and has a bore-type stock without buttplate.

This was the last model offered in the Boy's Rifle series.

Manufactured between 1924 and 1931.

 

[sealybobo]

I was in a shop and buying a Ruger 22/45 Lite and the owner asked if I wanted "an old .22" and produced a Stevens Junior Model 11. It uses a miniature rolling block-type action.

He took it in on a trade with a bunch of rusty muskets and was gonna put it up on GB penny auction but said I could have it for $50.00.

Of course. I jumped on it as I like the old boy's rifles....."Cat rifles" they are called around here.

Rifles like these were inexpensive ($2.00 to $3.00) and served more as a pest eliminator than a boy's rifle. Usually, they are not in very good shape due to hard use.

What got me was the metal and bore were in really great shape, almost excellent. The stock was sanded but not refinished so I took care of that. Turned-out OK.

It shot straight using CCI Standard .22LR ammo.

In most pre-war .22 rifles I use CCI Standard in them so as to not to over-work the actions.....They quit making this one in 1931.

No serial number or date code so no idea of the exact year of production.

There's not a lot of info out there about them but I did find this:

From "2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms" by Ned Schwing;

No.11-Junior-This is a single shot, rolling block rifle chambered for the .22 rimfire cartridge. 20" barrel, blue, and has a bore-type stock without buttplate.

This was the last model offered in the Boy's Rifle series.

Manufactured between 1924 and 1931.

I just purchased a Rossi 22 rifle lever action for $400. I LOVE IT! Holds 15. Actually if I rack one I can put 16 in.

 

[Thunk]

"Cat rifles" they are called around here.

How could you shoot this happy little guy?

 

[sealybobo]

How could you shoot this happy little guy?

View attachment 1060734

Beautiful

 

[Thunk]

Beautiful

He's so fat, warm & happy he doesn't know what to do with himself

 

[Hellokitty]

Used for getting rid of pests...like mice and other rodent pest for people not fortunate enough to have a cat...is this why it's called a Cat rifle, because it does the job cats do?

 

[sealybobo]

He's so fat, warm & happy he doesn't know what to do with himself

I don't understand people who can hurt animals. Unless you're going to eat it. That's a different story.

I showed my brother a video of a guy who was surrounded by 20 deer. They were eating corn out of a cup he was holding. I asked my brother what would he do if it was like that where we hunt and he said he'd give up hunting.

 

[1srelluc]

How could you shoot this happy little guy?

View attachment 1060734

In that era anything thing preyed upon what you were raising was a pest. Any feral cat that was not turned into a "barn cat" was dispatched.....Then you had unwelcome foxes and hawks to contend with.

Losing a good laying hen to one of the above was a big deal when things were tight.

Small single-shot .22s were also used on trap lines to dispatch critters.

 

[1srelluc]

I just purchased a Rossi 22 rifle lever action for $400. I LOVE IT! Holds 15. Actually if I rack one I can put 16 in.

View attachment 1060729

I have a Henry H001 along the same lines.

My favorite .22 LA is a Browning BL-22. Very short lever throw. Mine came from the factory with a 7/8" Redfield .22 scope.

A more untraditional LA with even a shorter throw is the Marlin Levermatic.

They actually made it in .30 Carbine too! I have a .22 LR but I've never even seen one of the ones in .30 carbine.

 

[sealybobo]

I have a Henry H001 along the same lines.

My favorite .22 LA is a Browning BL-22. Very short lever throw. Mine came from the factory with a 7/8" Redfield .22 scope.

A more untraditional LA with even a shorter throw is the Marlin Levermatic.

They actually made it in .30 Carbine too! I have a .22 LR but I've never even seen one of the ones in .30 carbine.

Remember Jeremiah Johnson and how his life changed when he found that dead guy with a bigger gun than he had? It changed his life. He could now take down bigger animals and from farther away.

Yes, a .22 caliber rifle can kill a deer if the shot is placed properly, but it's not recommended because the low power of the .22 may not result in a humane kill. The .22 is primarily used for hunting small game, such as coyotes.

 

[1srelluc]

Remember Jeremiah Johnson and how his life changed when he found that dead guy with a bigger gun than he had? It changed his life. He could now take down bigger animals and from farther away.

Yes, a .22 caliber rifle can kill a deer if the shot is placed properly, but it's not recommended because the low power of the .22 may not result in a humane kill. The .22 is primarily used for hunting small game, such as coyotes.

Nobody I know uses a .22 LR on Coyotes except if they run up on one while squirrel hunting or such.

I used an old bolt-action Savage in .22 Hornet on them but usually a .223.....I racked-up quite a few with a .223 Bushmaster Varminteer.

That said a .22 Mini-Mag between the eye and ear settles all accounts on pretty much anything.

 

[sealybobo]

Nobody I know uses a .22 LR on Coyotes except if they run up on one while squirrel hunting or such.

I used an old bolt-action Savage in .22 Hornet on them but usually a .223.....I racked-up quite a few with a .223 Bushmaster Varminteer.

That said a .22 Mini-Mag between the eye and ear settles all accounts on pretty much anything.

Well I don't have a scope on my 22 so I would use my 450 bushmaster.

 

[Thunk]

Losing a good laying hen to one of the above was a big deal when things were tight.

Yeah...true. And feeding the family was the top priority!

 

[sealybobo]

Yeah...true. And feeding the family was the top priority!

True. Just as Kristi Noem

 

[Thunk]

True. Just as Kristi Noem

Well, did you thunk poorly of the kid who had to shoot old yeller?

 

[sealybobo]

Well, did you thunk poorly of the kid who had to shoot old yeller?

Not if the dog was sufferin

 

[Grumpyolman]

I was in a shop and buying a Ruger 22/45 Lite and the owner asked if I wanted "an old .22" and produced a Stevens Junior Model 11. It uses a miniature rolling block-type action.

He took it in on a trade with a bunch of rusty muskets and was gonna put it up on GB penny auction but said I could have it for $50.00.

Of course. I jumped on it as I like the old boy's rifles....."Cat rifles" they are called around here.

Rifles like these were inexpensive ($2.00 to $3.00) and served more as a pest eliminator than a boy's rifle. Usually, they are not in very good shape due to hard use.

What got me was the metal and bore were in really great shape, almost excellent. The stock was sanded but not refinished so I took care of that. Turned-out OK.

It shot straight using CCI Standard .22LR ammo.

In most pre-war .22 rifles I use CCI Standard in them so as to not to over-work the actions.....They quit making this one in 1931.

No serial number or date code so no idea of the exact year of production.

There's not a lot of info out there about them but I did find this:

From "2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms" by Ned Schwing;

No.11-Junior-This is a single shot, rolling block rifle chambered for the .22 rimfire cartridge. 20" barrel, blue, and has a bore-type stock without buttplate.

This was the last model offered in the Boy's Rifle series.

Manufactured between 1924 and 1931.

Same idea as my J.C. Higgins single shot, but the first rifle of the Greatest Generation. Later carrying an M1 Garand and winning WWII.