Remington Nylon 66

[Drm50]

I saw a articl one time that said the CIA had several thousand of
the clip magazine models in storage. At one time they were
going to drop them into Cuba for resistance to Castro. The thought was they could bushwhacked Commies and take their
weapons. They scraped this plan with Bay of Pigs finasco. They
might still exist if government hasnt paid to have them destroyed.
They were also suppose to have millions of rounds of 22lr ammo
to go with the guns. There was also going to be instructions with
them in comic strip form, similar to the instructions for the
Liberator pistols dropped by OSS during WW2 in Europe.

 

[DWalt]

"I saw a article one time that said the CIA had several thousand of
the clip magazine models in storage."

An interesting story that I haven't heard. I might be able to find out a little more about whether it could be true, but it doesn't seem right to me, at least not the "clip magazine" part (assuming that it means the Model 77). The 77 did not exist until sometime considerably later than the Bay of Pigs.

 

[dsk]

As a teenager I badly wanted one of these. One Christmas I had the chance to ask for a .22 rifle, and my first choice was a Ruger 10/22 with the Nylon 66 being my second choice (somehow I had the crazy idea that my dad might not find a 10/22 for sale anywhere). I got the 10/22, but the Nylon 66 remained on my bucket list for years afterwards. About 7-8 years ago, by then in my 40s I spotted a typical Mohawk Brown 66 in a local pawn shop, and as the price was fair and I had the cash I went ahead and bought it. I took it to the range, and to my chagrin it jammed constantly. After bringing it back home I disassembled it, and I found a bunch of parts literally held in place with masking tape! Apparently the previous owner had taken it apart past the field-strip stage and couldn't get it back together again, and he did the best he could then sold it to the pawn shop. Fortunately none of the parts had been lost, and with some help from online sources I got it back together again the right way. From then on it worked perfectly. I don't shoot it much these days, but it's a fun gun to have and fast becoming a collectible.

 

[Bat Guano]

Admittedly they have a bit of a Buck Rodgers look to them, but they have nice lines and lots of eye appeal. Which a LOT of guns nowadays definitely lack. I have a "shooter grade" Mohawk brown 66 that hangs on the wall because I think it just looks nice.

It's fun to shoot occasionally, and even though I prefer optics nowadays, I still shoot the thing pretty well. And the point IS to have fun, isn't it?

All the other stuff, including another, pristine, 66 lives in the safe.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I was going to say the same thing. A close friend owned one when they were fairly new. Remington made a big deal about them not melting in a hot car but my friend left his in the back window of a car (it was the 60's so there was space below the back window for stuff) on a hot, sunny day and when he came back a few hours later it was warped big time.

Maybe car steering wheels don't warp but "Nylon" Remingtons do. I saw it after it warped. The owner was seriously ticked about it especially since Remington wouldn't make it good.

I will say it was a great gun until the day it warped.

This was the reason my Dad cited for not buying one. That was in the early 60's and they had just come out with the Nylon 66. I don't know how he knew, but he did. I didn't believe it, but apparently Father knows best.

 

[dsk]

Don't forget that blued steel and walnut were the traditional materials for a firearm back then. "Plastic" guns like the Nylon 66, and later the AR-15 were extremely jarring to gun owners who thought they looked like something out of a Buck Rogers movie and seemed cheap to boot. It's not like today where we accept plastics as standard materials in gunmaking. Yes a Nylon 66 would warp in the heat, but at the same time using an AR as a pry tool would bend the barrel. People were just not yet ready to trade brute strength for lightness and weather resistance.

 

[DWalt]

I remember in the postwar period, several other gun makers were using plastic stocks, for sure both Savage and Noble. And I sort of remember Winchester having some recoil-absorbing shotgun buttstock design which also was plastic. But I don't think theirs were made of nylon. Of course the AR-15s also had plastic stocks and fore ends.

 

[chief38]

I never owned one however I use to be enamored by them in the Magazines when I was a kid. I just though they looked cool back then but never bought one. Once in a blue moon I'll still look at them but again have never owned a copy.

 

[Irn-Bru]

Just picked up one of these last week. Wife's friends father passed away and she wanted to sell it. Paid $300 for it. Think it's an earlier model, can't find a serial number anywhere.

 

[C J]

I don't know how he knew, but he did. I didn't believe it, but apparently Father knows best.

Remington made a big deal of the claim they wouldn't melt which I think made a lot of people suspicious that they would do exactly that. I think they doth protest too much as Bill Shakespeare would of said - sorta. I know my brother was always convinced they would melt because it was common for "nylon" things of the time to melt in the heat. The main reason I remember this so well was that he sort of argued with our friend about whether they would melt or not. In the end my brother was right but he felt bad about it. The guy that owned it has been a life long friend. We were really close as kids. The rifle wasn't a bad rifle before that. I seem to remember that his was more accurate than most. I'm a little fuzzy on that but it's been 50 years ago or so.

