browning sa-22 challenge. $960

The gorgeous heirloom Browning SA-22 is renowned for it’s elegance and accuracy but since it’s release in 1914 it has resisted the inclination to modernize. Until now. The SA-22 Challenge has taken what I always considered the downfall of the original takedown model and remedied it. The original takedown rifle assembles and disassembles via a barrel-nut that affixes the barrel to the receiver, however, over the course of a few dozen shots this could work lose and impact accuracy, especially if you had a scope attached. Because the scope would stay with the receiver, as the barrel-nut loosened the barrel could move off true, and even a millimeter would effect zero. This new SA-22 Challenge remedies the problem by securing the barrel to the receiver therefore this rifle is obviously not a takedown but an accurized iteration intended for competition. The bull barrel is 1/2 x 28 threaded at the muzzle so a silencer can be added, plus it comes with a thread protector and a muzzle brake. And that’s pretty much where the modernization ends. But I’d like to see an extended bolt lever (possibly knurled and concave to accommodate a gloved finger) and sling swivel studs so the rifle can be carried on your back as you go about your hunting day. What’s lovely about the takedown SA-22 is the walnut furniture and svelte contours and thankfully those faculties remain on the Challenge: the receiver is a mere 1” wide by 1.5” high and the barrel is just under an inch in diameter making the rifle barely more cumbersome to carry than a broom handle. It always feels like a shame to put a scope on this rifle as it detracts from it’s grace but the lack of iron sights on the Challenge makes it somewhat of an imperative. The original takedown model has been made by Miroku in Japan since the 70’s and I assume it’s the case with the new Challenge though I can’t find anything on the Browning website to verify that. Take a drool here on the Browning WEBSITE.