This is an article by Payton Miller off the Guns & Ammo website:

J.C. Higgins Model 50

Sears and Roebuck had a real sleeper with this Belgian-pedigreed, early-'50s bolt-action sporter.

By Payton Miller

Chain-store classic: The J.C. Higgins Model 50 was introduced in 1951 and was replaced by various other models from different gunmakers. This one is no longer "dead stock." It features a Bausch & Lomb 2.5-5X, Redfield mounts and a recoil pad.

Throughout his life, my dad owned one deer rifle. No, it wasn't an old Winchester Model 94 or Remington Model 721. It was a J.C. Higgins Model 50 bolt action that he bought new in the very early 1950s. Made by Belgium's Fabrique Nationale on a commercial Mauser 98 action, the rifle was purchased through Sears and Roebuck about the time I was graduating to solid food. It came with a Weaver K4 scope with sweated-on Weaver rings and two-piece Weaver bases.

According to the original old owner's-manual "List Of Parts And Assemblies," it was also offered with a 2.5X scope, which, although a perfectly sound choice, wouldn't have fit in quite as well with the legendary ranging characteristics of the .270.

I shot my first deer with it in 1966, a 3x2 California mulie. Over 40 or so years of use, the rifle was taken on various deer hunts, hog hunts and a black bear hunt in Alberta. Before he passed away, Dad gave the Model 50 to me. I'd always known it was a good rifle, although it lacked the cachet of a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70. Older shooters always told me to hang on to it, that--regardless of its "chain store" pedigree--it was one of the best. Growing up, it seemed the embodiment of what a deer rifle was--not that I'd seen all that much to compare it to.

I'd always kind of been in awe of the rifle. I can recall my dad making an exceptionally long (275-yards-plus) shot with it on a four-point mule deer when I was pretty young. He'd slung up--just like they'd taught him in the Marine Corps--dropped into a sitting position and shot a buck I could barely see on a ridge above us. Just like that.

Later, in trying to find out something about the rifle, I became aware of the dizzying, ever-changing array of what S.P. Fjestad's Blue Book Of Gun Values refers to as the "Store Brand Crossover" category of firearms marketed by major chain stores such as Sears (Montgomery Ward and Western Auto also had their own lines). In this day and age, it may be tough to associate a company that once flooded the nation with giant catalogs advertising everything from ladies' underwear to auto parts with marketing a first-class rifle, but that's the way it was.

Although there's no "inside the triggerguard" release, simply press the floorplate button in, push the floorplate forward, and withdraw the floorplate, spring and follower for occasional cleaning.

The Model 50 came on the scene in 1951. It was superseded by the Model 51 (made by Husqvarna), the Model 52 (made by Sako) and the Model 54 (made by Browning). All bore the J.C. Higgins stamp. Higgins, it seems, was a long-time Sears employee. His name was deemed sufficiently outdoorsy to appropriate for a line of hunting, fishing and sporting gear. In the 1960s, baseball legend Ted Williams became the Sears sporting-goods name…but that's another story.

This particular Model 50's Sears stock I.D. number is 583.95, which corresponds to a rollmark date of 9/28/51. The serial number is 277XX.

At any rate, the Model 50 originally cost slightly under $100 without the scope (about $130 with the scope). I remember Dad telling me once that he couldn't quite afford a Winchester Model 70 at the time he needed a serious rifle. He wasn't making much money and was finishing up college on the GI Bill and trying to start a family.

Now, a Model 70 would've given him more caliber choices, if that would've mattered. But although the J.C. Higgins was only available in two chamberings, they were pretty good ones--.30-06 Springfield and .270 Winchester. In fact, as far as my dad believed, they were the only two worth considering. Anything more exotic, he feared, might be tough to find ammo for or, worse, might be discontinued altogether. He chose the .270 because it shot a little flatter and kicked a hair less than an '06, particularly with 130-grain bullets, which is all I ever saw him use.

The rifle's zero was checked once a year. Dad didn't believe in shooting a rifle just to shoot a rifle, so bench sessions were brief and to the point--one or two shots at 25 yards to rough-check things, then a three-shot group at 100 yards followed, if necessary, by a couple of clicks on the scope's adjustment turrets to bring things around so that the point of impact was at around two inches above the point of aim. Regardless of how much between-hunt downtime the rifle had, it was seldom off by much.

The J.C. Higgins Model 50 features what has since come to be termed a "classic" stock configuration. No rollover cheekpiece. No fore-end tip. It's a bit beefier in the wrist than many current bolt-action sporters. There is a simple black-and-white plastic pistol-grip cap by way of adornment. The wood is nice, no-nonsense walnut without much figure. Barrel length is the standard 22 inches. And the bore is chromed, something an early ad for the rifle made much to-do of. Fully scoped, it weighs right at 8 1/4 pounds.

