Nothing Like a Classic .22 Rifle

[DWalt]

No one has mentioned the Remington Nylon series .22s. Just out of curiosity I bought a 10C cheap a few years ago. It is the box magazine version of the Nylon 66. I had to do a little work on the magazine guide bar to get it running. It was somewhat more difficult to get into it than I expected, but I did finally get it operating OK. I can’t say anything bad about the 10C aside from that the long 10-round box magazine is somewhat awkward. If you are tempted to buy one, I recommend getting the Nylon 66 with the tubular magazine inside the buttstock

 

[BB57]

No one has mentioned the Remington Nylon series .22s. Just out of curiosity I bought a 10C cheap a few years ago. It is the box magazine version of the Nylon 66. I had to do a little work on the magazine guide bar to get it running. It was somewhat more difficult to get into it than I expected, but I did finally get it operating OK. I can’t say anything bad about the 10C aside from that the long 10-round box magazine is somewhat awkward. If you are tempted to buy one, I recommend getting the Nylon 66 with the tubular magazine inside the buttstock

Some of my best childhood memories are of rabbit hunting with my uncle Gregory and his Nylon 66 in Seneca green. I shot a lot of rabbits with it over the years.

I have one in the much more common Mohawk brown inherited from my father in law, and my mother in law was one in Apache Black. Both rifles came from her parent’s True Value hardware store.

The Nylon 66 is a great shooting rifle and well suited to a youth given its light weight. My only complaint is the flexible fore end that makes it very susceptible to any pressure on the stock moving the point of impact. It’s a rifle you definitely want to zero just like you plan to shoot.

They made over a million of them from 1959-1991 while the detachable box magazine fed Nylon 77 lasted less than a decade including it’s renamed 10C variant.

My Remington 541S Sporter uses the same 5 and 10 round magazines and they are the weak point of both rifles. It was a plastic magazine introduced at a time when steel was the standard. Unlike the innovative Ruger rotary polymer and steel magazine at the time, or the current polymer magazines like the excellent CZ polymer magazines (that fit the same well as the metal CZ magazines), the Nylon 77 magazine was just a cheap piece of junk. It has a bad habit of splitting along its seams and puking out the entire contents of the magazine even before the split becomes obvious.

I can see what they were trying to do with the concept as the butt stock tubular magazine in the Nylon 66 was slow to reload, but the Nylon 77 / 10C needed a much better magazine design.

 

[jimmyj]

Saw this gun 2 years ago at a gun show and I thought about it frequently since. He quit setting up at Berea because of health problems. The owner comes to the NE Ohio Bunch, I call him about twice a year to see how he’s doing. Asked him last summer if he still had the gun for sale and it was, he never got back to me on the price. Finally connected again with him and bought it.

I shot it Tuesday morning after I met him and he went back home. It wouldn’t feed ammo from the tube so I shot it single shot. Used the peep sights that were on it. It did great but it was 50 ft indoors. After I got home I took it apart, cleaned it and lubed it. It now feeds good and I put a scope on
These old basic .22 rifles are great shooters. They were cheap but well made. It took me back to younger days when I walked the woods with a .22 rifle enjoying the outdoors. This one was made abt 1949. It’s a Mossberg 146 B with the early “T” blot. Tell us about your classic old rifle. Larry

IIRC (?) the Mossberg Model 146B magazine could hold 26 .22 Shorts ?

 

[cmansguns]

More favorite "classic" 22 rifles

Wow, just looked at this 3 + year old thread and saw page after page of beautiful old classics, many remembered from my youth, but alas.............all the way to page 4 and D-Walt's post about Nylon 66 just yesterday.

I am one that considers the Remington Nylon 66 rifles among the classics even though plastic way, way ahead of their time. They are excellent shooters, trainers, and just plain fun..fun..fun when plinking by all ages around my place.

I'm lucky to own 2, a June 1960 Seneca Green, and a November 1967 Mohawk Brown. Very hard to tell them apart except when viewed in bright sunlight. Both are early (no serial number on receiver, only on barrel), and both have the large thumbscrew rear sight elevation adjustment, standard to the early production runs.

 

[GSP Fan]

I remember "hunting" chipmunks and gophers at our cabin in northern Michigan with a Winchester M1890 gallery gun. It was chambered in 22 short only.
When I bought my first 22 a friend of my dads took me shopping. I desperately wanted a Nylon 66 but he talked me into getting a Remington 552 (I think thats the model number) pump. I remember him saying the pump was safer as you know when it's loaded since you pumped the fresh round into the chamber. He also was of the opinion guns should have wood stocks which is an opinion I hold to today.
Somewhere along the path of rimfire madness I acquired a Winchester 490 semi auto. A nice gun but not the most accurate gun in the world.
In my quest for a tack driving rifle I bought a Cooper Western Classic and it does drive tacks. Not cheap by any means but those one hole 50 yard groups make me smile.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Got some old posts in this thread......

Two years ago I picked up a second used CZ 452 FS/mannlicher in .22mag ..... came with a standard 5rd mag and a cut down flush fit 3rd mag.

Outfitted it with a set of J&P Custom Products "CZ Ghost Ring rear sights replacing the rear sight blade....... my new walking in Penn's Woods rifle.
( a set of three blades; 1/16" target ,3/32" and 1/8" field apertures runs $60)

My older 452 .22mag has a 1-4x20 Leupold scope.

 

[GSP Fan]

Bam-Bam-How many rounds does the flush magazine hold? I have a CZ 452 and the only thing I really don't like about it is how the magazine fits.

