Remington 550

[rhbrink]

I was at a small gun show recently and a trader had a Remington 550 on the table. It had a rose wood forearm tip and a rose wood grip cap and I made the comment that who ever did the work did a nice job. The trader got all in a huff and claimed that it came for the factory that way and that Remington made 100 of them during the production days of the 550. Personally I think that he is as full of $hit and a Christmas goose but he said that he had proof which he did not have with him of course so the question is has anybody ever seem a Custom Shop 550?

RB

[Lloyd Smale]

good gun. Ive got one that was my grandpas but ive never seen any high grade version

[30calflash]

Saw a Remington pump 22 that had very nice wood, supposedly a factory offering as an option back in the day (probably pre WW2). The rifle was in mint shape and the guy was a collector of 22's and seller of sorts.

I think Rem and Win offered upgrades on most items made by them in the past. Wood and sights seem to be the popular ones.

[Jeff Michel]

Who would offer a 60.00 (1963) rifle with custom options? I find that to be a bit of a stretch but I could be full of guano too.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Had a 550-1 as a farm gun back in the 1950`s. It had a grooved reciever for a .22 scope which we added on afterward in the early 1960`s. My older brother kept it after we sold off all the farm goods in the late 1980`s. His kid promptly sold it for `pocket money` after his Dad died. I recently found a very much earlier version of the 550 that had a smooth reciever with no scope grooves. However the previous owner had a scope rail D&T on it. It ain`t the same, but it suffices to keep memories alive for me. Every 550 I have ever seen or read about since the 1950`s had a straight grain walnut stock. This was a `plain Jane` type post war rifle and was made `no frills`. We sold a good number of them thru our General Store till it was dropped by Rem. and more flashy .22`s were on the scene.Robert

[pill bug]

Have a 552 and love it. But still keeping an eye open for a 550, and want the early one with the smooth receiver. I agree, the 550 is a cool gun, but not the type to have a factory rosewood forearm tip. Gotta love the stuff they come up with at gunshows!

[wcp4570]

RB
I have a 550-1 and its a great shooter and classic Remington. I visit and read the Remington forum over on http://www.rimfirecentral.com/ , it has a wealth of information about old Remington 22s. Your 550 was made between 1941 to 1970 with 764,563 being made. They had a floating chamber and if it is working properly will shoot and cycle shorts, long and long rifle ammo. Remington dates their guns and with the date code on the barrel just forward of the receiver you can determine when the gun was made. The code is a 2 or 3 letter code that tells the month and year of manufacture. More info on the date code can be found at http://www.remingtonsociety.org/manufacture-dates/

For me old Remington 22s are addictive, some are more expensive than I can afford but I enjoy reading about them and collecting and shoot the one's I can afford. You own a piece of Remington history, enjoy your old 22.

wcp

[Clark]

I have (3) remington 550-1 rifles.
1) They are mostly too old to have serial numbers so the background check is gun anonymous
2) They cycle 75% of the time with CB sorts that only have 0.45 gr of powder.
3) They are cheap for the quality of design and build
..a) I paid $157 in 2011 private sale
..b) I paid $175 in 2016 pawn shop
..c) I paid $175 in 2016 pawn shop
4) They belong to the "beehive" family of Remington 22s that go all the way back to my childhood.

[smkummer]

The 552 must have been a whole lot less expensive and time consuming to make. The 550 was by today standards over built. Back then something that would cycle shorts, longs and LR must have made it sold well, now who really cares as often shorts sell for more than LR if you can find either. Did I read somewhere that this was a Carbine Williams design, along with the floating chamber Colt 22 Service Ace? Truly a classic Remington that shoots wonderful. I remember shooting one besides a classic stevens 87 auto loader. The stevens was slower in cycling but still fun to hear these classic autoloaders in action.

[Hardcast416taylor]

The 552 must have been a whole lot less expensive and time consuming to make. The 550 was by today standards over built. Back then something that would cycle shorts, longs and LR must have made it sold well, now who really cares as often shorts sell for more than LR if you can find either. Did I read somewhere that this was a Carbine Williams design, along with the floating chamber Colt 22 Service Ace? Truly a classic Remington that shoots wonderful. I remember shooting one besides a classic stevens 87 auto loader. The stevens was slower in cycling but still fun to hear these classic autoloaders in action.

