Remington Model 522 "viper"

THOR74

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Has anyone else here ever owned or known someone had owned one of these rifles. They were all black with black plastic stocks.

I bought one brand new in 1995 and sold it in 1999.

It was loaded with plastic parts and (too many) extra safety features. It was also hard to take apart, hard to clean, and had way more parts than a Ruger 10/22.

Also, after about 300-350 rounds the action would start rapidly slowing down and eventually, within about 50-75 rounds, would stop working completely due to fouling.

The gun performed exceptionally horribly with the "Remington Thunderbolt" ammo. The best ammo was Winchester Wildcats - but even then I could never really trust this gun.

I eventually replaced it with a Ruger 10/22, like my friend had, who treated it quite badly but it just refused to quit. I remain impressed by the 10/22.

I paid a fair price for the Viper and ultimately found it to be a disappointment.

Can anyone relate, or is it just me?
 
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I think they are notorious for being garbage....
Check some posts in this thread http://fieldandstream.blogs.com/gunnut/2006/05/the_worst_guns_.html
Here is an excerp from a gunsmith:
Having worked in the gun industry for 20 years I have seen an occassional "lemon" show up in a popular and well respected model. Even among the best guns, you will get a dog now and then, However my list of worst guns have proven themselves over and over again in being able to ruin hunts and cause their owner's heartache.

1. Remington 522 Viper, the predecessor to the 597. If 597 owners think they have jam problems, the 522 was 10x worse. The gun shop I worked at saw customer returns over 70%: We returned those, along with our entire inventory to Remington.
 
I had one and couldn't get rid of it quick enough!!! The trigger was horrible, it jammed, etc.. Absolute junk.:mad:

It could easily go toe-to-toe with a Squires Bingham.:runaway:
 
I have owned mine for 15 years and clean keeps it mean. After a complete cleaning I can usually cycle a full brick through without any jams. However when it does start to mis fire its time for a complete break down cleaning! If you dont want to take the time to do this geta ruger 2/22 the kalishnikov of 22 rimfires!
 
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