 

[JayFramer]

Considered the most reliable semi-auto .22 ever made. I've heard many say they can fire 10s of thousands of rounds without a single jam, and no cleaning.

 

[thadheth]

Just picked up one of these last week... Think it's an earlier model, can't find a serial number anywhere.

As usual, there's a website for just about everything. This one is dedicated to the Remington Nylon rifles, and this page tells where to find the serial number and how to determine the date of manufacture using the 2-letter code stamped on the top of the barrel. According to the website, serial numbers began in 1967 (My 66 with letter code RN was manufactured in November of 1966, for example, so it does not have a serial number).
NylonRifles.com >> Manufacturer’s Date Codes

 

[nachogrande]

CONDIDERED BY WHO?

Considered the most reliable semi-auto .22 ever made. I've heard many say they can fire 10s of thousands of rounds without a single jam, and no cleaning.

By paid gun rag writers, or nostalgic former childhood owners that didn't know what a quality gun was AT THAT TIME? Certainly not by gunsmiths that dealt with them at that time. A fun plinker, sure. So was the red ryder. A great toy for kids big/small, old young. QUALITY as compared to an old WIN/Anschutz target rifle or pump gallery gun etc, NO WAY.

 

[Irn-Bru]

As usual, there's a website for just about everything. This one is dedicated to the Remington Nylon rifles, and this page tells where to find the serial number and how to determine the date of manufacture using the 2-letter code stamped on the top of the barrel. According to the website, serial numbers began in 1967 (My 66 with letter code RN was manufactured in November of 1966, for example, so it does not have a serial number).
NylonRifles.com >> Manufacturer’s Date Codes

Thanks for that. I have three letters on mine. XFF it looks like. Makes it a 1959 I believe.

 

[stykshooter]

Growing up a friend of mine had a Nylon 66 "Apache Black". No telling how many thousands of rounds we shot through that thing. When I got a real "paying" job the first thing I bought was the .22 that I had lusted over for years, a Marlin model 39 Mountie. For several years, before we were both married and each had kids on our own, most every weekend we would be out running around doing something and most weekends involved a couple hundred rounds or .22's through those rifles. Great times!

Fast forward about 20 years and I was at his house one day. By then I had been working on the gun range for years and had numerous armorers certificates. We decided that since that Remington had never been completely disassembled, we needed to do so and give it a good cleaning. I ended up with the parts in a baggie and worked on it off and on over the next several days to get it back together and functioning again. This was pre youtube and internet days.

 

[DWalt]

An interesting thing about the Nylon 66 was that it had no receiver in the conventional sense, as the mechanism components were housed within the plastic stock. It did have a sheet metal cover, and after GCA-1968 the SN was stamped on that cover. While I have fired some 66s, I have never owned one nor attempted disassembly, probably a good thing.

 

[snake803]

"I saw a article one time that said the CIA had several thousand of
the clip magazine models in storage."

An interesting story that I haven't heard. I might be able to find out a little more about whether it could be true, but it doesn't seem right to me, at least not the "clip magazine" part (assuming that it means the Model 77). The 77 did not exist until sometime considerably later than the Bay of Pigs.

There were three box mag. fed "nylon" rifles produced..The first was the model 77 in mohawk brown with a 5 round capacity, next came the model 10C also in mohawk brown with aa 10 round capacity, the last iteration was the model 77 apache in a swirl of green,brown, orange & black(K-MART exclusive) with a 10 round capacity..

If you can find a copy of "standard catalog of firearms, 18th edition, there is some really good info and photos (my meager collection).. amazon still has few...
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/2008-Standard-Catalog-Firearms-Collectors/dp/B002L4KD78/ref=sr_1_90?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509301356&sr=1-90&keywords=standard+catalog+of+firearms[/ame]
JIM............

 

[Jessie]

It's being said that some of these are getting ridiculously expensive. How much are they going for now? Let's say the more common 66?

 

[moosedog]

I had a nice collection of them until a few years ago. I did a keep a Brown one just like the original posters. They are iconic rifles, way ahead of their time.

 

[JayFramer]

By paid gun rag writers, or nostalgic former childhood owners that didn't know what a quality gun was AT THAT TIME? Certainly not by gunsmiths that dealt with them at that time. A fun plinker, sure. So was the red ryder. A great toy for kids big/small, old young. QUALITY as compared to an old WIN/Anschutz target rifle or pump gallery gun etc, NO WAY.

Well EXCUSE me!!

Not sure why you're bringing Anschutz and pumps into this. I said most reliable SEMI AUTOMATIC .22 ever made. The polymer receiver meant no lubrication was needed and the gun was basically self cleaning because of it.

I have NEVER heard of a single person have a problem with a 66. Lots of issues with 60s, 10-22s, but due to the unique design of the 66, they are virtually impossible to malfunction when fed good ammunitions.