Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17

[3RRL]

Or just ask for a complete refund and get another brand?
I wanted a reasonable priced, good shooting one with Accu-trigger, so I just ordered (2) Savage .17HMR's ... one righty and one lefty. The pair together with tax and everything are about what your 597 goes for. I can let you know in a few days how they shoot if you want.

 

[3RRL]

Robert,
I hope you got things squared away with Remington.
I got those rifles I told you about and tested them out.
If you haven't seen the thread yet, here it is.
Savage Sweet 17 Review

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert,
I hope you got things squared away with Remington.
I got those rifles I told you about and tested them out.
If you haven't seen the thread yet, here it is.
Savage Sweet 17 Review

Thanks. I did read your review and appreciate you writing it for everyone else to read.

I have been trying to decide what to do for the 597 replacement from Remington and when it comes down to it the .17HMR is the caliber I really do want and I have no use for any other rifles or shotguns Remington sells currently so I just sent an e-mail to the lady from Remington and accepted the Model 5 in .17HMR to replace my 597. I don't know if they are worth the same or not but it doesn't really matter to me right now as I was ready to just throw the gun away anyway. I expect the bolt action Model 5 will be a much more reliable rifle then the 597 was so I should be happy with it. And if I find myself hooked on the .17HMR after finally taking it to the field next year I will most likely add a Savage to my collection as that was the brand I originally was planning on buying before getting the 597 and was leaning towards it again if the Remington deal didn't work out.

I did ask them if they had anything suitable for my 4 year old daughter as Remington has a ton of products besides firearms and ammunition. I am hoping they have something nice I can give to Ava. A pink gun safe would look great in her room (keys in my room though till she is old enough).

 

[3RRL]

I've never seen a pink gun safe but I'll bet your daughter would love it.
Any news about your Model 5 yet? I'd love to read a review on it.
I posted some interesting ballistic information on the other thread.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I've never seen a pink gun safe but I'll bet your daughter would love it.
Any news about your Model 5 yet? I'd love to read a review on it.
I posted some interesting ballistic information on the other thread.

They will be sending the gun to my dealer. When I get it I am not sure when I will be able to sight it in. I am in the middle of apple harvest now and will be starting grape harvest soon with corn harvest following immediately after. Spare time doesn't come very often during the day this time of the year sadly.

I will check the other thread and see your ballistic results. Thanks for the update.

 

[KAP]

Dear Robert:

I did a search online and found your post on the 597 Mag in 17HMR. You are not alone I have had this happen to me twice. I initially bought a 597 in 17HMR it worked fine for quite some time.

While out hunting the gun virtually blew up, clip, bolt handle and extractor grenaded. I sent it back to Remington and received a refund I still had confidence in the weapon so I bought another one but this time I bought the bull barrel model. After less than a box of shells it blew up as well so back to Remington this gun goes.

This gun is junk and the bolt speed is to fast for the gun. The 597 is made for a 22 long rifle not a 17HMR. Plus, the tolerances for the barrel are such that the back pressure is to much and vents through the easiest place the clip and ejection port.

Ruger pulled their 17HMR model for the same reason and Magnum research is also having problems with their autoloader. The best one on the market is Volquartsen and my brother and cousin both have one in 17HMR and not one problem---plus those rifles are super accurate. The only downside is they are very expensive but in the end worth every penny and do not blow up in your face.

Glad you posted this I was begining to think I was the only one with such bad luck. The 17HMR is an awesome round and being a rim fire you can carry it during biggame season for varmints. Plus, it flattens everything from p-dogs to coyotes and jackrabbits a great round for varmints.

Sincerely,

KAP

P.S. I registered on this forum just to reply to your post---I will be buying a Volquartsen Superlight in 17HMR, you can now get a 25 round mag for p-dog town shooting .

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I am sorry to hear about you having the same troubles as I did. I have not had a chance to shoot my bolt action replacement but I expect it will not have any problems. Thanks for the heads up on the other guns with this problem. Hopefully others will be able to learn from our problems. And welcome to the forum.

 

[DieselPower]

I have a couple of .17HMR's and my favorite is my Savage. I also have a rather large selection of small caliber high power rifles and still think the .17HMR is the best small critter caliber there is for shots under 200 yards. The explosive nature of the ultra thin jacketed bullets is hard to beat for small furry critters. I have blown squirrels in half and almost blown rabbits in half with it, even took two deer with eye shots using the 17. It does have two negative's going against it. One is also one of it's advantages, the rounds explosiveness. Don't plan on eating small varmints shot by one because there probably won't be much left of it. The other is it doesn't have much wind bucking ability, just the nature of such a light bullet. Keep these in mind and it makes the perfect varmint zapper for lightly populated areas.

And yes that's a $800 Swarovski scope on a $200 rifle.

 

[3RRL]

I couldn't agree more with what DieselPower said, except we are not allowed to take deer with a rimfire here in CA.
I too have a couple .17HMR's and my favorite is also the Savage, since lol ... they are both Savages.
I posted a link to a thread earlier that one is a righty and one is a lefty.
Robert, I'm hoping you'll have a chance soon to test out your new bolt action replacement rifle. I'd like to hear about it.

 

[Podunkadunk]

And yes that's a $800 Swarovski scope on a $200 rifle.

I think you forgot to put a (1) in front of that $800! Either that or you must have bought it at a yard sale or got it a long time ago...that's cheap! About all you can get for that brand these days, at that price, is a couple of turret caps and maybe, just maybe, if you're lucky, a T-shirt.

Podunk