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Post by HighCotton on Jan 3, 2020 15:15:31 GMT -5
I've been on a mission for some time now to refuel my nostalgic passion for a fairly unique old .22lr rifle. Back in the mid 70's, I had a part time job "busting" starlings and blackbirds off the roost and blueberry bushes at Siegesmund's Farm near Wanatah, IN with my shotgun. It was here that I was introduced to the owners Remington Nylon 66. To the best of my recollection, the ole farmer had purchased the gun from K-Mart for $50! I guess I had little appreciation for the gun back then. But, through the decades, I've reflected back on those plinking days and have wondered about the rifle. I remembered a few details about the reason Remington developed the gun. And through the years, I've learned a bit more. So, I've been keeping my eye out for one of these for many years. Most of the candidates have been way high priced for less than desirable shape they have been. Check out this link for a cool history and some detailed information along with the Tom Frye story: www.nylonrifles.com/wp/2013/02/the-most-famous-nylon-66/Well, I think I've finally found a pretty decent rifle (at least by the pics) and the owner is open to some barter for one of my vintage fly reels and some cash. This one is a Mohawk Brown with an old Weaver scope! We plan to meet up in the next few days! I'll keep you posted as my adventure plays out! And for those willing, add your feedback and/or advice! |
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Post by beermaker on Jan 3, 2020 15:31:31 GMT -5
I had one in the late 80's. I bought it used from a local gun dealer and sold it back to him at a loss. I never could get the thing to shoot consistently. I bought a bolt action Marlin to take its place and my brother still has it today.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2020 17:52:01 GMT -5
I've been on a mission for some time now to refuel my nostalgic passion for a fairly unique old .22lr rifle. Back in the mid 70's, I had a part time job "busting" starlings and blackbirds off the roost and blueberry bushes at Siegesmund's Farm near Wanatah, IN with my shotgun. It was here that I was introduced to the owners Remington Nylon 66. To the best of my recollection, the ole farmer had purchased the gun from K-Mart for $50! I guess I had little appreciation for the gun back then. But, through the decades, I've reflected back on those plinking days and have wondered about the rifle. I remembered a few details about the reason Remington developed the gun. And through the years, I've learned a bit more. So, I've been keeping my eye out for one of these for many years. Most of the candidates have been way high priced for less than desirable shape they have been. Check out this link for a cool history and some detailed information along with the Tom Frye story: www.nylonrifles.com/wp/2013/02/the-most-famous-nylon-66/Well, I think I've finally found a pretty decent rifle (at least by the pics) and the owner is open to some barter for one of my vintage fly reels and some cash. This one is a Mohawk Brown with an old Weaver scope! We plan to meet up in the next few days! I'll keep you posted as my adventure plays out! And for those willing, add your feedback and/or advice! Although I`m not a fan of remington, I can appreciate your fascination with an older, nostalgic firearm. To me, an old, classic firearm would be similar to being able to get an old, restored muscle car from the 60`s or 70`s. I`d love to be able to get an old Colt Python, a Smith and Wesson Model 29, and a Winchester pre 64 in nearly anything, but especially a pre 64 Model 70 in .30-06. Good luck, I hope this works out for you, and please let us live vicariously through you, please keep us posted and have pgotos. |
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Post by esshup on Jan 3, 2020 18:11:06 GMT -5
Good luck in getting it. The only thing I can say is clean it, clean it, clean it and then clean it some more. Many of the older guns that don't shoot worth a hoot are so cruddy inside from not cleaning with good stuff that they'd never have gotten rid of them if they were clean.
Sounds like my search for the High Standard .22 pistols. LOL
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 3, 2020 18:39:18 GMT -5
Good luck in getting it. The only thing I can say is clean it, clean it, clean it and then clean it some more. Many of the older guns that don't shoot worth a hoot are so cruddy inside from not cleaning with good stuff that they'd never have gotten rid of them if they were clean. Sounds like my search for the High Standard .22 pistols. LOL Totally agreed on the clean it routine. I’ve picked up some nice guns in the past from the exact scenario. The journey may be similar but the gun wouldn’t hold a candle to your High Standard! |
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Post by Russ Koon on Jan 4, 2020 0:36:26 GMT -5
My B-I-L had one back when we squirrel hunted together and shot together a lot. He was a darn god shot and would almost always win when we had some informal contest on the way back to the car (I think there was a law against taking any unused ammo home after squirrel hunting). We had good eyes and didn't need scopes back in the day, so most of our shooting was with the iron sights that came on the weapon.
