Anyone Shooting a Remington 597 Semi Auto .17 HMR?

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woodguru

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I had one of the heavy barreled laminate stock versions of this, what shooting I did prior to the recall showed it to be a fantastic shooter. It was tack driving accurate and never jammed or misfed in any way. It was my go to tree squirrel rifle and it accounted for many follow up and two shot situations.

After the recall I found myself looking at the action to make sure it had properly locked, I sold it to a collector and wish I hadn't.

It's been quite a few years and I'm sure there are guys shooting them, what say you, any problems and would you say it's okay to shoot them if they are cleaned religiously under low shot conditions?

I've been looking at the ones that come up for sale and thinking of getting either one of them or a Volquartsen. The 597 heavy barrels can be had for about $600+/- sometimes with a scope. I still have two extra magazines so that's a plus.
 
i look at it from the perspective of it was recalled for a very valid safety reason. that alone outweighs any desirable features it may possess to me.

only you can decide if you're willing to take the risk associated with it.

additionally i cant understand being willing to pay $600 for a firearm thats been recalled and has no known permanent fix. even if its a typo and you meant +/- $60.... i still like my hands and face better than that - even if i have a face meant for radio.


if you're going to go back into the semi-auto 17hmr world, why take a chance when there are several options on the market now that seem to have the issue resolved - namely the a17, the volq you already mentioned, and supposedly the franklin armory ar upper.


i went the a17 route specifically because of the delayed bolt unlocking system. although judgement is still out on how accurate this will turn out to be with better weather conditions than i did my initial testing and with other ammo lots i have available to me at this time.
 
I am leaning toward the Volquartsen, they are accurate for sure. A few years ago I had seen people that were using the 597's and had never had a problem. I shot more than a brick through one and never had any issues.

It seemed to me that it was a problem seen with a few rifles, sort of like the Remington 700 problem (which I personally saw in two separate rifles). That was a problem where conditions COULD exist, but if you had a rifle that it didn't you have a good rifle that will not malfunction. The key is to do the thing that makes the problem happen and see if your rifle does it or not.

I agree that it doesn't seem worth it to buy a rifle that could potentially be a problem. But the one I had was sure a good shooter.
 
For a blowback the hmr is a little too high pressure with the 597 set up, same for the 10/22 mag conversions. All they did was try a barrel swap and it was a no go. You need a little heavier bolt weight or a delayed blowback set up as As the A17.
 
I know a guy who had the .17 597 and refused to send it in for the recall. Well it blew up and left scares on his face. Remington did send him a 700 in .243
 
My buddy had one and it blew up also. Luckily no one got seriously hurt, but he said it wasn't good.
I bought a Volquartsen when the 17 hmr was introduced and have never regretted it. I used to have a 597 in 22 mag that was a great shooter, but I had nothing but problems with their crappy magazines. I'd go the Volquartsen route unless the new Savage is any good, it would be a lot cheaper.
 
Originally Posted By: crowslayer17My buddy had one and it blew up also. Luckily no one got seriously hurt, but he said it wasn't good.
I bought a Volquartsen when the 17 hmr was introduced and have never regretted it. I used to have a 597 in 22 mag that was a great shooter, but I had nothing but problems with their crappy magazines. I'd go the Volquartsen route unless the new Savage is any good, it would be a lot cheaper.

Current production mags have relieved these issues. Just an FYI..
 
I lost my urge for a 597,
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I have one of these that I shot the heck out of before I knew about the recall. I did notice that some of the empty cases had bulged rims and bases. But it did not seem like it was that bad to me. The problem got better once I learned how to properly adjust the guide rods and started keeping it cleaner. You can't run it like a .22 and just never clean it, these have to be kept clean to operate.

It is very accurate despite the heavy trigger. I have shot some 5/8" 8 shot groups with mine at 100 yards. That was with just a 2x7 Leupold dot scope that I had on it at the time.

I still have it and would not be afraid to shoot it, but I may send it in for the .22 mag barrel upgrade that Remington will do free of charge? I can't decide if I want to do that though, because I don't want a .22 mag semi.

Also over on Rimfire Central there was some folks who still shoot theirs.
 
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I bet you could drill down through the top of the bolt at the back where its solid, stop short of drilling all the way through and insert some tungsten weights to get the bolt weight up. It would solve the problem with the HMR.
 
I had a couple different 597's. One was a 22mag in the Laminated stock heavy barrel version that shot really good and the other was a sporter in 17 HMR. I never got around to shooting the 17 HMR and ended up selling it to a collector for a good bit more than I paid for it. Always wondered if I should have hung on to it instead.
 
I absolutely love the 597 heavy barreled laminate .22 I have, it's a tack driver that will hit what I'm shooting at longer ranges as long as I have figured holdover correctly.

As mentioned the magazines were a disaster. I had bought half a dozen of these rifles used on GB that were all accurate, and many had lots of magazines to where as I sold the rifles to friends I kept the extras, I have somewhere around 18 or so. I sat and worked on them while watching TV and was able to get all of them working well. I filed and sanded mold marks off and made sure that it was working smoothly. Then depending on the strength of the spring I would do things to make more tension, typically I cut a section out and stretched them, that makes them push harder. On the metal ones I used Microlon to make them ride smoother.

Second generation magazines needed tweaking as well, but I've heard the third generation models work like they should, I've not bought any because the ones I've fixed work. I think they are a way better rifle than the 10/22's in many ways. The heavy barreled 597 is as good and accurate as the $500+ hammer forged barrel target model 10/22 I had. Remington really screwed the pooch by making an excellent rifle that had magazine issues. Too many guys want nothing to do with a gun that has feed issues. I was generally paying around $225 to $275 for the heavy barreled laminates, they were going for half of what they were new.
 
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Originally Posted By: Plant.One, and supposedly the franklin armory ar upper.

The Franklin Armory is a 17WSM.

I have an A17 and I love it. It is a blast to shoot, and functions well with most everything I put through it (lead-free does not cycle the action). For the money, you will do better with a current production rifle, then add a Boyd's stock, if you hate the plastic one it comes with.

Eric
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KeepshootIng.com makes a 597 replacment 22lr magazine that are awesome. Way better than the stock junk, dont think they make one in 22mag though. I have a 22mag magazine that needs some polishing, if remington wouldnt have made them from junk pot metal the finish wouldnt be so bad and reliability would be there.
 
Originally Posted By: Widow maker 223KeepshootIng.com makes a 597 replacment 22lr magazine that are awesome. Way better than the stock junk, dont think they make one in 22mag though. I have a 22mag magazine that needs some polishing, if remington wouldnt have made them from junk pot metal the finish wouldnt be so bad and reliability would be there.

I went there to buy a couple, they are surprisingly cheap as well, most mags I buy are $20 to $50+. They are out of stock, I put my name on a notification list, hopefully when they get enough names they will get more.
 
I have 3 of them for the handgun I made, they feed flawlessly. Fit and finish is excellent, they weigh more too due to not being made from pot metal.
 
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