Think I may have scored...

[BillTell]

I just got a .22 on an auction site I use. They had two of these guns on there. One was a traditional blue, and the other looked kind of odd. It looked like a much cheaper version, with an almost anodized aluminum finish to it. It was like a bright electric blue. As the auction closed, I decided the traditional looked better, so I concentrated on that one, and was outbid at $350. After you add in auction premiums and NY taxes, that's almost $450. A lot, I know, for a .22. But it was a Remington Pump, and shot Short, Long, and Long Rifle. I didn't have one of those, so I went for the Electric Blue after losing the first. I thought I'd be outbid at $350 again, but I wasn't. I wasn't thrilled about the odd color, but I told my buddy, who thought I was nuts, and then he called me back after doing a bit of research. It seems I bought a Remington 572 Fieldmaster in Teal Wing Blue. Apparently the rarest color of these guns. I think 1962 was the last production on these, and from what I see in the photos, (I haven't even gotten the gun yet, only saw it in the photos) it was manufactured in June of 1958.
That's about as much info as I can find. If anyone knows any more, (I know they made it in two other colors, the tan and crow wing black) such as how many were made, etc. I'd love to hear about how this local boy made good! I think my investment may just have paid off!

 

[entropy]

They are not common. I've seen a few at gun shows, always at prices higher than I would pay.

 

[Coyote3855]

I remember when those came out. The hardware store I worked in had one in gold with a light colored stock and forend. Not to my tastes at the time. The blue sounds nice.

Howzza 'bout you post some pictures?

 

[BillTell]

I'm hoping to get it from the FFL tomorrow, but I have to make an appointment, and I don't know when I can pick it up. It was an auction buy. I'll throw on a photo or two when I do get it home.

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't know how well you did on price, but that is certainly a novelty. Remington made colored pump actions, High Standard made colored revolvers in the same era.

You have to make an appointment at a gun dealer? Whereat?

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Seen plenty of Fieldmasters, but never a colored one. Honestly, $450 isnt an outrageous price for a clean regular blued example these days. Cant wait to see the pics, congrats.

 

[BillTell]

I got it today! I wish I could say it's "Pristine", but it looks like a gun that was well used in the field, as it was intended... The lines are 870 Sleek, (I believe it was patterned after the 870) and there were a couple surprises for me. #1, Of course, the weight. It's incredibly light, and the balance point is perfect, exactly where the barrel meets the receiver, centered between the hands when in shooting position. I won't say the weight, but you'll see the photo below. (don't want to ruin the surprise) #2, I didn't realize the color in the receiver has a wonderful marbling effect to it. A nice surprise. #3 Remington put Steel, everywhere necessary, such as the lug under the barrel holding the steel tube magazine, the triggerguard, and the buttstock plate! Another surprise. And the back of the metal buttstock plate has a black finish, which made me originally think it was plastic, until I saw the gun, and saw the silver finish on the side.
The stock is a darker finish than some of the "Blonde" wood I've seen on some of these guns, and I'm happy, although I'm really wondering if I would do too much harm to the value of the gun if I just refinished it myself, as it's got some real "Field Wear" to both forend and buttstock. I'll have to give this a thorough cleaning, at the least.
The action cycles cleanly and smoothly, like glass. Again, well used, but taken care of. There is some dings to the blue finish, here and there, especially wear in the feed ramp and ejection port, but it's all consistent with the wear. (The gun is 13 months older than I am, and I don't have the fit and finish I used to have either)
Lastly, the iron sights are not as bad as I thought they would be. Usually I can't see Irons anymore, and put red dots on everything I don't put a scope on, but I can make these out pretty well. I think they are brass. I will research that a bit more before I attempt to clean them up. They may have some "special" finish on them, as they have almost a "rose gold" hue to them.
All in all, I'm Thrilled to own this little nugget of history, and can't wait to shoot it. It was a good day, as I also speculated on a Savage 99 that looks like it was stored on it's side in a puddle of water for about 25 years. That is DEFINITELY going to need a complete restoration, and possibly a whole new barrel. I'm not sure if I'll wind up with a shooter, or if I will try and get my money back on parting it out. That was a real gamble I took at $260. It's a 300 Savage. I'll throw in a shot of that just so you see how much fun I'm going to have!

