Western Auto 'Revelation' .22

cm6259 · Post by **cm6259** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 12:41 am

I was given this old tube-fed .22 by my Dad. It has some problems. It outshoots modern off-the-shelf 10/22 and Remington 597 by good bit, so I thought this old pea shooter would be worth repairing.

It looks like the stock was very cheaply manufactured, with a lot of extra room that shouldn't be there for the receiver and trigger assembly. At some point, someone cranked down the screws on the trigger assembly enough to break it. I don't expect anyone to know of a replacement part for something this old (although it would certainly be nice...) but am open to any suggestions as to how to easily repair it better that I already have.

The trigger assembly is broken between the two rear screw holes. Currently, it is stuck together with super glue gel.

The front mounting screw hole for the trigger assy is also broken so that the head of the screw passes through freely:

I have rebuilt the interior of the stock using an epoxy putty. I put a layer of saran wrap between the receiver and the stock and put it in place. I pushed blobs of epoxy putty up into the vacant spaces from the bottom, then put more plastic wrap over it and pushed the trigger assembly into place to what looked like the proper position. I smeared the screws with grease to keep the epoxy from sticking, and loosely screwed them in. After setting the opening looks like this:

the rifle is currently fuctional, but the trigger is held in place by only the single remaining good screw.

Ideas?

thx,

-Chris

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:09 am

Would you post a picture of the whole rifle. Looking at the problem you've described on this rifle, I've seen this before (see my below comments on your rifle).

The "Western Auto Revelation" rifles are just a brand name for an Auto Parts chain in the mid-west that used to sell these in their stores. The different WA model rifles were actually made by several major firearms manufacturers, like Mossberg, Marlin, Ithaca, or Stevens, all I have to do is find the one that matches yours and you may be able to use the parts from the sister model rifle from the main manufacturer.

Looking at the cross-reference list, your Western Auto Model 120 rifle is a sister to the Marlin Model 99. The Marlin Model 99 is the forerunner to the Marlin Model 60 - the most popular rifle ever sold. Does your rifle look a lot like this

There should be many parts out there for your WA 120 rifle because this model and it's sister models was sold under many brand names. Here's a parts link for the old style Model 60 old M-60 parts

That trigger guard is made out of pot metal. I've seen many of these cracked identically to yours - That was my first clue as to your parts source. You have temporarily fixed it as best you can, the only thing I'd do different is use JB Weld instead of the Super Glue Gel. There's nothing short of replacing the trigger guard that will resolve this problem permanently.

Take a look at this link, page 309, and see if your rifle looks like any of these. Mdl 99

Here's an instruction manual that may help too. http://stevespages.com/pdf/marlin_60.pdf

R,
Bullseye

Song Dawg · Post by **Song Dawg** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:55 pm

The(WA) Revelation 120 is the Marlin 99. My first gun was a Marlin 99.
When I was 12 I decided to fix it...It's somewhere here in parts packed away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Model_60

neophyte:
Try this on: http://www.e-gunparts.com/products.asp? ... %2010C&MC=

I don't see a schematic but they may be able to help you.

SD

cm6259 · Post by **cm6259** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:25 pm

Yep, That definitely looks familiar. So my Revelation is actually a rebranded Marlin. No wonder it shoots so nice.

From the wiki link that SD linked to,

"The Model 99 featured a walnut stock, and the receiver, instead of being grooved like the Model 60 would be, was factory-tapped to accept a scope."

and

"The primary difference was that the stock was of birch instead of walnut, to reduce the recurring production cost. Its tube magazine was a significant innovation at the time for a semi-automatic 22 rifle, as it featured a brass inner magazine tube."

I have a birch stock but it doesn't match the ones pictured. I suspect Western Auto just went cheap on the stock.

I have a grooved receiver, not tapped, and brass mag tube, which matches the description of the 60.

My rifle doesn't have any sort of bolt hold back mechanism that I can detect, which does NOT match the description of the 60. No mention is made in the article if the 99 had a bolt hold-back.

Maybe I have some sort of mutant 99/60 put together from whatever leftover 99 parts were on hand, with the balance being from the 60?

In any case it looks like a model 60 trigger guard will fix my problem. I'm off to look for one, starting with the links Bullseye so kindly posted.

-Chris

cm6259 · Post by **cm6259** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:19 pm

OK, The mystery deepens.

Numrich gun parts lists
"60 OLD STYLE Trigger Guard Assembly, Complete, Replacement, NI"

which they have an image of:

Unfortunately, my trigger assy looks like this:

The rear tang is clearly longer on my assembly. Is this a model 99 assembly?

thx,

-Chris

Post by **Bullseye** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:52 pm

cm6259,

The trigger guard in the picture appears slightly different in the rear tang area like you mentioned. I went out to the safe and my early 1970's model 60 has a two stepped trigger guard similar to the one you posted for your 99. The only difference is my trigger guard doesn't have the rear (second) screw hole and may be just a slight bit shorter in the rear tang area. Numrich may just have the wrong one in the picture - maybe the newer Model 60 trigger guard. I'd take a picture of mine but that little back tab broke off and went missing more than twenty years ago. I never worried about it because it was just cosmetic and didn't effect securing the action.