A family friend had a new 552 to use on rodents, mostly town dump rats back in the `60`s. He used it so much that he actually wore the action out as to not reliably operate. My old 550 - 1 was still chugging along. I also remember reading something about Mr. Williams having alot to do with the floating chamber design.Robert

[1Hawkeye]

I had a 550-1 and kinda miss it. I never thought to try it with cb caps but it would run with .22 shorts and shotshells as well as the normal long rifle rounds I don't ever remember a jam. as for the fancy fore end tip yes that was someone who thought enough of there 550 to give it a custom stock. I do remember shooting it with those super colibri rounds you had to cycle the action like a straight pull but the fed fine and the case deflector worked great too.

[Hardcast416taylor]

As I recall, that angled shell deflector lasted about 6 weeks on our 550 before we took it off. It carboned up real easy on the bottom side and the top retainer screw would tend to loosen after a shooting session letting the deflector to droop and caused a `kicked back case` jam or two.Robert

[Clark]

I just ordered a deflector for my latest 550-1, from Gunparts Corp.
The 550-1 has that sliding half chamber that really opens quickly, lets out some sparks and noise, so the shorts can cycle it. One of mine will cycle with CB shorts most of the time. There is only 0.45 gr of powder in a CB short. Pick the 550 with a softest recoil spring and lubricate the sliding chamber to get those results.

[brstevns]

My very first rifle was a 550 rem. I was 13 years old and my father would take out the tube. He made me leave the tube out the first year or so hunting squirrels. Got pretty fast dropping a round in the notch on the magazine tube and working the action.
My father did not believe in wasting ammo, He wanted to make sure I could hot a squirrel with in one or 2 shots. The second year out, I got my mag. tube back. LOL I still have the old rifle and continue to hunt with it. Boy those 50 plus years went by fast.

[frkelly74]

My 550 was one of the rifles I let go of when 22 ammo got all hinky to find. Mistake! I bought it used in a hardware store and it looked like a barn find. It cleaned up nice though.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My very first rifle was a 550 rem. I was 13 years old and my father would take out the tube. He made me leave the tube out the first year or so hunting squirrels. Got pretty fast dropping a round in the notch on the magazine tube and working the action.
My father did not believe in wasting ammo, He wanted to make sure I could hot a squirrel with in one or 2 shots. The second year out, I got my mag. tube back. LOL I still have the old rifle and continue to hunt with it. Boy those 50 plus years went by fast.

This was the same way I learned also, and I`m sure there are a lot of other site readers were taught that way also.Robert

[Wolfer]

Dad give me my 550-1 for Christmas when I was 14.(1970)
Several years later I picked up another for 50 bucks. It's the old one without the grooved reciever. It was cheap because it jammed a lot. It still does and I can't figure out why. These guns were not prone to jam.

My original has seen a lot of use and has taken a lot of game. When I was young I didn't go hunting for xxxx. I just went hunting and I believe the old 550 has taken every species of game that was in south Mo. at that time.
It don't get used a lot anymore but I did take it out last year and killed 11 squirrels with it.

[1Hawkeye]

Now you guys got me looking for a 550 to replace the one I got rid of.

[frkelly74]

vicious circle ain't it?

[Mop]

My FIL bought me a 552 in 1975 for helping him build his house. He was using his 550-1. I was sure that his would out shoot mine but I think it was him all along. I found a 550-1 in a pawn shop probably in the early 80's that was an earlier model than his and couldn't resist buying it. His has the scope mount ridge, the other does not. I now own all three and all shoot great.

[Hogtamer]

Timely topic for sure! I was at a sale today and there was a 550 that seemed to be in great shape, wound up buying it for $200. Will do a good once over tomorrow and find out how she shoots.

[Hogtamer]

This old girl is a shooter! Got Leopold mount for the grooved receiver and a Nikon rimfire scope. Barely enough clearance to mount as the bell of scope is pretty big (3x9). got it sighted in and 10 shots in a quarter @ 50 yds off a rickety old table. Did that twice with LR aquila ammo. prolly can tighten that up with a decent rest. Don't trust those shallow grooves much though and the mount brackets seem a little fat for the grooves. We'll see how that lasts but with old eyes only baseball size groups @ 50 yds with open sights; a lot of us remember the day when you shot at a squirrel's eye and sometimes missed, just him in the head with iron sights. Great old gun and not a piece of plastic to be found.

[Hogtamer]

Had a little extra time lately and took the old Remy out for a little shooting. managed a 2" group @ 100 yds off an old coat over the hood of the truck, 10 shots. Pretty good for a couple of old timers; easy to forget what a good weapon a 22LR really is, and sure feel a little younger burning through 50 cartridges at pine cones, cans and bottles. Center punched a crow off hand about 85 yds. The "good old days" are still here!

[Texas by God]

Yep; I want one. And a 511 bolt action. And a 12C pump. I've got the other Remington .22s I need already.
Best, Thomas.