Sears model 42dl-103.19801-22 SR/LR

[USMCmatt]

Well with my recent interest in hunting and wanting to get into small game hunting I came up on this. I remembered my dad had an old .22 rifle from when I was kid. I asked him if I could have it, and he said sure, he hasn’t it shot it in about 30+ years.

I finally got my brother to pull it out and send me some pics before I go grab it and was surprised to learn that Sears sold their own brand of firearms back in the day. Apparently they were made by Marlin Firearms for them from their model 80 (per a quick google search). I’ll have to inspect it and see if there’s any obvious defects with it for being untouched for so many decades. He even had the original cleaning kit and ouch.

Should I be good with a thorough visual inspection and cleaning? Or should I take it in and have a shop look at it just to be sure? Also, does anyone know anything else about his firearm?

[USMCmatt]

2 more pics

[golfish]

I'd just clean it and shoot it.

Check out some of the marlin forums at rimfirecentral ...lots of good info there.

[USMCmatt]

I'd just clean it and shoot it.

Check out some of the marlin forums at rimfirecentral ...lots of good info there.

Perfect. Thank you!

[elk hunter]

It's a good .22 as good or better as anything made today except the high dollar stuff.

[pacrat]

It's a good .22 as good or better as anything made today except the high dollar stuff.

^^^THIS^^^

[Calif Hunter]

My first .22 was a Sears single shot made by Marlin. It had a knob at the end of the bolt that had to be manually cocked before firing. The Marlin branded ones had a ring there to cock the rifle, I believe. It was a very accurate rifle, despite a pretty hard trigger.

[Barbarosa]

I've got the same rifle. I got it for Christmas back in '63. It's a tack driver that will compete with guns costing much more. Not much to them; pull out the bolt (hold trigger, pull straight back), clean, shoot.

[pennstater]

That is a fine looking rifle right there! I'd just clean it and shoot it. And right now, .22 ammo can be found everywhere. Win-win.

['ol shooter]

Very nice. I have it's sister, the 43DL made in 1963, which is the Model 81DL Marlin, received it on my tenth B/D.

I have a Marlin and a Glenfield single shot as well, all three are great shooters.

[CptDan]

My first .22 was a Sears single shot made by Marlin. It had a knob at the end of the bolt that had to be manually cocked before firing. The Marlin branded ones had a ring there to cock the rifle, I believe. It was a very accurate rifle, despite a pretty hard trigger.

I still have mine

['ol shooter]

The Marlin 101 was made both ways, knob and ring, the Glenfield 100G was a knob only. Mine:
Glenfield 100G:


Marlin 101:

[ar15barrels]

I finally got my brother to pull it out and send me some pics before I go grab it and was surprised to learn that Sears sold their own brand of firearms back in the day.

Winchester, Remington, Marlin, Mossberg and Stevens/Savage all made lots of store branded guns.
GunpartsCorp has a great cross reference of the models and manufacturers that lists most of the store brand rifles and then tells you what manufacturer and model it actually is.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/brand-cross-reference

[langss]

I inherited three .22s that had not been out of the Blanket they were wrapped in for the better part of 35 years. That's 35 years laying on the floor in the back of a closet. After I knocked all the garbage out of the bores and oiled them down, they all shot just fine.

[USMCmatt]

Thanks for all the info guys. I punched the bore and oiled all the parts I could think of that might need it, and now she seems to operate very smoothly. I got it all nice and done and went to chamber a round to make sure everything feed right...and it wouldn't feed. I was confused as I had bought some CCI Copper .22 LR rounds, so I knew the rounds were correct. I then manually placed the round in the chamber and it sat no problem.

From there I realized there was a clip at the clip at the top of the chamber that holds the round in place. I figured that it might need to be oiled as well, and voila! Feeding and extraction were as smooth as when it was brand new I imagined.

This was my first time really putting in some work on an old and unfamiliar firearm. I have zero experience with bolt actions. It definitely felt good to get it all cleaned up.

Gonna take it to the Piru outdoor range next week and see if the scope magically kept it's zero. Otherwise, I'm going to have to learn how to adjust this scope. I'll start looking online for a manual or write up on this type of scope.