The Savage Arms / Springfield Model 187N .22 Caliber Semi-Automatic Rifle

I bought an old Savage Arms/Springfield 187N .22 caliber rimfire rifle from a friend at work the other day for $75.00. It needed some cleaning, but was in excelent shape otherwise. It came with a Springfield 4X scope already mounted. I took it home, cleaned and lubricated it so it would be ready to shoot on that weekend.

It is definitely an older gun, probably manufactured some time around the late 50's or early 60's (he said it had belonged to his grandfather). A rather handsome rifle, the M-187N has a nutmeg-colored hardwood stock , a tubular magazine with a 16 shot capacity (long rounds), blue finish on the metal parts, a grooved, black, hard rubber butt plate on the stock, and a rear-mounted safety switch.

The breech is opened by pulling the bolt towards the stock, and is locked open by pushing the bolt in until it clicks. It has a metal trigger inside of a metal trigger guard. The trigger pull is extremely light; I estimate it to be no more than 4 pounds. It is a light rifle as well, probably around five or six pounds.

Although the Model 187N is capable of firing .22 H.S. short, long, or L.R. (long rifle) rounds (as auto), I usually like to shoot at least long rounds in all my small caliber rifles, because short rounds have a tendency to jam when the gun gets hot (especially during rapid semi-auto firing), also, long rounds are heavier, and their increased length tends to give them greater accuracy.

Early Saturday morning, I loaded my newly-acquired rifle, a box of 500 .22 long rounds, my cleaning kit, and some VisiColor paper targets into my Mercury and headed out towards my friend Richard's property in Halls. After climbing the steep, gravel driveway to the area behind his house, I parked the car and climbed out onto the hard, cold ground, the frozen brown grass crunched under my boots.

After hanging a VisiColor target on the bole of a huge, ancient Silver Maple tree, I stepped off about 25 yards with my weapon to test the sighting. My first shot missed the bull's-eye, just slightly low and to the left. Fortunately, the Springfield 4X scope was very easy to adjust. There are two philips-head screws, which are protected by pivoting plastic covers, that adjust the vertical and horizontal orientation of the scope. A few short seconds later, I closed the covers over the screws, and took another 50 yard shot. This time, I put one right through the bull's-eye, leaving a blaze orange ring around the bullet hole!

I tried some more shots at varying distances, and even up to 50 yards, that scope brought even a 3 inch target in so close, that even if I didn't hit the center of the target, at least my shots came within an inch of the center every time. Grouping my shots was pretty easy with this old .22.

Then came the big test; seeing how fast I could empty out a magazine! Yes, the rounds came out as fast as I could pull the trigger, and even after emptying several full magazines, the rifle did not jam. The receiver did get a little warm, but was far from overheating. This old rifle is definitely a reliable one.

The M-187N cleans up pretty easy with solvent and a wire bore brush, followed by a swab of gun oil. Unfortunately, this old gun wasn't cleaned regularly, so I had to really go deep into the mechanism and the magazine tube to make sure all the gunshot residue and fouling was removed.

I really like this gun and believe I got a great deal on it but, unfortunately, there isn't very much information about their history or manufacturing runs available online. All I could find out about them is that they were inexpensive and tons of them were made in the mid-20th century. The good news is, they're pretty easy to fix, and parts are plentiful and cheap. The most common problem for the M-187N is the firing pin wearing out; a rather quick, inexpensive fix.

If you like to shoot small bore rifles, and don't have alot of money to spend, the Savage Arms/Springfield .22 semi-auto rifle is a good buy. They are old guns, but not worth much as collector's items due to the vast numbers that were produced. Personally, I would not pay more than $100.00 for one, and that's if it was in mint condition. I like mine, though, and believe it was money well spent on a fun, dependable, low-maintanence rifle!