In 1957, through the old U.S. government Director of Civilian Marksmanship gun purchasing program, my father bought a Model 1922 M2 .22 caliber Springfield bolt action. He ordered a serviceable rifle, taking his chances on what he would receive. It arrived still packed in the original Springfield Armory storage cosmoline wrappings.

I was just a kid, but I can remember well the difficult job of cleaning up that rifle. I can also remember, after it was cleaned, how elated my father was that he had received what appeared to be an unused, new-condition Springfield .22. It soon proved very accurate and became a family favorite for plinking. That fall I got my first hunting license, and that M2 became my favorite squirrel hunting rifle.

In the late 1970s, after my dad had retired and was selling off many of his rifles, I purchased this Springfield from him, along with the original sales papers and spare parts he had acquired over the years. The rifle is still all original as it came from Springfield Armory. He was happy to keep it in the family, and it is still part of my collection.

In recent years I was struck with a rekindled interested in the history of this model variation of the 1903 Springfield, so I started a new and deeper study of the M2's history.

The Model 1922 was not Uncle Sam's first attempt at building a .22 rimfire Springfield. That was actually the U.S. Gallery Rifle Caliber .22 Model 1903, which was introduced in 1907. But it failed because of design problems and corrosive .22 rimfire ammo of the period.

In his book The Rifle In America, Philip B. Sharpe wrote that "[T]he U.S. Gallery Rifle caliber .22 Model 1903 was one of the crudest abortions ever developed by any organization, regardless of the fact it was turned out by Springfield Armory."

So in 1919, under the direction of Maj. Julian S. Hatcher, with the cooperation of the National Rifle Association, work was started on a newer .22 caliber gallery practice rifle. The goal was to provide an accurate smallbore rifle for school competitions, civilian rifle clubs and sale to NRA members.

The rifle was to be built on a modified 1903 Springfield action. It continued through several test models, with the final design standardized in 1922. It was called the Model of 1922, Cal .22, and was so marked on top of the receiver ring. It had an NRA-style sporting pistol grip stock, with one barrel band and no upper handguard. It was fitted with a checkered steel buttplate.

The front sight was a modified military type, the rear sight a Lyman 48B peep mounted on the rear receiver bridge. The 24-inch barrel had four-groove rifling with a 1:16 twist. The rifle accepted a detachable five-shot magazine, the well for which was designed around the original 1903 floorplate and trigger guard assembly.

The rifles were built at Springfield Armory until 1924, when production stopped for modifications. A little over 2,000 were made.

After modifications and testing, the U.S. Army decided to adopt the rifle, and after that it was made in two versions--one for Army issue, the other for civilian sales.