Remington 550-1 - Am I happy!

[DWalt]

My very first .22 rifle was a Remington 550-1 which I got for a Christmas present in about 1956. I put a huge number of .22 Shorts through it in my younger days. Back then, .22 Shorts were considerably cheaper than .22 LRs so that's what I used. As time passed, I quit shooting a .22, and the 550 just gathered dust. For reasons I don't remember, I sold it in about 1992 for $100, but eventually regretted it. For the last year or so, I have been on the lookout for another 550 as I have rediscovered the joys of shooting .22 rifles and handguns as the ammunition prices have dropped back to an affordable range. But every 550 I have seen has been in well-used condition and/or the price was more than I thought was reasonable.

Until yesterday. At the local gun show, I found a 550-1 in near-new condition with a $300 price tag. I offered $250 and the seller accepted. It has a few minor wood finish scratches, but a cleaning with solvent and a fresh coat of stock oil will take care of that in short order. The barrel date stamp says it was made in January 1956, about the same time as the one I originally had. I fired a few dozen rounds of both shorts (standard velocity, no less) and LRs onto the ground in my back yard, and functioning was perfect. The standard velocity shorts are nearly silent.

My feeling has always been that there has never been a better .22 semiautomatic rifle made than the 550. Not only will it shoot shorts, longs, and long rifle cartridges interchangeably (try doing that with any other semiautomatic .22 rifle), it is extremely good when it comes to accuracy. I remember that my first rifle had no problem in producing 1" 50 yard groups. It is an old-school gun made with real walnut and steel and the highest quality workmanship, made for heavy use by adults, not kids, and its reliability is perfect. Or at least my original rifle was.

I won't be able to shoot it for the next two weeks, but I plan to burn through several hundred rounds as soon as I can. I can hardly wait. Am I happy to have an old friend back in the stable.

 

[4barrel]

I still have mine with the deflector I bought used in the 70s in about 85% or better without scope grooves.

 

[ralph7]

Hopefully yours had the unique powder gas deflector they originally came with. That is the most frequent MIA part these guns have,
I have a 550-2 Gallery Special, think all the 550 series are a neat breed of .22 auto rifle.

 

[ExRanger714]

I love mine but I broke off the follower tip of the inner mag tube. Hard to find and expensive to replace. Be careful with yours and enjoy!

Regards JD

 

[DWalt]

Yes, mine has the deflector, as did my first 550. I have seen others for sale with the deflector missing, and in fact I recently saw another 550-1 in reasonably good condition but without the deflector for $230, which I passed up for just that reason. I am not sure how difficult a replacement deflector is to find. I believe the earlier 550s did not come equipped with deflectors. I have understood that prior to about 1955, the 550 receivers did not have the grooves for tip-off mounts. I had a fairly decent 4X scope on my previous 550, and I am going to get on eBay to find a pair of 1" mounts with the tip-off claws. I have an old but fairly decent Weaver 2-3/4X scope that I plan to use with my "new" 550.

With Remington (maybe?) going out of the gun business, I don't think one can lose money buying any good condition Remington gun at the right price. While I have several earlier Winchester rifles and shotguns, I have always been partial to Remingtons, especially their semiautomatics.

 

[Rayfan87]

An older gentleman who I considered a grandfather had two .22 rifles on the wall of his garage, I always looked at them when we were there. One night out in the garage he told me to "grab that top rifle for me," I was 25 at the time 6' tall, he was 5'4" on a good day. Being the good kid I pretended to be, I quickly retrieved the rifle and started to hand it to him. He waved his hand and said "go put it in your car, it's yours now, you can have the other one later, but I still need it." It was a beautifully well taken care of 550-1 that I absolutely treasure. I know it's not a high dollar weapon, but because it was his, I'd never sell it.

 

[Big E3]

Pictures guys, come on now. I don’t have a good pic of just my 1957 made 550-1, so here’s a few of the Remington family. I think I just recently posted these in a different thread but, can’t have too many pics. The top down: 341 that my dad received from his dad when he returned from WWII, two 34’s and finally the 550-1 that I picked up 8 years ago from a garage sale for $100. Really interesting guns with the floating chamber to handle short to long rifle without any adjustment. Now Dwalt we need to see yours.

 

[Stranglehold]

Nice find...and I agree with all you've said. A man sized rifle built the way a firearm should be made. I've accumulated quite a few of the vintage rimfire autoloaders, including a pair of 550-1s.

Roe

 

[DWalt]

I'll put up a picture after I put a coat of oil on the stock to cover the scratches. But it is exactly the same as the others shown above. Except my stock is a very dark walnut without much of its grain showing. Fresh oil may bring out a little more grain.

