Picked up a Remington 550-1

[Dave Markowitz]

I picked up a Remington 550-1 today for $175 OTD, then took it to the range and shot it after running a couple patches down the bore and applying a generous amount of FP10 to the bolt. It's one heck of a nice shooter. I ran about 250 rounds through it -- CCI Mini Mags, Federal Champion HV, and Federal 550 bulk pack. I had one failure to feed each with the Mini Mags and Champions. From the bench it was grouping into ~1.5" at 25 yards, which is about the best I can do with an open rear sight and bead front sight.

The 550-1 has a Williams floating chamber and should be able to function with Shorts, Longs, or Long Rifles. I tried 5 CCI CB Longs but although they would eject, they didn't blow the bolt back far enough to load another round. They are very quiet from the rifle's 24" barrel, though.

Being a pre-1968 rimfire rifle it has no serial number. However, Remington stamped codes on the barrel which indicate that it was made in March of 1948.

I'd put it in overal NRA Good to VG condition, with the bore being excellent. The blueing is starting to turn brown in places and it is missing the case deflector and its mounting screw. I ordered replacements tonight from Numrich. I'm a lefty and it does spit a bit from the ejection port.

Compared with the more recently manufactured sporting arms it's evident the 550-1 is from a bygone era, when companies like Remington put out functional works of art made from blued steel and walnut.

Here is my new toy next to my Remington Nylon Apache 77:



Aside from install a new deflector, I am planning to drill and tap the receiver so that I can mount a scope. Iron sights aren't as easy for me to see as they used to be, so the rifle will benefit from a good scope. I have a Nikon 4x32mm Prostaff rimfire scope gathering dust which will be a perfect mate for the Remington, and enable me to wring out the most accuracy.

 

[Danny Creasy]

Don't hold the CB Long failures against the 550-1. It is designed to work with .22 S, L, and LR in std or high velocity but not the low velocity stuff like CB longs or shorts.

Mine usually starts to have jams at about the 200 to 300 round mark. Once the floating chamber gets too dirty the rifle will not work reliably. If I just hit the chamber with a a bore brush and some BreakFree CLP, she gets right back in the game.

 

[Armored farmer]

Congrats,

My 550-1 was left to me by my grandfather. I put an old 4x Weaver on the dovetails. It is a tackdriver too.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Back in the early 1960s my best friend who still slived in the country had a 550; I thought it was ingenious.

The Williams Floating Chanmber in the 550 is for amplifying the recoil of the .22 Short (standard or high velocity) to equal the .22 long rifle. The Williams floating chamber was originally applied to .22 Army training versions of the 1917 machinegun and 1911 pistol, and was used in the Winchester Model 50 shotgun.

The 550 bolt is balanced to function with standard or high velocity Long or Long Rifle. The 550 floating chamber is shorter than the Long case used in Long and Long Rifle rounds, but functions with the short case.

The modern CB rounds use short or long cases for the Conical Bullet light loads (what the Germans call Zimmerpatrone or indoor cartridges) for quiet practice or control of very small vermin. They are not as powerful as the .22 Short and .22 Long that the 550 was originally designed for.

The original BB and CB indoor practice rounds were made on cases about the size of percussion musket caps suitable only for singleshot rifles. When CCI revived the idea of the CB, they opted to use full size short or long cases so they could be used in magazine fed guns.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Don't hold the CB Long failures against the 550-1.

Oh, I'm not. I plan to pick up some Shorts the next time I see them and give them a try. Also, I figure after several decades the floating chamber probably needs to be pulled back and cleaned. It's probably stuck.

It's a darn fine rifle. There was an older 572 Fieldmaster pump next to it in the rack that I would probably have bought if the 550-1 had not been there.

 

[Clark]

I got a 550-1 in 2011 for a dickered down price of $157.50.
I got it from the original owner since 1952.
After owning that rifle for 2 years I feel the functional value is twice what I paid.

It has no recoil spring mods, and yet can get out 3 rounds of CCI CB Short ammo before it jams.

I love that rifle.

And I love the field master too... just got it in April for $180

 

[Danny Creasy]

They are neat rifles. Very accurate and the factory trigger pull is one of the best I have experienced on semi-auto .22 LR.

An old friend told me that some gunsmiths in the 50's frequently welded up the floating chambers to make the rifles more reliable with long rifle ammo only. Serious hunters and shooters new the merit of such an accurate and reliable rifle and would pay to have their 550s and 550-1s so modified.

I love the balance of my 550-1 as well.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Cut my 550-2 down for my daughter and it is a tack driver.

 

[Bull Nutria]

my great uncle gave me a new 550-1 when i was about 12. it is may favorite nutria gun. my friend is a trapper and he has about 3 of them, he use the 550s extensively each winter and shoots a couple thousand nutria, it gets so dirty he has to clean it a couple of times during the winter.he prefers cci mini mag HP ammo, he use the open sights as i do. i purchased a new REM 572 pump and will try it for the longer shots with a scope next winter. i carry 2-22s with me in the boat when I am nutria hunting.

Bull

 

[VA27]

Great find! Congratulations!

Mine, when clean and well lubed, will get through a mag full of fresh CCI CB Shorts. When it finally fouls out, a switch to CCI Target Shorts gets it running again, and they're nearly as quiet as CB's out of that long barrel.

 

[Art Eatman]

I bought a new one in 1950. Dearly loved to shoot it. It "disappeared" while I was in the Army or I'd still have it.

Happy birthday, Dave.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Thanks Art.

 

[Tommygunn]

Nice rifle, Dave.
Like several others here I too inherited a 550-1 from my father. I haven't used it in awhile. This one was made in 1950 so it's about as old as yours.
From what I have gleaned here & elsewhere this rifle was a fairly inexpensive rifle but is well regarded for being very accurate.
Use yours in good health!