Pump Action Rifles

A pump-action rifle is a rifle where the forend can be moved forward and backward in order to eject a spent round of ammunition and to chamber a new one. Pump-action mechanisms are often regarded as faster than a bolt action and somewhat faster than a lever action, as it does not require the trigger hand to be removed from the trigger while reloading. Most pump actions do, however, have a firing mechanism using a hammer,[citation needed] which leads to a longer lock time than the hammer-less mechanisms found on most bolt rifles. Furthermore, pump actions often have little or no mechanical leverage in order to aid in chambering and primary extraction, as opposed to a traditional turn-bolt action.

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As a teenager, my .22 rifle was a single-action Remington. It was all I could afford, but I dreamed of something slicker, something which would shoot more than one time without reloading. My dream was for a Winchester Model 62. The ’62 was a beautiful .22 rifle operating on the same principle as my much-loved Winchester Model 12 pump shotgun but, alas, I couldn’t afford one.

As with so many things we dream about when we’re young, when we finally get to a place where the expense could be justified, the item is no longer available. However, my search led me to a beautiful modern Henry replica of the old Winchester pump-action rifles. This rifle fulfills the dream of my youth and provides opportunities for my grandchildren to enjoy something which is — sadly — becoming rare.

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The first pump rifle was made by Colt starting in 1884. The Colt Lightning, designed by former Remington gunsmith William H. Elliott, was meant to compete with Winchester’s lever-action rifles of the time. Colt and Winchester had come to a “gentleman’s agreement” in 1880 — Colt would stick to revolvers and Winchester would stick to repeating rifles. Colt must have considered only lever-action rifles as part of the agreement because they produced various models of pump rifles for at least 20 years.

The first Colt Lightnings were in .44-40 to complement the most popular cartridge in their best-selling 1873 revolver. This became their medium frame rifle. A small frame .22 was first issued in 1887, along with a large frame version in several calibers all the way up to the .50-95 express, designed to take down large North American animals.

John Moses Browning designed a pump-action rifle for Winchester, the Model 1900. The Model 1900 was caliber-specific and available in .22 short, .22 long, .22 long rifle versions. A Model 1906 was introduced as a less expensive version of the rifle and this one was available as a .22 short rifle or one cycling .22 long and .22 long rifle interchangeably. Examples exist of Standard and Expert models introduced in 1908 with a plain, fluted slide grip and a pistol grip stock. These models were all replaced in 1932 with the introduction of the Model 62, which handled all three .22 cartridges interchangeably and remained in production until 1958 — about the time I started dreaming of owning one.
The heyday