Remington Nylon 66 - the first USA "plastic" rifle?

[cmansguns]

First I'll plainly state...I'm Smith & Wesson and USA brands, wood and blued steel all the way....rifles, shotguns, handguns.

BUT!!!!!!!!!! (you knew it was coming):

Just dragged out ye ole Remington, Nylon 66, date code P-G (June 1960) in Seneca Green (yea..yea...I know, I've heard it way too much: "yours is Mohawk Brown, not Seneca Green"). Well that's a load of bovine you know what. The SG does photo like a MB, but you look at this beauty in sunlight and it IS the drab olive green (NOT the greenie-green of the K-Mart Model 77 year later).

This lightweight (4 lbs) semi-auto rifle holds 14 rounds of 22 LR and is darned accurate. It can be fired on what appears to be full auto by fanning the trigger. I've never felt like wasting ammo but I did see a you tube sometime back showing a guy fanning the trigger and "fugidabout a bump stock" his Nylon 66 looked like full auto.

A heck of a business gamble for Remington in 1959, but I suppose having a full load of Dupont Engineers aboard didn't hurt.

Anyway...I had almost forgot the joy of this little rifle until another grandson, about to turn 12 asked, and I said sure, I'll be more than happy to help you gain some marksmanship skills, now that you've got the BB gun down pat and are demonstrating safe gun handling every time out.

So....just for fun...….open question to any readers of this post:

I've always read and understood that there are only two kinds of rifle people when it come to the Nylon 66....those that love-em, and those that hate-em.

Which camp are you in on the Nylon 66?

 

[ralph7]

I always liked them for a fun plinker. Very reliable and seemed to be more accurate than a rifle that light had a right to be.
Heard that it wasn't a good idea to try and disassemble one, as they were tough to get back together. Don't know how true that statement is.

Never actually owned one, though.

 

[torizus]

!st rifle I ever held in my life, was 5 years old,60 years ago. As I recall,all nickle,black stock,taller than me, that was the extent of my allowed involvement,just hold it straight with butt on floor.
That memory has always stayed just as vivid as the shiny nickle barrel,ya kinda never forget your first.

 

[mauser9]

Looks to be in decent shape. Heard quite a collectors item today. Saw many available in the late 60s-70s but had to have a 10/22 myself. Must have caused quite a stir in the wood only days of the 60s. Thanks for sharing.

 

[double-dipper]

Dad had one when I was a kid. I didn't care much for it because it was "plastic" We always shot the bolt action .22's with hardwood stocks. I think my youngest brother has the Nylon 66 now. It was/is Mohawk Brown. I'm still prefer wood over plastic 50 some years later.

 

[misswired]

The MB was my first squirrel rifle gifted from my Grandfather, It's not going anywhere. The K-Mart magazine fed was a gift to myself, It's not going anywhere.

Been watching an AB in the LGS....May just make an offer on it tomorrow. Guess that puts me in the Love em' camp

 

[raljr1]

The only plastic in my collection. Wonderful ammo burner and easily makes pop cans dance.

 

[6518John]

One of the greatest firearms ever made. Especially since it was my first. If I was president of Remington, I would have a crew going 24/7 in shifts to bring it back as quickly as possible. I would restore Remington’s profitability in a year or less with it, reintro of Wingmaster in .410, .28., .20, .16 and 12, original 1911 .45, the Model 11 Shotgun, Model 24 Rifle, Model 3200 Shotgun.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I have a friend that owns a bolt action in this series. It is in good shape.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[kraynky]

I got my first rifle about 1970 or '71, and it's a Mossberg (blues steel and wood stocked) 22 LR, model 341. A year or so later my first cousin and best friend (RIP Billy), who was 2 years my junior, got his first rifle. It was a Nylon 66, and I made fun of him and his "plastic" rifle. LOL

Now here it is some almost 50 years later, and my rifle might be worth $150 bucks, where his is worth 3 times as much (or more). Who's laughing now.......

