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Remington Model 552 problem's

11K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  Rex in OTZ 
#1 · (Edited)
I was gifted a Remington model 552 and was told Its your's
See if you can fix it!
That was back in the spring of 2016 that The Jam-o-matic came into my life.
I knew the fellow that brought the gun over, a local gun tinker and gun trader (think horse trader) it seems this particular .22 had spent most of its life Out at Camp (I live on the Arctic Coast part of NW Alaska)
So he got the .22 in trade and refinished it with plans to sell it for a profit.
Except the Devil Gun had other plans.
I loaded it and tried shooting it.
It jammed, it failed to fire cartridges, and some times itd fire the odd shot.
Lots of On-line suggestions.
Gun-scrubber, burrs,different ammo.
It kept jamming and intermittantly firing.
I had live rounds with 3 light fireing pin strikes, fired cases with a single deep firing pin impression.
The first time I cleaned it, it was really clean inside.
Just some powder residue and some greenish metallic crumbies from Remington Golden Bullet.
I looked for burrs and gounf plenty, especially along the ejector grooves on the Left side of the Bolt.
Still it jamms and intermitrantly fires, Id load the mag full and it might fire the first round or not with lots of double feed jams.then I noticed a part was missing off the Disconnector arm, some time before Id gotten it the arm had broke,the nose part removed!
Do ordered a new disconnector arm, more Google time of Remington 552 troubles, 6-7 Youtube videos, a vouple different fourms.
After the disconnector was replaced, I foolishly thought it was fixed, it fired the first test shot just fine, then click, checked to find an empty chamber,
at that outing it fired 6 times just like a semiautomatic should.
After a couple years and little attention I started looking again at this rifle.
And replaced the magazine spring (old spring was 14" shorter than the new) and replaced the bolt return spring (old was 3" longer than the new)
Thinking a longer return spring and weak magazine spring were issues, I tested it again.
The Devil Gun fired the first shot, second was a dry click, then a jam as a fresh round was trying to load (double feed)
Out of the whole magazine 2/3 the rounds had a slightly off firing pin mark that was debaitable as having struck hard enough to fire the cartridge.
It looked like the firing pin was striking more of the center of the cartridge than solidly striking the rim.
After looking at the cartridges I thought it might be a good Idea to check the bolt and firing pin.
I found the fireing pin was Bent!
I need to order a new one.
I did try to straighten the old one using a flat metal plate to straighten out that wierd sprew shaped bend in the firing pin (Google image search of Remington 552 firing pin) was a Big help.
https://www.gunandgame.com/threads/reminton-552-with-a-tummy-ache.181962/

https://www.firearmstalk.com/threads/552-remington-speedmaster-rear-sight.119783/page-2#post-2055082
 

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#2 ·
Three years ago I was given a Remington 552 that wouldnt work right and the fellow that refinished it, gave it to me, he said If I ever find out what was the problems with it to pass it on along to him (he died October 2018). When I got it minus the sights. I went on-line and purchased all the sights and screws for around $40.
Id taken it out and tried ten rounds. The first round chambered and fired. The second pull of the trigger showed it to have no round in the chamber. Cycled the next round in and the hammer dropped (dented case but not fired) then it jamed as the extractor slipped ejecting it and ended with a double feed jam. The next was a ftf, the next went off and closed on a empty chamber, all ten rounds went that way, nothing semi-automatic at all. I quit when it jamed and I couldnt clear the live round jamed in the chamber. A couple times out after that, I did find a few things (broken disconnector) and a badly dragging bolt, I had a bunch of burrs all along the cartridge ejector mortice, tried some more cleaning, then replaced the action spring and the magazine spring, the new magazine spring was over 14" longer than the old spring (weak feed?) The new bolt return spring was 3 inches shorter than the old spring! That would account for it NOT loading a round semi-automaticly, and why the dummy rounds Id bought worked as I cycled the action by hand. The latest was on studying the spent brass the fireing pin appeared to striking well away from the case rim so it was Not pinching the primer compound in the cartridge case, so the Bolt needs looking at. On removing the fireing pin, I thought it looked wierd so used Google Image search to compare it with what parts images to be found. It had a wierd sprue like bend at the tip and was striking the case well away from the rim. The steel buffer was all boogerd up as well as the back end of the Bolt. I used a hone stone off the burrs and even up the surfaces.
https://www.firearmstalk.com/threads/552-remington-speedmaster-rear-sight.119783/
https://www.gunandgame.com/threads/reminton-552-with-a-tummy-ache.181962/

