A Variety of gun makers made guns for Sears, Wards, JC Penney and Western Auto. Companies like Mossberg, Colt, Savage, Stevens and Hi Cap were just a few who made Brand Name guns for all these companies.
JC Higgins was just a brand name it was never a gun manufacture of guns. Sears and all the other companies stopped selling guns around 1985.
Both Crosman and Daisy made airguns for sears under the JC Higgins brand name. Any sears model air gun that started with 126 was made by Crosman. Any air gun model starting with the numbers 799 was made by Daisy. Here is an Example: Sears model 126.10294 was made by Crosman and is really a Crosman model V350
Talk to the company that made the gun. See if they have replacement parts on hand. I suggest you take the gun to a gun shop to have it identified. JC Higgins is just a brand name used by Sears. The guns and rifles were made by Mossberg, Savage, Remington and other gun companies. They put the JC Higgins name on the guns for Sears to sell. A good Gun shop will recognize who made the gun.
The J C Higgins model 20 pump shotgun 583 55 was actually made by Sears. Sears and Roebuck & co. owned High Standard and held all the licenses for this gun .583 means House brand exclusive Sears product. 55 is the Sears code for the year 1948
JC Higgins never made guns. All of Sears (JCH) guns were made by established gun makers but used the name JC Higgins to sell the guns and rifles through Sears stores. Even the BB guns were made by Daisy air gun and Crosman air gun. They put the name JC Higgins on the guns when they were shipped to Sears.
The JC Higgins Model 45 is simply the Marlin Model 336C as made for Sears. The base gun is still in production, although Sears is no longer in the gun business. www.countrygunsmith.net
Is there a manufacturer's name or trade name marked on the gun? With that and a serial number we MAY be able to answer your question. sears roebucks no273r28411
Your shot gun was made By Harrington & Richardson For J C Higgins -Sears / High standard. in 1945 http://www.histandard.info/PDF/Sears%20Shotguns.pdf
The same, Its a Stevens model 95, a Savage 96 and a sears 101.100
a $50.00 Sears gift card If there is no letter after 583.17 there is a recall on this gun UNSAFE to Shoot ! Sears is giving a $50.00 gift card for the bolt to disable the gun
The J C Higgins Model 20 was made by Sears / High Standard . Sears owned High Standard in those days. .Sears also Held all the rights to manufacture it . It is a true Sears gun. It was the No.1 selling pump action in the 50's try Numrich gun parts West Hurley NY.
The JC Higgins gun cleaning kit model 2140 was produced in the 1960s. JC Higgins was a brand associated with the Sears, Roebuck and Company, and their products were typically sold through Sears stores. The 2140 model was part of a line of cleaning kits designed for various firearms.
Sears no longer sells JC Higgins. But you can still find used ones at gunshows or on the net. All of the JC Higgins guns were made by other gun makers but used the "Brand name" JC Higgind for Sears. Even the JC Higgins air guns (BB Guns) were all made by Daisy or Crosman air gun company. The same went for Wards.