Nylon 66

[swoter]

Stopped at a local gun shop yesterday, and walked out with a Nylon 66 in Mohawk Brown and a Marlin Glenfield model 60. Both priced very reasonably.
They also had a Nylon 66 on consignment in Seneca Green. 1st one I’ve ever seen in person. But it was priced accordingly at $1000. I left it hanging on the wall. Here’s a pic of the Mohawk, the Marlin is already at my daughters.

 

[Charlie98]

Buddy I grew up with had that exact flavor... it may have been the first rifle I ever shot, too. I always found the tubular mag in the buttstock to be pretty clever.

 

[nettlle]

Nice find!

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Nice!

My Dads is fairly reliable, though it shot more patterns than groups per se.

 

[nettlle]

They were advertised as a trap line gun when first introduced. I was running trap lines at that time and bought one specifically for that purpose. It's an excellent trap line gun because it does well when wet, freezing rain and some times coated with ice. Very light and easy to carry. I was trapping creeks and rivers. Basically it's an all weather 22 caliber tank. Very reliable. Mine wouldn't win any bench rest competitions but when used for what it was designed for there was nothing better at that time. It's a nice rifle even still today.

 

[Rubone]

I've had mine since the early '70s. However, they are not "unbreakable", the stock of mine snapped in two when it fell out of the gun cabinet and hit the concrete slab. It was Mohawk Brown but the only stock I found at the time was in Apache black, so after I swapped it out it now is Black and Blue. Fitting I guess! I also have a couple Glenfield 60s and a 70 too!

 

[nettlle]

The nylon stocks on the 66's were advertised as light weight to carry and they were. Falling out of a gun cabinets on a concrete floor was not one of their selling points.

 

[Valkman]

I won a Nylon 66 in the 80's, but one day I checked the closet where I kept it and it was gone. The GF denied doing anything with it but she was a liar and drug addict, so I guess it was traded for meth. Too bad as I liked that rifle.

 

[Riomouse911]

My Dad gave me a non functional, surface-rusty Mohawk brown nylon 66 a few months ago, if I decide to do anything it is truly a project rifle.

It has something jammed in the action, the charging handle snapped off at the level of the bolt and the fore end is chipped and cracked where it fell and hit the corner of the patio.



Cool idea, but I haven’t ever been much of a fan.

Stay safe.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

The Nylon used in these rifles gets brittle with age. Time has not done them any favors.

Ones found now should not be shot, the plastic cannot take much abuse. The formula of these early polymers will break down especially in dry climates. Nylon 66 is hydrophilic.

Decent boys rifles and plinkers for their time, but they’ve got a ton of issues. The scope dovetail rests on a stamped piece of sheet metal and will not hold zero reliably. Spare parts are getting harder to come by, replacement stocks are nearly impossible to find, and they have become pricey collectors items in recent years.

Fragile, lacking in accuracy, nearly impossible to scope, the Nylon 66 is no longer the gun you want in the field. The venerable Ruger 10/22 fills that role and does everything the Nylon relics do and does it much, much better.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Weird thing is there was a guy who showed up at the gun show year after year with about a dozen or so Nylon 66 stocks in a box. I did not have a broken Nylon 66 so I passed.
I bought a broken Nylon 66 held together with black electricians tape at a pawn shop for $50, patched it ugly with epoxy. Never saw the guy with the box of Nylon 66 stocks at any of the gun shows after that.

 

[Valkman]

Weird thing is there was a guy who showed up at the gun show year after year with about a dozen or so Nylon 66 stocks in a box. I did not have a broken Nylon 66 so I passed.
I bought a broken Nylon 66 held together with black electricians tape at a pawn shop for $50, patched it ugly with epoxy. Never saw the guy with the box of Nylon 66 stocks at any of the gun shows after that.

Of course since you needed one!

 

[swoter]

I’ll just shoot this one till it dies, and if I go first, my daughter and son-in-law will get it. If I only get a couple of years out of it I got my money’s worth.

 

[C.R.]

My Uncle had one of those things. As I recall it was not too reliable. Don't think it made it through a magazine with out some kind of stoppage. Another Uncle had a Browning .22 that was lots more fin because it would shoot without any problems.That thing kind of poisoned my opinion of Remington products . I think I've only got one Remington rifle .

 

[JDeere]

I have one in the Brown that my FIL kept under the back seat of his truck for years. I took it complete apart and cleaned all of the gunk out of it and re lubed it. I shoot it from time to time and she runs well. Some one mentioned butt stock loading. I also have an old model 74 Winchester that is one accurate rifle that enjoy plinking with at the range.

 

[Nasty Canasta]

I’ve always found my 66 to be a very innovative reliable & accurate rifle that never needs lubed, just a minor cleaning every few thousand rounds. Crazy what they go for these days, I saw a Nylon 76 lever action one for sale that I wanted but $1,500 wasn’t going to happen.

 

[lightman]

I've had mine since I was a kid. Its a fun gun to shoot, pretty reliable and accurate enough for its purpose. Its one of the more difficult guns to disassemble and reassemble that I have worked on.

I'll never sell mine but I consider the 10-22 to be the better rifle. I remember one of the advertisements was a Remington rep hitting a large number of wooden blocks thrown up into the air.

 

[Beck]

If the Nylon 66 is good enough for a prince, it's good enough for me...

 

[halfmoonclip]

Gosh, I wanted one of those when I was a kid...really, really wanted one.
For the OP, glad you found a good one; enjoy.
Moon

 

[halfmoonclip]

My Dad gave me a non functional, surface-rusty Mohawk brown nylon 66 a few months ago, if I decide to do anything it is truly a project rifle.

It has something jammed in the action, the charging handle snapped off at the level of the bolt and the fore end is chipped and cracked where it fell and hit the corner of the patio.

View attachment 1147605 View attachment 1147606

Cool idea, but I haven’t ever been much of a fan.

Stay safe.

That's been abused. "Nobody know the trouble I seen..."
Moon

 

[Riomouse911]

It was Dad’s cottontail plunker, it sat by the sliding glass door in his bedroom for decades loaded with CB caps or Aguila Super Colibri. (Since they didn’t cycle the gun I see how the charging handle finally croaked.)

Dad still has a huge vegetable garden in his back yard. He had it fenced to keep the mule deer out, but the rabbits wiggle through the fence and get into his garden so he goes full Mr. MacGregor on them.

Stay safe.

 

[CapnMac]

My LGS has a brown N66 in the used rack that's not moving at the US$655 sticker price.

I have a steel tube 4x Burris that would be "period correct" if I break down and try to haggle with them. The main problem being I don't really need a second N66. Sigh.

 

[Rubone]

My LGS has a brown N66 in the used rack that's not moving at the US$655 sticker price.

I have a steel tube 4x Burris that would be "period correct" if I break down and try to haggle with them. The main problem being I don't really need a second N66. Sigh.

I feel your pain, I get excited with all the vintage 22s I see, but I have a pile already!

 

[27hand]

I have one my dad bought when I was about 12.
Nice little shooter.
I..made speed loaders using old aluminum arrows.

https://flic.kr/p/2mjZKW2

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Nice!

My Dads is fairly reliable, though it shot more patterns than groups per se.

The nylon 66 is probably the most reliable .22 semi auto ever made. You could scope them, but they dind't shoot well scoped because the barrel is not secured to the "receiver", and any pressure deviation of the forearm will shift the poi. I have put more rounds than I care to admit through several and never had a malfunction that wasn't ammo induced. Never had a broken stock or any broken part. I put mine thru hell for almost 20 years and finally took it down and I was amazed at the crud I got out, but it never missed a lick.