Remington 522 Viper question

[compass]

Hello everyone,

I have a Remington 522 Viper .22lr that I bought about 20 years ago, and I decided to take it out of storage. I gave it a good cleaning, and once I was done, I noticed that the red pin at the rear of the housing was sticking out indicating that the rifle was cocked. I tried everything I could think of to uncock my 522 short of dryfiring it by pulling the trigger. I believe that dryfiring rimfire weapons can damage them. I expect that it would not be good on the springs if I left it cocked and put it in storage again.

Anyone have experience with this rifle that would know how to uncock it safely without dryfiring it?

Thank you.

 

[gunrunner100]

You can put a fired case in the rifle then pull the trigger, releasing the spring tension.

 

[compass]

Ah, good idea. It sounds somewhat strange that I would have to do that though. There must be another way to safely uncock this 22.

 

[camster]

Dryfiring rimfires isn't a great idea. I would suggest if you were going to do it once every 20 years, no ill would come from it. I would also suggest that leaving it cocked won't harm or weaken the spring either.

I'm actually drawing a blank thinking of a semi .22 that you can easily de-####!

 

[gunrunner100]

I would also suggest that leaving it cocked won't harm or weaken the spring either.

It's a Remington...

 

[compass]

Dryfiring rimfires isn't a great idea. I would suggest if you were going to do it once every 20 years, no ill would come from it. I would also suggest that leaving it cocked won't harm or weaken the spring either.

I'm actually drawing a blank thinking of a semi .22 that you can easily de-####!

Ok, sounds good camster. I won't worry about it. Thank you.

 

[DiM]

I'm actually drawing a blank thinking of a semi .22 that you can easily de-####!

I don't know about de-cocking but 10/22s are safe to dry fire so does that count?

 

[mmattockx]

Can you not hold the trigger back while riding the bolt closed to let the hammer/striker decock itself?


Mark

 

[compass]

Can you not hold the trigger back while riding the bolt closed to let the hammer/striker decock itself?

I'll have to try that tonight Mark. Should I be hearing a sound when I do this, or should the rifle decock witout making a "click"?

 

[mmattockx]

I'll have to try that tonight Mark. Should I be hearing a sound when I do this, or should the rifle decock witout making a "click"?

I would expect it to be silent, just like when you do this with a bolt action. The hammer/striker should just follow the bolt home instead of staying back on the sear.


Mark

 

[SPRTN308]

Just shove a finger in the magwell and push the magazine disconnect to the side. That's what I used to do.

Or, close the bolt and insert an empty magazine. If you're worried, use a spent shell as already advised. The rifle has a magazine disconnect, which is why you can't fire it I suspect.