Gun shows and salt wood firearms

We’re right in the thick of gun show season! I missed mentioning the Alaska Gun Collectors’ Association (AGCA) spring gun show in last week’s column. The show happened at the Sulivan Arena in Anchorage. I didn’t realize the show was happening until I saw a Facebook posting by a friend who was displaying some artwork at the show.

This coming weekend, March 23rd and 24th, the Eagle River Lions Club gun show is scheduled for the Eagle River Lions clubhouse from 10 to 4 pm. The next weekend, March 30th and 31st, another gun show is booked for Raven Hall on the state fairgrounds in Palmer. The Palmer Lions Club sponsors this show.

The next weekend, April 5th to 7th, the Great Alaskan Sportsman Show will be happening at the Dena’ina Civic & Convention Center in Anchorage. This isn’t exactly a gun show, per se, but generally has a wide selection of firearms on display and available for sale. Along with the guns, everything from fishing and camping gear, boats, RVs, motorhomes, and about everything outdoors will be on display.

If you aren’t “gun showed” out by then, you can drive up to Fairbanks and attend the Interior Alaska Gun Show which is scheduled for April 19th to 21st at the Carlson Center. The Big Lake gun show usually happens sometime in April, but I haven’t seen anything yet on dates for the show.

Since we’re talking about gun shows, let’s talk some about guns. This time of year, I get a little “antsy” about going shooting and start checking out some of the firearms that I’m looking forward to getting out on the range, once the snow melts enough to get out. One of the rifles I’ve been looking at this spring is the original version of the Browning “T-Bolt” 22 rimfire rifle. Browning made this gun from the early 60’s to the mid 70’s. They dropped the model for about 30 years and brought out an improved version in the early 2000’s.

I had wanted one when I was shopping for my first rimfire rifle in my mid-teenage years, but my dad wouldn’t let me buy one. He never said why, but I suspect he knew about the salt wood situation and didn’t want me to get tangled up with that problem. I ended up buying a Marlin 39A rimfire lever rifle, but that’s another story.

This improved version has a redesigned magazine and some minor improvements in the action. It also uses a wood stock with wood dried in the “normal” process. One of the big faults of the original T-Bolt was the so-called salt wood that Browning used in the production of this firearm as well as the Browning Citori shotgun from the same era.

The “salt wood” process involved layering the stocks in a bed of salt, relying on the salt to draw out excessive moisture from the wood. In the process, the wood absorbed salt. Apparently, Browning thought they could seal the wood well enough to protect the firearm’s metal from the effects of exposure to salt. My T-Bolt is one of those salt wood guns.

I bought the gun used about 15 years ago and, after I found out about the salt wood situation, I disassembled the rifle to check for damage. There was some rust and pitting on the back of the receiver, below the stock line. The aluminum trigger guard was heavily corroded. I bought a stock to replace the salt wood stock and had it fitted to the cleaned up barreled action. I was also able to find a replacement trigger guard (made for later models of the original gun) made from plastic and replaced the corroded one.

The rifle came with the rare receiver sight Browning marketed with the rifle and the single shot conversion unit to convert the gun from a repeater to a single shot. Finding an original receiver sight nowadays can be tricky, but I lucked out with this gun. Mine is in excellent condition. I was able to find a reproduction owner’s manual, so I’ve got everything the rifle originally was sold with.

This gun has the reputation of being an accurate shooter. As I recall from shooting it over the years, my rifle is also an excellent shooter. If memory serves, mine would make an excellent squirrel rifle if I still lived where fox and gray squirrels lived. Maybe someday, I’ll make a trip south to hunt squirrels again. They’re my favorite small game animal.