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Rex in OTZ

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3 days agoÂ%· #2

06-24-2018
IÂ%pulled it appart tonight, looking for anything odd. I was looking over the trigger group and did not see anything that should be causing the sort of issues Im encountering. With the trigger group removed the bolt assembly glides really well when cycled The bolt still seems like it glides but could be better when its working against the trigger group. I have to imagine the bolt traveling like it would as its in a firing cycle. One the things was polishing the bottom the bolt thatÂ%must contact the hammer and push it down and lock when cocked. I had some emery cloth and ran it over the surface, eventuallyÂ%the cloth started to glide better. On a hunch I had my swiss files ready. The ejector slots on the side of the bolt loked fine. Yet when I ran one of my swiss files down the slot I immediately noticed a spot that was catching on my file. A portion of the extractor spring seat was sticking out. If the bolt is recoiling and the ejector was catching on that spring seat that might just slow things down and cause marginal performance? Also the cartridge lifter has a nice sharp bur edge that Could possibly slow things down if it rub's on the bolt as it comes back over during recoil. Its really hard so I stoned off that sharp edge. One last thing would beÂ%to replace the magazine spring, for now I will use a cleaning rod with a patch and clean any old lube scum fromÂ%the inner mag tube to reduce any drag on the follower, last option would be to give that old spring a little tensile stretch to boost the rounds down to the lifter. Well I'll just study it someÂ%more.
03-17-2019 Â%I figure to eventually get this 552 to work,Â%It will take awhile, the Kazan method of fixing seems to be the way. I trundled it along on my after supper walk. Loaded it up with two rows of cartridges (10 rounds) and tried firing it. The first shot fired, the second clicked on a live round FTF, on re-cocking the extractor didnt pull it from the chamber FTE, it tried to double feed, so shook out the extra round and let the bolt close on the roundÂ%that didnt fire, it fired and cycled a fresh round and it failed to fire as well as eject and it double fed on cycling to cock it. That went on for the the whole magazine only a small percentage fired on the first try. I was able to extract three rounds that failed to fire when struck once. I pocketed them for later study Same with another magazine full. All in all it fired about a dozzen rounds. I pocketed the empties for later study. I did get it to fire three consecutive times. Back at the house I brought out my collection of empties and the three rounds that didnt fire that had very shallow fireing pin strikes. The fired cases had decent firing pin strikes. I pulled down the gun for study. Im definately replacing the hammer strut spring, And while at it will also replace the firing pin. I tried fitting a live round on the bolt face while I had the bolt out of the gun. A live round just barely fit under the extractor claw,Â% From the looks of it, the extractor seems to be in good shape as far as it fits the particular rounds I have on hand though the rounds seem rather fat. Its possible the extractor claw spring may be feeling its age.

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Shoots High

Silver Bullet MemberPosts:Â%3682Crotch Of The Country

2 days agoÂ%· #3

Wow. If it's not one thing it's another, but at least it sounds like you're making progress.

Rex in OTZ

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2 days agoÂ%· #4

IÂ%did have a fella tell me this particular modelÂ%rimfire used a floating chamber to accomodate the .22 Short-Long-Long Rifle. I checked the Parts diagram for the Remington 552 to understand how it was assembled. The Rem model 552 uses a weaker bolt return spring and light weight bolt so it can function with the .22 Short, the Heavy Rubber Buffer handles the added recoil from the more powerful rimfire cartridges. The model 552 does NOT use a floating chamber to fire .22 S-L-LR. Remington did produceÂ%floating chamber .22 S-L-LR semiauto the model 550.
Too bad Remington didnt produce a 552 Rubber/Plastic BufferÂ%thats rated below freezing. At 16°F that rubber is hard as a rock. And at -30°F your asking for someting to break.

