Posted on 11/21/2016 8:02:42 AM PST by C19fan
In the late 1950s, Remington took advantage of its parent company DuPont’s expertise in industrial chemistry and developed a revolutionary new firearm. The Nylon 66 was the first mass-produced, widely-marketed polymer firearm. Remington designers requested a synthetic material that had a high tensile-impact strength, was resistant to environmental temperature extremes, resistance to abrasion, malleable and able to hold color.
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There are two very good YouTube videos on the breakdown and reassembly all the way down by the way of the Nylon 66. I will track them down and post the link later
I have an Uncle who bought one of these from a traveling Remington salesman when they were first introduced. He lives in Ky and a salesman just stopped by the farm and showed him the rifles he liked them and bought one. I have owned numerous nylon 66’s and have never found one like this original salesman’s rifle it is a lighter brown than all the others that I have seen.
That’s probably the same one I had. The retractable sling was red. I’ll never forget the first time I shot it. I spent the day shooting with my dad and grandpa on grandpa’s farm. One of the best days of my life.
The Nylon 11, Nylon 12 and Nylon 76 (the lever-action) have been hard to find for a long time; even the Nylon 77 is a rare bird on the used racks around here.
My first rifle was a Nylon 77 in Mohawk Brown. When my parents and I went to buy a .22 rifle, the choice came down to the Nylon 77 or the Ruger 10/22. Some might say "he chose poorly," but I never had any regrets until many years and rounds later when the stock came apart at the seam along the underside. That gun is long gone, the railroad tracks we walked are long gone, the woods that were the usual "hunting ground" are long gone, and there isn't a whole lot left of the old me, either.
Mr. niteowl77
No idea of total numbers, but I’ve read that when Brigade 2506 went ashore at Bay of Pigs in April ‘61, some troops were armed with the Nylon 66. Perhaps the idea was to use the 66 until taking a weapon from a Cuban having no further use of it.
Yep, red sling. My cousin and I spent the days of summer shooting jackrabbits out on the rimrock of southern Idaho. (I was a city boy from L.A. and Idaho was like heaven for me.)
Yes, the Nylon 66 was a great gun. Thousands of rounds fired and never a jam. I bought mine around 1967 and then, regretfully, sold it in the late ‘70s.
In the late 50s, as a teenager, I saved up my money and bought a Rem Speedmaster. Loved that rifle.
My mother loaned it to a woman who claimed someone was stalking her.
The woman promptly bolted town w/ my rifle.
My mother bought me a Mohawk Brown Nylon 66 as a replacement. My son owns it now.
IIRC it choked on plated ammo, ran fine with straight lead though.
Liked it but the Rem Speedmaster was a better rifle IMO.
The ‘new’ Speedmasters are rough compared to the beautiful finish on the old ones.
Mine’s in the safe - I still break it out a couple of times a year. It taught me three things: shooting is fun, shooting fast is funner, and ammunition is expensive. I used to pay a whole quarter for a box of 50!
*** “J.C. Higgins .22” ***
Mine sits right behind me and still takes squirrels
I have one that belonged to my grandfather and was passed to me. I don;t think it had ever been cleaned prior to me getting despite the fact it had probably been fired 50000 times
I’ve given it two thorough cleanings in the last 30 years and it has ridden in trunks, gun racks, and behind truck seats for all those years and I may have had 3 malfunctions out of 20-300 shots.
If I had to walk away into the wilderness with one gun it would likely be this one.
My experience with open sights vs. scope mirrors yours.
“Mine sits right behind me and still takes squirrels”
Yep! Mine is within reach too. It shows its age in cosmetic wear, but is still perfect for the ground squirrels that want to raid the garden, pack rats running across the shop, or whatever pest needs to be fed to the scavangers.
Mine was destroyed in a terrible car accident. Along with my Monkey Wards shotgun made on that humpback Browning patent. Well, the shotgun wasn’t destroyed, just ruined. I found a replacement barrel, but it never did work right after that. The .22 was destroyed. I still have the bolt and the trigger. I’m still sad about it, 25 years later. They were given to me by a family friend and my dad’s customer, by the Mr’s deathbed direction to the Mrs.
My favorite "first gun" was a Model 66 Smith that I shot loose with hot reloads. I was smart enough to sell that and replace it a few years later with a Model 66 with a custom 5 inch Magna Ported barrel. That one's my baby, and my keeper.
Agreed. With the engagement ranges that a .22 is used at iron vs scope is really just a matter of personal preference. Simo Hayaa used iron sights and raised hell with the Russians.
One drawback of learning to use a scope on a .22 is developing the bad habit of being too close to the eyepiece then shifting up to something like a scoped 30-06. At least the error is self correcting. Ouch.
Nylon 66 bump
They are wonderful guns.
There were some Brazilian made copies imported in the 1980’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9plFKHm3tK8
They are great rifles. They are tough, reliable, light, and reasonably accurate.
My first firearm was also my dad's first firearm, so it has extra-special significance and will therefore never leave.
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