gevarm e1 .22

deanner

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hey i know there are a few of you out there with these rifles . i have tryed to do as much reasearch on these rifles as possible but not much info comes up on them.
I know
they are french made
fire from an open bolt
only have 3 moving parts
mags are almost impossible to find
were really cheap back in the day
they are fairly rare

questions
-do they require alot of cleaning? I read somewhere to only shoot 50 then clean. seems a little excessive to me.
-what are the chances of having a round go off before the bullet is in the chamber?
-If a loaded e1 is dropped is there a possibility of it going of b/c of the open bolt config?
-how is there accuracy? I have read conflicting reports.

Heres a pic i found on the net

26106E1_GEVARM_IN_TAKEDOWN_MODE_600_WIDE_edited.JPG


Thanks
dean
 
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I'll have a stab at it

hey i know there are a few of you out there with these rifles . i have tryed to do as much reasearch on these rifles as possible but not much info comes up on them.
I know
they are french made true
fire from an open bolt these do
only have 3 moving parts
mags are almost impossible to find yes especially 20s
were really cheap back in the day - probably comparable to a 10-22 in sollars of the daythey are fairly rare - the guns aren't
questions
-do they require alot of cleaning? I read somewhere to only shoot 50 then clean. seems a little excessive to me. you can go with a lot more. ( I've done 600, but not at one session depends on the ammo. if the chamber get crudded up the cartridge may not seat all the way,. then in theory you either get no firing since the bolt is cushioned by the round being pushed in the crud, or you get firing but the round isn't fully seated so you get a split rim. anybody run into either of these?-what are the chances of having a round go off before the bullet is in the chamber? Don't believe its very high. the massive bolt pushes the round into the chamber and then when the rim is rammed against the face of the chamber ( like an anvil) it crushes the priming compound the bolt is still accelerating when it hits the magazined round. I was experimenting with magazine elevation/angles and had a few rounds not bgo into the chamber & no detonation - maybe I was lucky?

-If a loaded e1 is dropped is there a possibility of it going of b/c of the open bolt config? no more or less than a closed bolt design. If the sear lets go t you'll get a ND in either case-

how is there accuracy? I have read conflicting reports. to me like all rimfires it depends on ammo, repeatability of cycles, etc. if dirty they may not be as accurate . normal semi-auto rapid fire they are harder to get tight groups with because the reciprocating bolt is heavy so the gun rocks more . plus the E1 sights are pretty basi
the fun factor is exteremely high.:D:D:D they are a funky gun to shoot especially plinking. i've found the target version - peep sight, 1 piece stock very accurate.
Heres a pic i found on the net

26106E1_GEVARM_IN_TAKEDOWN_MODE_600_WIDE_edited.JPG


Thanks
dean
 
Hi deanner. Was surprised to see my photo of my little E1 on your post. Glad I could be of help. I swear by these cheapies!!! I've owned a dozen of them since the '60s when you could buy a new one off the shelf at Kmart for $49.50. I had only one down here, but when we moved to BC in late '60s I bought and sold them through our Mom & Pop grocery we operated up in Courtenay on Vancouver Island.

I kept only one when we moved back to the States to care for our elderly parents. Our two oldest kids still live on the Island.

Mags are a pain in the patootie to find, and VERY costly when found. Luckily I've got a couple of each for my E1 and A7. I'm still looking to buy an A3 and A6.

Sounds like you've gotten most of the info you wanted. I've got some more, including scans and so on but I don't think they'd do you any more good than what you've already gotten from JohnC.

Not one of mine has ever misfired or had a feed problem, and believe me I've fed them everything. Nothing like watching an E1 at night unload a 20-rd mag where every fourth round is a Gevelot tracer. Even more fun when it's been converted to FA....

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
GEVARMEMBLEM200WIDE.jpg


Here's an old '70s S.I.R. catalog ad for the Gevarms. Note price of mags down at bottom right... (I think I'm gonna' cry...)

SIRCATALOGGEVELOTPAGE2.jpg
 
I love my a6. I haven't cleaned the barrel for over 3000 rounds. still shooting around 1.5" at 100 yards. I clean the action and trigger bits about every 100 - 500 rounds depending on the ammo.
 
You're a lucky guy Wildfoot! I've never seen or heard of one of the A6s down here. Ran across an A3 not long ago, but they wanted a FORTUNE for it. Too rich for my blood so had to pass.

Was extremely lucky to have a very nice A7 offered to me for under $200. It had no rear sight and front sight inserts were missing, along with sight hood. I recently bought a pile of Gevarm parts from a guy in France for $35. There was a NEW original rear sight.

So now, I've got a pile of Gevarm parts to sell off.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser

FYI - Here's a pic of the four models they offered.

