If we allow a nice WRA 1892- then a "rears & SawbucKo"

[Old and Reliable]

I went to an area Gun Show Sunday- bought a few 'parts guns" 12 ga. IJ Champion made for HBS hardware-and a Sears J.C. Higgins Model 583.1 12 gauge Bolt action with the tubular magazine- not the box style- original and unaltered even std brown pad- 28" Full- but no choke markings or sn- As this was at an area Gun Club, i could test fire both before purchasing. While doing so with the BA J.C. Higgins (Marlin mfg? or High Std?) with of course the mandatory safety glasses and ear muffs- a club member mentioned that some years ago Sears was offering a return/recall on some series of their JC Higgins BA shotguns- due to a possible problem with the bolt coming back out of the receiver upon firing- a la the ill-fated Canuck Ross Rifle of WW1 (and Lord Ross's bribery scandal as well)!!

I always test fire in either a sled, or in this case, with the butt against the wood support of the bench and stand "side-saddle" not shouldering the weapon to fire it until I am 100% sure of its mechanics and reliable function. This gun worked fine with 12 AA trap loads, ejection, feeding from the magazine elevator, safety engages, etc-

Has anyone herein ever owned or shot one of these shotguns? Might make a swell turkey or deer shotgun--Just wondering--

[Bill Murphy]

"Possible problem of the bolt coming back out of the receiver" eh? Sounds interesting. A great gun for gun borrowers. Is there a video?

[Old and Reliable]

The gentleman that mentioned this Sears recall on some BA shotguns to me yesterday was sure that was some time ago. No BA centerfire weapon (Rifle or the scant few shotguns) IMO can compared with the K98 mauser and its clones (1903- M54 and M70 Winchester and others) but it has a milled slide groove on the left breech side of the bolt, and there is a flat headed threaded machine bolt that locks into the receiver and allows the shank to "ride" in that milled grove- also the receiver has a secondary bolt "stop" in the milled recess when the bolt is locked into battery-

I'm no Sherman Belch or even Tom Rooster when it comes to ballistics, but the pressure curve for shotshell powders, especially with pellet and not slug loads, is somewhat different than for a 30-06 or other CF calibers- so far so good- and if I bushwhack a Tom turkey with it this Fall, all good- we shall see!

[charlie cleveland]

ive shot champion guns they are fair guns the 410 champion is sought after by lots of collectors...the bolt action higgins is a good gun they make very fine slug guns for deer... charlie

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by charlie cleveland

ive shot champion guns they are fair guns the 410 champion is sought after by lots of collectors...the bolt action higgins is a good gun they make very fine slug guns for deer... charlie

--

Amazing, at least to me, Charlie, is the .410 sub-bore collector cult. I wouldn't walk across the street on a bright sunny day to have a .410 given to me (unless it were a M42)- I bought the Champion 12 as a parts gun, it shoots fine, bore is good, metal finish a bit rough. The Higgins BA has a hairline crack in the one pc. stock right near the opening ahead of the trigger guard, so I am repairing that. I did a strip and clean on the bolt and action parts, all are fine-the side slide safety has a strange orientation, forward exposes the S, back moves the steel block to the rear under the bolt and allows the trigger to contact the sear pin and the weapon to fire. I put a big dab of red nail polish on the FIRE position. The Champion has 30" barrel, the Higgins 28" both mike at about Mod. to Imp Mod. By the way, my friend, I'll have another box of once fired 12 AA and Remmie green Trap hulls ready for you- enjoy.

[Dean Romig]

Maybe Mossberg was making the Sears BA gun for them. There has always been the warning told among shooters of the same problem with the Mossberg bolt flying back out of the receiver at the shooter's face. Might just be a rumor but rumors seem to start with a grain of truth somewhere.

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Maybe Mossberg was making the Sears BA gun for them. There has always been the warning told among shooters of the same problem with the Mossberg bolt flying back out of the receiver at the shooter's face. Might just be a rumor but rumors seem to start with a grain of truth somewhere.

-- Hard to say- as there is no serial number and Sears, like Monkey Ward and gamble-Skogmo have long ago dropped out of the mail order and retail shotgun business. I'm more inclined to think High Standard or Marlin- this one seems mechanically "all there" but after I repair the stock and re-assemble- I'll put about 25-30 12 ga. 2 & 3/4" Brenekke slugs through it from a Lead Sled- it is passes that test, it should be fine from the shoulder with a No. 6 HV lead load for Turkeys- this is only chambered for 2 & 3/4" shells as marked on the barrel- wonder if they made a 3" mag 12 gauge- maybe even the "Long Tom" with a 36" Pole Vaulting Special barrel? Quien Sabes, ey??

[Old and Reliable]

No serial numbers on these guns- all were made by High-Standard from about 1946 to 1960- the first three numbers are 583- which was Sears store code for a shotgun made by High-Standard (in which they owned a 65% controlling $ interest then)--the suffix after the 583 is the key- mine is an early one 583.1-- from that series until 583.12 A-Ok, from 583.13 to 583.22 apparently the retaining machine screw that keeps the bolt in battery in the receiver had some heat treatment issues-

Back then a shooter with the shotgun shouldered fired a shot, jerked the bolt to cycle the action, the bolt lug sheared and he pulled the bolt back into his eye glasses- the force of the shell detonating in the chamber did not cause the bolt to move rearward however- Sears and their Phila lawyers did a CYA and recalled them, vis a vis buying back the bolts, initially at $160.00 a copy- later at a $50.00 Sears gife card (smart marketing move, as you could only use it to buy mdse. from Sears at their mark-up)--

Howsomever- as the 16 and 20 gauge J.C. Higgins 583 series (there are some listed on G.I. auction site under American Shotguns at $150.00 each) did not seem to have any problem- as HS used the same billet to machine all three gauges- so the initial wall thickness and the finished wall thickness on a 20 gauge J.C. Higgins was great- nominally the difference between the breech dia. of a 12 gauge and that of a 20 gauge-

I have done the initial stock R&R (repair and reinforcing) will re-assemble it and off to the gun club range and the lead sled for the "proof testing"- I will Loc-tite that screw into the threaded hole in the receiver- you betcha--ya!!!