Remington 597

[Boru13]

I am thinking about purchasing a Rem. 597 in 22 L.R. or 22 MAG.-not sure what caliber yet- but I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on them first, reliable,accurate,etc. I already have a couple of 10/22's in the L.R and MAG. versions but I was thinking about a change of pace, new reason to buy another gun . Thanks in advance for any thoughts on the matter.

 

[HighDesertWalker]

I've always been a fan of Remington guns, and I have the 597 in both 22 LR & 22 Mag. Very pleased with both guns. They are accurate and reliable and I like the styling. My 22 Mag. has a black synthetic stock and sports a very versatile 1.5 X 5 scope. I use the camo synthetic stocked 22 LR with open sights and it makes a great rabbit gun. A friend and I once took 21 cottontails with 22s in a single morning. He used a scope sighted LR and took only head shots. I used my open sighted 597 and took any shot I could get, including on the run. Great fun. Here's a pic:

We cleaned the rabbits on the banks of the Chama river:

I really enjoy having the scoped 22 Mag for longer range hunting and the LR for fast shooting where game is plentiful. You can't go wrong with either variation of the 597. :thumbup:

 

[Macchina]

Here's my advice:

If you want a Semi-auto get a .22 lr, never a .22 Mag. Ammo prices for the .22 Mag are around $16 for 100. You can get 700 .22 lr for that price! .22 lr is a great round and the price makes it ideal for plinking and hunting.

If you want a bolt gun for hunting, then go .22 Mag. The .22 Mag is a great round (my favorite for small game), I have a bull barrel bolt action Marlin in .22 Mag, and it shoots 1/2" groups at 50 yards, 1/4" on the good days. They just started making .22 Mag ammo with V-Max bullets (pointy plastic tip) and they fly and make the .22 Mag a viable 125 yard gun. The new bullet leave the barrel at a blazing 2200 FPS!

P.S. I just picked up a Savage .22 semi at Dunhams for $110. Great gun, cheaper than the Remington, but don't know how it compares. Accurate as I'd ever need it to be (1" at 50 yards with crap Remington ammo, I haven't tried it with anything else...). It's great practice for bigger cartridges to go out and shoot 500 rounds with a .22. It's great fun to shoot a pop can and walk it up a birm at a gun range. I try and do a lot of .22 shooting off hand, this helps me with deer hunting because most of my shots are off hand, yet I used to only target shoot from the bench.

 

[Loosearrow]

I have a number of 22 rifles. They are my favorite caliber. With a 22 I can get anything. I didn't have a 22 mag and bought a used 597 bull barrel laminated stock. It is heavy, very accurate , plenty of smack. I have read about problems with the plastic mags and the guns jamming. I have the metal ones and no problems. I like the gun. Loosearrow

 

[Domanfp]

I have had a rem. 597 for about three years now and that damn thing just keeps on going. I mounted up a cheapo walmart scope and bought a few extra mags online and I feel that I could nab squirrels from about 50 yds pretty easily with the gun/scope. The only real downside is the lack of aftermarket stuff like extended mags, they just put some out but they arent really that great.