From the picture I see the front screw holds the action and the rear is fastened into the stock. The Marlin 60 has the action screw in the same place as the 99, it just doesn't have that extra little tang in the rear. If you cannot find a 99 trigger guard then you could use a 60 trigger guard with a 60 stock. Looks like the rest of the mounting screws are in the same place.

My older Model 60 does have a bolt hold open feature but it's manual and operator selected by pushing in the charging handle. The bolt doesn't lock open after the last shot.

R,
Bullseye

Post by **Bullseye** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 12:00 pm

Here's a link to a source of another trigger guard for Marlins.

http://www.gun-parts.com/marlin/

They say you could use the newer style. You'd just have to inlet the stock for the wider trigger guard.

#1 is the older style for the Model 60, #2 is the newer version. The screw positions are the same for fastening the action so you should be able to use any variation for your rifle. You'll just have to decide how true you want to stay with the original model.

Or you could go with an option like this one.

Stock fits either tube fed or magazine fed Marlin rifles. That pistol grip would hide the flaws in the rear of the trigger guard. I may consider one of these for my own Model 60.
http://www.atigunstocks.com/product-marlin.html

I also did a little research and the Model 99 will directly fit into a Model 60 stock. The only difference between these two models is the length of the trigger guard rear tab - which is something you've already discovered. So you could go with a newer stock and the Model 60 trigger guard if you choose.

R,
Bullseye

Song Dawg · Post by **Song Dawg** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:11 pm

Bullseye, great info!! You're putting the pressure on me to find that old "99" that's been in parts since my childhood. That's #@*& years ago!

cm6259 · Post by **cm6259** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:13 pm

Wow, that's a pretty stock. My goal wasn't to restore my rifle but to repair it properly. That damn bug just started buzzing in my ear again.. Must.. resist...

Heck with it. Time to go shopping.

Thanks for everything, couldnta done it withoutya, etc.

-Chris

cm6259 · Post by **cm6259** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:16 pm

OK,

This is my repaired rifle, with it's new updated modern good looks. I now have a lighter weight companion to my heavy 10/22 target rifle.

Here's the final product (so far) with the ATI stock and the new style trigger assembly from Numrich. The new trigger guard appears to be made out of nylon, so no more fractures are expected. Next up, range testing..

With the hand guard, there is just enough clearance for a 42mm scope with the high rings. I polished the hammer/sear up a bit while I had it apart. I wouldn't call the trigger pull great, but it is better than before.

-Chris

Song Dawg · Post by **Song Dawg** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:22 am

A more sinister

look but it's good to see it back in operation. I need to do the same.
Nice job!

SD

Post by **Bullseye** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:18 am

Real nice looking gun. That Dragunov style composite stock didn't take long at all to come in, you were just talking about ordering it six days ago. How was the assembly? This style stock also comes with a procedure for cutting the marked portion of the stock with a grinding tool for creating a box magazine access port. I can't wait to hear how you enjoy shooting your old (new to you) modernized Model 99 rifle.

R,
Bullseye

cm6259 · Post by **cm6259** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:19 pm

Bullseye,

I looked up the ATI part number at the company site, then did a google search. This yielded an ebay seller offering the stock for MSRP+s&h. The stock arrived in a couple days in the original packaging.

Assembly is very straightforward and intuitive. I first assembled the rifle without even reading the instruction sheet, just to see what it would look like.

The instructions don't include a procedure for cutting a mag hole so much as a 'cut here, however you wish'. Here is an excerpt from a scan I made of the instruction sheet:

Here is a better view of the interior:

The little bushing-thingy for the front trigger guard screw needs to be inverted in the ATI stock. I lost the original screw and fitted a new one, so I have no idea if the original would have the same flush fit pictured.

The stock comes with an extra long screw for the rear receiver hole due to the pistol grip. The tip of the screw is tapered to help find the hole. The inlet for the safety doesn't exactly match the trigger assy.

Hope this helps,

-Chris

toyfj40 · Post by **toyfj40** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:13 am

'CM' good post, thanks.
I'd thought of getting a "DrudgeNaut"

stock to put on one of my 'PawnShop 60s' that
has a good barrel+action but a poor stock...
When this thread started... I ordered one,
I'll be here later this week. ($45 @ MidWayUSA )

Did the Sling come with it? or was it your addition?

I've put several Pistol-Grip stocks on my rifles
and it really improves my arm+wrist+triggerFinger positioning.
This does NOT appear to hold a Marlin-BullBarrel .22...
too bad, as I'd like to have it on my 980v+bolt+clip rifle.

take care, thanks for the info.

Post by **Bullseye** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:31 pm

Those are great add-on instructions. The website I originally posted has an electronic version of their instructions http://www.atigunstocks.com/installatio ... stall.html Your pictures are far better.

Thanks for the info. I'll be interested to hear anyone else's review of this brand of stock.

R,
Bullseye