It really never did grow on me much, but he liked it just fine. I still prefer my own $150 blued steel and wood gun. But that's just because we've grown to be such good buddies over the years.

 

[OLDSTER]

I remember this ad, which help sell thousands of Nylon 66 Remingtons including yours truly. Cool looking and great shooting .22.

 

[Gene L]

Got one also in Senaca Green. Got it cheap because my LGS didn't want it. I thought it was a brown when I bought it, didn't realize it was SG until I got it home and compared it to the MB one I had and did some research. I had never seen one before and had no idea they existed, SG is the rarest of the Nylon 66 rifles and they bring a premium, when you can find them.

I love the Nylon 66 rifles and find them durable and accurate. My SG is in 99% condition, not sure the owner ever shot it. If he did, it doesn't show. The guy that owned it before me was older and just wanted to get rid of it, probably for what he paid for it new, and that's what I got it for, plus a payment to the FFL. He didn't know what he had, neither did the LGS where he brought it to sell, which didn't want it, and neither did I until I goy home.

You don't need to lube the gun because the nylon is slick and there are few steel parts...this was a selling point when it first came out. My advice is to NOT take it apart unless you are mechanically inclined and have a good memory for how you took it apart.. Lots of pieces. I took my MB apart and had to take it to a gunsmith to reassemble it.

Haven't fired my SG rifle, but if it's as accurate as my MB was, that's good enough.

 

[alwslate]

I have one of the late Mohawk Brown models with the flat blue barrel
finish. I really like it. Shoot it one aimed shot at a time from a rest and
you will be amazed at how accurate a light weight "plastic" rifle can be.

 

[kreuzlover]

I got my Nylon 66 for Christmas in 1961, first new firearm I had ever had. A buddy had one and I had tried his out months before. Love at first sight. You could only shoot long rifles in it, but that was ok by me. It had the so-called "tip-off" grooves on top of receiver and I put a cheap scope on mine about a year later. That little rifle accounted for lots of small game, and 3 or 4 whitetail deer also. Three quick shots in the neck and they dropped like a pile of rocks! I don't have it anymore, got stolen later on in life. I wish Remington WOULD bring it back, I would be first in line for one.

 

[mauser9]

Sure seemed like a gun ahead of it's time looking back now. Plenty guns offered now with composite or synthetic stock. I realize this is partially due to the higher cost of black walnut but these guns do have a place.

 

[Housepuss]

My significant other and I stopped by our LGS last week and low and behold they had a nylon 66 Apache there on consignment. The rifle was in very good condition. Turned out to be a 1975 production date. She had bought one about 10 years before and really loves it. Very accurate plinker

She talked them down from $299 to $200 and took it home. I've shot her original one occasionally, but still prefer my Winchester Model 63's for plinking.

 

[VaTom]

I think all of us who grew up in the 1960's wanted a Nylon 66. Remember ads for them in all the outdoor magazines. One ad touted how the Native Americans in Alaska used them in the extreme cold for hunting. Never got one but I look them over time when I see one at a gun show. Most seemed to be priced in the $300 range. Last year I was helping a retired friend (Vietnam Vet) who had hip replacement. He told me to go to the closet and get a rifle case - that he wanted to show me the Nylon 66 his nephew had gifted to him a few days earlier. Said he told his nephew one time he always wanted a Nylon 66 and the nephew show up one day with a Mohawk brown one for him. Had found it at a local gun shop. When I returned the next day to sit with him I took him 100 rounds of 22LR and my cleaning kit.

We haven't gotten out to shoot it yet but one day we will!

 

[JayFramer]

Considered the most reliable .22 rifle in human history. Love it!!

 

[triaxle]

I was at a gun show and a guy had a real nice model 11 bolt action for like 135 bucks I bought on the spot . still watching for a 66.

 

[jmace57]

I'm not exactly sure which came first. I have a Savage 87 with a "Tenite" stock. I THINK it's from the 50's.