Gratuitous Gun Pic: Remington Nylon 66 (.22 LR)

I stumbled on this fine article SOTI, and I had to share it with everyone because not only is it a good analysis and background story on the wonderful old Nylon 66, but it evokes from me a feeling of deep regret, because I was once offered one for about $20, and I turned it down because to me the little gun looked kinda cheap and nasty.

It was a Black Apache like this one:

No, don’t bother to offer to kick my ass, because said ass already has an excellent set of bruises thereon, self-inflicted.

In my defense, I didn’t know as much about guns back then as I do now, and in fact I’d never even heard of the thing because of my deprived South African childhood.

Anyway, here’s a different model, the brown one:

…and one that was recently on sale at Collector’s (it’s long gone, don’t bother), and for around $650 (!!!!):

Now go and read the article, because it’s full of interesting stuff.

By the way, I rejected the Nylon 66 because it looked flimsy and cheap, whereas it’s anything but.

Don’t trust me with any investment advice;  I suck.

5 comments

  1. My dad had a brown one he purchased in the early 60’s and it’s the first gun I ever shot, at about age 6. Dad died in 1980 and my sister has owned that gun ever since and never shoots it. Hardly a year goes by that I don’t offer to buy it from her but she refuses.

    I inherited 2 guns from him. A Winchester model 12, 12ga, that dad inherited from his dad and it’s dated 1917. And a Winchester model 71, .348 cal, that was my dad’s Pennsylvania deer gun. I don’t shoot the 71 much because the ammo costs about $9 per and is very hard to find. I have about 200 rds on hand and about 100 emptys.

  2. My first ever firearm. Bought in 1968. Copper didn’t want to give me a licence, until Dad said he’d teach me to use it.

    “What makes you think you can do that?” the cop sneered.

    Dad drew himself up to his full 5’9″ (:-)) and said, “RAN, CPO QMG” (Royal Australian Navy, Chief Petty Officer, Quartermaster Gunner).

    I got my licence but the police had the last laugh when it was confiscated and crushed after the Port Arthur shooting. Loved that little thing.

  3. You’re not the only one. I had the opportunity to buy a (standard) Nylon 66 at what I later learned was a screaming good deal several years ago (it was on the used rack at a gun shop), but I passed on it because I’d heard on some internet forum that they were fragile and unreliable.

    It wasn’t until Ian McCollum did a video of the Nylon 66 last year, and I did some independent research, that I learned that the rifle was the furthest thing from fragile or unreliable. I’ve been kicking myself ever since.

  4. Years back (here we go again!) a friend had a brown tube fed model that we used to shoot into a steel backstop in his basement. This was in New Jersey but his house was well built and to the best of my knowledge no recognizable noise disturbed the neighbors. After I moved to Oklahoma in 1980 I bought a magazine fed version and it was one of the worst firearms I’ve ever owned. It failed to feed or eject on about every other round and I traded it off on a pre 68 Marlin Model 60 (no serial number) which my son still owns. Too bad because the Remington really looked cool.

  5. I think I saw maybe 50 of them at various pawn shops back in the late 80’s early 90’s. IIRC going price was sub $100.

    Ask me what an idiot I was. I also walked away from a Belgian Auto 5 for about $150, and a Swedish Mauser for about $225.

    Again ask me what an idiot I was. I could have come up with the $$$. I just a) didn’t know what I was looking at, b) thought they were low rent guns beneath me.

    Did I mention I was an idiot?

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