My New (To Me) Remington 597

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APShooterM14

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So, my father in-law has had a couple of rifles sitting in his safe that he hasnt used for a while. I talked to him about a Crosman air rifle for my oldest son and was over there picking it up. He asked if I has a .22 and I shyfully answered "No", lol. He reaches in the safe and pulls out another rifle.He tells me its mine if I dont mind cleaning up the little bit of surface rust on the barrel. I happily said thanks and went on my way. When I got home and actually looked at it, low and behold, Remington Model 597. Not really knowing much about it I checked out some reviews and rhey have been mixed.
Sorry aboit the long story, does anyone own one of these? Thoughts?
 
It’s a poor mans ruger 10/22 they are pretty good can be hit and miss like the ruger 10/22. Any free gun is a good gun. Try it out maybe it’s a keeper or needs a small tweak to be great. Bonus you get the 25 round mags with this. Make sure you try a bunch of different ammo don’t just write it off right away. I’d disassemble it take a good look over it and oil it up clean the barrel with wipe out or patch out clp and give it a try
 
I like mine ;)
22lr & 22mag

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Berdbuh.jpeg

Here's mine.

Do yourself a favour and pull the guide rods that the bolt rides on and polish them up. I put a wrap of painters tape on the end and chucked them in my cordless drill to make fast work of it and went to 800 grit. I lubed them with moly paste that I burnished in with the final polishing stage. When re-assembling run the set screws that retain the guide rods in until contact and back them off just a touch. Like an eighth of a turn. From factory they are a bit tight and the rods may have a slight bow causing the bolt to be slowed and not completely cycle.

Mike
 
^^^what Mike said re the guide rods screws(do not over-tighten them).
Also, keep an eye on the charging handle. Mine would actually fall out from the vibration of dumping a couple mags. Not a good thing in the woods......
 
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se.../media/103101740979/medium/1500510851/enhance

I had this one and loved it,so i sold it for one with bull barrel and a Boyd stock that came for sale locally and pimp it to my taste. Made myself a personalized charging handle( because i hated the loose one that came with it and heard story about it flying off at the range),an aluminium polish mag release and installed a trigger shoe.Of course polish both guide rods adjust the trigger pull to my need and replace the extractor for a Volquartsen.Works perfectly,never had a problem with it and is pretty accurate even with a cheap Ebay scope. All of this to say i love the Rem 597 and you will to.I have nothing against the Ruger 10/22 but i'm a 6' tall guy and it was like holding a toy when i try one,way to small,an adjustable stock would correct that but i prefer wood stock.


https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se.../media/103522094019/medium/1511618234/enhance
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https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/se.../media/103101744921/medium/1500511037/enhance
 
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nick237 said:
It’s a poor mans ruger 10/22
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f:P:2: Nonononononono... Rugers are overpriced junk that needs $1000 ++ in mods to function properly and shoot accurately... Only thing I'll give 'em is their 10-round rotary mag is one of the best designs. Why doesn't their bolt stay open after the last shot?

The 597 is a great, affordable semi. Most shoot quite well out of the box, some need some tweaking (polishing bolt and guide rods mentioned already) to cycle better, but overall you can take the Remington out of the box and go shooting with very little hassle. I never had an issue with the factory extractor, but the VQ extractor is a cheap enough solution if you do find yourself having problems. I fit a Lilja barrel to my 597 this summer, I challenge the Ruger fanboyz to build an equally accurate 10/22 for less than $1K, including purchase price of the rifle. Good luck :popCorn:

 
I bought a Remington 597 for my son on his 12th birthday, that was 18 years ago and it's been a fantastic rifle. For sure just as good as any out of the box Ruger 10/22 that I've owned, if not better.
 
Used to have one. The 597's are nicely made rifles with good accuracy except for two things.

Disassembling the bolt from the receiver is a fine but reassembly is a pita. Two screws at the back, 2 guide rails and 2 long springs.

The factory plastic magazines are garbage. Lots of failures to feed, rounds get stuck in the mag.
 
