Month: January 2018
At long last, Springfield Armory has decided to join the 10mm resurgence. This week we got not one new 1911 TRP Operator chambered in 10mm, we got two! This is a great day for the Cult of the 10mm, of which I am a fully fledged disciple.
The wait is over! Pictured on top is the longslide TRP (Tactical Response Pistol) Operator with a 6-inch barrel. Below it is the 5-inch version. Both are chambered in 10mm.
Springfield Armory makes what I think are the best bang for your buck 1911s out there, offering base models from around $650 all the way up to $4,000 custom-shop jobs. Whatever pistol you decide to purchase, base model or competition piece, you know you’re getting your money’s worth. That’s a fact. For years, though, many of us have been clamoring for our friends in the Land of Lincoln to make a production 10mm. Sadly, those cries that fell on deaf ears — until now! Today, we have our new champions!
Worth the Wait
I proudly belong to the Cult of the 10mm.
You may ask, “Why did it take so long?” It has a lot more to do with engineering than marketing. Springfield Armory is a brand that I respect because they don’t bring half-baked ideas to market. They knew that a .45 ACP frame with a different slide would not take the abuse of full power 10mm. That is exactly the problem that reared its ugly head in the ’80s when 10mm was introduced. The 1911 frames of those day were cracking under 20,000 rounds, which is also part of the reason why 10mm fell from grace.
To correct this problem, Springfield Armory needed two things. The first was advances in metallurgy. If you have purchased a gun in the last 10 years, you know how much the game has changed. Not only are modern guns more durable than they have ever been, but you can pull a Minute of Angle rifle off the rack at Walmart with staggering regularity.
***Want to Win a Free TRP Operator 10mm? Springfield is giving one away! Click HERE to Enter***
The second thing they needed was to enhance the frame to take the punishment. As many of you know, 10mm operates at much higher pressures than .45 ACP. We’re talking a difference between 20,000 PSI in .45 ACP and around 35,000 PSI in 10mm. A tougher frame and slide are necessary to take on those heavy loads. Plus, 10mm has long been the domain of roll your own, and most of us leave the low recoil stuff to the candy asses at the FBI.
Specs 5-Inch/6-Inch Operator
How sweet it is. “S.A. 10mm”
- Caliber: 10mm
- Magazines: Two 8-Round Stainless Steel
- Barrel: 5- or 6-inch Stainless Steel Match Grade, Fully Supported Ramp Bushing / Fully Supported Ramp Bull
- Sights: SA Tactical Rack Rear, 3-Dot Tritium/ Fully adjustable, 3-Dot Tritium
- Trigger: Springfield Armory Gen 2 Speed Trigger
- Grips: VZ Alien Dirty Olive G-10
- Frame: Forged Steel, Accessory Rail, Octo-Grip Front Strap, Ambi Thumb Safety & Black-T Finish
- Slide: Forged Steel w/Ball Cut & Front Serrations, Black-T finish
- Recoil System: 18.5#
- Height: 5.5-inch
- Length: 8.6 inch/ 9.6-inch
- Weight w/ Empty Mag: 40 oz. / 45 oz.
- Price: $1,790/ $1,842
1911 TRP Operators
Overlaying the 5-inch version on top of the 6-inch.
The resulting creation is a work of art. Both new 10mm guns are what Springfield calls “Tactical Response Pistol (TRP) Operators” models. Basically, it means they have Picatinny rails on the dust cover. Not only does this add weight to absorb recoil, it also provides thicker steel on the dust cover.
Compared to a .45 ACP TRP Operator, the 10mm is thicker still for further longevity. It is almost boxy and has been widened all the way back to the trigger guard. The slide is also thicker comparatively, which combined with the smaller bore of the barrel, shows the difference between this and other 10mms.
The new TRP 10mm pistols are essentially identical, with a 5- and 6-inch barrel option. Why would they do that? Velocity. All us real 10mm nerds know, it is one of the rounds that gains speed significantly in longer barrels. A 1-inch difference means about 50 feet per second with factory ammo, more if you are building your own.
One of the differences between the two is the barrels. The 5-inch version features a normal barrel with a barrel bushing. While the longslide features a bull barrel, with a bushingless fit.
Since 10mm is a round with many purposes, it makes sense to have both options. The 5-inch model is almost exactly the same footprint of a full size 1911, with slight dimensional thickness differences. Still, this should make it a lot easier to find holsters. It makes for a great duty gun.