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

Here are my two Classics that I’m currently shooting. A 1922 M2 from the ‘30s and a Winchester PreA from the ‘20s. My adolescent .22 was a Winchester 67 that didn’t make it but has been replaced.

 

[.357magger]

My only "classic" 22 rifle is this Marlin 39a from 1973.

Tack driver.

I have the most fun with 22 Shorts. It holds, IIRC, a little over 3 million of them in the tube.

 

[2152hq]

A couple Marlin Model 1897 .22 lever actions.



Left is a 'Deluxe' w/1/2rd bbl, PG, deluxe wood, checkering, tang sight, Beech front and 2 leaf fold down bbl sight.

Right is what some collectors usually call a 'Half Deluxe'.
All the same features as the above including the sights,,but the wood is plain straight grain Am Walnut.
In addition, this particular rifle has been relined back to .22rf and the bbl shortened 2 ".


Who ever did the work did an excellent job.
That plus the fact that the case colors are gone from the frame made for a very nice priced shooter!.

Both are pre-1905(?) mfg as they have the ejector that is free to fall
from the frame once the bolt is removed for cleaning/disassembly.
Many of these are missing the ejector because of this,,and it's easy to glance over the rifle and not see that the critical part is not there. The action will dry function perfectly w/o the ejector in place.
Very nice repros are available for not much $$ so replacement is not the end of the world for these.
Some fitting required!

The later change used two very small screws coming in from the left side of the frame opposite the ejector to hold it firmly in place.
Easy to see the screws on the outside of the frame,,but still check for the ejector inside!

.22Std Vel only guns as are the very first Marlin Model 39 rifles .

I have another of these that is missing the ejector and the mag assembly (found one at Numrich). Needs some restoration work but it's a factory engraved rifle. A standard #1 pattern I think they called it.

 

[SF VET]

back in about '96, bought a new remake of the Winchester 52B, with the adjustable trigger, gorgeous stock, put on a 4X Burris, and it is a superbly accurate rifle with CCI MiniMags. Plus, it just looks like a slightly downsized Winchester 70. SF VET

 

[sandog]

Winchester 75 Sporting :

1956 Marlin Mountie :

Nylon 66 MB :

First year production Remington 552 :

Left hand CZ 452 :

Winchester 9422 :

Browning SA-22s :

My favorite of all of them is the Marlin Mountie, followed closely by the Browning SA-22.

 

[duman444]

Nylon 66 sights

Nylon 66 MB :

I really like the aftermarket sight setup on this gun. Can you share where you got it?

 

[sandog]

duman, my 66 has a Williams GRS peep that clamps on to the receiver shell groove, and a taller front sight was needed so I went with a Williams streamlined ramp and Firesight bead.
That 66 has some surface rust on the barrel and receiver cover when I got it, so I treated it to some grey Cerakote.

 

[mauser9]

Yeah those Nylons sure seemed ahead of their time back then. Bet the influx of synthetics we see today not dreamed of. But the price of black walnut sure had a say in todays production. I sure took for granted glossy bluing along with the ole walnut stocked guns back in the 60s and 70s. Gotta admit those Nylons sure are big with collectors and regular buyers now.

 

[old tanker]

My favorite classic .22 is the Remington 550-1. It was the first .22 rifle I could call my own (1956). I sold that one about 25 years ago, and I still don't know whatever prompted me to do that. Last year I ran across one in very good condition at a reasonable (for today) price, and it's even from 1956 according to the date code. So of course I bought it. They aren't seen too often even though there were many of them sold. At least to my mind, it is the finest .22 semiauto ever made. And not a piece of plastic on it except for the buttplate. It sure brings back a lot of good memories whenever I shoot it.

I agree, the 550-1 is certainly one of the handiest rifles ever made. Mine looks pretty much like yours except it was made in 1952. A gift from an old girlfriend who scored it at a yard sale it stands hen-house guard duty by the back door. CCI CB Shorts feed and function flawlessly and don't scare the neighbors. They make less noise than a pellet gun.

My favorite walking around rifle is this old Remington Model 12C. I think it it just has class. I may not find any rabbits or squirrels to shoot, but I'll look good doing it.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My 7th grandkid is on the way, so I pick up all the "Classic" 22's I can. If I can afford to keep them in ammo we all will be happy!

Ivan

Since I posted this, I now have my 9th grandchild on the way! (Number 9 will be a boy, breaking the 4-4 tie.) Of the first 7, FIVE are Left Handed, That makes finding 22's for all of them a little difficult!

I'm surrounded by Lefties! My wife, #2 son, 5 grand kids, my best friend, 3 other friends and Pastor! It's a Sinister world!

Ivan

 

[BAM-BAM]

Bam-Bam-How many rounds does the flush magazine hold? I have a CZ 452 and the only thing I really don't like about it is how the magazine fits.

Three...... which is plenty in the gun for a walk in the woods. Have a little belt pouch which holds 2 spare 5rd mags.

 

[kfields]

What a fun thread!
My favorite old classic is an old Marlin No.29 that I picked up at the flea market at the fairgrounds in Urbana this past July.
I was done looking and for some reason walked back down a row of vendors set up under the trees to look at something else. There was a new guy setting up late and he just laid down an old slide action .22, one I'd never seen before. Picked it up and he had $150 on it. In full disclosure mode, he said it was missing the firing pin. The action seemed to work fine and the bore looked decent. We settled at $140 and I brought it home. Bought a firing pin and now it works great!
I can't even recall what it was I went back to look at but I'm sure glad that I did!

 

[rincar]

I am a fan of the Remington 550 series. They are fine all-around Rifles. I have 2 of them. I learned to shoot a Rifle with My Grandfathers Remington 550