Remington Nylon 66

The Remington Nylon 66 is a rifle manufactured by Remington Arms from 1959 to 1989. It was the first mass-produced rifle to feature a stock made from a material other than wood. For this reason it was a huge gamble for Remington.

History
In the 1950's, Remington Arms was interested in designing a rifle that was cheaper to produce. After analysis, engineers determined that there were savings to be found in the production of the receivers and stocks of rifles. Thus Remington asked chemical engineers at DuPont to come up with a plastic that could replace both the wooden stock and the receiver. The specs given to DuPont called for a material that could be formed into any shape desired but that also had a high tensile-impact and flexural strength.

After some research, DuPont came back to Remington with a compound they called Nylon Zytel-101. Zytel is DuPont's brand name for Nylon. This compound was ultimately used to produce the stock and receiver.

Design and features
The largely synthetic construction meant that the Nylon 66 could operate without any added lubricants. This made it very popular in arctic regions, and indeed there have been many reports of indigenous peoples killing large animals, such as moose, with a .22LR fired from a Nylon 66. Some have speculated that the light weight of the gun could potentially cause substandard accuracy in the field, but this does not seem to be a complaint from Nylon 66 shooters.

The Nylon 66 was fitted with leaf sights as well as a grooved receiver that could accommodate a mount for a telescopic sight. It was available in several colors, such as "Mohawk Brown", "Apache Black," and "Seneca Green". The "Seneca Green" version is the rarest, as it was discontinued in 1963.

The Apache version of the Remington Model 66 has a rather bright green stock and was sold by K-Mart. The Seneca Green is a rather dull colored green and, in some lighting conditions, Seneca Green is difficult to distinguish from the more common brown.

Variants
Nylon 66MB - Mohawk Brown, 1959-1987 (Brown stock, blue steel receiver/barrel)

Nylon 66GS - Gallery Special 1962-1981 (22 short only, Brown stock, blue steel receiver/barrel) Shell deflector. Counter cable attachment on bottom of stock. A few were known to have been Apache Black.

Nylon 66SG - Seneca Green, 1959-1962 (dark green stock, blue steel receiver/barrel) 42,500 made

Nylon 66AB - Apache Black, 1962-1984 (Black stock, chrome receiver & barrel) 221,000 made.

Nylon 66BD - Black Diamond 1978-1987 (Black stock, blue 19012-473710. These 1967-68 serial numbers were located on the bottom of the barrel about 3" back from the muzzle.