Remington 597 22Lr question

So I have a Remington 597 in 22 LR. It was my first rifle I ever purchased when I was 18 years old back in 2000 or 2001. I bought it new from a big 5 store. It came in stainless with a standard diameter barrel and the ugly grey synthetic stock.

I'm sure as being a kid before the internet was a big thing I made several mistakes in it's lifetime. Like jamming cheap aluminum cleaning rods and brass cleaning brushes down it from the muzzle end of the barrel very often. It probably has 50ish thousand rounds through it or more. Then I went through a phase for years where it didn't see the light of day.

When my son was around 8 (about 5 years ago) it came out of the safe and he learned how to shoot using this rifle. He was actually impressive to watch. Very accurate as long as he did his part. The kid went through a phase and is still in it where he doesn't want to go shooting or even hang out with his parents right now.

I decided to drag it out and play with it a little bit recently. I put a weaver 3x9 scope on it I had in recycle bin. I was breaking clays on the berm out to 185 yards. That was the limit of my bdc reticle on max power. Having tons of fun I decided to upgrade the scope again. I found a Athlon 6x24-50 scope in my recycling bin that was known to be a great scope for the previous application it was mounted to.

I put the Athlon scope on and went to the range. I set up paper targets on a stand at 50 yards. Trying 4 types of ammo I was averaging 5-6" groups. I was frustrated with my groups and adjusted my scope in the center of my fat groups and proceeded to clays and random things out between 100-150ish yards.

Ranging every shot before actually pulling the trigger and making notes I was actually pretty accurate. The large groups on paper made it frustrating but yet amazing I was hitting single targets at longer distance. I went home and cleaned the barrel very thoroughly. Several patches came out very blue and then black before showing signs of being clean. I probably ran 25-30 total patches through it before I was happy.

After seeing how dirty it was I assumed it was the reason for my garbage groups on paper. Yesterday I took it to the range again. I set up my target stand at 50 yards. I ran 10 rounds through it before even trying to shoot a group and then passed it to my son that I forced to go with me.

After he shot about 80 rounds through it he was mad and frustrated he couldn't get a single bullseye. During that time I made a couple of scope adjustments and shot several 10 round magazines myself with poor results. All shooting was done from a very sturdy table with a stool that was not attached to the table. Front rest was a haris bi pod and the rear of the stock was rested on a bag. The setup is very solid. I used another rifle on the same setup same day at a 100 yards and was getting 5 shot groups under 1 MOA before moving the target stand closer and changing over to the 22lr.

Being at the point of major frustration here. I'm at a loss of trying to figure this out. I know it has a lot of rounds through it but I wouldn't think a 22lr barrel would not be shot out yet. As a kid I'm sure the barrel got hot or more like warm when I was yanking the trigger as fast as I could several magazines in a row. I probably abused it more cleaning the barrel improperly more than anything.

I'm curious what other people find as an average size group with their 597s. Am I wrong thinking it should be better? If I could get down to a 1" group at 50 yards I would probably be ok with that for what it is. I think that my results should be much better than they are.

I found a new Jarvis barrel for sale but I don't really want to dump a bunch of money into this thing. If it's going to cost me upwards of $500 to fix it I would rather spend the money towards buying a new bolt action CZ or Tikka. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

Maybe a Paralex problem, seems to start when the newest scope was added. They usually shoot pretty good so 1" at 50 should be very doable.

 

Leave the 597 alone because it’s functional and safe, just not super accurate. Give it away one day to a loved one. Maybe your son?

Lots of bullseye and silhouette 22’s out there brand new like you said. Tikka, CZ, Bergara, Savage all can make tiny groups for relatively cheap (compared to a Vudoo, which is worth the price, IMO)

Heck, this Tikka is a week old and punches half inch 10 round groups at 50 yards with cheap ammo. T minus one month before my 3 position silhouette competition. Prone and sitting/kneeling at 50 feet all good. Offhand, I got work to do LOL.

View attachment 1088215

 

ive had 3, two regular ones and a heavy barrel. None were stupendously accurate with what I can get locally, but none were worse than 2-2.5" at 50yds.

Heres the two most recent ones and the load testing (probably from the back of my truck if i remember correctly) in the pink one.






IMO the 597 and MOST non-purpose built .22s are field rifles not bench guns. I expect them to be able to hit a soda can size target at 100yds when I break the shot correctly.
I did some major tinkering on these guys, and the results improved from the above, but never approached being consistent MOA rifles, least not with the ammo available.
Still they hit what I pointed them at, and my friends daughter is still happily shooting steel and random range garbage with the pink one. That one was fun enough that my buddy bought my heavy from me when I started working on my 457 and needed cash for parts.

