Nylon 66 - Cleaning, sight replacement, ammo?

[DickP]

My girlfriend recently inherited an Apache Black Nylon 66 and I was hoping a few of the kind folks here would help me out regarding:

(1) How do you clean this thing? This is the first rifle I've owned that's not a bolt-action, and the thought of running the cleaning rod down the muzzle-end makes me cringe. I'm not intending on keeping this thing super clean but there's a whole lot of gunk in the barrel.

(2) Any good aftermarket sights for this gun? The rear sight is okay for me in most lighting situations, but I lose the front sight in anything other than broad daylight. The rear sight looks like it's bolted to the action (?) and I can live with not replacing it, but I really want to change the factory front sight. I've been contemplating painting it with glow-in-the-dark paint, but I'd prefer something a little nicer - a cheap fiber-optic would be fine, and I could probably talk myself into a Trijicon-type nightsight...

(3) The only .22lr ammo I've been finding is Remington stuff from Wallyworld - although truthfully I haven't really been looking too hard for alternatives - any recommendations for an accurate, affordable (primarily target) load?

Thanks!

 

[GRIZ22]

the thought of running the cleaning rod down the muzzle-end makes me cringe.

If you take care the gun will last longer than you.

Punch out the bore, take off the receiver cover, wipe off the big chunks, and squirt some lube on the bolt that's it. The gun will run fine. I don't know if Gunscrubber affects the plastic in the Nylon 66. A Nylon 66 is not a rifle to detail strip. Many gunsmiths made a lot of money reassembling Nylon 66s that were taken apart by their owners. I knew a gunsmith who used to just send them back to Remington to be reassembled. He could do it but said it wasn't worth his time.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

NO. The nylon 66 is so easy to take apart to a point. take off the charging handle, take the 2 receiver screws off, take the barrel lug screw off, take the barrel off and clean everything. You will notice a stamped sheet metal part on the left side of the "receiver". Clean the gun and reinstall in reverse order. Do not overtighten the receiver screws as this can cause binding and the gun may not function properly. The nylon mechanism doesn't require much lube, but a little on the bolt guide and spring won't hurt.

Learn to live with the sights as I know of no aftermarket ones. Don't bother scoping it as it won't work. The nylon will eat just about any kind of high velocity ammo you can find, even the crappy remington.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Gunfighter123]

As 351Win said ---- BUT , if I remember right --- cock the action before you pull the bolt handle off.

 

[DickP]

Thanks guys!

 

[mgkdrgn]

I own, and shoot on a regular basis, a Nylon 77 (same as yours, only mag fed) that I bought NEW in 1974.

Cleaning ... once a year, but only if it needs it (and mostly it doesn't). Some Hoppes 9, a quick swab down the barrel, swab out the ejector port a bit, and you're done.

I have -never- put any "lube" in the action of this gun.

DO NOT EVER disassemble. The guy that invented the Rubic Cube went insane trying to put a Nylon 66 back together.

Ammo .... mine gladly eats what ever I feed it. I can count the number of FTE/FTF I've had (not caused by a bad mag) on one hand.

 

[WNTFW]

DickP,
I second the don't scope it opinion. The irons are decent on the 66. Get a small screwdriver to use on the rear windage.
Try painting the front sight. Finger nail polish is actually not a bad way to go for this.
I like to use a bore snake on .22 semi autos after 250-500 rounds as a PM measure. 1 or 2 pull throughs from the breech and shoot some more.
Just watch the muzzle doesn't get clogged or damaged when reloading.

The 66 seems to feed all the bulk pack about the same in mine also.