Dear Guys,


Stopped by my LGS, and saw 552 BDL in near excellent condition. Looks brand new except for one tiny scratch where the shells eject from the receiver. (Asking price was $420.)


This brought back the memories of those beautiful glossy full page ads that Remington use to run for these rifles in the gun magazines back in the mid 1960s.


I was thinking about maybe negotiating for it, but I thought I would do some research first. I thought that these were utterly reliable rifles, but then when I started looking online, I found about 20 different discussions posted under tops such as "How to make my 552 stop jamming." Perhaps worse, all of the recommended fixes were different, and talked about nicks, bends, defects etc. in about 8 different parts.


So, I would certainly appreciate all experiences good and bad that folks may have had with this particular rifle. I don't want to buy a project or a problem. I simply don't have the patience anymore.


Particularly interested in reliability comments, and trigger pull comments.


Thanks.


Mannyrock

I've owned exactly one of them long, long ago.

I took it squirrel hunting one day. I don't recall if it was jamming or something else but what I do recall was I got so disgusted with it I threw it as far as I could and walked off. I finished the morning hunting squirrels with my handgun and killed several squirrels.

I really like the looks of the 552 but every time I think about one I remember the day I threw the only one I've ever owned as far as I could thru the woods and walked away from it. I just can't bring myself to buy another.

i had one n.i.b. long ago.
i didn't keep it long, and i don't
remember why. i had a winchester
190 that i thought i'd replace
with the remington, and i ended up
keeping the winchester (still have it)
and selling the remington.
if you want a good remington .22
find you a 550-1

The problem is, that all of the reviews by people say that it was either the best rifle they ever owned, or the worse. No in-betweens.


I also saw a post that says that when you take it apart for cleaning, and then reassemble it, there is a lever in the trigger group that must be in the down position when you reassemble it, not in the up position above the hammer. If it is the up position, the rifle will consistently jam.


I wonder if this is why there are so many bad reports by people about jamming? I have never seen a review that said that a brand new rifle was jamming. The vast majority of them say that they shot the rifle until it was really really dirty and started jamming, then they took it apart and thoroughly cleaned it, and put it back together, and then it still jammed.


I know that Graybeard wouldn't have reassembled one wrong, but there are also two parts that wear out over time. The face of the hammer becomes peened flat from lots of use, and won't travel far enough to fully push the firing pin, so this often causes sporadic misfires. Also, the sear and carrier pieces can wear out as well, also causing jams.


Luckily, these parts are available online.


Still would like to hear more opinions.


Mannyrock

the one I had shot flawlessly for years, until I stupidly traded it off.

We own four of the 552 speedmasters. The oldest is a 1961 model the newest is a 1977, the other two are somewhere in between. I killed my first ground hog with the 1961 vintage. I learned to shoot with it and will always have it(may the good Lord, be willing), as it belonged to my Dad...he was a southpaw and loved the shell deflector, on the speedmaster. I can't report any failures or jams, with any of ours. We don't take them out, as much as some, of the other rifles...especially Dad's. I have to admit that, in my house, the 22s don't get cleaned the same as the other firearms - we shoot them clean or simply run a boresnake through them - no detail disassembly or detail stripping. I highly recommend the speedmaster. I am not saying that they are perfect or will never jam, maybe mine would be more problematic if they saw more use or were torn down more often, but in all of my experience, I put the 552 speedmaster on the top shelf!

Big regret getting rid of mine, traded it off back when I was in High School, best 22 I ever had! Still haven't gotten over it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought one in the 70's, shot it quite a few years, never cleaned it and sold it to a friend... He shot it quite a bit it too, and I always wished I had never sold it! He never cleaned it either... When he was moving out of Alaska, he came over one day and sold it back to me...

I put it out in the barn some time in the 90's and it's still there! I have shot it quite a bit over the years and to this day it's never been cleaned, not even one time.

I'd bet anyone a hundred dollar bill that I could go out to the barn any time I want, and it would fire all the rounds out of it without even one hiccup! It now looks like a total piece of junk, but it's accurate and totally reliable!

DM

I found a youtube where a guy totally disassembles a 552 in about 5 minutes, and then totally reassembles one in about 6 minutes, showing a few tricks.


So, I think this puts to rest the horror stories that are told about how difficult it is to take one apart for cleaning, and then to reassemble it.


Apparently, you just have to know what you are doing. :-)


Mannyrock

inherited grandpas. What do I think of it. Kind of cool but not near as reliable as a 1022 or a new marlin. Much more subject to fouling and needs to be cleaned ALOT. So it rests in peace in the back of the safe