mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-The search for .22 trainers seemingly never ends. This time I added another US trainer to the collection. It's a WWII H&R Reising Model 65 trainer built for the USMC. There's some debate over the total number built for the Marine Corps but it seems at least 6,000 for sure. SN for this one is in the low five thousands so it's safely in the range for USMC issue.
-After the war H&R made some changes to the design and the new Model 165 Leatherneck was born and sold in the commercial market for a few years. By all accounts they're good shooters. The commercial Leathernecks must have had rough time of it competing against much slicker designs like the Winchester 52 and 75, Remington 37 and Stevens 416. Probably why production lasted for just 7 years for the 165/150/151 commercial models.
-Come the late 50s and the release of the M14 rifle and the Marine Corps contracted H&R for another batch but with the safety located in the same place as the M14; the trigger guard. Designated MC-58, about 3,500 were built. Unlike the Model 65 these were USMC Property marked.
-This example is a bit worn but still in decent condition. She's seen range time! The only downside is the pair of scope grooves machined into the receiver. Must have been done some years ago as they look factory and were totally overlooked by me. Live and learn!
-Designed by Eugene Reising, designer of the Reising Model 50 sub machine gun, it was built to approximate the heft and feel of a M1 Garand and comes in just under 9 lbs. The rear sight is a Redfield target registered for a max 50 yrds. Front sight has protective ears just like a Garand. She cocks by way of an action bar accessed through a slot in the bottom of the stock. There's a hole drilled in the bolt body (you can just see it in the last photo, near the edge of the ejection slot) that the bolt hold-open engages. Safety is a simple lever mounted on the right side of the receiver. Finish is parkerizing, worn rather thin in my case.
-After the war H&R made some changes to the design and the new Model 165 Leatherneck was born and sold in the commercial market for a few years. By all accounts they're good shooters. The commercial Leathernecks must have had rough time of it competing against much slicker designs like the Winchester 52 and 75, Remington 37 and Stevens 416. Probably why production lasted for just 7 years for the 165/150/151 commercial models.
-Come the late 50s and the release of the M14 rifle and the Marine Corps contracted H&R for another batch but with the safety located in the same place as the M14; the trigger guard. Designated MC-58, about 3,500 were built. Unlike the Model 65 these were USMC Property marked.
-This example is a bit worn but still in decent condition. She's seen range time! The only downside is the pair of scope grooves machined into the receiver. Must have been done some years ago as they look factory and were totally overlooked by me. Live and learn!
-Designed by Eugene Reising, designer of the Reising Model 50 sub machine gun, it was built to approximate the heft and feel of a M1 Garand and comes in just under 9 lbs. The rear sight is a Redfield target registered for a max 50 yrds. Front sight has protective ears just like a Garand. She cocks by way of an action bar accessed through a slot in the bottom of the stock. There's a hole drilled in the bolt body (you can just see it in the last photo, near the edge of the ejection slot) that the bolt hold-open engages. Safety is a simple lever mounted on the right side of the receiver. Finish is parkerizing, worn rather thin in my case.