 

[grice]

When I was 13 my dad bought me a 550-1, that’s been a while, 1962 or so lol. Anyway that was one fine rifle that was accurate as all get out. I never had to adjust the rear sight. I dearly loved that rifle then one day right after my wife and I moved we came home and someone had broke in to the house and stole nearly every gun I had and only missed my dads colt trooper and my model 29. It broke my heart. That was 1980. It was stupid not to have a safe and I hate to admit it. Anyway couple years ago I saw this Remington 550-1 on gun broker and I paid $275 for it, first think I did was clean it with kerosene to get any dirt out of it then took it to the range, shoots just like my old one and doesn’t skip s beat. Best 22 rifles ever made, my opinion . Glad you found one for yourself.

 

[gmiller0737]

When I was 13 my dad bought me a 550-1, that’s been a while, 1962 or so lol. Anyway that was one fine rifle that was accurate as all get out. I never had to adjust the rear sight. I dearly loved that rifle then one day right after my wife and I moved we came home and someone had broke in to the house and stole nearly every gun I had and only missed my dads colt trooper and my model 29. It broke my heart. That was 1980. It was stupid not to have a safe and I hate to admit it. Anyway couple years ago I saw this Remington 550-1 on gun broker and I paid $275 for it, first think I did was clean it with kerosene to get any dirt out of it then took it to the range, shoots just like my old one and doesn’t skip s beat. Best 22 rifles ever made, my opinion . Glad you found one for yourself.

I have one too it was the 1st Real Gun I ever fired it belonged to My Dad,I still shoot it from time to time Mine was made in 1950


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[Rayfan87]

Had to snap a new pic of mine. The scope is nothing special, just a cheap one I picked up. Barrel code puts it at September of '55.

 

[-db-]

1953 Model

 

[Rayfan87]

Numrich sells reproduction deflectors if you can't find originals.

 

[kld555]

I inherited my Dad's 550-1 made in 1946. Had he lived he would have been 109 today. "Happy Birthday, Dad." He bought it in the 1960's for $17.00 from some pawn shop in Indianapolis, In. as he had been to the State Legislature over some Union issue. He was a Business Agent for a Labor Union. It is behind the computer room door now in case some varmint does me harm. I treasure this rifle as well as a Winchester 24 in 16 gauge that he hunted with. I have a lot of good memories from him taking me hunting throughout the years. I miss him.

I may be wrong on the date, I'm getting old etc. I see the date code (zz) so 1953. 9 years younger than me.

 

[DWalt]

1946 would make it a very early 550-1. The earliest 550s used a bolt with two extractors. It seems that did nothing for reliability, so after WWII it was replaced by a bolt with a single extractor, and the Model 550 (or 550A) was changed to 550-1. From what I can determine, the shell and gas deflector and the grooved receiver top (for a telescopic sight mount) began with 1955 production. The story goes that the reason for the absence of deflectors seen on some later guns is that having the deflector in place makes it more difficult to remove a jammed fired case from the action, so the owner simply removed it. I don't know about that, as I don't remember having a case jam problem with my first 550-1. But I was always careful to clean my rifle after every use, especially the floating chamber (I normally used .22 shorts only). There is crud that can accumulate around the floating chamber and the barrel recess for it after extensive firing of .22 shorts. It's pretty simple to remove and clean the floating chamber as a part of routine cleaning.

BTW - I did order today a pair of 1" ring tip-off mounts (Weaver) off eBay - $10. There are quite a few listed if anyone is interested. I am going to mount a Weaver K4, or possibly an early 2-3/4X Weaver. But the K4 I have is in near-new condition, while the other scope shows more age and wear.

 

[DWalt]

I applied a couple of coats of thinned oil to the stock which hid most of the scratches and added a Weaver K4 scope in Weaver tip-off mounts. I disassembled it completely and cleaned out all of the gunk inside, including what was around the floating chamber and gave everything a coating of Johnson's paste wax. As I said earlier, the walnut stock is very dark. It has some grain but it doesn't show well. As it was made in the days before serial numbers were required, I stamped an identification number of my own choosing in an inconspicuous place. It is a joy to behold. None like it will ever be made again.

 

[Rayfan87]

Wouldn't the barrel code work in place of a sn?

 

[DWalt]

Nothing unique about the barrel date code stamping by itself. In this one it is B c (January 1956). I suppose there were many 550s made in January 1956. Only one was made with that date code and my personal stamped code.

When I zero the scope, I'll give it a thorough test to see just how well it groups at 50 yards and maybe even at 100 yards.

 

[Rayfan87]

There should be a number after those two letters. Mine is Db 39, making it the 39th barrel made in September of 55. While it may not be a true sn, it's as close as the factory supplied.