The 6-inch model is geared toward handgun hunters, or for use as a backwoods gun. Living where I do in Idaho, the potential of dealing with a bear or a mountain lion is very real. If that day comes, I want all the velocity I can muster. The 6 inch is obviously heavier, and looking at the two overlayed, you can see why. Not only is the dustcover longer, but the Picatinny rail was extended on the 6 inch. The difference in felt recoil is amazing. The 6 inch is tame enough for anyone, the 5 inch recoils noticeably harder.
Fit and Finish
Springfield Armory has built a couple of 1911s in their day, so it should come as no surprise that the fit and finish is fantastic. Both come with ambidextrous safeties, Springfield’s own crisp Gen 2 Speed Trigger, and Black-T on the frames and slides, which is a self-lubricating and corrosion-resistant finish. Both feature new dirty olive green G10 slabs from VZ Grips. The texture is very aggressive. Exactly what I want in a 10mm, and I also like that they are thicker than normal. Better purchase from more surface area, though any 1911 grip panel will work. The front strap and mainspring housing feature a new scallop style checkering, known as SA’s “Octo-Grip,” which is both pretty and functional. Extended beavertail safety and front/rear cocking serrations are also standard.
Sights are another place where the two versions differ.
Both have tritium, but the 5-inch has fixed rear sights whereas the 6-inch has fully adjustable ones.
The primary difference, aside from the barrel, is the sights. Specifically, the rear sights. Though both are tritium night sights, the rear is use-specific. The 5 inch features a fixed rear, with melted outside edges, and a shelf front for one hand use. The 6 inch features a target-style rear, which is adjustable. The 5 inch features a normal barrel with a barrel bushing. The 6 inch features a bull barrel, with a bushingless fit.
Trigger break on both models is 4.5-5 pounds.
Grips feature the Octo-Grip on the front strap and the VZ G10 slabs in Dirty Olive.
These guns are both beautiful and functional, a must have for the 10mm fan. I got to first shoot them over a month ago, at a release event in Vegas. From round one, I knew I was keeping at least one of these. So what does a proper 10mm Cult member need besides what comes in the box? Glad you asked.
Ammo & Mags
Each model comes with two stainless steel 8-round mags.
Step one, I like extended magazines for 1911s. I rarely carry a 1911 concealed, and I was leaning toward the 6-inch Joker gun, which would just be silly to stick in your pants.
From my USMC days, I prefer a 10 rounder for a duty gun. The factory magazines flush fit at 8 rounds, but why not have two more? 10mm single stack magazines are tricky, so I did a bunch of research. One brand really seemed to have it dialed in, Tripp Research. Looking at their offerings, they do seem to have very well- built magazines. For 10mm, they offered two lengths, both with a 10-round capacity. They had to do this in order to keep one model competition legal.
***Want to Win a Free TRP Operator 10mm? Springfield is giving one away! Click HERE to Enter***
ESP Class of IDPA has a box that pistols must fit in, with the magazine inserted. With a 10 round 1911 magazine, this is tight. The tradeoff is that magazine is so short it is more difficult to seat fully loaded than its bigger brother. The difference is about ¼ inch, but it matters. I ordered both, and both ran great. But if you don’t care about ESP, the longer of the two is what I recommend. So far I love these magazines, they were a great addition to the package.
To feed the beasts, look no further than Federal Premiums Vital Shock and Speer’s new Gold Dot.
Step 2, What to feed em? Fortunately for me, I know some people. Speer gave me early access to the new Gold Dot 10mm, and it proved to be an excellent option for these guns. This is the original projectile, scaled up for a man’s gun. I could not be happier with how these performed. The 200-grain bullets gave excellent penetration and expansion in freezing cold ballistics gel, going to about 15 inches. Velocity was roughly 1,100 FPS out of the 5 inch, 1,160 FPS out of the 6 inch.
Also on the testing block was Federal Premium Vital Shok, a 180-grain Jacketed Soft Point. This was designed as a hunting round. Personal protection and hunting have different needs, as animals tend to be thicker than humans. The Vital Shok gave an insane 38 inches of penetration. Out of the 5-inch gun, velocity averaged 1,300 FPS, while out of the 6, we got 1,360 FPS. That is some serious energy on target!
All 38 inches of penetration from the Federal Vital Shok.
For my personal needs, I plan on staggering these rounds in a magazine. A tag team of Gold Dots and Vital Shoks should solve any critter or biped problem I am likely to face.