As I got more into rifles as I got older, I tried tarting up the Model 50 a bit for Dad. In the early 1980s I replaced the old Weaver K-4 with a Bausch & Lomb 1.5-5X variable. No knock on the K-4, but by that time, its fine crosshairs were a bit tough for Dad's eyes to pick up (now they'd be tough for mine!), and the fat Duplex reticle on the B&L helped some. I could have gone for a variable with higher top-end magnification, but that would have been pointless. I knew Dad would simply set it at 4X and leave it alone. Which is what he did, and so it's stayed.

Since the rifle originally came without a recoil pad, I had a Pachmayr pad installed, which made the rifle easier to shoot off the bench (and easier to stand in a corner).

Naturally, the FN-made Model 50 features a standard-issue Mauser-style safety.

The Model 50 had been kept at my mom's house and hadn't seen much use in many years. There are dings on the stock--some I remember like old friends--from using the rifle in my youth. Some, with a twinge of shame, I remember putting there myself through carelessness. The bolt is still pretty bright, and the general blueing--aside from a few spots with a light, "plummy" haze--is pretty good.

A while back I decided to take my 14-year-old son out to the range to let him shoot the rifle. He's bigger than I was at his age, and the sharp recoil I remembered didn't seem to bother him much as it did me. After a bit of familiarization, he was banging 100- and 200-yard gongs regularly. I did have to yell at him a few times about the loading mechanics of push vs. controlled-round feed. In fact, I could've shown him the battered original owner's manual wherein it clearly states--in capital letters--"THE RIFLE CANNOT BE LOADED BY DROPPING THE CARTRIDGE DIRECTLY INTO THE CHAMBER."

Rollmarks testify to the Model 50's Belgian heritage as well as its Sears/J.C. Higgins market niche.

He seemed to be having so much fun with the old Model 50 that I decided to shoot a couple of groups and see what the rifle was capable of. First I let the rifle cool down a bit, and then, using some fairly elderly 130-grain Remington Bronze Points, I managed to get a couple of 2 1/4-inch 200-yard groups. It'd been some time since I'd shot the rifle, and the trigger wasn't quite as light as I'd have liked. Then I switched to Winchester 130-grain Power-Point Plus loads, and the rifle still held in there at two inches even. Then I moved the target back in to 100 yards, and going back to the Bronze Points, I was rewarded with the best "light sporter/factory ammo" three-shot group I can recall--a scintillating half-inch.

Now I sure wouldn't bank on being able to pull that off on a regular basis, but that old rifle will definitely hang at around an inch (slightly over or slightly under) with a variety of brands and bullet types. And one of these days I may try some 140- or 150-grain loads, although I sure can't envision using them for anything I'd want a .270 for.

From time to time I see J.C. Higgins Model 50s on the used market and occasionally on auction lists. But not too often. Maybe the guys who own them are reluctant to part with them.

Maybe the copywriter involved in that ancient old owner's manual wasn't just engaging in hyperbole when he wrote "Built to last a lifetime…of the finest materials."

No arguing with that point, up to now at any rate. Maybe I'll run across a J.C. Higgins Model 50 in .30-06 someday and complete the set.

I used to work with Payton and he got a big kick out of it when I got a Model 50 in .270 from an AR member.

He used to have an original magazine ad for the rifle hanging in his office. I think the ad even made it into his article. It was a lot of fun reminiscing with him.

I never could bring myself to use the action as a donor as planned.

I have a few of those rifles. Two are totally stock, one had had the stock slimmed down some by a previous owner, another sits in a Butler Creek synthetic sock (The original got broken in a fall) and another has been rebarreled to the 7x57 and restocked.
I do find what I consider to be an error in the above article. I don't remember Weaver bases of that time frame being made of steel, so I'm trying to figure out how they were "sweated" in place? Sweating is a form of soldering and last I heard, you can't sweat aluminum to steel.
With one exception, all my rifles are good for one inch or less. i haven't figured out why the one with the slimmed down stock won't do betetr than two and a half inches, but if I cannot get it to shoot good, it's be a donor for a .35 Wheleb I thinking about building.
I would like to find a Higgins 50 in .270, but so far, the only one I've was so beat up, I'd be afraid to shoot it. Rust everywhere and the stock looks like the guy used it to beat his game to death rather than waste another bullet.
Paul B.

I have a 50 and I believe a 53. Both in 30-06 and both are marked FN. I'm told the barrels were made by High Standard who assembled the rifles.
They both shoot just as represented.