AFAIK, Remington only produced magazine-fed .22 autoloaders - first the Model 16 (for the .22 Rem Special ctg), then the Model 24 copy of the Browning .22 ATD, and then onto the Model 241, etc, etc.
Winchester, however, DID make an auto-ejecting single-shot .22, that fired from an open bolt once the chamber was loaded manually through the upper trapdoor. At the shot, the bolt blew back to the rear/cocked/open position after ejecting the empty, awaiting the next load.
It was the rimfire Model 55 (there was also a CF Model 55 levergun).
Your acquaintance may be correct in his memory, however.
Remember the innocence of the uneducated mind - if someone was handed an autoloading rifle, but never told or shown that it WAS an autoloader, then how would they know any better ?
As a matter of fact, I trained all my children in firearms safety & shooting with a .22 autoloader, in which I never loaded the magazine, nor told them of it's existence, until many years later.
They had no way of even knowing what a magazine was, unless I showed/told them.
They manually loaded it for each shot, thinking they had an auto-loading (ejecting) single-shot !
The same situation might have occured with others.
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