When he eventually went to a scope, I started winning a few of those matches. He just couldn't seem to get that 66 to hold a consistent zero. Took the scope off and cleaned everything and re-mounted it a few times, but it didn't help. Finally, as we were looking it over one day, I noticed that the scope actually mounted to a stamped sheet metal shroud that covered the receiver, and it was attached by a couple of screws! You could shake it around easily, not much, but enough to move the crosshairs to a different spot every time you picked up the gun. The iron sights were firmly attached to the barrel itself, and he could still drill everything he shot at with them, so he just went back to using them and enjoying the rifle.
I had a Winchester 150 semi-auto that I bought just a few years later that ended up having a similar problem. The scope mounted solidly to the receiver on that one, but when I tried to sight it in, it would lose center and shoot a good group to slightly different place every time I set it aside and checked the target. Stumped me for a while, until I was sitting in the living room with the empty rifle between my knees with the butt on the floor, and my hand was draped over the muzzle, while I was considering trading that aggravating thing in. I suddenly realized that I could feel the barrel moving from side to side a very small amount and wasn't feeling any movement at all in the receiver. Sure enough, on closer inspection, the barrel was loose in the receiver! It would just stay pointed in the same direction as the scope while I was hold it for a five-shot group, but odds were it would be pointed at some other place an inch or so away when I picked it up again after checking the target. Different problem with pretty much the same results...wandering groups when wearing scopes.
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 4, 2020 7:35:55 GMT -5
My B-I-L had one back when we squirrel hunted together and shot together a lot. He was a darn god shot and would almost always win when we had some informal contest on the way back to the car (I think there was a law against taking any unused ammo home after squirrel hunting). We had good eyes and didn't need scopes back in the day, so most of our shooting was with the iron sights that came on the weapon. When he eventually went to a scope, I started winning a few of those matches. He just couldn't seem to get that 66 to hold a consistent zero. Took the scope off and cleaned everything and re-mounted it a few times, but it didn't help. Finally, as we were looking it over one day, I noticed that the scope actually mounted to a stamped sheet metal shroud that covered the receiver, and it was attached by a couple of screws! You could shake it around easily, not much, but enough to move the crosshairs to a different spot every time you picked up the gun. The iron sights were firmly attached to the barrel itself, and he could still drill everything he shot at with them, so he just went back to using them and enjoying the rifle. I had a Winchester 150 semi-auto that I bought just a few years later that ended up having a similar problem. The scope mounted solidly to the receiver on that one, but when I tried to sight it in, it would lose center and shoot a good group to slightly different place every time I set it aside and checked the target. Stumped me for a while, until I was sitting in the living room with the empty rifle between my knees with the butt on the floor, and my hand was draped over the muzzle, while I was considering trading that aggravating thing in. I suddenly realized that I could feel the barrel moving from side to side a very small amount and wasn't feeling any movement at all in the receiver. Sure enough, on closer inspection, the barrel was loose in the receiver! It would just stay pointed in the same direction as the scope while I was hold it for a five-shot group, but odds were it would be pointed at some other place an inch or so away when I picked it up again after checking the target. Different problem with pretty much the same results...wandering groups when wearing scopes. That’s some cool information. I will be curious to find out if I can even see through the old scope. He just told me it’s a Weaver. I don’t even know anything about old Weaver rimfire scopes. Provided the deal works out, I’ll probably do like you and others and go open sights. |
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 5, 2020 8:32:18 GMT -5
I'm looking to meet up with the guy that has the Remington Nylon 66 today. I'll take a few of my vintage fly reels and rods along with some of the flies I've tied. Hopefully, I like what I see in the gun and we can make a deal!
