Owing to the gun pr0n number of this week, I felt compelled to post something with a matching number. The only question was, which firearm? Well, since I don't have a S&W model 66, I had to go with this little gem:
This is a Remington Nylon 66, the gun that started the whole plastic stock craze (Nylon 66 refers to the DuPont nomenclature for the synthetic stock material). It's a tubular-magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle that, in a break from traditional tube-fed firearms, loads from the stock rather than the tube under the barrel (owing, obviously, to the fact that said tube is covered by the stock).
Remington made a little over a million of these little beauties from 1959 to 1989, in colors such as "Mohawk Brown" (this rifle), "Seneca Green", and "Apache Black" (No, I don't know the reason for the native American-themed model names...). It's a light, easy-to-handle rifle that is allegedly self-lubricating, which I guess explains why it's so damn difficult to take it apart... (A Google search on the Nylon 66 yields many forum posts on this subject.
The general consensus - and one I heartily agree with - is don't do it. I took it apart a couple of years ago in a mad attempt to give it a thorough cleaning and wound up with most of the internal parts in a Ziploc bag. Into the safe it went until a couple of weeks ago, when I dragged everything out to finish the job - Mom G. has expressed interest in going to the range, and the Nylon 66 was her absolute fave gun due to the light heft and accuracy... So it's all cleaned up and reassembled, and I need to do a quick test-shoot to make sure I got everything where it's supposed to go.
That is all.
7 comments:
I have a black one of these and it is fun and accurate to shoot. I will have it at the blog shoot. . .
I never had a problem taking it apart to clean, but I have only pulled out the bolt and the weight/hammer along with the barrel. I have never pulled the trigger group out. I admit it is a bit fun to get the hammer back in but it is do-able
I think it is from the 60's since it came to me through the family and the only non-original part on it is the screw that holds in the barrel clamp. . .
jd,
Oh that's funny that you have one too...
All I did was take the bolt/etc. out, too. Seemed to be pretty straightforward, although you do need a third hand to get the barrel back in place (I found it useful to brace it against the wall to get the barrel re-aligned so I could get the barrel back in place).
I might be taking mine along as well, it depends on whether I get to the range before then or not. I want to see if I put it back together correctly...
JayG
You may want to bring it either way. . . we can open mine up if you have any problems and you can see how it went together. . .
with the Makarov that makes two weapons of the same model. . . Great minds think alike but I think one of us should be scared. . . . . just not sure who = )
Odd, never had problems field stripping mine unless I'd released the striker. Then it was a pain putting it back together. That said, I've never mucked about with the trigger group on it, so I may be missing out on that bit o' fun.
“…. in colors such as "Mohawk Brown" (this rifle), "Seneca Green", and "Apache Black" (No, I don't know the reason for the native American-themed model names...”
Remington Arms Company (“America’s Oldest Gunmaker”) headquartered in Madison, NC, was founded in 1816 in upstate New York. The Nylon 66 was produced by Remington at their plant in Lyon, NY, located in Wayne County, a mere 5 miles from Seneca County.
The Cayuga Indians were the original inhabitants of that area in upstate New York. Along with the Onondaga and Oneida tribes, the Cayuga were flanked by Mohawk territory to their east, and Seneca lands to their west.
I assume "Apache Black" just sounded better than Cayuga, Onondaga or Oneida.
interesting that you had a problem reassembling the nylon 66. some years ago i decided i wanted one all black for my son, remington didn't offer it in all black, only the "apache black" with chrome barrel and action cover, so i bought a new, stripped black stock from remington stripped out the black parts from a brown 66 and reassembled them into the black stock with no problem. i also added a set of "uncle mikes" sling swivels in a way remington said couldn't be done. my son is all grown up and a dad himself but he still has that rifle, and it still works just fine.
"gunner"
Nice post about the Nylon 66. It is indeed one of the best rifles that Remington ever produced. If you are looking for help on re-assembling your Nylon Rifle you might want to check out our website that my brother & I have set up http://www.nylonrifles.com We have several documents about break down and reassembly as well are some great info about the history surrounding this gun. Also with the 50th anniversary quickly approaching I bet you're going to see a lot of press about these old nylons! Maybe even a commemorative version put out by Remington!
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