Floating .22 | SouthernPaddler.com

Floating .22

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Well which one did you get.

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Wannabe

Well-Known Member
Apr 5, 2007
2,645
2
on the bank of Trinity Bay
Glad to see that It is still around. Charter Arms started building that rifle in the early 70's. I'm not sure if anyone else made it before then. Think it cost 70 or 80 dollars. Has made a few name changes since then. Glad to see it's still around.
Bob
 

jimsong

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2008
247
1
lakside village, texas
These are great little guns! Not tack drivers, but tough! After my double barrelled .410 disappeared, I hauled around a Charter arms .22 in my canoe. Unfortunatly, it went the same way as the double barreled .410. I loaned it to someone!
 

seedtick

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2006
1,161
7
Denham Springs, LA
Remington made a nylon 66 that was a pretty good boat rifle but they started making it cheaper - plastic magazine, etc. so K-Mart could sell it and it went downhill. Think they finally quit making it about 20 twenty years ago
 

Jimmy W

Well-Known Member
May 1, 2006
611
1
north georgia, USA
I also have one of the original Remington Nylon 66s. It was the first gun that I ever bought with my own money, when I was 14 years old. I can't remember that rifle ever failing to fire or jamming and it has had thousands of rounds thru it. I use to have a 4 power scope on it until the scope got moved to the Remington 552.
 

jimsong

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2008
247
1
lakside village, texas
I used to have a Nylon 66 as well. Terrific little rifle! Super tough, and about as maintainece free as a gun can get. About thirty years ago, in a moment of lunacy, I gave it to a friend, and have regretted it ever since.
A little Hoppe's No, 9 and a brush down the barrel every now and then, and a liberal squirt of WD-40 in the action, then a little oil. Dry it off. wipe it down, and you're good to go!
I had a practice at that time of my life, of tearing guns down to single parts. just to see how they worked.
I got out my manual of gun disassembly and repair, and the section on the Remington Nylon 66 could have been reduced to one phrase. "Don't do it!"
I asked a gunsmith at Southwest Shooters, in OKC what the deal was. He said there were so many tiny parts, under so much spring pressure, that he hated to work on them.
Fortunatly, he very seldom worked on them, because they were very nearly indestructable.
Somebody refresh my feeble memory, is it the Nylon 66, that has the so called "floating" chamber? There was only one rifle that had it, as I recall, and I think it was the 66.
The "floating" chamber allowed the use of any rimfire .22 to be used interchangably.
You could load the magazine with shorts, longs, or long rifles in any order, and the rifle would just eat them up.
The only change in the function of the rifle would be in the loudness of the report. (And in the case of the long, missing the target! The .22 long is a SORRY round!)
This is all curiosity on my part. I have not done any shooting in many years. Any gun shoots better than I do now days.
 

Tom @ Buzzard Bluff

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
196
0
Ozarks of N. Central Arkansas
jimsong said:
Somebody refresh my feeble memory, is it the Nylon 66, that has the so called "floating" chamber? There was only one rifle that had it, as I recall, and I think it was the 66.
The "floating" chamber allowed the use of any rimfire .22 to be used interchangably.
You could load the magazine with shorts, longs, or long rifles in any order, and the rifle would just eat them up.

I don't recall if the 66 had the floating chamber or not but it may well have. But I do know that the Remington 550-1 that was built for quite some time following WW2 was the first to have it. It was the last of the 'Walnut and steel" Remington semi-autos before the start of the potmetal and plastics era and was probably too expensive to continue to produce. Therefore the Nylon 66 and the model 552.
While not certain I believe my 552 operates simularly because IIRC it too digests any fodder it is fed. I need to try that to refresh my memory.
Because the 550-1 isn't a 'pretty' rifle they long languished as a collectable but their unique ability to eat anything and the accuracy of the Remington barrels of that era has finally been recognized and they have been escalating in value in recent years. If you can find a nice one for $150 or less grab it! They're 'good'uns'!
Mine was given to me by a friend 6-8 years ago because it had been thru a house fire. I cleaned off the soot and squirted half a can of Gunscrubber thru the action and it hasn't missed a beat with anything fed to it since. Tom
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
My nylon 66 is on the list along with the Marlin 39-A and the Ruger 10-22 then the Thompson Contender in 357 mag , single shot hand gun , not forgetting the Winchester 94 , thirty -thirty cal. Had several others but not anymore.

Had honorable mention with the L.C.Smith shotguns when he was talking about the Fox shotguns , almost had a Fox signature grade 410 double but it did not come to pass. One he left off was the Colt Woodsman 22 cal pistol , that is one sweet shooting handgun and my favorite. Try to find one today. :lol:

The next one I get will be the little Browning 22 semi-auto , it breaks down ( the barrel and forearm can be detached ) from the stock and receiver for transport. One slick shooting 22 with bottom ejection....IE: Scope on the top.

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Chuck.
 

Tom @ Buzzard Bluff

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
196
0
Ozarks of N. Central Arkansas
oldsparkey said:
The next one I get will be the little Browning 22 semi-auto , it breaks down ( the barrel and forearm can be detached ) from the stock and receiver for transport. One slick shooting 22 with bottom ejection....IE: Scope on the top.Chuck.

Bear in mind that Remington had 'firsties' on that design producing the Models 24 & 241 before surrendering the rights that Browning then assumed.
The Remingtons were sweet shooters with the expected Remington accuracy. I've owned the Remington but not the Browning so I'm in no position to comment otherwise except to note that I have a fair selection of Remington rimfires----by choice---and I very much am deserving of the 'accuracy nut' designation. Tom
 

Bilgerat

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2006
324
1
Texas!
www.bilgerat.net
I have the Remington (I think it's stamped UMC) and the Browning. The Remington was my great-grandmother's, passed down to my grandmother and then to my mother. My mother passed it on to my sister who didn't want to take it home on an airplane. I offered her space in my gun safe until she could get it home. It's been resting comfortably there for several years. When I was a kid, I put many rounds of .22 shorts through it. Lots of fun! My Browning is .22 Long Rifle.

The downside to both of these rifles is the bottom ejection. The HOT casings fall right down a long sleeve shirt and burn the hell out of your arm!

Mike
 

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
I have had Brownings in the past and they were tack drivers. Main reason I want one is really simple ... Wanted one all my life and have the ability to get one.
Theirs no way I will get rid of that Marlin 39-A ( It will take anything in the 22 range except the mags. ) or the nylon 66 , both are proven firearms. The Browning will have to prove itself but I am sure it will if it is anything like the Browning's I have had before.

Hell... I have a old Remington my Grandfather gave me when I was a pup , carbine stock , octagon barrel , pump in 22 ( Short , long or LR ) and a tack driver. So I know about there ability's.

Chuck.
PS. Old Farts have old gun's. :lol: Mike ... Wear short sleeves. :roll:
 

Bilgerat

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2006
324
1
Texas!
www.bilgerat.net
I also have a Henry lever action that will eat anything I feed it from CB caps all the way up to long rifle. Another fun gun to shoot.

While we're on the subject of .22 rifles, I have a Nylon 66 in black with the chrome plate. I bought it from some idiot for $20 after he disassembled it for cleaning after firing his first box of cartridges. He couldn't get it back together! :lol:

Mike