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Post by Woody Williams on Jan 5, 2020 10:23:40 GMT -5
Good luck ..
What I’ve seen is they go for a pretty fair sum..
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Post by tjmurf on Jan 5, 2020 14:27:20 GMT -5
My very first gun was a Nylon 66. My dad bought it at Wards for me back around 1975. My dad past on several years ago and it would be the last gun I would ever part with. I know I’ve shot over a thousand rounds through that rifle and it shoots as good today as the day I got it. It’s not in bad shape for a rifle that has been used as much as it has, it’s got its bruises. It does still have the Lifetime Warranty sticker on the stock which I guess adds another hundred to the value. From what I understand it’s down fall was the flexible nylon stock. The thing I’ve learned is not to shoot it with a death grip, a light grip works best. www.nylonrifles.com/wp/2013/02/the-most-famous-nylon-66/ |
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 5, 2020 14:32:55 GMT -5
Well, I did the deal. It turned out that the fella was interested in one of my old fly reels because he has an old bamboo rod that belonged to his Dad. For many years, he has wanted to fish with the rod, but he knows little to nothing about fly fishing. So, basically we're talking about me and this fella on 2 different nostalgic journeys. The first thing I did was a little disappointing for the guy. He felt that the old Montague Flash bamboo rod (circa, 1940-1950) from his dad was worth a ton of money. I had to be honest with him and let him know that many of the old Montague rods are actually just wallhangers. I kind of hated to tell him the truth, but it is what it is. From there, the meeting turned upbeat. All this guy wants to do is fish with the old rod. Just to reminisce a bit about days gone by with his "Pops!" So, I said, "Hey, why don't we hook up on a warmer Spring day. I'll teach you the basic knots. I'll explain everything on how to rig your rod and reel with the proper nomenclature and setup. We'll find a good section of lawn where I can teach you how to cast a flyrod. And then we'll use some of my flies and we'll get on some local water. I recommend my foam spiders and we'll go some evening and watch some gills rise and hammer the lil imitation critters!" So he gets the reel, one of my 1940's Oreno 1155 with vintage line:  Now for the rifle. I guess the thing was covered in dust in his basement. He had cleaned it up a bit so it was somewhat presentable. I don't know enough to completely disassemble or even field strip the rifle yet so that was a bit disconcerting. I did bring some 22 ammo and found that I could at least cycle a half dozen rounds through the gun. At this point, I figured I would do the deal since my major portion will be a day of "Training and Education." I guess I can't really put a dollar figure on this barter/deal. Now, I just need to learn a little more about the gun since I have it in my hands. Here is an initial (and fairly poor) pic of the rifle:  As esshup eluded to, I have a feeling that this gun is in serious need of a good cleaning. However, I'm going to print the manual and watch some more videos to get better acquainted with the internals before I dive in on the disassembly! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2020 14:37:19 GMT -5
Well, I did the deal. It turned out that the fella was interested in one of my old fly reels because he has an old bamboo rod that belonged to his Dad. For many years, he has wanted to fish with the rod, but he knows little to nothing about fly fishing. So, basically we're talking about me and this fella on 2 different nostalgic journeys. The first thing I did was a little disappointing for the guy. He felt that the old Montague Flash bamboo rod (circa, 1940-1950) from his dad was worth a ton of money. I had to be honest with him and let him know that many of the old Montague rods are actually just wallhangers. I kind of hated to tell him the truth, but it is what it is. From there, the meeting turned upbeat. All this guy wants to do is fish with the old rod. Just to reminisce a bit about days gone by with his "Pops!" So, I said, "Hey, why don't we hook up on a warmer Spring day. I'll teach you the basic knots. I'll explain everything on how to rig your rod and reel with the proper nomenclature and setup. We'll find a good section of lawn where I can teach you how to cast a flyrod. And then we'll use some of my flies and we'll get on some local water. I recommend my foam spiders and we'll go some evening and watch some gills rise and hammer the lil imitation critters!" So he gets the reel, one of my 1940's Oreno 1155 with vintage line: Now for the rifle. I guess the thing was covered in dust in his basement. He had cleaned it up a bit so it was somewhat presentable. I don't know enough to completely disassemble or even field strip the rifle yet so that was a bit disconcerting. I did bring some 22 ammo and found that I could at least cycle a half dozen rounds through the gun. At this point, I figured I would do the deal since my major portion will be a day of "Training and Education." I guess I can't really put a dollar figure on this barter/deal. Now, I just need to learn a little more about the gun since I have it in my hands. Here is an initial (and fairly poor) pic of the rifle: As esshup eluded to, I have a feeling that this gun is in serious need of a good cleaning. However, I'm going to print the manual and watch some more videos to get better acquainted with the internals before I dive in on the disassembly! What a neat, neat deal for you both, and how cool that you`re going to get together and you get him up to speed on the knots and how to cast and all that. whether you know it or not, this is about a lot more than a rifle and fly fishing. |
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Post by esshup on Jan 5, 2020 17:29:32 GMT -5
Good deal!!! Youtube might be your friend. LOL
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 5, 2020 19:01:55 GMT -5
One of the first things I’ve noticed is that the scope is a Weaver model G4 with a 22 Tip Off Mount.
