The Rimfire Report: A Series Of Tubes – The Hamilton Model 11

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world. Most of us remember shooting a gun for the first time. As I’ve talked about a bunch of times before, mine was the Ruger 10/22 and for a lot of other shooters my age it was their first gun too. One gun I’ve come across recently on Gunbroker might just be the early 1900s equivalent of that – The Hamilton Model 11 otherwise fondly known as the “Boys Rifle.” Simple, rugged, safe, and affordable, the Model 11 was probably the first rifle many boys shot throughout the first half of the 20th century, and today I wanted to take a closer look at this strange collection of tubes to see what it offered the back yard plinkers of the early 1900s.

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

The Rimfire Report: An (Almost) 100% Aftermarket 10/22 The Rimfire Report: Do .22LR Bullet Coatings Matter? The Rimfire Report: Mossad’s Deadly Legacy with Beretta Model 71

The Rimfire Report: A Series Of Tubes – The Hamilton Model 11

Clarence J. Hamilton founded the Hamilton Rifle Co. with the mission of making firearms for the average American family. His approach to this meant that his firearms were primarily made from stamped steel. Hamilton could keep costs low while still producing a functional and durable rifle that appealed to the frugal customers needing a rifle for their young kids. Between 1901 and 1903, the company made around 21,860 Model 11 rifles with the rifle itself being a variant of the earlier and similar-looking Model 7 which featured no wooden stock. That might sound like a lot of rifles, but considering how many of these were well-loved (read: beat up) by their young owners, finding one in decent condition today is no small feat and some guns in particularly good condition can go for more than $600 despite the original retail asking price being somewhere between $2-$5. Most examples I’ve come across online have most of their nickel plating flaked off and the stocks are heavily worn.

The Model 11 was a compact single-shot rifle capable of firing .22 Short, Long, or Long Rifle cartridges. The chamber and barrel featured a unique pivoting action that swung out and to the side almost like a revolver cylinder. Despite its appearance and overall length, the Model 11 had an exceptionally short 8-inch rifled barrel which doesn’t even make up ⅓ of its overall length of 30¾ inches. Weighing only a few pounds, the stamped steel rifle was lightweight and easy for young shooters to handle. The stock was made from either thin gumwood or slightly more expensive ($0.25 at the time) walnut with rounded edges, giving it a simple yet functional appearance. Its sights included an integral blade at the front and a stamped non-adjustable rear sight.

What makes the Model 11 particularly interesting is that it was essentially a modified version of the Hamilton Model 7, with a wooden stock added. Dealers at the time wanted something more traditional-looking, and the Model 11 with its simple design and wooden stock was Hamilton’s answer. It was marketed as the “boy’s rifle,” designed to teach kids the basics of shooting in a safe and practical way. The rifle was also capable of being disassembled into two pieces and stuffed into a backpack or sack for camping or use as a survival rifle.

Shooting and Handling the Model 11

I haven’t had the chance to shoot a Model 11 myself, but from everything I’ve read on forums or heard from friends of mine who’ve shot them, they are easy to shoot, but not all that great in virtually any other department. If you’ve ever used a single-shot shotgun before, the loading and firing process is simple – tilt the barrel out, drop in a single .22 cartridge, snap it back into place, cock the foot lock firing pin, and take aim. The pivot-barrel action is as straightforward as it gets and probably kept kids from blowing their entire allowance on ammo too quickly like I did with my 10/22.

The rifle’s size and lightweight build would make it ideal for small hands and at just a few pounds, it’s easy to imagine a kid carrying it around all day, plinking at tin cans or learning to hunt small game. The original Model 7 might be a bit more uncomfortable for an adult-sized shooter as it doesn’t have any of the widths that the stocked Model 11 has, so I could also imagine that the Model 11 might have been a handy pest control rifle for a lot of people growing up on the countryside. What’s clear from a lot of forum talk is that the rifles are highly sought after not because they’re particularly great to shoot – but because they’re part of a series of classic Hamilton rifles that many people want a complete collection of.

A Classic NFA Exempt SBR

Some of you might have read that barrel length up above and thought “Hey, that’s an SBR!” While you’d technically be correct, the ATF has clarified that Hamilton rifles Models 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35,39, and 43 other rifles that have similar designs are exempt – actually, they’ve been removed from the NFA if we’re keeping things technical. This exemption often applies to a lot of other C&R rifles like the Hamilton Model 11 simply because they’re most often kept around as collector’s items and not likely to be used as weapons.

Later designs like the Model 27 carried on the legacy of the Model 11 after it was discontinued, and are similarly sought after as collector’s items today. Speaking of which, most online auctions for these types of rifles typically go for around $500 or so if the rifle is in shootable condition. Other examples in worse condition have been listed for around $200 or so but given the rarity of the rifle (with only about 20,000 in existence) I’d imagine that these will only go up in price as fewer of them wander their way into the private marketplace. I’d love to get my hands on one someday to shoot, but given the rarity of this particular example, I might be waiting around a long time to cross this one off my list of guns to shoot. I’d love to hear what your experiences have been with the Hamilton Model 11 “Boys Rifle.” Even though this is a rare find, I’m sure some of you have at least shot one. Thanks as always for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report, we’ll see you again next week!