And I Purchased the…
At a retail price of around $1,800, these 10mm guns are loaded with features, so much that I had to have one. I have elected to buy the 6 inch, though both guns are excellent choices. Sometime in the next 6 months, look for a follow up as I try to burn the barrel out with my secret stash of Centimeter Candy.
X Marks the Spot! Two fantastic production guns. You really can’t go wrong with either.
Visit Springfield Armory to learn more about these Operators chambered in 10mm.
Shop GunsAmerica to buy your new Springfield 1911 today.
Categories
M3A1 GREASE GUN caliber .45 ACP
I have been able to fire off a couple of rounds with this sturdy rifle. From which I found that is a well built and fairly accurate rifle for me. considering that they had iron sights.
The only reason why I do not go out and buy one. Is that the ammo is too hard & expensive to shoot. Oh well!
That is a substantial muzzle cap there!
The action reminds of the Marines straight pull Lee Rifle in a way.
Categories
The other Nylon Remington Rifles
I found this article and thought it was worthy of passing on. Also over the years, I have found the Author to be spot on when it comes his advice on Guns & Ammo.
Enjoy!
Grumpy
Nylon 10, 11, 12, 66, 76 and 77
Illustration from old Remington catalog courtesy of Remington Arms.
The Remington nylon stocks were made of a DuPont Nylon 66 series plastic called structural Zytel-101 that Dupont developed specifically for these rifles. (Remington Arms was then owned by DuPont.) The basic DuPont Nylon 66 polymer leant its name to the rifle. Just as with today’s synthetic stocked rifles, the Remington Nylon series rifles were advertised as having lightweight, waterproof, essentially unbreakable stocks that would not warp, crack, chip, fade, or peel for the life of the rifle. Also, just like today, they carefully avoided all mention of the fact that these molded synthetic stocks were excessively flexible and resulted in a rifle that was too light, so that although intrinsic accuracy was good, practical accuracy in the field suffered.
The first, most successful and best known of the series was the Nylon 66 autoloader, introduced in 1959. Produced until 1991, it became the most popular Remington .22 of all time. Like the other Nylon series rifles to follow, it was a hunting and plinking rifle. This was a blowback operated, tubular magazine fed semi-automatic rifle chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge (only). The receiver of this rifle was actually nylon, with the bolt running on “self lubricating” nylon rails. (The Owners Manual advised notto lubricate the action with gun oil.) A slipover blued sheet steel cover was used to give the receiver a more normal appearance and also concealed a pair of stock reinforcing machine screws and nuts. The 19-5/8″ barrel was also blued.
Its structural nylon stock was injection molded in two halves that were mated together. It was a sleek stock with very slender and attractive lines, a fluted comb, long and graceful forearm with a black plastic schnable tip and a curved pistol grip with a black cap. The buttplate was also black plastic and it was set off by a white line spacer, as were the forend tip and grip cap. Both the pistol grip and forearm wore molded-in checkering in a conventional point pattern and there were white diamond inlays in the center of the checkering pattern on both sides of the forearm that concealed another reinforcing bolt and nut.
The standard stock color was a “Mohawk Brown,” a walnut brown with black streaks that vaguely resembled wood grain. This was the Nylon 66 MB model, by far the most popular of any of the Remington Nylon rifles with over 721,000 sold in .22 LR. From 1978-on the Nylon 66 MB could be purchased with a rimfire scope and the previous figure includes over 46,500 so packaged.
For the first few years the Nylon 66 was also available with an OD green, “Seneca green” stock that never really caught on and the green stock was discontinued in 1962. The total sales of Seneca Green Nylon 66 rifles was a little over 45,000.
For those who wanted something even more unusual, in 1961 Remington introduced the Nylon 66 AB rifle with a black (“Apache Black”) stock and chrome plated barrel and receiver cover. This was supposed to be the deluxe version of the Nylon 66, but most customers felt that the Mohawk brown version was actually more attractive and it was certainly a more practical hunting rifle. Never the less, Nylon 66 AB models accounted for almost 221,000 rifles sold. There was also a Gallery Special version, the Nylon 66 GS, set-up to run on .22 Short cartridges only. Less that 17,000 of these were produced.
The last variation, the Nylon 66 BD, was introduced in 1978 and came with the AB’s black stock mated to a black barrel and receiver cover. The diamond inlays in the forearm were also black. Some 50,600+ of these rather austere rifles were produced between 1977 and 1990
The streamlined trigger guard was made of black nylon plastic, as was the trigger itself and the bolt cocking handle. The bolt was a machined steel forging and most of the internal parts were fabricated from steel stampings.
