ABU 506 v 506m

[Terryb]

Just acquired an Abu 506m on eBay. Stripped it down for a service and removed the anti reverse pawl and replaced a couple of parts and it’s working perfectly now. Can anyone tell me the difference between the 506 and 506m. I can’t find anything different between them. Only thing I can think of is that someone has stuck the 506m sticker on a normal 506.

 

[Kevin55]

From Barbel World, wider spool with chenille

Must admit that I always thought the 506 was a spinning reel that the match fraternity adopted and the 506m was just a slightly tarted up version with a chenille trim on the slightly wider spool to stop the line getting up the back if the winding cup.

 

[PearTree]

The spool cover may have been changed to a plain one from a 506

 

[Reuben]

Not much difference at all. The 506M came with a shallow black plastic ‘match’ spool with the above mentioned chenille skirt whilst the 506 didn’. The M has a go faster stripe on the cowling too & I’m sure I read somewhere that it has a slightly faster retrieve. Doubtless someone will be along with more knowledge than me. Nice little reels though.

 

[DFL]

I too believe it’s geared differently,

 

[Simon R]

Standard 506 had a retrieve of 1:3.9

501 was released in 1978 and was the first reel to allow standard backwinding without removal of the infamous 'part 5579' - that had a retrieve of 1:4

The 506M was released in 1979, 20g lighter than the old 506 (probably due to the plastic match spool) and slightly altered gearing to give the same 1:4 ratio as the 501.



Simon

 

[trotter2]

506 was made as a spinning reel but was quickly used my coarse fisherman mainly for trotting purposes . The 506m was made as a match reel with the new improved shallow spool. 506m is indeed a slightly faster retrieve as mentioned. In practice hardly any diffrence tbh.

 

[nejohn]

I always thought the only differences were the shallow plastic chennile trimmed match spool and the markings on the cup.

 

[Terryb]

I’ve got a feeling that the 506m label on my reel is not genuine.

 

[Reuben]

I wouldn’t worry about it, buddy. The difference between the 2 are next to nothing. Quite a few 506Ms change hands without the shallow plastic match spool & spares ones aren’t that hard to come by. Let’s face it, 20 grams & an extra 1” on the retrieve doesn’t matter to 99.9% of us. I’ve bought a custom aluminium spool for mine with rubber buffers on instead of the chenille which probably adds another 20+ grams but it improves performance imo. Having to replace the chenilles is a pain & they’ll get hard to come by sooner rather than later. I’ve left the clutch alone too, it works & there’s little chance of me hooking a barbel or chub on the Forth up here in Scotland!

 

[trotter2]

I’ve got a feeling that the 506m label on my reel is not genuine.

It's got the wrong cover on it, for sure

 

[trotter2]

I always thought the only differences were the shallow plastic chennile trimmed match spool and the markings on the cup.

It's a tiny bit faster same as the 501, but to be honest it's nothing and not worth worrying about.

 

[Truly]

I wouldn’t worry about it, buddy. The difference between the 2 are next to nothing. Quite a few 506Ms change hands without the shallow plastic match spool & spares ones aren’t that hard to come by. Let’s face it, 20 grams & an extra 1” on the retrieve doesn’t matter to 99.9% of us. I’ve bought a custom aluminium spool for mine with rubber buffers on instead of the chenille which probably adds another 20+ grams but it improves performance imo. Having to replace the chenilles is a pain & they’ll get hard to come by sooner rather than later. I’ve left the clutch alone too, it works & there’s little chance of me hooking a barbel or chub on the Forth up here in Scotland!

Where can I get the custom spools and chenille please ?
The plastic shallow spools seem only available on the used market, is that correct ?

 

[Marker50]

Never owned one.
To expensive as a kid.
Do they all have that anti backwind ?
Is there not a clutch.
Like look of them

 

[Reuben]

Where can I get the custom spools and chenille please ?
The plastic shallow spools seem only available on the used market, is that correct ?

The only place I’ve seen a new plastic 506M spool is at Classic Vintage Fishing Tackle on line. They do the custom made jobs too - very well made they are too. Ebay sometimes list them as well. Jim’s Reels online is often worth a look too.

 

[Reuben]

Never owned one.
To expensive as a kid.
Do they all have that anti backwind ?
Is there not a clutch.
Like look of them

There is a clutch mechanism but it’s on the handle & is an acquired taste! Most remove the pawl & play fish by back winding - which disables the clutch. An easy job but I’ve left mine alone. The only time I’ve had to use the clutch is when I hooked a rogue Trout on the Forth - great fun though. The Mark 1’s are pretty cheap second hand, imo, & an iconic if quirky piece of kit - a bit like centrepins really. People love them or hate them. I use my centrepin more than the 506M if it’s not windy.

 

[Marker50]

Thanks.I have some centrepins and like using in summer for margin carp.

 

[nejohn]

Never owned one.
To expensive as a kid.
Do they all have that anti backwind ?
Is there not a clutch.
Like look of them

Fresh from the factory they did not have a backwind facility, but most people sorted this by removing the backwind pawl which is a fairly easy job to carry out. they do have a drag but it is absolutely useless, it was supposed to be a sort of progressive drag system but it really didn't work that well and most people just tightened it right down and relied on backwinding to give line (which for me anyway works much better than using the drag) once you master the technique it works well. Although I have tried other closed face reels over the years including the newer ABU's, I still prefer the old 506M and larger 507 to any others, yes the DAM and Ryobi were arguably better reels when they were new but they had a tendency to self destruct after not to long where as the ABU just carries on working, I have had one of mine for over 40 years and still works as well as it did when I bought it, I have replaced a couple of pick up pins and springs but that is it apart from a clean and lubricate every so often.

 

[nejohn]

It's a tiny bit faster same as the 501, but to be honest it's nothing and not worth worrying about.

Not even sure that that is the case, it may just be a rounding up exercise in the catalogue as after all if the retrieve is expressed as a ratio ie 4 turns of the spool to one turn of the handle then there is in reality very little difference between 3.9 turns and 4.0 turns .....so my gut feeling is for such a small change it may just be poetic licence in the catalogue

 

[NoCarpPlease]

Do the 506/506m have a consistent spool oscillation ratio?

I know one of the little modifications that I did on all my 507 mk1 reels was to move the handle so that the spool is always at it's lowest point of oscillation when the handle is at 6 o'clock (thereby having less of an acute angle around the bell and pickup and making line payout smoother).
For this to work - the spool oscillation to handle turns must be a whole number. I believe some of the ABU models (perhaps later ones) do not.