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Rex in OTZ

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2 days agoÂ%· #5

03-10-2019 WellÂ%just back after another function test, rode the Ski Doo a mile out of town. I shook out two rows from the Box of cartridges. On chambering the first round I had trouble, the round would not fully rise up to seat on the bolt face. Something was preventing the rounds from fully seating, I would free drop a round into the chamber and nudged the bolt closed. Every round I chambered that way fired without a hitch, very round fed through the lifter to the bolt jammed. Â%I messed with the firing pin After discovering it had a wierd sprue like bend at the tip, But stupidly never checked its protrusion using my flashy new blue proving rounds. But Not this boy! Nooo I hadÂ%to hammer it straight and tweaked it by hammering iy out a bit longer, but I never checked if the firing pin fully retracted flush with the bolt face, the firing pin didnt, and as the bolt traveled forward to strip the round and chamber it was hanging up under the little bit of firing pin causing jams. Well I fixed the problem. The action proving dummy rounds cycle through now without a hitch.Â% Now all I have to do is try it with some live rounds. Top photo shows how they kinked as they jammed on feeding. The bottom photo shows the rounds that were drop fed and fired.

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Rex in OTZ

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2 days agoÂ%· #6

03-30-2019 10am IÂ%hauled her out last weekend. It fired initally and then just started to lightly tap the firing pin just enough to Not setÂ%off the primer compound. Just as annoying was its inability to extract the duds which resulted in double feed jam after jam. It was so frustrating, it was approx 28°F The wind was picking up and Id walked about 1.3Â%mile on a icy road to get to a decent place to fire my weapon. Now I had this stuck dud that wouldnt extract from the chamber (claw kept slipping off) Using my pocket knife flat screwdriver & awl blades I was able to remove the barrel and drift out the trigger group On removing the barrel and inverting it after removing the bolt. The dud round that repeatedly would not extract fell from the chamber by gravity.
This morning I removed that troublesome trigger group after gathering tools needed to drift out the riveted Hammer/Disconnector pin. After drifing it out I removed the hammer and was able to remove the hammer spring and plunger. On removal it was noticed the plunger was sticky from varnish like old lube (at room temprature!!) Almost to the point of needing pliars to pluck the plunger from its recess. If the hammer spring and plunger were thisÂ%sticky at room temp's, what excessive resistance to movement during hammer fall would it have at tempratures below 25°F? Now was the time to replace the hammer spring I'd just bought from Numrich (used) nowÂ%when replacing springs I love comparing Old and New spring lengths. The Numrich Used spring was shorter than the one removed from this 1971 era Model 552! So figuring a shorter compression spring would most likely result in a weaker hammer blow. So after using solvent to remove the sticky gum and grime, I chose to reinstal the original spring and staked the hammer/disconnector pin back in place backed by tbe steel washer (hammer/disconnector pin has a cup end that gets rivet/ staked in place). Now to see about what that pesky extractor claw . . . . Im thinking itd been better to clean this trigger group with a ultrasonic cleaner if I had one large enough to fit the parts inside.

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Rex in OTZ

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2 days agoÂ%· #7

03-30-2019 2pm AsÂ%for the Extractor. When the cartridge fires the pressure pretty much blows the case from the chamber. Yet the extractor claw can barely withdraw a live round let alone one that is slightly swollen when struck by the fireing pin. What I do know. #1. It will cycle my aluminum dummy rounds all day long. #2. It will cycle live .22 rounds. #3. A light firing pin tap the case wont extract no matter how many times I slam the bolt closed in attempts to get the round to draw from the chamber. #4.Yet the when the bolt is removed from the gun, the round will freely fall from the chamber when the chamber is inverted. (Firing pin booger on chamber vs. Weak extractor claw spring?) #5. Use taper punch to burnish the chamber boogers.
So now the Numrich New Old Stock extractor claw is installed. The only alternative is replacing the 1971 era extractor claw spring. Second from Bottom photo: my pin punch removing varnish & burnt powder scum from the extractor mortice.

