I drove 3 1/2 hours, one-way, on Feb 25th, to The Kentucky Gun Co. in order to purchase a new Remington 597 Magnum, Burris Fullfield E1 Scope, 4 Remington OEM Mag's, etc. (spent right at $1,000 on all items). I took the rifle out for the first time on Sun, Mar, 12th, to shoot and sight it in, using Hornady ammo that I purchased at the KGC as well. I ran close to 200 rounds through the 597 Magnum and here's what I experienced right out of the box (from very first magazine):
1) All four magazines would not lock into the guide; rather, they would drop approx. 1/4" of an inch, causing me to push them back up into the guide and push the lock lever forward. After about a half dozen mag's, problem did seem better, but not satisfactory. Locking mechanism or spring on rifle didn't seem to want to catch.
2) Every single magazine had 2-3 misfeeds, even after I pushed the magazines back up and locked them into place. I say misfeeds, because I would pull back the slide when it would not fire and a fresh round would drop to the ground (wasn't even chambering).
3) Started at 20 and 40 yards - progressed to 50 yards. Could never get this rifle sighted 3" in either direction of the bullseye with any consistency using the Burris E1 (3-9x40), whatsoever. Am highly doubtful there is a scope issue as well. I can hold a 1-1 1/2" pattern at 50 yards with a 1976 Glenfield Model 25 and $85 Bushnell Banner scope, as I shoot most every other weekend.
Corrective Action - I called The Kentucky Gun Club March 13th. The customer service representative spoke with the owner and he told her to have me call Remington (a pretty lame answer from the owner after a $1,000 cash spend, but I do live 200 miles away), so I called Remington.
Remington was great (thus far) about having my 597 Magnum sent to an authorized gunsmith for the repairs. After purchasing the rifle and realizing this particular model seemed to be plagued with a few simple, and cost effective, fixes, I opted to move forward with the repair but am hoping I can get a Volquartsen Extractor, Volquartsen Target Hammer, and MCarbo trigger improvement kit installed in the process (these three items at my cost).
It's unfortunate that Remington hasn't recalled these rifles and fixed all of them because I really do like the rifle, simply want it to fire 300-500 rounds without a misfeed or misfire. I could have gone with a Savage 17 HMR, but I'm just not a fan of the Savage magazine system.
From what I can tell, the three aftermarket (non-OEM) products listed above correct 99% of the problems with the Remington 597 Magnum. More to come once I get the rifle back in a week or so.
Any ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I shipped my new 597 Magnum out yesterday for repairs. It was received today (Tues, Mar 21st). I hope to at least hear something by the end of this week. Thanks for sharing the pic DM, nice rifle & GH.
To the OP, problems with 597's aren't new nor unusual, there is a whole section on 597's in the Remington Forum, with fixes and tons of information, most 597 problems are easy to solve so don't sweat it. Remington will likely send you a good rifle back but I suggest you do some poking around in the 597 Forum just for your own edification.
Come on over to the 597 forum a GMD1950 says! Lots of friendly help and info over there. Try running 5 rounds at a time in the magazines until you get the rifle and mags broken in a little. Also the #1 best thing to do is loosen the guide rod set screws at the rear of the guide rods and adjust them to finger tight or just minimal torque. If to tight they will bow and bind up the bolt.
Thanks gmd1950 and HUSHKABOOM.....any thoughts on the non-OEM upgrades listed in my original post above? Switching over to the 597 forum from here on out.
The VQ hammer is a great improvement to the factory trigger pull. I have installed them in 6 or so 597 and 597M rifles in my family and they have all worked out good. I have also put the VQ extractor in several and they function great. I would try the hammer first and then if you have extraction issues try the extractor. I have no experience with the Mcarbo.
Hello All,
I put a JARD trigger on my 597 and it is the absolute best thing I did to the gun.
That made the MOST IMPROVMENT in the way it fired.
243man
I received the Volquartsen Target Hammer and Extractor yesterday. I also received the M Carbo Trigger Spring Kit, which looks to be made of very good quality (made and sold here in the U.S., by Military Veterans). All items arrived in 2 days via USPS.
I live in Indiana, the work on my 597 is being done at a shop in IL, near St. Louis. I've contacted them but don't think my rifle has been looked at yet. I've rebuilt several rifles (completely stripped stock/receiver/barrel, re-blued, replaced any/all bad parts, etc.) so installing these three items looks pretty easy.
Sounds like it might be another week or two before I get my 597 back. Glad to hear others have had similar issues, but most importantly, almost all are fixable and at a reasonable price. Right now I've spent an extra $80 out-of-pocket for the three items above, all else should be covered under warranty.
Attached is a pic of my 597 before I sent it in for repairs. First time I've ever mounted a bipod for stability purposes but want to use this rifle for varmint well past the range of a standard .22LR.
Does anyone have a max limit they shoot with these 597 Magnums? Was thinking my standard .22LR out to 50-60 yards, and sighting the 597 Mag in at 100 +/-. Thanks.
A 100 yard zero for the .22wmr is reasonable, you should be able to connect with Ground Hog sized targets easily out to 150 yards and some stretch it to 200 but you're getting down on power out there in my experience.
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Gerald is right on with the distance advice. Mine has worked fine out to 150 on 3-5 lb size Oregon jackrabbits with both CCI Maxi Mag 40 grain HP and the lighter 30-33 grain ballistic tip stuff. Cant help much with the over 150 yards because our hunting is walking the sage and mostly offhand shooting. When you get the 597 up and running you may have to load only 5-6 rounds in mag until things get worn in a little or you can have feeding problems. You can pop the plastic base off the mag and polish up the inside with 400-600 grit wet dry paper with light oil lube or use scotchbrite pad knock off the sharp edges and you will get better performance.
Last edited by HUSHKABOOM; 03-26-2017 at 03:37 PM.
Thank you everyone for the great advice. Can't wait to get it back. Had to rely on my 1976 Glenfield Model 25 Bolt Action .22 this weekend (my Christmas present that year).......still shoots like it was brand new.
You have been given some GREAT advice, I will ad a few thoughts:
The Jard trigger is expensive and worth every cent.
A Mcarbo & VQ set up is pretty darn close IMO.
Loosen the guide rods.
Keep the chamber clean.
Mine are zero'd at 75 yards and each one has specific likes and dislikes re: ammo choice.
Action screw tension is critical. Don't crank it down finger tight then 1/2 a turn (don't crank the barrel attach screws down either, you'll snap the receiver (ask me how I know)
Remington has discontinued the magnum version of the 597 but they are GREAT rifles. A member here 'Al the infidel' is a great resource on the rifle as he has several. (in addition to the great advice given above!)
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