Thread: Krico Model 300 .22LR modernization

I'm a sucker for weird old .22s, I can't go into a gun store without eyeballing the used section in the rack to see what's come in and last week at Rivers to Ranges this old Kreigskorte & Co. Stuttgart (Krico as most people know them) was screaming out to me.

I didn't know much about them, had never owned or shot one before but knew they were quality German made rifles so asked to have a fondle of it. I quickly noticed it had a nice dark oiled stock with checkering and a sweet little Schnabel forend, dual extractors, free floated barrel, side locking and very slick bolt and an adjustable trigger. Yeah that's a bit of me. It was on the rack as a behalf sale so I made an offer and heard back a few days later that it was all mine for $250.



The stock has a few bruises and it's missing the rear sight, not a perfect collection example by any means but that just means I won't feel bad for doing all the modifications my mind was already exploring. After doing a bit of research online it turns out that this is a second generation Model 300 and with its pressed steel trigger guard it puts it in the mid 1950s vintage.

I picked the rifle up a few days later and went straight out to the range to see how this 70 something year old rifle would perform. Well pretty good as it turned out! 5 shot groups at 50m were under half an inch without any trigger adjustment and with a pretty average old scope on it. Definitely promising enough to start planning out some modifications.





Unfortunately the rifle was having issues with ejecting spent cases, every 3rd or 4th shot and the empty case would just sit on the bolt face and I would have to flick it out of the way with my finger. A bit annoying but given its showing promising accuracy I figured I would take it back to Jeremy at RTR to see if they could help.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/53sm2ArQVfCiP1oo8

Back at the shop Jeremy took the time to pull the rifle apart for me to have a look at what was going on, from what we could see the ejector was sitting a little lower than it should and the rim of the cases sometimes just missed hitting it. Jeremy stripped it down more to see if the ejector was a separate piece that could maybe be filed or reprofiled into a better shape which is when I noticed that the ejector is in fact a two piece part with the ejecting face machined on the end of a metal dowel which could easily be adjusted with a punch and hammer from the other side, very cool and just another example of why I love old stuff that was designed properly! Jeremy carefully adjusted the height of the ejector and bench tested it successfully. Awesome service from the team at RTR, especially given it was just a low value rifle that they sold on behalf.





Future plans for it at this stage are to add a Leupold dial up scope, cut it down to more or less minimum length and build a 30-35mm over barrel suppressor that comes all the way back to the receiver, modifying the stock to be a close fit around that, adding a nice rubber butt pad and updating the worn checkering to a modern stippling look.

Good rifles. I had one of those ages ago still got one in 22 hornet.

My example of these is also extremely accurate and is in the "never sell or trade" rack after 20 years of mucking about with at least 20-30 22s. They have a simple but adjustable trigger that can be set to a fairly mediocre single stage. But if you look at it carefully it really wants to be two stage, and in this mode it really shines, it will come down to a superb crisp let-off at just under 2 lbs, perfect for a hunting rifle.

I was given mine in a very generous trade with @Waynesworld and he has some wonderful Krico's

Still got my 300 that dad bought almost 55 years ago. It'll go to one of my boys.

Originally Posted by Mathias

Still got my 300 that dad bought almost 55 years ago. It'll go to one of my boys.

That's pretty cool Mathias. I too have just taken possession of my fathers one which he bought brand new about 62 I think. This rifle is just a plain jane Krico, nothing fancy but as kids we put a staggering amount rounds through it over the years, there was barely a day that it wasn't used other than when we were at that pesky boarding school bull shit. It can be fed any ammo, mixed lots, just whatever is in your pocket and it still shoots freakily accurate. It will be one of the last that I ever part with. The value in dollars is nothing, the sentimental value...priceless. When I was first allowed to shoot on my own (dare I say it about 10 years old) he would give me three bullets, no mag, no scope. When I could consistently bring back three bunnies (it took a while too) I was given the privilege of a bonus mag and scope.

They are really nice rifles - one thing I would suggest though is that you have a good look at the barrel before chopping it back as one of these did not respond very well at all to that treatment. Apparently the older barrels in these are a bit softer and it happened to have a bulge or some internal issues right where it was chopped. After that it would not group worth a damn and with a tight fitting patch you could feel two loose spots, one about 3" back from the muzzle and one starting about 3/4" before the patch flew out on the rod...

I'm not sure I've ever actually seen one of these still wearing the rear sight - tends to foul most compact scopes I think.

Originally Posted by Waynesworld

That's pretty cool Mathias. I too have just taken possession of my fathers one which he bought brand new about 62 I think. This rifle is just a plain jane Krico, nothing fancy but as kids we put a staggering amount rounds through it over the years, there was barely a day that it wasn't used other than when we were at that pesky boarding school bull shit. It can be fed any ammo, mixed lots, just whatever is in your pocket and it still shoots freakily accurate. It will be one of the last that I ever part with. The value in dollars is nothing, the sentimental value...priceless. When I was first allowed to shoot on my own (dare I say it about 10 years old) he would give me three bullets, no mag, no scope. When I could consistently bring back three bunnies (it took a while too) I was given the privilege of a bonus mag and scope.

Awesome. Mines plain jane too and shoots with anything as you mentioned. I only scoped it about 30yrs ago but foolishly chopped & suppressed, regretting that later when I understood the sentiment attached. It's had a phenomenal amount of ammo through it by many in the family.

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Depends on the scope.

Originally Posted by john m

Depends on the scope.
Attachment 273027

Interesting that your one looks identical to mine but doesn't have the side locking bolt? Does it have double extractors? How is the bolt released?

Originally Posted by Mintie

Interesting that your one looks identical to mine but doesn't have the side locking bolt? Does it have double extractors? How is the bolt released?

Some have a side release button and some simply use the trigger to release. Also the safety changed sides too.
Re the extractors, I seem to remember or heard that they are both very similar but not the same, there have been cases where they have been reinstalled in the adjacent side by mistake and they wont extract.

The thing Ive found with one model krico 22lr is that the grip and trigger are quite close together making them good for youth but pretty cramped if you have big hands. There is also a mauser which is the same rifle and I think voere as well

Originally Posted by john m

Depends on the scope.
Attachment 273027

Your one is clearing with the height of the mounts - I think that most of them the easiest way to fix it was knock the rear sight out rather than try and find mounts that allowed the scope to clear... The issue is more a case of the short receiver limiting the for and aft adjustment of the scope which is kind of what your photo highlights.

No 3 you are correct. I try to avoid rear sight removal if I can. I'm old and like the idea of back up sights.
Mintie my bolt removes by holding the trigger.