I need to learn a bit more about the scope and mount. I’m not sure if I will take it off or keep it on yet.
It seems that most have frowned on the use of a scope since the gun seems to be more accurate with the factory sights.
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Post by firstwd on Jan 5, 2020 19:37:35 GMT -5
Every time I see a picture of this model rifle I feel a little more like an idiot.
Around 20 years ago, through weird life events, I ended up with every gun out of my dad and step-mom's house. Most were the ones he had when I was growing up and a few hers. One of hers was always referred to as a nylon Remington, I just don't know a model number. I do remember not giving it much thought because of the "plastic" stock did not have a feel I liked. Through other life events, they all went back.
Earlier this year I once again ended up with every gun in their house, but it wasn't the same group of guns. I must now dig through the gun cabinets and see if that old Remington is part of the group I have, and if it is one of these models.
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Post by esshup on Jan 6, 2020 0:41:34 GMT -5
The big question is form over function? or if iron sights function just as good as a scope for the shooter than I say leave the scope off. I think the lines of the gun are great without the scope on, and the scope detracts from the lines of THAT particular gun.
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 6, 2020 10:16:23 GMT -5
I've searched and I find very little about the Weaver G4 scope. I did a quick laser bore sight and at 20 yards, the crosshairs are dead on. The best I can tell is that the scope is possibly from the late 40's or early 50's?? It appears to be in decent shape. I just can't decide whether I should remove it or not?! Any thoughts?    |
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Post by Russ Koon on Jan 6, 2020 14:22:07 GMT -5
Now that I see yours I can see a couple of differences from the way I recalled the 66 my B-I-L had. I didn't remember his rear sight being mounted on the projection from the receiver cover. Can't figure how it wasn't affected by the same movement the scope was when the cover shifted position slightly. Maybe it was just a small enough movement that it wasn't noticeable unless you were sighting in a scope, or taking a thirty yard head shot on a gray squirrel. That receiver cover was the part that was moving on his 66, though. Just two screws holding it in position, and it seemed like they couldn't be snugged enough to prevent the slight movement....don't recall just why. We both became toolmakers a few years after having those two rifles, and would have probably engineered some kind remedy after some time in the tool room 8^).
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Post by HighCotton on Jan 6, 2020 17:10:05 GMT -5
Between emails and calls today, I decided to disassemble the old Nylon rifle. Man, O Man was she DIRTY! It almost appeared as though the previous owner might have quickly lubed her with some oil. He probably did not realize that is NOT what you should do with these guns. And, the grit in this dude looked more like a fine greensand than gunshot residue. She's clean now. I doubt I could have reassembled the rifle properly without the help of "the shooters channel" YouTube videos, starting with this one on the rifle disassembly: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkN6TaFMZss Here are a few pics of the dirty breakdown:     |
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Post by jjas on Jan 6, 2020 17:23:48 GMT -5
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