...a quick search of this forum for remington 597 22lr info seemed to turn up a few people requesting info on it, a few people who have owned 597's of various vintage and were unhappy with it, and about the same number who have or currently own and are happy with the rifle. What I did tend to read ALOT of was
"I've heards'..." and or "shot a buddys 597 last month..." type of replies listing numerous FTF, feed and extraction issues. I went to my local gunshop in mid august of last year with intentions of purchasing a Ruger 10/22, but after handling both the Ruger and a 597 that caught my eye, I went home with the 597. The 597 felt more like a full sized rifle and just had better ergonomics IMHO.
I had no previous experience or knowledge of the 597 beforehand. Bought a bulk box of winchester x-pert 22lr rounds and set out to sight-in my new toy!!!. I proceeded to load my 10 round mag and found I was hard pressed to load even 8 rounds
, mag floor seemed maxed. Shot my first three rounds then got a jam. Manually cleared the jam got a few more clean shots and jammed again. This pattern continued till I finally gave up and went home . Searched the magical "intraweb" that nite and found rimfire central.com,where I followed two tips that took a total of about 25 mins. I loosened the torque on my guide-rail bolts and polished the internal area of my magazine. Went out shooting again with some CCI's, federals and some thunderbolts along with the X-Perts and what a difference!!! a full day of bench shooting without a single hitch, and a real idea of what this little rifle was capable of!.
Roughly 1500 rounds and a volquartsen target hammer later still no problems whatsoever!. Off the bench it will shoot quarter-sized groups at 50 yards with thunderbolts stock, with the target hammer I shrank my groups down to roughly nickel sized at that distance. I bought my 597 with the scope package and i wished I hadn't,the stock scope is a low quality P.O.S. that would not hold zero. I replaced it with a simmons .22 mag and it has been great. I can even manage to squeeze a whopping 9 rounds in my mag these days.To make a painfully long story short, with a few non-time consuming and stone simple mods the 597 has turned into an extremely reliable and damn accurate little shooter for the money. Please keep in mind I don't work for Remington, and I'm very unbiased when it comes to brands, as my cosmopolitan assortment of firearm makes and models would prove. I ask you to be honest with yourself and think of how many firearms you have owned [excluding bolt actions] that don't have a single little quirk or gremlin you have either tuned-out of it or just lived with. For those who claim the 597 has no aftermarket following please pay a short visit to rimfirecentral.com. I apologize for the horrendously long winded post, and hope that those considering a 597 will find this info useful and won't be afraid to give it a second look.
Cheers, Mad Mikey.
pic of my 597
"I've heards'..." and or "shot a buddys 597 last month..." type of replies listing numerous FTF, feed and extraction issues. I went to my local gunshop in mid august of last year with intentions of purchasing a Ruger 10/22, but after handling both the Ruger and a 597 that caught my eye, I went home with the 597. The 597 felt more like a full sized rifle and just had better ergonomics IMHO.
I had no previous experience or knowledge of the 597 beforehand. Bought a bulk box of winchester x-pert 22lr rounds and set out to sight-in my new toy!!!. I proceeded to load my 10 round mag and found I was hard pressed to load even 8 rounds
, mag floor seemed maxed. Shot my first three rounds then got a jam. Manually cleared the jam got a few more clean shots and jammed again. This pattern continued till I finally gave up and went home . Searched the magical "intraweb" that nite and found rimfire central.com,where I followed two tips that took a total of about 25 mins. I loosened the torque on my guide-rail bolts and polished the internal area of my magazine. Went out shooting again with some CCI's, federals and some thunderbolts along with the X-Perts and what a difference!!! a full day of bench shooting without a single hitch, and a real idea of what this little rifle was capable of!.Roughly 1500 rounds and a volquartsen target hammer later still no problems whatsoever!. Off the bench it will shoot quarter-sized groups at 50 yards with thunderbolts stock, with the target hammer I shrank my groups down to roughly nickel sized at that distance. I bought my 597 with the scope package and i wished I hadn't,the stock scope is a low quality P.O.S. that would not hold zero. I replaced it with a simmons .22 mag and it has been great. I can even manage to squeeze a whopping 9 rounds in my mag these days.To make a painfully long story short, with a few non-time consuming and stone simple mods the 597 has turned into an extremely reliable and damn accurate little shooter for the money. Please keep in mind I don't work for Remington
, and I'm very unbiased when it comes to brands, as my cosmopolitan assortment of firearm makes and models would prove. I ask you to be honest with yourself and think of how many firearms you have owned [excluding bolt actions] that don't have a single little quirk or gremlin you have either tuned-out of it or just lived with. For those who claim the 597 has no aftermarket following please pay a short visit to rimfirecentral.com. I apologize for the horrendously long winded post, and hope that those considering a 597 will find this info useful and won't be afraid to give it a second look. Cheers, Mad Mikey.
pic of my 597
Last edited:
