597 vs 10/22
- Thread starter Beer_drinker
- Start date
Yup the bottom one is a T/C benchmark.
Top Ruger K10/22T and the middle is the 597 TVP.
I've shot the 10/22 with a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x 40mm on it. Excellent little scope especially for the money. But... not ideal for rimfire. It's been moved to my Winchester 243WSSM. After I test all three rifles while they are pretty much stock (except for trigger work) I'll be putting a 20" GM barrel on the 10/22. The hammer forged bull barrel is decent, especially with Lapua ammo but I think it can do better. We'll see.
The scopes are Falcon Menace 4-14x 44mm FFP. ML16 reticle, with metric knobs. They're actually a bit shorter than they look, due to the small sunshade that comes attached. Since they're 30mm scopes I'll be leaving the small sunshade on to even out the look. I've tested the scopes out a bit for fun. Should work fairly well. I was concerned about the reticle getting too big at max magnification but it looks good. Decent glass, they have parallax adjustment side focus down to 10 yards so I can shoot inside at 20 yards and the reticle is great. They seem like really good scopes. I'm happy and looking forward to testing them out. Considering the price/features I figured I'd give it a try.
I have one for sale in EE
For $350 with the two mags I'd consider that a good deal. Brand new you can get one for less than $439 which is the high price and mags are only $13 each.
Considering it's used with 900 rounds.
. Under the above conditions I'd jump all over it. Otherwise I'd just get one new. You know it hasn't been screwed with, it's not being sold because it doesn't shoot, and the warranty/store coverage is there. Those things are worth something.So I shot my 597 today. I had the Falcon Menace 4-14x scopes mounted on the Ruger and the 597. My Ruger has a trigger job on it which really improved the ease of shooting with it. Also the groups seemed a tiny bit smaller after the trigger job.
The scopes work well. Although I wouldn't want the cross hair to get any bigger. It's right at the maximum size for usability. I'd rather the cross hair was smaller but it still works well.
The 597 was completely stock. With the magazine that came with it, I had no stoppages with various ammo. Everything from Federal, Eagle, Winchester, Remington and Lapua. No problems. The extra mag I bought was a different story. It wouldn't seat properly. It just falls out. I'll have to check out the sticky for the solution to this problem. The other issue is that the first 5 rounds are really easy to load. The rest get hard very quickly. The Ruger 10 round rotary design really is far superior to the 597 mags.
I didn't take this rifle apart and adjust anything. Yet there weren't any stoppages, FTF etc. Reliability was excellent.
Like the Ruger this rifle needs trigger work. The trigger is usable but not much fun. This will be changed quickly.
How did it shoot?
Well it shot the Lapua Super club pretty well. The accuracy was still a bit less than the Ruger but that may be the trigger. Also the groups were getting better as the barrel was breaking in.
Now the bad part. It only shot the Lapua ammo well. Everything else it shot like crap. I'm talking 2-3 inch groups at 25 yards. The Lapua was one larger hole like the Ruger. With the Ruger I can shoot 40 grain American Eagle with varming/plinking accuracy. Not so with the 597. I'll have to do some more testing to find a good secondary round.
The scopes work well. Although I wouldn't want the cross hair to get any bigger. It's right at the maximum size for usability. I'd rather the cross hair was smaller but it still works well.
The 597 was completely stock. With the magazine that came with it, I had no stoppages with various ammo. Everything from Federal, Eagle, Winchester, Remington and Lapua. No problems. The extra mag I bought was a different story. It wouldn't seat properly. It just falls out. I'll have to check out the sticky for the solution to this problem. The other issue is that the first 5 rounds are really easy to load. The rest get hard very quickly. The Ruger 10 round rotary design really is far superior to the 597 mags.
I didn't take this rifle apart and adjust anything. Yet there weren't any stoppages, FTF etc. Reliability was excellent.
Like the Ruger this rifle needs trigger work. The trigger is usable but not much fun. This will be changed quickly.
How did it shoot?
Well it shot the Lapua Super club pretty well. The accuracy was still a bit less than the Ruger but that may be the trigger. Also the groups were getting better as the barrel was breaking in.
Now the bad part. It only shot the Lapua ammo well. Everything else it shot like crap. I'm talking 2-3 inch groups at 25 yards. The Lapua was one larger hole like the Ruger. With the Ruger I can shoot 40 grain American Eagle with varming/plinking accuracy. Not so with the 597. I'll have to do some more testing to find a good secondary round.
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I should also add that the small section before the receiver on the 597 TVP wasn't free floated. Groups did seem to drift very slightly up. Enough that it was noticeable and annoying. I'll be taking a dowel with some sandpaper and free floating it.
No problem. I'll be checking out more ammo with it, especially with Winter. I'll also be getting the new hammer for this rifle to improve the trigger.
Actually I'd argue this is exactly what you want to read before buying the gun.
One other not so good thing. I bought 3 extra mags $12 each with this rifle. Only 1 of them works properly. So of the 4 mags I have, 2 work. I'll have to check the stickies to see what needs to be done to get the other two working.
The good part. No reliability problems at all. Everything fed in it when one of the mags that works is used. No jams, FTF etc. I didn't adjust the rails or anything. So that was good.
Although every rifle is different. I've seen a number of Ruger target models and while they all seem to prefer certain ammo for the best accuracy, they do seem to shoot the cheaper stuff at varmint/plinking accuracy levels. My 597 well lets just say I wasn't too happy until the Lapua ammo showed promise. I was pretty worried actually.
At this point. I'd recommend the Ruger over the 597. I like the 597 but the Ruger is less hassle, easier to get parts for and the magazine system is 100 percent reliable. I've seen the target models on sale from sponsors. So the price difference for a target version isn't as much between the two brands.
I'll get the trigger done, free float the rest of the barrel and see about modding the mags. Then we'll see if my opinion changes.