Iron sights were provided. The front blade was a streamlined shark fin shape and the open rear sight was screw adjustable for windage and elevation. The steel receiver cover was grooved for tip-off scope mounts. The comb was straight and featured minimal drop at heel, allowing for something close to a common sight line for both iron sights and low mounted scope.
The brass tubular magazine ran through the butt stock of the rifle, not under the barrel as is more common. It was loaded through a recess in the plastic buttplate. Magazine capacity was 14 Long Rifle cartridges. The “shotgun” type safety was a slider at the top of the pistol grip and very convenient in use. The Nylon 66 measured 38.5″ in overall length and weighed only 4 pounds (empty).
The list price in 1959 was $49.95 and that remained the price for about 10 years. Around 1970 it went to $54.95. My 1968 copy of the Gun Digestshows the Nylon 66 MB still priced at $49.95. For comparison, that same year Remington’s Model 552A Speedmaster, a standard walnut stocked .22 autoloader, carried a list price of $59.95 and the deluxe 552 BDL version cost $69.95. (The 552 BDL is still offered!)
The Nylon 66 action was a good one, very reliable in function. This was proven by Remington’s extensive testing, in which over 100,000 cartridges were fired through individual rifles. It was capable of an extremely high cyclic rate of fire. I remember reading somewhere of experiments where a number of popular .22 rifles, including a Nylon 66, were converted to fully automatic fire. It was found to be the speed king of all the .22’s tested, with a cyclic rate of fire that far exceeded that of any conventional machine gun in the world.
A Nylon 66 was used by a Remington professional shooter Tom Frye to hit, in the air, 100,004 hand thrown wooden blocks (about 2″ square, if I remember correctly) out of a total of 100,010 thrown. This was (and probably still is) the world record for breaking wooden blocks, and was used in Remington advertising copy to illustrate the reliability of the Nylon 66.
I have dwelt on the Nylon 66 because it was produced for many years and sold in good numbers, unlike Remington’s other nylon stocked .22s. A Nylon 66 was my first real gun, given to me by my Mon and Dad for Christmas after I had qualified for my High School ROTC rifle team in my freshman year. Before that I had only been allowed to own BB guns.
A gun crazy kid, that Nylon 66 immediately became my most cherished possession. Equipped with a Weaver fixed four power .22 scope and Remington’s accessory sling swivels and nylon sling, I couldn’t count the number of squirrels and small varmints I took with that rifle over the next few years. This in spite of its rather creepy trigger that broke at about 5 pounds, which was typical of these rifles.
The intrinsic accuracy of my Nylon 66 was good. From a bench rest it would shoot groups comparable to the best my friends’ Marlin Model 60 and Winchester Model 77 .22 autoloaders could do. However, due to its ultra-light weight and (compared to wood) flexible stock, its practical accuracy in the field was probably not as good. However, it was more reliable than other autoloaders and it would feed reliably in any strange orientation, including upside down.
Using the sling as a shooting aid, for example, would move the point of bullet impact a couple of inches to the side at 25 yards due to lateral stock flex. The springy Zytel stock made the Nylon 66 shoot away from any hard surface against which it might be rested against in the field (rocks and stumps, for example). This is true to some extent of all rifles, of course, but the effect was exaggerated by the nylon stock. And the rifle was so light that it was very hard to hold steady from unsupported positions.
Having achieved commercial success with the revolutionary Nylon 66, Remington proceeded to expand their line of Zytel stocked .22 rifles to include bolt and lever operated rifles and a detachable magazine fed autoloader. I am familiar with these relatively obscure models because my first gun “collection” included samples of each basic type.
The Nylon 76 was a lever action version of the Mohawk brown Nylon 66 dubbed the “Trail Rider.” It was billed as the world’s fastest lever action rifle. It retained all the features of the Nylon 66, but replaced semi-automatic operation with manual, short stroke, lever operation. There was also an Apache black/chrome version of the Nylon 76.
Being a lever gun fan, this was actually my favorite of the Remington Nylon rifles, although I cannot remember ever taking my example hunting. I don’t think I ever mounted a scope on it, which is probably why I didn’t use it much. I do remember rumors at the time that the 76 was not as reliable as the autoloading 66, but mine worked fine.
