Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Remington 581 project?

Picked up a left hand Remington 581 for 100$ the other day. The gun is in pretty good shape but ugly as hell imo. Seems to shoot rather well despite the heavy trigger.

It has what looks to be a birch or beech Wood stock on it....that I really don't care for.

Thinking of maybe having the stock refinished, metal reblued, and triggeter worked... in the end I guess it's all up to me and how much $$$$ I wanna sink into the rifle .. just wonder if the rifle is worthy of the work?


Anyone ever fiddle with the 581?

I have a LH 581. I had it re-barreled to a 17 Mach II. Gunsmith added another receiver screw and worked the trigger. It's very nice now.

Superb rifles and fun to work with. This one is/was a 581...............




Older photo before it was rebarreled.

That's a really nice rifle. I read your write up on another thread and it's very impressive. Well done.

Mine's just as it was when I got it for Christmas in 1967, except for the Williams shorty ramp installed to line up with a peep sight.

They're good rifles, but personally I'd not spend big bucks on restoring one, only what I could do myself, not with very nice CZs available for $300-$500. A custom job is another matter.

Start looking for magazines. I've got two; the original and one I plucked off a rack in an LGS a good while back for $10. The original still works, but is a little sluggish at times. I suppose after 49 years it's earned a cleaning, at least.

Pappy- I have a few CZ rimfire. But I just can't let this thing sit the way it is, it's too darn ugly lol.

OSU - do you have pics?


K22- I like that a lot. Can you give me some details as to what you've had done? I just want the ugly birch/beech stock gone. I would like a nice walnut. And it needs reblued. But I don't know where to begin looking for a stock? Or should I just have the current stock sanded down and refinished? Is there anything you can do to make beech/birch whatever it is more aestheticcally pleasing?

Have the 2nd action screw added, stick it in a 541 stock, bed it and adjust the trigger. You will have a keeper.

They were made as an inexpensive rifle, there were so many of them made that they will never have any real value to them. I just passed on a really nice LH one last week for $200, and I have seen quite a few of the RH ones in that price range.
Leave it as is unless you are just looking for a money pit project, you can easily end up with more into it than it is worth. Just shoot it, if it gets a ding, or rust spot you will not feel bad.

If you google you can find a simple modification to make the trigger adjustable, it is easy to do and can get the trigger to the 2 lb. range.

Make sure your magazine works, a lot of them have feeding issues as the magazines get some use on them. If it doesn't someone on here is selling a metal replacement, $58.00 each if I remember correctly.

drover

About what I was thinking...^^^^. Maybe I'll just adjust the trigger and upgrade the trashco scope that came on it.

Mine is a gopher killing machine. Beat up and ugly, but it will literally drive tacks at 50. Will never sell it.

^^^ if that's beat and ugly I wish mine were beat and ugly.

Paint the barrel and action with Krylon satin black finish, paint the stock a color of your choice, or with a textured paint and you will have an instant $100 custom.

I have done that to some real beaters and it is surprising how good they look after nothing more than a few dollars worth of paint. Check out Home Depot or Lowes for spray paint, it is amazing how many colors and textures are available.

drover

I've never painted wood.......plenty of plastic though. What should I do before applying?

Just degrease it, and if there are any nicks, dents, etc you can either sand them out or put a little filler in them. Bondo glazing and spot putty works well if they are just minor but give it time to cure completely before spraying. If I recall correctly it is about $3.00 for a tube of it at Walmart.

drover

This is exactly what I'm gonna do! Preciate it!

You are welcome. I think you will be surprised at how good one can look with a bit of creativity.

drover

I'll post it after I momic it up

Ky221, I can take photos, what would you like to see? Just the overall rifle?

Ky, love that State, its my origin.

The stock was an old Bishop stock I had from many years ago when they were still in business. Numrich's used to offer one very close to it. I finished the stock and pillar bedded it. Added a second action screw, replaced the trigger with a 541 3 screw. Went through a bunch of triggers trying to find one I liked.......reworked the original, then a Canjar, then reworked a Timney 788 Rem., then had a 581 setup with adjustment screws, and finally the 541 trigger. The action was faced and threaded along with the bolt plus lapped the lugs. Then a 541T sporter barrel was slugged, shortened to an aol of 21", rechamber to a Win. D52 match chamber and a 11 degree crown.
I still haven't gotten around to checkering the stock, but thats next.

That would be great........

Yea that's a good bit more than I ever wanted to sink into this. However. You have a very nice piece there. What's the deal with the second action screw?

It started out as low cost project. I had given up on getting the 541's I owned to shoot with my KDF K22. I had this 581S that shot quite well, matched the 541's, so I installed it in the Bishop stock. Without bedding and only 1 action screw it would not stay seated in the stock. No matter how tight the action screw was you could grab the barrel, push it from side to side and watch it pivot on the action screw. The second action screw stopped that, but bedding would have also. But I believe that the second action screw keeps the action from being in a bind.
Then along came a very nice 541 barrel and you can figure out the rest of the story.

I have owned a few of the 581 and 541s models, the 581 is good for the price,although I feel the 541 s models are now over priced for what you actually get, like any production rifle its luck of the draw as to the accuracy of either model...I had 2 541s models that were dogs in the accuracy dept (bad chambers), I had a few others that were great, same for the 581 models

I have a 581 I bought new in the late 70's. It's always been very accurate. The trigger was a bit stiff, but several thousand rounds later it's quite decent. About ten years ago someone on Rimfire Central was offering unfinished 541 stocks for about $35. I like the looks much better than the original birch stock.



mike

Wish those stocks were still available... I'd love to put one on my 581

Bob

Fellow by the name of John Reed from Tennessee makes a steel magazine for the 541/581. He can be found on Rimfire Central. I have a couple of his mags on the way.

Late to the party. Once I figured out that my first LH 581 was a keeper (15+ years ago), I sent it off to have it black teflon coated. Eventually had it cut and threaded for a suppressor that it now wears continuously. Recently put a Timney 788 trigger on it. The Timney trigger required a fair amount of wood removal before everything fit back in the stock properly. But, a lot smoother than the original trigger. Have not shot the 581 for groups after installing the trigger.

As noted above trigger control/weight is important. Anschutz trigger is turned down to about 16-17oz. Timney on 581 is right at 2lbs.

All of the 58X's shoot really well. And the trigger is a true trigger assembly. They can be worked and an aftermarket 788 trigger can be installed too but I think it needs to have a little wood removed or something. I never did it so I'm not sure.
If I sound a rightie with a good bore fore $100 I'd buy it just on principle.

The 788 receiver has a larger OD than the 581. As a result, the 788 safety lever sticks out further to the right than the factory 581 safety. The 788 safety lever also seems to have a bit more rotational travel to the rear to fully engage the safety with a solid "click".