Just got a Remington 597 for Christmas...

[Paincakesx]

It's in .22 LR.

I was wondering if anybody knows anything about this rifle. I've been reading about it a bit online and have seen consistent complaints about jamming and reliability issues. From what I can tell, it's from the magazine. I believe I have the 3rd generation magazine.

Is there anything I should know?

 

[LoonWulf]

I owned one of the first ones, bought it about a month after they were released, and loved it. The magazines really could be hit or miss, the two that i got with the rifle worked great, the other two i bought never seemed to work more then 1/2 the time unless i kept them spotless. I had a couple of the new mags and they work fine.
The hammer can be replaced with a....Volquartsen target hammer, if you find the pull excessive. I found that the Volquartsen hammer wasnt as crisp as the stock unit, but it did reduced the pull considerably.
Boyds sells stocks for them if you want, other then that your pretty well out of aftermarket bits, tho its been a while since i last looked.
If you take the barrel off, be very careful reinstalling the tension block, its very easy to snap of one of the seats when putting it back in if you over tighten it.
Other then that theres not alot i could say, i never bothered to really mess with mine, it shot under 1" at 50yds and killed everything i pointed it at.

 

[Paincakesx]

Thanks for the response, that seems reassuring.

The reason I'm asking is because I'm debating whether or not it's worth trading up for a Ruger 10/22. I don't really plan to mod this much, it will be mainly a occasional plinker.

 

[gidaeon]

Also, check out RimFireCentral forum, where you'll find an active base of Remington rimfire fans. http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=21

 

[LoonWulf]

If your talking stock rifle against stock rifle, i actually prefer the 597. The only real advantage the stock 10/22 has are the great stock magazines.

 

[WardenWolf]

Savage has one that's a real tackdriver, for the same price or cheaper than the Ruger (it's been a while, but I forget the model; it's a .22LR semi-auto). For an off-the-shelf gun, it's the better choice. Much more accurate.