Anyone know when the Remington Model 572 Fieldmaster first rolled off the assembly line? I tore into mine last night, and I'm guessing it hasn't been apart since it left the factory. To call it filthy would be to miss, by an order of magnitude, the level of crud and accumulated lead and burnt powder in this gun. Fun moment of the night - realizing that the long metal strip that I thought filled in part of the bolt was actually calcified powder as it stripped away under brushing...
I took it apart last night because it had started to experience failures to feed at last Saturday's outing with Borepatch. I assumed that it needed a thorough cleaning - I've had it for almost a year; taken it shooting a dozen times or so with only minimal cleaning - and didn't realize just how true that was. It was easier to take apart than my Nylon 66, which is like saying that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is easier to play on a kazoo than his Ninth...
Once it was apart, the first thing I tackled was the trigger group. Two pins and it dropped free, much like, oh, pretty much every other pump-action longarm I've ever taken down. The trigger group wasn't too bad, some minor scrubbing and a spritz of CLP and it was all set.
And then I got the bright idea to pull out the bolt...
It's back together now, all squeaky clean and oiled and ready to shatter clays and clang steel the next time I bring it to the range. I suspect it won't need another cleaning like this for several decades, at which time I may simply sell it rather than spend another two and a half hours cleaning off crud dating to the Eisenhower administration.
Or I'll give it another thorough cleaning and be set until my grandkids are ready to shoot...
That is all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Dang. I'm happy to help you clean the guns. Prolly half the crud there is from all the rounds that the Borepatch clan has put through it ...
;-)
You might want to check the gun next weekend, I found that CLP draws crud out of the metal, so a gun that was put away clean, would appear filthy in a week. Kind of learned the hard way when cleaning the M-16A1's from Vietnam we had when I was in the CTANG. I think the unit failed the weapsons inspection because of that.
I do offer a dirty-gun disposal service, free of charge for a limited time only...
Dirty guns, done dirt cheap!
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
hehehe- welcome to the downside of shooting a lot! :-)
Jay asks: "Anyone know when the Remington Model 572 Fieldmaster first rolled off the assembly line?"
The Blue Book indicates 1955, so there couldn't be more than 54 years of crud in yours (j/k). No need to guess, though; you can use the code stamped on the left side of the barrel to find out the month and year your rifle was manufactured. This webpage explains how:
http://www.remingtonsociety.com/rsa/questions/barrelcodes
(you may have to increase the page size in your browser to see the tiny diagram).
My 572 is marked RQ, indicating a birth around November of 1978. Yours looks a bit older than mine, based on the photos you've posted (stamped rear sight and 23" barrel), so I wouldn't be surprised if you have 35-40 years of gunk in there.
Here's what mine looks like (21" barrel):
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7944/rem572wtext.jpg
Great guns!
Borepatch,
Don't kid yourself. Much of the crud in that Remington was there before your kids were born. Possibly before *I* was born...
But... It is now squeaky clean and ready to be shot again. And again. And again. :)
Michael,
Thanks for the tip. I only CLP'd the trigger group, so I'm hoping it won't be *that* bad...
James,
Heh. I'll keep that in mind in ~ 20 years when the Remington's that filthy again...
Jim,
That ain't the half of it - that's the Remington I picked up last year for less than a couple boxes of .45 ACP cost these days...
Old NFO,
You ain't kiddin'. That gun has digested EASILY over 2,000 rounds since I picked it up a year ago, and that's at the infrequent pace at which I shoot. Each outing is good for 2-300 rounds easily, and given that it's a pump-action and less-prone to fouling, it goes longer and longer between cleanings than a semi-auto without any noticeable decrease in function.
Which is why, when it started having trouble chambering rounds, I knew it was time to give it a thorough cleaning...
DJ,
Thanks for the info. When I picked it up last year I looked into how old it might be for C&R purposes. It's less than 50 years old, that's about all I know...
35 years of gunk seems about right... :)
Post a Comment