Let us not forget the old Sears cataloges this time of year!!!

fredvon4 wrote:https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1182215

My old stomping grounds Fred.  I have well over 20K posts there including those from the originating forum.  Been a long time, had to look up my old password.  

I see old "Al The Infidel" is still around with over one million posts.  

I bought many of those advertised military surplus rifles for $9.95 each.  Still have a couple.

But, this is the book to have.  John Gyde's and Roy Marcots Remington .22 Rimfire Rifles book.  377 pages hardbound and available in leather.  Got them both - autographed.  John sent me all of his reference material on the model 550 (series) .22 caliber rifles after he finished the book.  A rifle that I have written extensively about.  About 15 pounds of material including interesting facts about David "Carbine" Williams who invented the "Floating Chamber" used in the model 550 and the M1 Carbine among others.  

As long as we're talking off-topic about Remington 550s, I have a 550P that is missing the peep sight. Do either of you, Bob or Fred have any idea where I might be able to track one down?

Dave P. wrote:As long as we're talking off-topic about Remington 550s, I have a 550P that is missing the peep sight.  Do either of you, Bob or Fred have any idea where I might be able to track one down?

The Remington "Point crometer" "peep" sight. Shows up occasionally on ebay, but I haven't seen one in years. Chances are if one shows you will have to fight me and a couple of dozen other Remington guys for it. Actually it's not a great sight, Williams and others make a better one and they are available. But there is no substitute if your looking for originality.

If you find one, ensure it's for either the 550-P or 550-1P. Remington also put them on their 511-P's, 512-P's and 341's. Those would be the short shanked variety, the 550's had the longer shank.

BTW, the original 550-P's are rarer than the -1P's.

lol, so speaking of guns, li'l Jr. just built an AK-47, apparently its a thing, buy barrel, and build jigs to fabricate, rent go-no go gauges for clearances, kinda cool.

I thought I remembered that Dad didn't much like that sight.  I remember it being in a mason jar on the back of his bench for years, but when I went looking for it a few years back, it was nowhere to be found.  Certainly not a need-to-have item for me, I've just been idly surfing the 'net looking for one to no avail and thought I'd ask.  I'm just happy I still have the rifle.  Thanks for the info!

Difference between the short and long shanked sights

Best of both world.


Does yours still have the P's front ramp sight


Someone, probably a gunsmith grooved the barrel for a standard sight, the 550-P's barrels were not grooved.  Still a fine rifle." />

HA I know it is photo trickery but that last barrel looks like it favors down hill shootin

fredvon4 wrote:HA I know it is photo trickery but that last barrel looks like it favors down hill shootin

Ha, not the first comment in that regard Fred. My camera tends to bend...

Wide angle camera lens distortion. Zoom in a little and step away.

My first 22 rifle was a very lightly used Remington 513-P (clip magazine). I think the other owner did not like the peep sights, or small capacity magazines. I loved mine, and would love to find another, but the only one I've ever seen was priced out of sight, and that was nearly 20 years ago!

Gave it to my cousins, when I joined the AF at 17. Saw it many years later, and nearly cried.

My cousins had never cleaned, or even bothered drying it off after being caught in the rain while hunting. I don't think they ever oiled the barrel and action!

The Rem was a tack driver for a 22, and I got very good accuracy with those peep sights.

A few years later the AF had switched to Mossberg 22 rifles for small arms training, and ditched their 30 caliber carbines. My first trip to the range for annual qualification I got the top score they had ever seen on that range! I credited that to my old Rem 513. They asked if I'd ever competed, which I had not. They talked me into joining the base small bore team, and I had a couple of fun years accumulating awards at the local and state levels.

I guess my only mistake was shooting my best during my NRA unclassified period, and I went straight to the Expert class, and was only a 10th of a point off Master!

I went from winning all the time as unclassified, to winning very few matches in the Expert class, but it was still great fun competing.

My shooting team NCOIC told me I should have sandbagged during classifications, but that just went against my nature! Cheating was something I could never do with a clear conscience.

Bill

Bill, at 82 we are contemporaries both in age and in history.

Except when I went in the Navy my older brother unknown to me assumed custody of my two shotguns, a Stevens 12 gauge double barrel and a Winchester 16 gauge single shot. Thankfully he left my other guns alone and I still have those today.

He cut the barrels and stocks down on both shotguns for some Rambo reason and after seeing them I forgot all about that happening but I replaced them both later in life. They had special meaning as they were given to me by a friend of my fathers when I was nine. They constituted the first rifle, pistol, and shotgun that I shot.

I collected Mossbergs for many years, guess I had at least one of every .22 that they ever made, and that was many. I corresponded frequently with Victor and Cheryl Havlin the predominant Mossberg authorities and have an autographed copy of their book.

I never shot in competition though.

Hi Bob (is that your first name?),

Very similar experiences indeed!

I was given a Stevens 12 gauge single by my beloved late uncle, but the recoil was a bit much for a 7 year old, so he added a 410 gauge Mossberg bolt action that I liked much better. Both had metal butt plates and could bruise if not handled carefully. The same uncle gave me the Remington 513-P for my birthday a year or so later, and I never used the shotguns after that.

Another annoyance with the shotguns, was the lead shot I very rarely missed when I cleaned squirrels, for my grandmother to fry for dinner. We were poor, and often did not have meat for dinner, if I didn't bring a few squirrels home.

The only hand guns I shot belonged to friends families, and were probably taken without permission. Only got to shoot 45 ACP until many years later when I bought my first handgun, a Dan Wesson 357 that I still own. Really got into handguns when I started reloading all my center fire ammo. Reloaded everything from 25 auto, to 45 Long Colt. Friend showed me how to reload some of his 45-70 rifle rounds, on an early progressive press. Cartridges moved along a track from station to station, and then back for the next round. I was hooked! Bought an RCBS Jr press, a few carbide dies, and was on my way. Got to the point where I think I was shooting more, just so I could reload the brass! All my reloading equipment is still in boxes in the garage, where I left it when we moved into this condo 15 years ago!

Our small farm was mostly trees and thorny things, so my first stick and tissue FF airplanes often needed recovering after a test glide! I remember building a Sinbad 36 glider, and a Fubar half A, but they didn't last long enough to do me any good. My grandparents bought me a Walker Firebaby, and a new Cub .049, so I didn't build another FF until years later. The Cub was really weak, and could not get the Firebaby off the grass lawn we flew from! Grandparents came through again, and bought me a McCoy .049 diesel, a bottle of Ether, and Castor oil, to mix my own fuel. We cooked on a Kerosene stove at that time, so we had a big drum of Kerosene in the basement.

Found that the model A/B Fords I drove ran fine on Kerosene, but the Model A and B Fords had to be started on Gasoline! Always carried a small can of gas in my cars to warm up the engines before switching to Kerosene. Gas was a whopping 32 cents per gallon at the country store, but Kerosene was free to me, until the basement tank ran out.

I flew C/L for a few years, but did get into R/C after retirement from the AF. Actually got bored with R/C after ten years or so, and went back to C/L after moving to the Portland area. We have a great little C/L club here in Portland, but there are very few members with color in their hair, and some with very little hair at all.

Unfortunately, I'm considering winding down my hobby collecting, as I know I have many kits and engines I will never use. None of my family ever developed an interest in our hobby, and I'd hate to see any of my toys going into the dumpster.

Still love target shooting, but don't have a good place to shoot, so I haven't been to a range in years.

How about you? Are you still shooting?

Later Pal,

Bill

Hi Bill. PM sent.

Bob