About 12 years ago my mother got me a used (well used) 550-1 rifle for squirrel hunting. It had a cheap scope on it and I couldn't hit crap with it. To my surprize, with the scope off I hardly missed. But it looked like it had never been cleaned and jammed frequently. I called remington and they sent me a copy of instructions and said the rifle was out of production. Cleaning it improved it somewhat but the bolt had a slit in it which I though was simply wear. Also, it has a tube magazine and if I cycled ammo though it the last rounds had the ends chopped off and metal shavings built up in the action, which I attributed to the jamming. I had quit shooting it because of the jams and I thought it was worn beyond safety. I showed it to my friends dad and he said it looked like that was just the way the bolt was milled and cleaned it some more. The next time I shot it it worked GREAT! I cleaned it and put it up and the next time we went shooting I must have put over 100 rounds through it. My friends had marlins with scopes but I outshot them! I attribute this to the rifle and not me as when we traded mine seemed to shoot better for anyone who shot it.
Trouble is it started jamming after awhile. At one point I was going to get a new rifle but after this last shooting session I don't think I could do any better with a new one and just want to keep this one in working order. It is very difficult to clean, I cannot completely disassmeble it. All I can do is remove the bolt, chamber, and firing pin assembly. The goo builds up in the reciever which I cannot get to. The manual says to use kerosene to clean it with and I thought maybe if I dunked the whole shabang in some kerosene after shooting I could keep it clean. I was going to polish it with my dremel but cannot get to the parts that I want to polish. It comes off the stock so I don't see how it could mess it up. Also, after the last shot is fired the bolt does not stay open. If I don't keep track of how many rounds I put in I wind up dry firing after the last one, which cannot be very good. Do all .22's with tube mags shave the tips off the ammo? I don't notice it near as bad with the copper tipped ones. The sights that come on it are great and I have no problem hitting targets and small game. I'm looking forward to squirrel hunting with my dog tommorrow! Can anyone tell me anymore about this rifle? My friends dad thinks it's well made and I shouldn't worry so much about wearing it out.
Trouble is it started jamming after awhile. At one point I was going to get a new rifle but after this last shooting session I don't think I could do any better with a new one and just want to keep this one in working order. It is very difficult to clean, I cannot completely disassmeble it. All I can do is remove the bolt, chamber, and firing pin assembly. The goo builds up in the reciever which I cannot get to. The manual says to use kerosene to clean it with and I thought maybe if I dunked the whole shabang in some kerosene after shooting I could keep it clean. I was going to polish it with my dremel but cannot get to the parts that I want to polish. It comes off the stock so I don't see how it could mess it up. Also, after the last shot is fired the bolt does not stay open. If I don't keep track of how many rounds I put in I wind up dry firing after the last one, which cannot be very good. Do all .22's with tube mags shave the tips off the ammo? I don't notice it near as bad with the copper tipped ones. The sights that come on it are great and I have no problem hitting targets and small game. I'm looking forward to squirrel hunting with my dog tommorrow! Can anyone tell me anymore about this rifle? My friends dad thinks it's well made and I shouldn't worry so much about wearing it out.
, and there is NO bolt hold open after the last round is fired. It sounds as if your magazine spring may be a little weak and that is why you are having a problem with the last few rounds in the tube. I never ahd a problem with taking mine apart to clean it but only take it completly down every 500 to 1000 rounds if that often. Uusally I just pull the bolt out, clean that and the "floating chamber", and the bore and spray and wipe the rest of it. To this day is is as good as new.