And then there were the bolt action Nylon 10 (single shot), Nylon 11 (detachable clip magazine), and Nylon 12 (under barrel tubular magazine). Unlike the Nylon 66 and 76, the bolt actions had conventional tubular steel receivers. The chromed bolt handles were of the flat Mannlicher type. I remember them as simply being synthetic stocked versions of Remington’s inexpensive 581 and 582 (wood stocked) rifles, with a single locking lug at the root of the bolt handle. My examples of these Nylon bolt action rifles were no more accurate than my Nylon 66.
The Nylon 76, 10, 11, and 12 only survived in the Remington line for a very short time. They were introduced in 1962 and dropped in 1964. I still occasionally spot a Nylon 66 in a used gun rack, but I cannot remember ever seeing a used Nylon 11, 12, or 76 for sale in a local gun shop. I don’t know what the production numbers were for these models, but they must have been pretty low.
The last of the Remington Nylon .22s to be introduced was the Nylon 77. This was merely a clip magazine fed version of the Nylon 66 MB introduced in 1970. Its standard removable magazine held 5 rounds and a 10 round accessory magazine was available. Even the standard 5 round magazine projected well below the bottom of the stock, ruining the rifle’s sleek look. I could never see much point to the Nylon 77. Priced about the same as the Nylon 66 MB, after two years the Nylon 77 was renamed the Mohawk 10C and it is so listed in the 1974 Gun Digest. The 77/10C models remained in the line for eight years.
The Nylon 11, 12, and 76 did not survive the middle 1960’s and the 77/10C was born and died in the 1970s, but the Nylon 66 soldiered on and on. It remained a strong seller through the 1970’s and well into the 1980’s, finally being discontinued in 1991. (Some sources say 1989.) Total Nylon 66 sales of all models exceeded 1,058,000 rifles.
I sold my little collection of Remington Nylon .22 rifles in the late 1960’s, in order to move on to better things. Now I wish that I had kept them, the historic rifles that pioneered the modern molded synthetic stock. They were far ahead of their time.
here is also some more & additional information:
Remington Nylon 66
| Nylon 66 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Semi-automatic rifle |
| Place of origin |  United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | W.E. Leek, C.H. Morse, H.W. Young [1] |
| Produced | 1959-1989 [1] |
| No. built | 1,050,350 [1] |
| Variants | see variants |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 4 lb (1.8 kg) |
| Length | 38.5 in (98 cm) |
|
|
|
| Cartridge | .22 LR |
| Barrels | 19.5 in (50 cm) |
| Action | semi-automatic |
| Feed system | 14 round Tubular magazine |
The Remington Nylon 66 is a rifle manufactured by Remington Arms from 1959 to 1989. It was one of the earliest mass-produced rifles to feature a stock made from a material other than wood. Previously the 22-410 Stevens combination gun had been offered with a Tenite stock.[2] The firearms market generally lacked experience with synthetic stocks, making the Nylon 66 a risky gamble for Remington. The model name was taken from the polymer of the same name.
History[edit]
In the 1950s, 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.[2]
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.[2] After the Nylon 66 proved to be successful, Remington also marketed a series of bolt action and lever action rifles using Nylon stocks.
Design and features[edit]
Remington Nylon 66 cycling.
The largely synthetic construction meant that the Nylon 66 could operate without any added lubricants. This made it popular in arctic regions, and indeed there have been many reports of indigenous peoples killing large animals, such as moose, with a .22 LR fired from a Nylon 66.[3] 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.[4]
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 77 Apache version has a bright green stock and was sold by K-Mart. The Seneca Green is a dull colored green and, in some lighting conditions, Seneca Green is difficult to distinguish from the more common brown. This version was also made with a detachable 10 round magazine which; in contrast to the standard version; was often unreliable. A copy of the tube magazine model was also made by FIE of Brazil, but many of these had quality control issues. The standard U.S. made tube magazine model could reliably cycle hundreds of rounds without cleaning, provided high velocity ammunition was used.
Below are some production numbers to assist with the rarity of each model:
| Model | Number produced |
|---|---|
| Nylon 66 Gallery Special | Unknown |
| Nylon 66 150th Anniversary | 3,792 |
| Nylon 66 Bicentennial | 10,268 |
| Nylon 77 | 15,000 |
| Nylon 66 Seneca Green | 42,500 |
| Apache 77 aka Kmart Nylon | 54,000 |
| Nylon 66 Black Diamond | 56,000 |
| Nylon 10C | 128,000 |
| Nylon 66 Apache Black | 221,000 |
| Nylon 66 Mohawk Brown | 716,492 |
Variants[edit]
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.
