I found a Remington Sportsman 581-S, 22 bolt action rifle, that shoots 22 shorts, longs, and long rifle, sitting in its box. This gun has a "OO" barrel stamp, dating it to July 1977. It is absolutely mint, just as it came off the assembly line, 47 years ago. In pristine, spotless condition, not a mark anywhere. Don't know if it was shot, but the bolt face looks new without a mark. Its complete with manual, exploded drawing with parts list, factory 5-round mag, factory 10-round mag, and a "snap in" mag well cover that will qualify it for single shot competition. It is complete with original sights. And underneath the Styrofoam insert was the original, still sealed in plastic, VHS tape about the gun and Remington.
I bought a set of Warne 721, 1-inch high dovetail scope mounts. I had a Leupold VX2 4-12X40 AO scope sitting in a closet. Had to remove the rear sight as the large AO ring on the scope hit the sight and the scope wouldn't sit down in the rings. Got the scope mounted, cleaned the barrel, oiled the extremely dry bolt, and proceeded to sight it in on my 25 yard pistol range. That's the only place I have to shoot it right now. Would like to see what it does at 50 yds some day.
I have a Remington 582, which is the tubular feed version of this magazine feed gun. I use is as a small varmint and squirrel gun. It shoots CCI Segmented HP subsonic ammo very well, and has a Leupold VX2 3-9X33 AO EFR compact scope on it with the same Warne rings, but medium height. Had to also remove the rear sight on it to clear that scope's AO ring.
This 581-S didn't like that CCI ammo. It shot 5 shots under 1 inch at 25 yds, but none of the holes were touching. I tried an entire box of ammo, letting the gun cool down every 10 shots. It just didn't like that ammo.
I switched to Eley yellow box Target ammo. I cleaned the barrel and shot 5 rounds into the ground to get the barrel used to what it would be shooting. It shot 5 shots into 1 ragged hole.
I tried some Eley black box Match ammo. Again cleaning the barrel and shooting 5 rounds into the ground first. It shot 5 shots into an even tighter, one single hole group.
I didn't buy this as a target gun, and wanted to shoot hollow point ammo for hunting. So will pick up some other brands and types to try another time.
I also have a 541-S with a Vortex Diamondback II HD, 4-16X44 side focus scope mounted with Talley 2-piece aluminum rings. I have at least a dozen mags for it, some factory 5 & 10 rounds, some Trekker Engineering R22 5 round mags, and one custom made metal 5 round mag. So pretty well fixed for mags that will work in this 581-S
But man, what a beauty this gun is. And probably a pretty rare find. In the original, correct box with the correct serial number label still on the box. And everything it originally came with, plus a few extras. I've been looking on the internet for a comparison, and can't find one in the same 100% condition in the original box with everything.
UPDATE: I may need to change my opinion about the date of manufacture of this gun. First, it was in a brown Remington box with Styrofoam insert, which I don't believe Remington used in the 1970s. If I remember correctly, those were green boxes, and had cardboard inserts to hold the gun, not Styrofoam. Second, I read on Rimfire Central a conversation about "Remington 581 vs. Sportsman 581-S." Posters indicated the original 581 was discontinued in 1983. Then the Sportsman 581-S was introduced in 1986 and discontinued in 1999, with apx 22,000 made. I looked up the dates of manufacturer and Remington used another "O" in 1994. So if the poster's stories are correct about the 581-S being made between 1986 -1999, the "OO" date code on the barrel may represent a July 1994 gun, not a July 1977 gun and only 30 years old instead of 47 years old like I first thought.
Anyway, whenever it was made, it's a beautiful, great shooting gun and I'm glad I came across it.
Rod
I bought a set of Warne 721, 1-inch high dovetail scope mounts. I had a Leupold VX2 4-12X40 AO scope sitting in a closet. Had to remove the rear sight as the large AO ring on the scope hit the sight and the scope wouldn't sit down in the rings. Got the scope mounted, cleaned the barrel, oiled the extremely dry bolt, and proceeded to sight it in on my 25 yard pistol range. That's the only place I have to shoot it right now. Would like to see what it does at 50 yds some day.
I have a Remington 582, which is the tubular feed version of this magazine feed gun. I use is as a small varmint and squirrel gun. It shoots CCI Segmented HP subsonic ammo very well, and has a Leupold VX2 3-9X33 AO EFR compact scope on it with the same Warne rings, but medium height. Had to also remove the rear sight on it to clear that scope's AO ring.
This 581-S didn't like that CCI ammo. It shot 5 shots under 1 inch at 25 yds, but none of the holes were touching. I tried an entire box of ammo, letting the gun cool down every 10 shots. It just didn't like that ammo.
I switched to Eley yellow box Target ammo. I cleaned the barrel and shot 5 rounds into the ground to get the barrel used to what it would be shooting. It shot 5 shots into 1 ragged hole.
I tried some Eley black box Match ammo. Again cleaning the barrel and shooting 5 rounds into the ground first. It shot 5 shots into an even tighter, one single hole group.
I didn't buy this as a target gun, and wanted to shoot hollow point ammo for hunting. So will pick up some other brands and types to try another time.
I also have a 541-S with a Vortex Diamondback II HD, 4-16X44 side focus scope mounted with Talley 2-piece aluminum rings. I have at least a dozen mags for it, some factory 5 & 10 rounds, some Trekker Engineering R22 5 round mags, and one custom made metal 5 round mag. So pretty well fixed for mags that will work in this 581-S
But man, what a beauty this gun is. And probably a pretty rare find. In the original, correct box with the correct serial number label still on the box. And everything it originally came with, plus a few extras. I've been looking on the internet for a comparison, and can't find one in the same 100% condition in the original box with everything.
UPDATE: I may need to change my opinion about the date of manufacture of this gun. First, it was in a brown Remington box with Styrofoam insert, which I don't believe Remington used in the 1970s. If I remember correctly, those were green boxes, and had cardboard inserts to hold the gun, not Styrofoam. Second, I read on Rimfire Central a conversation about "Remington 581 vs. Sportsman 581-S." Posters indicated the original 581 was discontinued in 1983. Then the Sportsman 581-S was introduced in 1986 and discontinued in 1999, with apx 22,000 made. I looked up the dates of manufacturer and Remington used another "O" in 1994. So if the poster's stories are correct about the 581-S being made between 1986 -1999, the "OO" date code on the barrel may represent a July 1994 gun, not a July 1977 gun and only 30 years old instead of 47 years old like I first thought.
Anyway, whenever it was made, it's a beautiful, great shooting gun and I'm glad I came across it.
Rod
