I really would like your opinions on the Rem 597 .22cal. I've heard several stories about it, both good and bad. The good is that it is cheap and accurate. The bad is that the mag jams a bunch of rounds.
If you have one or shot one, please let me know how you like it. My second choice would be the Marlin M60.
Tony,
I won a 597 at a Friends of The NRA banquet. STS 597 in a Lt blue tupperwear stock W/ Friends of the NRA logo on the butt. The rifle functioned fine no hangups, but was not up to my standards accuracy wise. Shot 1" at 25 yds with a 4-12X40 scope. I have three other .22's that shoot 0.5-0.6" at 50 yds, two 10-22 HB, and a reworked Rem 581. Admittedly these three are all extensively modified. The 597 just seemed much worse as a project gun considering it may be a limited edition made for the NRA dinners, I really don't know if it is but for now it will remain stock.
The only problems I'm aware of were with the mag. and the newer metal bodied mags are supposed to have fixed that(feeding problems). In addition "Bold" and/or "Rifle Basix" make replacement triggers for the 597 now.
Thanks for the info Dave. I may just stick with the Marlin 60. I really don't like or want a 10/22. And I don't want a bolt action. So I guess the Marlin wins.
I've had a 597 for several years. I don't shoot it much anymore, but it's a good gun. I never had a jamming problem with the one magazine that came with the rifle.
the old 597's had jamming problems due to faulty magazine design...remington fixed that and now they shoot pretty good. If you want to upgrade the trigger pull, I just slapped a site up with photos showing how to install a vq hammer...though honestly, it is not much of an improvement.
The site is at Remington597.com
Bob
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Last edited by ruger22com; 09-24-2006 at 12:21 PM.
If you have a jamming issue, send the mag into Remington for a free replacement. I had 2 bad second generation clips and they replaced them for free.. If they ask, just make sure you tell them the gun's only a year old since they have a 2 year warranty..
i like mine it does not have the jamming problem if you have one of the new guns remington has fixed to problem on the new ones. the clips are good but i would like to get one of the 30 round clips that they came out with
I recently received a new 597 as gift, a camo finish sythetic stock version - did a basic take-down cleaning/check over, made sure there was proper barrel/ stock clearance, grabbed a 500 rnd brick and went shooting! "Lots" of rounds later I'm really impressed, rifle has now shot a variety of new/old ammo and never had any sort of problem. Shooting "open sight" at a variety of plinking targets out to 100 yards, I found it to be at least as accurate as sons seasoned 10/22. Kids just got 'ol dad a 3-9X40 Bushnell scope for b-d, so will see how that works out comparing to a well setup scoped 10/22.
Just my $.02 worth.
I have one that I won in an auction for 80 bucks, it came with two plastic magazines and it had some reliability issues. I contacted Remington and they told me to send them the two magazines and they sent me two of the new upgraded mags for no cost. This rifle will eat any ammo it is fed and it has very good accuracy. I like the 597...
I've posted similar reviews of the 597 before. I got mine a few years back, and had to replace to mags (Remington sent the new ones free of charge). Since then, the gun has yet to fail in any way. I've gone up against many marlin and ruger 22's, and my 597 out performed all of them (and I'm not the greatest shot in the world).
For the price, you really can't go wrong.
I haven't tried those hi-cap mags yet...has anyone else? I'm feeling like I shouldn't mess with a good thing..
Rem 597 