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Rex in OTZ

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2 days agoÂ%· #8

TonightÂ%after supper I took the 552 Jam-O-Matic for another test run. I loaded up 15 rounds and tried to make it go. Of the 15 rounds in the magazine 5 rounds failed to fire. Yet after ironing the chamber the FTF rounds extracted and ejected. The next 15 rounds three rounds failed to fire. The last 15 rounds only 4 rounds failed to fire. I was unable to locate 9 spent casings. I could try a different brand or see about what I could do about the firing pin strikes being kinda light. The firing pin strikes still seem inconsistant. The best thing about tonights test was Not one Jam! Failures to fire can eventually be fixed.

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BobM1919

Senior MemberJoin:Â%Feb 2010Posts:Â%1103Southern New Hampshire

1 day agoÂ%· #9

An interesting narrative on the trials and tribulations of bringing an old rifle back to life. Compounded by the low temps you must deal with.
It's those very same tempetures that might be causing the failure to fire. Pull one of the misfired rounds apart, dump the powder on a clean sheet of paper. Inspect the powder, looking for green or yellow specks or chunks mixed in. This is the priming compound, it shatters rather than lights under the blow of the FP. Inspect the case, sometimes all of the priming is gone, sometimes there is a bit left. I've seen this with almost all brands of ammo, if it is cold enough, but it seems to happen with Federal brand most often.
Good Luck

DK PHILLIPS

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Silver Bullet memberJoin:Â%Nov 2007Posts:Â%36322In my WVA free state mind!

1 day agoÂ%· #10

Excellent writings....wish I had that talent. deductions very complete from complex analyst! A)I would kerosine soak trigger group...a few days. it will lube not freeze in low temps, gets into unseen, untouched areas. B) molsybidium spray( from birchwood Casey) into trigger group. C) and along firing pin travel route .. slicking all friction surfaces...even bolt. when I was young, could see better...I did such things as your doing...in that much detail. “again great dissertation in your plain spoken step by step approach.�<>< Dan

Rex in OTZ

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1 day agoÂ%· #11

For all I went through, I thought to pass along my findings. There were many things I went through and wierd encounters. I never thought about the primer mixture fracturing. And who would have thought the Fireing pin would have been bent. There were two or three times I felt like pitching that .22 into the willows or snow drift. But I love puzzles. I just Had to know why it was doing what It was. Varnish like lube. Tired springs. Bent firing pin Broken disconnector. Worn extractor claw. Boggered chamber sticking cases. Buffer peened badly. And Flakey ammo.

BobM1919

Senior MemberJoin:Â%Feb 2010Posts:Â%1103Southern New Hampshire

1 day agoÂ%· #12

Have had almost all of those on .22's, just not all on the same one......LOL.
Although the bent FP is a new one on me. Had them broken or peened over due to dry firing but I suppose certain types could be bent for that reason.
The ammo thing is ongoing, the only brand I haven't had it with is Eley but I cannot say that it can't happen, I haven't shot enough of it under adverse conditions yet. Just recently acquired a rifle that was worth feeding that kind of ammo, still working out the bugs.
Glad you solved all the issues.

Rex in OTZ

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about 23 hours agoÂ%· #13

About the only semi-auto .22 that seems to operate well in very cold temps are the Marlin model 60 and the Ruger 10/22. The Remington Nylon 66 tends to break off those plastic bolt handles rather often. I used a leatherman plier tip to cycle the bolt. I have 3 broken Remington 522 Vipers with broken plastic trigger groups (the ejector is the first to break off) and one almost new that is strictly a fair weather light plinker.
The AR-7 is affected by the cold. And ammunition brand. Usually they just misfeed and jam.

