Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Remington 581

Who can tell me anything about these 581's? I am considering buying a left-hand 581 and know nothing about these although I have been shooting 22's for years. Currently I have a great example of a BRNO model 2 1954 which has a very slick action and accurate but it's as heavy as hell (heavier than my Savage 3006 fully loaded!) and I'm a leftie. Who can give me some good feedback?

I have a 581 S. It is nothing fancy but very accurate and my beater 22. Mine has a cheap plastic magazine and had a cheap plastic rear site/shroud. Other than that it is a good rifle.

Ditto - I had a left hand 581 as well. Sort of a scaled down Model 788.



Same comments - lots of stampings, cheap plastic magazine, hardwood (birch?) stock. Trigger was relatively heavy, maybe arond 3 1/2 pounds IIRC, but not too bad and it did break cleanly. But it still fed and functioned well, maintained zero and you didn't have to baby it.



Like the centerfire 788, it was intended to be a budget priced rifle - but also like the 788 it was a real straight shooter.



I finally sold mine when I bought a Kimber but for the money they are good basic rifles. If I had my druthers for a basic .22 I'd druther have an old Model 513 or something from the fifties or sixties - but they never made those in a left hand bolt.



Remember that this is the same action as the target model 541 and those have a real good reputation for accuracy.



The 581 is just not much to brag about for looks but I'd definitely recommend one.

I really like my 581 left hand. I bought it new in 1982. There is no telling how many bricks have gone through it.

Mule Deer mentioned his 581 in a recent article saying that it shoots 3/8 groups I believe. Mine never shot that well until I restocked and rebarrelled it and gave it a match chamber. It will not put 5 power points in one hole at 50 yards.

I think the action is great, the factory stock is very plain but servicable. The magazine however really stinks and I have decided to live with that.

Boy, I do not type or proofread very well. My last post should have said it will "NOW" put 5 power points into one hole" rather than it will "not" put 5 power points into one hole.

Anyway, I think for a lefty, a 581 is a great rimfire.

Good luck.

The 581 is a real sleeper . It should not shoot as well as it dose . Own one that I loaned to my brother for use in an informal gun club match . That son of a gun shot 6 consecutive 5 shot groups that measured in the .3s at 50yds with Ely 10x ammo .
There are a few things I don't like about the 581 . The trigger is too heavy and the rifle is too lite for fine shooting but the main thing I dislike about the 581 is its looks .
It's just my poor luck that my ugly rifles shoot better than my pretty rifles .

If you know anything about triggers (or know a gunsmith who does) the 581 trigger can be fixed to be pretty decent. I worked mine over and it helped; the rifle then shot so well that I kept it until obtaining a Kimber a few years ago.

The Kimber didn't beat the 581's accuracy by much--but it beat the looks by a lot!

MD

I do know a bit about triggers . If I remember correctly , I've tried a spring from a ball point pen ( DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME ! ) . It helped for a short time before the spring wore out and the gun no longer cocked . This was many years ago . I was more of a foolish fool back then . That 581 has been retired to the back of the closet for many years now .

I've considered turning the old 581 into a custom bench rest rifle but a target grade trigger whos pull weight should be measured in oz. and not lb. is not available . The trigger is OK for a hunting rifle .

I don't know why Remington did not do more with the 581/541/540x action and build it with a trigger like the 40x . Remington could have gave Anchutz (spelling) a run for it's money .

I don't know why they didn't do any more with either. It always seemed like plenty of action for the .22 Hornet as well.

When I worked my 581's trigger over I only took it down to about 2.75 pounds. The metal and tolerances weren't good enough to go below that. It helped, but didn't turn it into a bench rifle.

MD

A 581 was my first .22. My dad bought it for me when I was 7 or 8 years old. Lots of memories with that gun. With a 2.5X (I think) Weaver and Winchester Ammunition, it would generally do around 1" at 100 yds.

Your right . A lengthen version of a 581 would have been a dandy in 22 hornet . An accurate an low cost rifle that Remington could have developed for any chambering base on the 22 hornet case ( 22 k hornet , 17 , or 20 k hornet , ect ) .
I bet such a rifle would have sold well for Remington .

If memory serves me correctly, the hornet was going through a little bit of a "dead" period when the 581 was produced, but it seems to have made a come back now. I vote for Remington reintroducing the 581 and producing it in Hornet also.