 

I don't know. I had this scope on a bolt action 223 and never had any problems with it. I also don't ever remember using it at 50 yards either. It has a side focus designated distance on the knob. I usually either know my distance or use a range finder and set accordingly. I know it's not a top notch piece of hardware but I figured it would be a good fit for a 22 that isn't exactly a bench rest rifle either.

I guess I'm either used to something that produces better results or something is out spec somewhere. I will have to maybe put the old scope back on it and see if that changes anything.

 

It’s been a few years but mine would shoot under an inch (5 shots at 60 yards) with ammo it likes.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/side-by-side-597-10-22-model-60.811602/

 

Jmorris

I will agree with the 597 trigger being horrible. I started to dig into this a few months ago back when I decided I wanted to start shooting 22s again. I did some "custom" work to mine. I pulled it apart and started to study the trigger group. I found a couple of things I could improve on or at least give it a try.

First thing I noticed is how similar the hammer spring looked to an AR hammer spring. The 597 spring is larger diameter and had 2 extra coils but the legs were shorter. So out with the 597 spring and lopped off the longer legs on the AR spring I had in the junk drawer.

Second thing I noticed that probably didn't do anything was I took out the little plastic bushings and made my own out of aluminum. Probably better than plastic but I probably should have used brass. Real world I don't see it making the trigger any better. I do have a metal lathe so I figured I should probably use it.

Next thing I polished the hammer on a buffer wheel. I didn't grind anything or remove any significant amount of metal or re shape anything. Just a little polish job to smooth it out a little bit.

That really cured my trigger. It's not a trigger tech or a timney but it's a big noticeable difference in the better direction.

 

I have not shot my 597 in years... I used it as a range 'science lab', trying out different sights (irons, scope magnifications), and learning about wind drift. What I recall is 25yds and under shots would touch, out to 50yds the groups were 2" or less, depending on my eyesight and whether I was using irons/scope, and sandbags/free handing. At 100yds w/scope and sandbag the impacts were like a shotgun pattern but I believed the culprit was parallax combined with wind. I was able to decipher that one scope I was testing had significant POA error at its higher magnifications so I had to test using the scope's lower magnifications. All good findings! I had intended to continue the investigation & return to the range and really focus on keeping scope reticles centered within the scope housing to reduce the parallax errors, but I moved on to more interesting projects. I still intend to, one year, buy a dedicated scope for the 597 and give it another go, but it is low on my priority list b/c the area I currently live has few raccoon to hunt (which had been one major reason for the purchase...) The 597 weighed more than a lot of other 22lr rifles and I feel it is a decent trainer for the hunting-caliber bolt action rifles like the Rem700. I sure learned a lot about what I liked in irons, scopes, freehanding & bench rests!

 

The Volquartsen hammer really improved the trigger on my 597M

MCarbo makes a spring kit that really brings it down too and keeps reliability.

22 Mag has never been known for great accuracy but mine will stay under an inch at 50.

 

I'll echo what others are saying about the trigger being horrible. But when I concentrate, the rifle itself shoots little cloverleafs at 25 and 50 yards.
I'd look at the scope. Everything was OK until the recent scope change, correct?

 

My first semi-auto was a Savage-Stevens semi-auto .22 LR. It had a bolt handle that could be pressed in to lock the action in either closed or fully open. I shot the snot out of that rifle on rats in a couple of dumps we shot at. After killing a rabbit that took more rounds than I thought it should, I fired at a target and was appalled at the group at 50 yards! It was at least 8" in diameter!!! The thing to remember is that all the critters I'd ever shot at were less than 20 yards and most even under 50 feet. Of course, I couldn't stand such "inaccuracy", so swapped that rifle in on a Marlin Lever-Action Mountie, a super-accurate little rifle that never killed any more critters than the Stevens semi-auto, maybe fewer, because I'd soon outgrown the small-critter hunting. Still, I loved that little lever-action and my wife can attest to my efforts to minimize the red squirrel horde around the family camp we used the first year of our marriage. The only thing that Marlin and I couldn't do was point-shoot aerial targets as well, because it didn't "point" as well as the semi-auto. That's okay, because it was deadly-accurate, out to a hundred yards or so, especially with the receiver sight I mounted.

 

What brand ammo?
My M597 is a tack driver: WITH GOOD AMMO!

With CCI mini mag HP’s it’ll shoot 1/2” or better at 50yds.
I ditched the original polymer stock however. Boyd’s Gunstocks ran a clearance on blemished stocks so I bought two at $20 each. I put one on my .22mag, other on .22lr.
They are Gray/black laminate.

