597: To scope or not to scope?

tritium4ever

tritium4ever

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To make a long story short, I took the RPAL course and exam this past weekend and passed with no problems, and hope to have my licence sometime between my birthday (early December) and Christmas. Naturally, this means I need to reward myself with a new gun. :D

I've narrowed down my list to a Remington 597, for a few reasons. 1) .22 is really damn cheap to shoot. 2) Wanted to start with something "small" before working my way up (I've never fired a firearm before in my life, and until last weekend I hadn't even handled one). 3) I really like the look of the 597 compared to other .22s.

My problem is this: I'm right handed, but left eye dominant. During the CFSC/CRFSC course I noticed I had some difficulty quickly establishing a proper sight picture without having to squint, especially on the shotties where there was only the front bead and no rear sight to work with. For that reason, I am contemplating getting the scoped version of the 597. Is it justified? I know some people advocating learning on iron sights before going with optics, and if I were right eye dominant I'd probably agree, but squinting just isn't working. I suppose I could also try shooting left handed, but I wanted to get some opinions on using scopes on a .22 for target shooting purposes.
 
Scope it if you want.

Most iron sights that I've seen are complete crap anyway. Yeah, it's nice to know how to shoot with them properly, and I did make my niece and nephew use them :evil: , but the only person you have to justify it to is yourself.

As for the eye issue, go slow and either learn to shoot left handed or train your right eye to become "dominant". I have ~equal dominance in both eyes, but because I'm right handed, I mostly shoot that way.

(E) :cool:
 
You can still shoot iron sights. You'll have to squint or close your other eye entirely. Not a bad option but is often necessary with irons, even for those who are not cross dominant. As for optics, I find it best to shoot with both eyes open, although many shoot with one eye closed.

If you want to learn your irons, which I suggest you do. Play with them for a while, then mount an optic. You must also keep in mind what your intended purpose is as well. For general plinking, irons will do fine. For more precision an optic is excellent.

TDC
 
I've had the same Leupold on my 597 .22 WMR since day one (in fact, I removed the rifle's iron sights when I installed the scope):

tcs_597wmr.jpg


I use the rifle strictly for target shooting and it doesn't disappoint all the way out to 100+ yards. I've never played with a 597 .22 LR, so I don't have any firsthand knowledge of how the two compare ...but regardless of the 'flavour' of your 597 (and there are several to choose from), the further out your target, the more you'll appreciate a clear set of crosshairs.

Enjoy your new hobby!

:cool:
 
With the relatively short range of .22LR I think scopes are only practical on target rigs. Unless of course you are using it for game out to it's limit, or you just can't shoot very well.
 
The 597 & 10/22 are so light and as mentioned above the .22lr is good from 0 ~ 50m for POA/POI (which shouldn't give your eyeball too many problems)

The drop at 100m is incredible that if you scope it you are locking yourself into a 100m only .22lr rifle; there's nothing wrong with doing that.

Get two 597's :)

But if you have only one, I wouldn't scope it. If I had two... yes, I'd scope the second one for sure.
 
I scoped mined after 1 or 2 trips to the range with it...didn't cate much for the stock sights. There are nice opric sights availabe for the gun might be worth checking out...
 
Which ever gun you choose to buy...try the iron sights first.....i put a patch over my left eye ( i was left dominant too) and learned to shoot with the right eye. i am right handed and it was literally impossible to learn to shoot left handed. After teaching the eye to be dominant, then try the scope, both eyes open as it is easier to secure the target or game and you can see the results of your shot immediately. Squinting gets hard on the face...lol...lol. Which ever you chose , just enjoy....
 
Its nice to know how to shoot with irons, but not very practical IMO. Anywhere close to 100yds target blurs so much you are guessing your POA. If you want to have dedicated target rifle you will have to have peep sights on it to make it official for competitions. If you decide to go with scope - get one that has some bullet drop compensator reticle because 22lr drops fast. Do not try saving on a scope, you will be shootin 22 more than any other rifle you will ever have, so your eyes will thank you later.
 
The stock irons on the 597 are garbage. I tried to shoot decent groups with them but I just couldn't manage. My Cooey shoots better with its stock sights. So I bought a 4x32 scope and the 597 suprised me. I was easily shooting ragged holes at the 50m mark. Scopes really bring out the accuracy potential of the 597.
 
So I guess the follow up question is, if I'm choosing scoped, how well does the factory 597+scope combo work (relative to its price point)? I've heard countless times (both here and the amateur astronomy places I visit) that you might as well get the best so you're not buying something twice, but that philosophy assumes you aren't saddled by a $9000/year university tuition bill. :p

I'm assuming it's hard to go wrong for the extra $40 to save the time and trouble of getting the scope separately.
 
I have an $80 3-9X40 bushnell for my 597 for when I want to shoot out far. It's works great, good clarity and fine eye relief. I agree with not cheaping out with a centerfire, but .22lr is .22lr and I am not they type to fret over my groups. If the gophers\grouse\squirrels\rabbits die when I pull the trigger thats enough accuracy for me.
 
Rimfire has very little potential for damaging an optic. The price point ensures your optic will track properly. If you intend to zero the optic and leave it, you can get away with a low budget optic. If you intend to mess around with it alot. Spend a little more coin.

B, has it right. $80-150 is plenty of optic for a rimfire.

TDC
 
TDC said:
Rimfire has very little potential for damaging an optic. The price point ensures your optic will track properly. If you intend to zero the optic and leave it, you can get away with a low budget optic. If you intend to mess around with it alot. Spend a little more coin.

B, has it right. $80-150 is plenty of optic for a rimfire.

TDC
Click to expand...

My intention is to just leave it on there permanently. I sort of have my gun "progression" lined up already: .22 rimfire rifle first, 9mm pistol next, and some sort of centrefire rifle third (possibly an AR15, if funds permit, or a VZ-58L if they ever reappear). :D I won't be needing another scope for a while.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
I can't remember which scope I've got on mine, but I'll guarantee ya I didn't pay much for it! :p
It will still shoot better than I am capable of.
The 597 is a great little rifle that shoots "good enough" out of the box, and for very little extra, becomes a very nice shooter.
 
The 597 is a great choice !!!

I sold my 10/22 and got a new 597 - which was cheaper - and shoots significantly better - with scope - Banner 3-9x.

No problems with mags.

I did put a VQ hammer and extractor in it - the hammer cut trigger pull weight in half! - which helps accuracy.

Have fun and congrats - welcome to shooting sports!!!
 
tritium4ever,

I have the same problem than you: I'm right handed and left eye dominant. I learned to shoot has a right handed and it worked just fine with a rimfire and even with a shotgun. But one day I tried to shot a .308 centerfire. When my face met the stock of the rifle I knew I'll have to change something. That's the day I decided to become a left handed shooter. The relearning process was frustrating and it took me almost a year but it worths the effort. I'm pretty sure I'm a better shooter today because I made the switch. At one point it will be an option you'll have to consider.

For the iron sight vs scope question I would say it's a matter of personal preferences and what you intent to do with the rifle. IMHO you must be able to master both of them. I own a 597LSS since 1999. I scoped it only 2 years ago. I did that move because I needed to shoot at +50yrd and my vision is not good enough to do that with iron.

Have a nice day.
 
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