INSIDEPAGES_edited_edited.jpg
 
Stand by, Wildfoot. Gotta' dig into some old files with the company description of each model. Will be back in a few......

Here you go. This is kinda' blurry but hopefully you can still make it out.

mauser


GEVARMCATALOGINSIDEFRONT_edited_edi.jpg
 
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Reading all the material above it appears the main difference in A3 and A7 is that the 3 fires on the open bolt and the 7 does NOT. The 7 was considered the high end of their line, and you notice SIR didn't even offer it!

I've never had a chance to compare them in hand. All I can talk absolute about is my A7. Saw one of them sell for more than $700 at one of the online auctions down here. A MINT, NIB, with all the bells and whistles E1 goes for around $500.

Main attraction of the E1 is how easily it converts to FA. (15 minutes and a quarter-inch drill) That's also why its import was banned in the US in the '60s.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
Hi deanner. Was surprised to see my photo of my little E1 on your post

Yeah that pic is all of the net. I saw it on a couple forums while researching these little .22s.

I recently bought a pile of Gevarm parts from a guy in France for $35.

Do you have E1 parts? Like a stock? Mine has had a horrible refinish job done.
 
Sorry deanner, no stock! All just small action parts. However, there's a guy I've done business with down here who specializes in some reproduction stuff. One of his specialties is making repro stocks. I can look up his info and let you know if interested.

He's evidently got one of those stock reproducing machines where you stick the old cracked stock in one side and its clone is carved on the other side of the machine.

His stuff isn't very expensive and you shouldn't have any trouble getting it through Customs to you. I got a great buttplate for a very rare Winchester Thumbtrigger, which I thought I'd never find, at a VERY reasonable price from this guy.

Lemme' know.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
I am interested. do you know if he can mod it a little or does it come out exactly the same?? The reason I ask is b/c whom ever refinished this stock sanded too much off and the buttplate doesnt fit perfect.

thanks
dean
 
Hi fellows, only thing I have found is the E1 frame will break at
the stock is you drop it, have run into that on 2 over the years.
Last 2 20 shot ( new) mags I had in stock went for $75.oo
each, but last show I saw couple of used ones higher than that.
I have also seen mags cheap when the guys didn't know what
they had.Sorry , none left.:(
I have not seen a full wood one for years.
Marshall
 
deanner, sorry, but cannot find that info since I lost most everything in system problems at that time. In the paper trail I could only find a money order receipt to that seller, but it was simply made out to SILVER HILL CO.. It had no town, state, etc.. My apologies. Mouth wrote a check it couldn't cash!

He was advertising repro stocks on either GunBroker or AuctionArms. I checked both last night with no luck. Just one of those stock reproducing machines offered for sale.

Marshall, I had one Canadian send me a photo a few years ago of his accumulation of Gevarm mags. NINE of 'em, both 8-rd and 20-rd, but NONE for sale!

Last 20-rd I offered sold for $175!!! And, I had a seller at a table in a local gun show with ALL mags asking $300 for a 20-rounder!

Someplace on CGN, a couple of years ago, there was a group buy of new mags arranged. Guys were reporting later how satisified they were with the new ones. Anyone needing mags might want to do a real thorough search on CGN threads.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
Thanks for taking the time to look for me. I have been searching every forum and havnt seen a recent post about mags for sale. Do you know what company they did the group buy from? I have also been thinking about trying to get someone to reporduce the mags the only thing is they would probably have to destroy one to make one. Also it you probably cost alot to make the first one. But once they had the prints for one the rest would be easy. I'm also pretty sure that if someone could reproduce them, they could also mod them aswell. Why not have a 50 or 100 round clip lol. You could rest it on the ground while you firing standing up.
 
Not long ago I saw where someone had figured out how to take a 50-rd (Pietta or Bingham, not sure which brand) PPS-50 .22rf drum and put a different feed on it to fit the Thompson A3, AND IT WORKED!

Somewhere on this globe, Phillipines, or Italy maybe, someone has perfected the .22rf drum for semi-auto weapons. There's one on the market now for under $70 for the Ruger 10/22. Why can't one of those simply have the feed-end of a Gevarm mag welded onto it?

I'm not into the mechanics or manufacturing, but it seems to me someone dropped the ball when they came up with that group buy of the repro Gevarm 20s a couple of years ago, and reported here in CGN forums their success with those mags. The number of Gevarm owners who would buy an inexpensive reproduction of those 20-rd mags is still enormous. But try digging out that info. I tried and got nowhere.

I wonder if the folks who produce the Fun Gun kits for the 10/22, just maybe the drum for their Tommy Gun kits would be easy to convert to fit the Gevarm?

FUNGUNRUGER1.jpg


Best regards ~ ~ ~ mauser
 
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