 

[BillTell]

Gonna have to modify my photos... the files are too large...

 

[BillTell]

Okay, third time's a charm... had to really dumb it down. I'll have to re-take them all...

 

[BillTell]

 

[BillTell]

 

[BillTell]

 

[BillTell]

And then the Savage....

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Id say you definitely scored! The Remington looks pretty good as is, and for $260 you cant lose on the Savage.

 

[entropy]

You got a lot of work ahead of you on the Savage, but I'd have bought it too, at that price.

 

[1KPerDay]

Great score. I dig that electric blue Remington.

 

[Jim Watson]

The 99 looks like a TINCANBANDIT special. It can be saved.

 

[792mauser]

Looks good.
The savage reminds me of a old neighbor who had a 300 Sav lever that looked like that from over 50 years of near continuous use. It was the ranch gun for everything and occasional hammer and oar on more than one occasion.

 

[BillTell]

I've now got the Savage COMPLETELY apart, and most of the small parts soaking in a Hoppe's bath. I'm the farthest thing you could think of from a Gunsmith, but have found over the years that I am quite good at taking things apart. It's that damned getting them back together thing that always seems to befuddle me. However, as I disassembled this rifle, I was thoroughly amazed at how simple and ingenious this rifle's internals are. For some reason, everything makes sense to me, and I think once cleaned up, I may actually be able to get it back together.
It took about 2-3 days of working some PB Blaster, but I got the scope caps off, and was able to get the windage adjustment screws to working again. The rust on the outside of the scope was all surface, and it looks pretty nice. I'm getting more and more psyched up for this! The scope is a Lyman All American Perma Center, fixed 6.
I've been working some of the small parts with a nylon brush, and then back to the Hoppe's. The rust is slowly dissolving. The bolt is nicely jeweled. I went to the Numrich website, and have some new springs on the way as well. But I'm saving the old ones, and they are soaking as well. I was originally thinking on stripping EVERYTHING down with Metal Rescue and re-bluing, however I am rethinking that process as everything seems to be cleaning itself up well enough that I may be able to keep it all in the state it's in.
This will never be a show piece, and I never intended it to be, I was just hoping to get a functioning 99 out of it. Today I may start working on the stock. The last piece, but most critical, will be the barrel and receiver. I'll have to make or find a "trough" long enough to submerge the whole thing, and see how it all shakes out. You can see the heavy pitting and rust on it, but through my recent exploration have just found the Durafil/Duracoat products, and am toying with the idea that if needed, a $60 kit I do myself may be better than a $200 re-blue job.

 

[BillTell]

 

[Dr.Rob]

I have never seen a blue finish like that is the mottled appearance part of the process it or due to it aging? It's really attractive.

 

[BillTell]

Dr. Rob, I'm assuming you mean the 572. These were a very limited run of "Fieldmaster Lightweight" models of the regular Remington 572. A total of less than 35,000 were made. They were made with aluminum receivers, and barrels, which were lined with steel. Weighing in at only 4lbs., they anodized the aluminum in 3 colors; Crow Wing Black, Buckskin Tan, and Teal Wing Blue, (mine) with the Teal Wing Blue being the rarest. I don't think exact numbers are available for each color, but if you divide by 3, that's less than 12,000 each color, and we DO know the first two colors had more in numbers, so you're probably looking at less than 10,000 guns made in that color, more likely 8,000 give or take.
The mottled appearance is part of the coloring process.

 

[Archie]

Good for you! Sounds like you have something to do on cold winter days. The .22 Remington looks just fine and a Savage 99 inn .300 Savage is worth cleaning up.
Good job, sir.

 

[BillTell]

I think I will start another thread on just the 99 next door in the Gunsmithing forum. It's coming along nicely, and the topic of restoration is probably better in that category. If you'd like to see it's progress, that's where the pics will be.