I bought a 597 heavy barrel with scope on sale at Cabela's when they were on at a good price. It shoots accurately, handles nicely, but the heavy trigger is my only complaint.
No problems with feeding or ejecting; I'm happy.
 
One of the best $180 I ever spent on the EE was for my Rem 597.
I sold my two 10/22's after the first range trip out with the 597 and never looked back.
Highly recommend the Tech Sights iron sight upgrade for around $70. You will be amazed at the accuracy. See here:

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...em-597-Range-Trip-and-Accuracy-Test-with-Pics!

They are extremely accurate, reliable and dirt cheap. Plus it's designed like a standard normal semi auto in that the bolt stays back once the mag is empty (crazy concept) Aftermarket mags for the 597 are pretty much junk. Stick to the $20 factory 10 rounders and you will have zero issues.
Here is the thing about the 597, if you like to actually shoot a stock config rifle very accurately for very little money, then you found what you're looking for.
If you have to dress up your .22 in 7 pounds of useless plastic and shooting = dumping 500 rounds of .22 LR into a dirt berm as fast as you can then look elsewhere.
 
RabidM4U5 said:
f:P:2: Nonononononono... Rugers are overpriced junk that needs $1000 ++ in mods to function properly and shoot accurately...

The 597 is a great, affordable semi. Most shoot quite well out of the box, some need some tweaking (polishing bolt and guide rods mentioned already) to cycle better, but overall you can take the Remington out of the box and go shooting with very little hassle. I never had an issue with the factory extractor, but the VQ extractor is a cheap enough solution if you do find yourself having problems. I fit a Lilja barrel to my 597 this summer...
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Sounds like you are spending some money on that 597... if the 10/22 is a steaming cow-patty, your 597 is looking it in the eye from the next steaming pile over... without the Ruger Rotary mag to mitigate the stench.
 
hoytcanon said:
Sounds like you are spending some money on that 597... if the 10/22 is a steaming cow-patty, your 597 is looking it in the eye from the next steaming pile over... without the Ruger Rotary mag to mitigate the stench.
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Not to memtion that every 10/22 I ever owned didn’t need guide rod polishing etc right out of the box just to be able to cycle through a mag..

I had a 597..... it was “ok”.....

To be honest, if reliable out of the box and inexpensive is what you are looking for, it’s pretty hard to beat a marlin 595....
 
hoytcanon said:
Sounds like you are spending some money on that 597...
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Ruger 10/22 "Target" $789.99 @ Cabelas https://www.cabelas.ca/product/32177/ruger-1022-target-semi-auto-rifle-blued

My 597 build cost was less than that ;) People go nuts building 10/22's, and by the time they're done there ain't a single "Ruger" piece left on 'em, I only had to put on a new barrel. That should tell ya somethin' about the difference between the Ruger and Remmy guts...

Superbrad said:
Not to memtion that every 10/22 I ever owned didn’t need guide rod polishing etc right out of the box just to be able to cycle through a mag..
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With two 597's I haven't had to do that either, I just mentioned it because some have had issues and doing this fixed them right up. People polish CZ bolts for smoother action, what do you want out of a factory firearm?

I love how people will crap on the 597 and nobody blinks an eye... but say something untoward regarding the 10/22 and a bunch of panties get knotted up... hilarious. I guess when you spend up to 3K on a 10/22, yer bound to get defensive about it...

wheeler said:
Hey guys. I've done a rough tally of what I spent on building my 10/22. As some maybe sceptical as to how you get to the 3K mark for a build. Well here is what the beauty has cost me in "Total"......
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The Remington 597 is decent shooter and with ammo that it likes to feed and shoot it can outshoot a 10 22. Some tweaks may be required to the 597 but accuracy and reliability are determined by the shooter / owner - and what they hope to achieve with it.
 
If you want to upgrade your charging handle you can contact me by PM.






Some people have had the leaf spring that retains the bolt break or just fall out. That problem can be repaired by drilling and tapping the rivet hole for a 4-40 machine screw and fastening the charging handle to the bolt with a screw. A special charging handle can be made so the bolt can be installed into the receiver with the handle attached.










 
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