Ballseye's Gun Shots 38 - The Remington 513T Matchmaster

The Matchmaster was tucked away snugly in the far corner of the gun locker. It had been there for a long time, all but forgotten, among its more used companions. It came out now and then to be inspected and cleaned and then was gingerly placed back into its corner. As far as shooting went, it had not been fired in well over a year maybe even two.

There is no acceptable reason for neglect of the type I just mentioned; and I readily admit - I am guilty of it. The remedy ofcourse is at hand and later today I plan to head to the range. Yes, the Remington 513T Matchmaster will be there with me. Sometimes, we forget old friends but when we remember them and get together with them again it is always a good time. That is how I anticipate my time at the range with this rifle later today - a good time. As far as actually shooting it goes, I expect it will shoot better than I can aim or deserve it to do. A funny thing about this rifle is that when I bought it, it had been tucked away, probably forgotten, in a gun cabinet with a for sale tag on it, at a local sporting good store. It was a part of the owner's personal collection of firearms. I just took a look at the receipt for it, that too had been tucked away and forgotten, though a lot longer than was the Matchmaster. I bought it in January 1999 - almost 11 years ago for $271.25. He was asking $250 and that is what I paid - plus tax of course - this is NY after all! To me it seemed like an awful lot to pay for a .22 rifle back then, but it was in fact a good deal.

The rifle was impressive back then, heck it still is now. It is a hefty boomer, I don't know the weight but my guess is around 8 to 9 pounds. For a .22 rifle that is pretty heavy. It is a bolt action repeater with a 6 round magazine. The stock is wood with high gloss finish, the metal is all blued steel. The Globe front sight is hooded and has interchangeable inserts. The shame of it is I have three of the same inserts for it. I also have another two inserts made of orange plastic. It might be interesting to use them someday as I cannot recall ever shooting with them before. I think it would be possible to insert them along with one of the metal inserts. Sort of sunglasses for the front sight. The rear sight is a fully adjustable Redfield peep sight with positive click stops. The barrel on this rifle is a heavy target type and is 27 inches long. Not as big around as some made today but not a narrow one by a long shot. It is drilled and tapped for a scope mount. On the bottom of the forend there is a multi position sling swivel base, another feature found on target rifles. The swivels were attached, and along with them came a really nice leather sling. All in all, with its weight, the leather target sling that came with it was a very good thing. The rifle is in excellent condition. There is a chance that the wood was refinished at some point, I am pretty certain of that especially with the fingerprint in the varnish. Sadly there are a few scratches to the surface finish of the wood, but only minor ones. The metal has not been refinished and is in 98%+ condition.

They were made between 1940 and 1968(1). I know when I bought this rifle, but I am not sure of when it was manufactured; from what I can see by the date code that is stamped on the barrel it was either made in 1941 or 1963. The code of which I speak is a 2 letter code, the second letter distinguishing the year of manufacture. The second letter on mine is a K and as far as I can find out, K is assigned to both 1941 and 1963 (2). There is a good chance this was one of the two or three types of rifle I shot at summer camp many - many - moons ago in the mid to late 60s. I remember they were heavy as is this one, heavier then I suppose, when I was a stringbean of a kid.

As far as shooting it goes, I pretty much said it all above. It shoots better than I can aim. This was manufactured as a target rifle and it will hit where you aim it and if you can aim at the same spot and hold it there consistently when you squeeze off a shot then it will hit there consistently if using good ammo.

If you are in the market for a fine rifle in .22LR, this could be it - well not this particular one - mine is mine. Of course, you need some money to buy one and they are not inexpensive. I saw a similar one today at GunBroker.com that already had a bid of over $550 on it. That is an increase over 100% in value compared to the price at which I bought mine. Not a bad investment in 11 years.

All the best,
Glenn B

References:
1. http://www.remington.com/library/history/firearm_models/rimfire/model_513.asp
2. http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/questions/barrelcodes and
http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/remington_date_code.htm