DK PHILLIPS

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Silver Bullet memberJoin:Â%Nov 2007Posts:Â%36322In my WVA free state mind!

about 23 hours agoÂ%· #14

Iver Johnson M1 carbine by Erma...with dry lube molybdenum. mossburg will rattle them off in cold weather. my First 22 ...model 152..I had as a youth

BobM1919

Senior MemberJoin:Â%Feb 2010Posts:Â%1103Southern New Hampshire

about 22 hours agoÂ%· #15

Yeah, DK, you got it, them ERMA carbines do function well when cold. Well, at least they do before the zamac (or whatever it is that they are made of) starts to wear and get sloppy. Don't recall any plastic parts on them though.
Had a Nylon 66 as a kid but can not say I ever had it out in sub zero cold. It did have other issues though. Especially the stock, at the seams.

DK PHILLIPS

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Silver Bullet memberJoin:Â%Nov 2007Posts:Â%36322In my WVA free state mind!

about 22 hours agoÂ%· #16

No plastic on the m1’s nor the first model 152...later had plastic forearm replacing wood. 151 was the fastest fireing 22 I’ve ever owned..! never failed to fire or extract ...accuracy couldn’t be beaten...for squirrels...informal target practices. if extractor broke or became missing... as I later found i had none...! blew empties out with out a hitch.. I never bought a replacement...><> Dan if I came across one again it would be mine.
 
#3 ·
I've laid all of my Mossberg 151 series rifles on a sheet of very fine sandpaper on a pane of glass and carefully smoothed of any high areas,then I used black powdered graphite smeared along the sides of the firing pins and rubbed in by hand then wiped down with a clean rag.I also sprinkle the graphite powder in the firing pin channel,rub it in with a popsicle stick and run a thin rag through the channel to remove the excess graphite.
It may work well for you in those extreme low temperatures,I've heard of GI's in WWII during the battle of the Bulge using pencil lead ( graphite) to rubbed on the moving parts to 'lube' their weapons so they wouldn't freeze up.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Graphite. That's what I was thinking.

The other thing that may be causing a cycling issue in extreme cold is the old rubber bump stop for the bolt. Based on the age of the rifle that rubber is probably hard as a hockey puck by now. No doubt it gets even harder in your low temps. It's not supposed to be rock hard. They were available at Brownell's. You may have to check with other suppliers.
 
#5 ·
Well I brought out the 1971 era 552 for another try to see If the intermitrant firing had improved.
I had brand new box of Winchester .22 Shorts.
It fired 4 out of 15 rounds.
One my kids was along with a crickett .22, we indexed the firing pin blemish at the 6 O-clock position and fired every round that didnt fire in the 552.
Ive pretty much replaced all the parts in the trigger group, even added shim to remove excessive side wobble on the 552 hammer.
And new factory firing pin, new exteactor, new ejector.
I used a long thin taper punch to iron out the dinged chamber rim that was causing sticking problems with fired caseings.
New bolt return spring, new magazine spring.
Im thinking the headspace is excessive, enough thats I get only a small percentage of rounds to fire (2 rounds in 15 or 4 rounds in 15).
Im thinking just how is it thst remington can set the head space on a Rem 552?
Im guessing material is removed from the back end of the barrel extension where the bolt meets the barrel.
 
#6 ·
Well last night I had come to the point I realized the head space was excessive due to firing pin dings being ironed out in the past.
This was a 1971 dated 552.
I ironed the chamber.
I wonder if the chamber might have been ironed or filed in its past before I received it was it done once? Twice? Three times?
I chose to lightly grind off some material from the butt-end barrel extension that contacts the bolt assy.
The removal of material was the minute ammount to Now reliably discharge every round chambered.
 
#7 ·
Glad you got it figured out, Rex.
Did you say you had replaced the rubber buffer ? I can imagine that those get hard after a few decades, and even worse in cold weather.

I'm lucky in that my 1957 Speedmaster hasn't had a lot of rounds through it, so no parts have worn out. I like the 552 but end up shooting my Nylon 66 a lot more.
 
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