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

   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #1  

Robert_in_NY

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I am getting sick of this garbage. I had a Remington 597 Magnum .17 that blew up on the third shot. Talked to my gun dealer and he said Remington had a problem with the actions not wanting to close properly. Remington sent me a new gun to replace the broken one. Well, I finished my first box of Ammo and the first round from the new box and the gun blew up again. Once again, the action didn't close properly and blew the magazine apart as well as part of the action. I am going to talk to my gun dealer again but I do not want another Remington .17

So what do you guys suggest for a new .17 varmit gun. Hopefully one that will stay in one piece:mad: I am just glad my daughter wasn't with me today as she could have been hurt from the pieces that flew and scared away from shooting. She is going to be 4 in October but has put 60 rounds thru her pink .22 Crickett sitting on my lap the last few days.
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #2  
Take a look at Magnum Research (the folks that make the famous Desert Eagle pistol). They have quite a few variations in .17HMR.
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #3  
I do not have a .17, but I have had two Ruger 77/22 in .22 and .22 magnum. I still have the .22, have had it around 12-13 years. Never a problem, accurate, and well made. They are pricey, though.
Will
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #4  
If you want a good bargain, try a CZ.
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #5  
What exactly did it do? fire out of battery? There should be a safety device to prevent the firing pin from hitting the primer if the bolt isn't locked. I know absolutely nothing about this particular rifle but I do work on autoloaders for a living. Military ones. They all have a firing pin bridge to block the firing pin untill the bolt is locked. Reasons for an out of battery on ones that I work on are normally a very dirty chamber. Being a new gun did you clean the chamber and barrel at all before firing it? You definitely should on a new gun especially. Autoloader chambers have to be clean and dry. NO OIL or solvent left in them at all and the first several rounds out of one you really need to be looking at the charging handle to make sure it's locked in battery each shot. That's why I always put from one box to several boxes through rifles I work on here. Especially if I just replaced the barrel or something on it. It doesn't happen very often but things can stick on a new one.

If you want an awesome varmint gun with some serious range then get a good M-14 clone set up with a scope and a good mount such as the ARMS 18 or Sadlak. I bust prairie dogs all the time out to a thousand yards with mine. It's not easy at that range but I've had a little practice and I know my rifle well. 500 yards I'd consider easy for anyone with a steady hand and some patience to wait on a good shot. I got a coyote out here a few weeks ago on the run at 800 yards. He only stopped and looked at me for a second but that was all it took. No 17 cal will do stuff like that ever but a 308 sure can. Also if you handload you can make up lead bullets for close up stuff or use full power match ammo for far off shots.
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I didn't clean the guns ahead of time as I never thought about it. Of course I have never had this problem with any gun other then the 597 thankfully.

The problem is the gun will fire without being locked. You don't notice it as you take these things for granted. Remington does have a problem with these guns and this one was suppose to have this problem fixed. So what happened is the round exploded down thru the rim and into the magazine causing the magazine to blow up and the thumb hold on the slide (some of my terms may not be exact). When I go to my dealers I will take some pics of the gun before he sends it back and post them so you can see for yourself.

As for a new .17 varmit gun, I can't use high powered rifles around here (well I can but it isn't safe). There are too many major roads and a lot of houses creeping in around here so if one ricochets you have to worry. My friend was shooting on his hill (300 acres) and one round hit a stone they figured and hit a fellow in the town below him (couple miles away). And just a couple weeks ago a guy was hit by someone who was target practicing on a neighboring property. So I want something that has decent range but not something too powerful. I thought about using my .270 but I only have a couple fields I could safely use it in.
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #7  
Generally a high speed bullet like a 22-250 will explode if it hits something rather than deflect, unlike a larger slower slug. I can understand your caution on long range, though. Shooting the neighbors, even by accident, is frowned upon...........sometimes:D .
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17
  • Thread Starter
#8  
atgreene said:
Generally a high speed bullet like a 22-250 will explode if it hits something rather than deflect, unlike a larger slower slug. I can understand your caution on long range, though. Shooting the neighbors, even by accident, is frowned upon...........sometimes:D .

I have thought about a 22-250 and seriously considered it before and may again but the .17 seems better suited for me. Right now I use a .22 for woodchuck removal and have shot them at 135yds with the open sight antique that has been handed down thru my family. Sadly I have a brand new Ruger 10/22 that sits in the gun case never having been shot as I have never put a scope on it or taken the time to sight it in. But right now I am going to look at it again and see about buying a good scope and taking it to the range to see what it can do.

I really do love shooting. I just wish I had more time to do it. I have more new guns that just sit in gun cabinets because I just don't have the time to go to a good range and I do not have a proper range for anything more then 100 yards right now (again, I don't have the time to build up a proper long distance practice range). When I finally get my range built my neighbors will know it though :D
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17
  • Thread Starter
#9  
I wonder if I should expand my varmit gun search? What do you guys think? Should I stay with a .17 or possibly go to a 22-250 or something else? I only have a couple fields I can shoot without worry, the rest of my property either has too many neighbors, roads or too small of fields to make use of a high powered rifle. I have the I90 cutting thru our main farm so I can't use anything too powerful here without always having to worry as the 90 kind of curves around here.
 
   / Remington 597 Magnum junk, need advice for a new .17 #10  
I have a Ruger 77-17 that I picked up with a scope at Cabelas for $299 that I am very happy with, but with a 10-22 sitting in a box I would go with that. Check ammo prices, the .17 HMR is not cheap for its size.
 
 
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