Remington Model Five .22 LR Bolt Action Rifle

 

by Jeff Quinn

photography by Jeff Quinn

July 10th, 2007

 

 

 

I like twenty-twos. I like twenty-two pistols, revolvers, and rifles. The .22 Long Rifle cartridge doesn’t look like much compared to centerfire cartridges, but the little thing has power all out of proportion to its diminutive size. My first memory of the .22 cartridge as a kid was that of the old Remington Model 510 that my Dad owned. He didn’t hunt much, as he was always working trying to raise us boys, but when he did hunt, it was either squirrels or rabbits, and he always took that old twenty-two Remington. He was pretty good with it. I remember once asking him where to shoot a squirrel, and he stated "Just anywhere in the eye." Didn’t waste a lot of meat that way. We also used that old Remington at hog killin’ time. Didn’t matter how big the hog was, one shot high between the eyes, and he never squealed. Just dropped like the batteries had been jerked out of him. As Dad didn’t hunt deer, he never saw the need for a bigger rifle. The old twenty-two did everything asked of it. I now own several twenty-two rifles, and if I had to pare down to just one rifle, I suppose that I would keep a twenty-two. It is just the most versatile cartridge that we have.

I recently received in for review a new Remington bolt action twenty-two; the Model Five. The Five continues in the long Remington tradition of magazine-fed bolt action rifles. It has a five-shot detachable magazine, twin extractors, and a very sturdy but simple trigger that yields a nice crisp trigger pull. The pull on the sample rifle measured just two pounds, eleven ounces after I turned a couple of adjustment screws.

One thing that I really like about the Model five is that it is made of wood and blued steel. The internal parts, bottom metal, trigger guard, and magazine are all made of steel. Even the magazine follower is steel. The only plastic parts on the rifle are the buttplate and pistol grip cap. The brown laminated wood stock is fitted with sling swivel studs, as every hunting rifle should be. The stock has cut checkering on the pistol grip and forend. The Model Five wears a good set of rugged adjustable barrel sights, with a steel hood protecting the front, and the receiver is grooved for tip-off scope mounts. The barrel measures twenty-two inches in length, measures 1.025 inches at the receiver, and quickly tapers to .554 inch at the muzzle. The bolt locks into the receiver by a lug at the base of the bolt handle, and the bolt lift is only about sixty degrees.  The Model Five has a length of pull of thirteen and three-quarters inches, and an overall length of forty and one-half inches. It is a full-sized rifle, without being too large and heavy. The empty weight of the sample Model Five is six pounds, eleven and one-half ounces.

For shooting the Model Five I mounted a Leupold 2 to 7 power compact rimfire scope in Leupold Rifleman rings. Feeding from the five-shot magazine was flawless, and single rounds could also be dropped into the ejection port and fed smoothly into the chamber without a problem. I tried several different brands of hunting and match ammo in the Model Five, but bulk Federal hollowpoint ammo displayed even better accuracy than did the standard-velocity match ammunition. All accuracy testing was done at fifty yards, with five shot groups being fired. Accuracy varied from between five-eighths of an inch to just over one inch, which is pretty good for a rimfire sporter. This Model Five should make a dandy squirrel gun, or just a good all-around twenty-two for plinking, informal target shooting, and small game and varmint hunting. It is also available chambered for the .22 Magnum cartridge for use on heavier vermin at longer ranges.

Remington has gone global with some of its firearms production, and the Model Five is made in Serbia, which keeps the cost affordable while still using genuine blued steel and excellent craftsmanship. It is a good-looking rifle that reminds me of their centerfire Model 700. You can check out the entire line of Remington products online at: www.remington.com.

For more information on the Leupold Rimfire scope, go to:  www.leupold.com.

Jeff Quinn

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Click pictures for a larger version.

 

Remington Model Five .22 LR Bolt Action Rifle.

 

 

 

 

The Model Five's action is all steel, as it should be.

 

 

 

 

The trigger is a very simple and reliable design.

 

 

 

 

The bolt handle's base serves as a locking lug for the bolt.

 

 

The bolt face has dual extractors. Feeding, extraction and ejection were flawless.

 

 

 

 

Laminated wood stock is cleanly inletted (top), and features a barrel bedding pad in the forend.

 

 

 

 

For accuracy testing, Jeff mounted a 2-7x Leupold compact rimfire scope.

 

 

The Model Five proved to be very accurate with a variety of ammunition, and preferred Federal's bulk-pack fodder to the more expensive match types.