I glass bedded the action. But I still have the old polymer stocks.
Also, I stoned the triggers to ~2.5lb. AIDS in accurate shooting.

I suggest getting some quality ammo and make sure the stock hasn’t warped, pressing against one side of the barrel.
Pics Please!

 

I've gotten to the point where if M*CARBO makes something for my rifle, chances are I'll be buying it. Did wonders for the Marlin 795 I used to have and my Savage Axis.

 

Lots of good info here so far. I started thinking about this and maybe I did something else that screwed up the accuracy. When I did the trigger the biggest reason I tore into it was to possibly bed the stock. Then after removing the stock I discovered it's basically hollow and you probably need a quart of marine tex to bed it. I scraped the bedding idea (kind of).

So again I fired off the old trusty metal lathe and basically made some shims to fit between the action and stock. What I was trying to accomplish and I did was to free float the barrel without removing any material from the stock. My shims lifted the action up out of the stock about .020 and achieved a free barrel.

I'm wondering if doing this caused a problem of some kind. I'm limited to ammo in my area. CA is a no mail order state. I have several different ammo I have tried and doesn't seem to really make a huge difference. I know for a fact this Remington does not like Remington ammo. I would like to get my hands on some Lapua center X or something of better than standard bulk ammo. The CCI mini mags I think if I remember correctly have been the best so far.

I'm not threading the barrel and spending another $200 on a tuner.

 

Bedding an action is supposed to make rigid and complete contact between the action and stock. The shims may have had the opposite effect of putting the action on stilts, even if they are short ones. if your cheek weld moves in relation to the receiver and rear sight, groups will be inconsistent.

 

@Waterboy3313
The old Remington is gone so I am unsure who to ask to correct/confirm.... Maybe a prior employee will chime in...

Barrel mounting was another topic I researched with my 597. When I bought my 597 I was going to freefloat the barrel however I read a Remington employee interview who stated (reference long gone now) the 597 was designed to have barrel contact and removing this contact to freefloat is unnecessary and may be detrimental to accuracy. I believe the statements were basically:
1) Stock was intended to have barrel contact
2) freefloating may help, but could worsen accuracy, the owner is taking a gamble on the outcome.
3) Bedding should be ok, but that is left up to the user.

In fact, I recall an enthusiast even tested the 597 accuracy with varying amounts of barrel-to-stock contact and figured out the factory stock contact was approximately best for accuracy.

 

Most factory basic 22's and bulk ammo have trouble shooting 2 MOA. I think you are expecting too much from that rifle. Pop can accuracy at 50 yards is about it unless your rifle is exceptional. See the prove it threads. I wouldn't spend much time or money on a plinker. Look at a Tikka or CZ. Then tinker if you are not happy.

 

Sounds like I will pull my shims. I know from previous experience this thing was better at one point even with the kid using it. I can't help but try to improve accuracy. I might be expecting more than I should but I do understand this thing is not a bench rifle and I am not a professional competition shooter.

A Tikka or CZ is definitely in my plans. I am not the guy out at the range jerking the trigger as fast as I can. My goal is to be as accurate as possible at my skill level and within the ability of my equipment. I think part of my problem is I got too used to using better equipment and hand loading my own center fire ammunition for accuracy. I actually spend a lot of time developing loads for each individual rifle/pistol I shoot.
Sounds like I have a thing or two to do before this weekend.

 

My factory stocks were free floated. Bedding just involves the forward and rear portions of the receiver. Shims will likely work just fine.

Remington DID bed the barrels of its center fire rifles. Sometimes It’s beneficial to rebed, others, not.
My M700 Tactical shot poorly after free floating the fore-end of the Hogue factory stock.
Rebedding the barrel pressure pad improved the guns accuracy substantially..

 

My barrel was not free floated. Maybe it was at one time I can't remember that I ever checked it previously. Maybe the flimsy plastic lost it's original shape? That was the reason I made the spacers. To get the barrel up away from the stock.

I saw on the local news today some genius was at the range I frequent weekly. He thought it was a brilliant idea to shoot at steel during the summer in the middle of a drought. He ended up starting a 3 acre fire. Hopefully his really great judgement didn't just get it shut down for the rest of us. That follow the rules.

If the BLM decides that they are going to close the range I will be up a creek without a paddle. That would leave me with option B. The indoor range that is limited to 25 yards. If that's the case I'm done for the next 4-6 months. I've been worried for quite awhile that this range will get shut down because of people leaving trash and doing stupid things.

I guess since I'm taking the day off tomorrow I will run out there and see if it's still open. I would really like to go do more testing this weekend.