Author Topic: remington 597 problems (Read 6509 times)

sprahs · « **on:** September 30, 2006, 04:22:00 AM »

New 597 had really hard trigger pull plus stovepiped shells. Swiss filed about 1 1/2 degrees off hammer sear notch and polished with aluminum oxide paper wrapped on a fine file. Checked with jewlers loop for contact and banged rifle butt on floor a few times to assure myself that it would not fire unsafely. Removed the rods that bolt rides on and polished them with steel wool. Works fine now but needs complete breakdown and claeaning between shoots. Use fine grease on rods. Throw away early plastic mags and get the pot metal ones.

30-30man · « **Reply #1 on:** October 02, 2006, 08:53:29 AM »

The biggest hunk of crapola that has ever left the remington factory. This gun will make you hate Remington. Even with the pot metal mags, they hang up unless you use the expensive cci stuff. This was the worst 22 auto I ever purchased. I have never seen one that worked. My local gun shop is the oldest remington repair center in the Southeast. He stopped ordering the 597 because of the problems. He even threatened to stop doing business with them altogether but they didn't care. I wonder how much longer Remington has as they are ruining their reputation with cheap junk like the 597.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #2 on:** October 02, 2006, 12:54:53 PM »

Get ready for more......lots of new remingtons are being manufactured in Russia.........

Keith L · « **Reply #3 on:** October 02, 2006, 01:22:46 PM »

And a new muzzleloader made in Spain. I'll take the Russian workmanship over the Spanish materials etc.

Why can't we support American products?

30-30man · « **Reply #4 on:** October 04, 2006, 10:41:16 AM »

Remington reputation is getting hit hard as people are learning about the quality control problems. Marlin and Ruger and can make a good cheap 22 semi. Why can't Remington? The problem is just too much overhead. They think there is no way to cut cost except in the quality of the products. They have never been able to make a decent cheap 22 auto.

Keith L · « **Reply #5 on:** October 05, 2006, 06:04:42 AM »

I have my fathers Nylon 66. It is a great gun, but I don't know if it fit the cheap part.

wgr · « **Reply #6 on:** October 20, 2006, 06:19:13 AM »

i have a 597 that will shoot maybe 5 out of 10 shots without jaming sent it back to rem
ington twice not fixed tried to get my mony back but was told to send it back for repairs got mad by this time and just told rem. that it would be the last one i bought from them and i take it to every match and every time i go to the range let anyone and everyone try it out and see what a real piece of junk it is

30-30man · « **Reply #7 on:** October 22, 2006, 04:54:37 AM »

I've never seen a 597 that didn't jam. I'm sorry to hear that you learned the hard way like I did. Remington can't fix the problems because it is just a poor design. They need to buy these worthless pieces of crap back from all their loyal customers along with giving an apology.
They have lost me as a customer forever until then. I sold mine along with most of my other Remingtons that didn't work either(1100, 742, 7400, 597).

Charles/NM · « **Reply #8 on:** October 22, 2006, 08:08:55 AM »

A friend bought a 597 instead of a Marlin 60 like I told him to. Jammed every shot. I did some research and found the mag problem is common and also found there is a problem that can be caused by the bolt guide rods being chinched in too tight by the hex head set screws at the rear of the receiver. Those screws need to just be snugged up finger tight. They can't fall out since the stock butts up against them. Any tighter and the rods will flex enough to bind the bolt's forward travel. A light dab of good gun oil on the rods is all that's needed. Any more and they will only collect powder residue, git sticky and cause jams. That bolt needs to slam up fast and tight against the breech of the barrel for the gun to function reliably. Pull your bolt back and release it. If it doesn't snap back against the breech fast you have a problem. That was 90% of the jamming problem with this particular rifle. We bought some new third version of the mags at Wal Mart and now it almost never jams. Those mags are a silly design, pot metal and plastic. Who in their right mind would design them that way? Even crappy Russian TOZ 78 all plastic mags function better. If I had a 597 I would make a mag well adaptor to fit some other mfg's steel mags.
The trigger is a simple design that should be easy to make very nice. Think single action Colt or Ruger revolver. That's all I'll say about that, except proceed with caution.
My personal objection to this rifle is it's plastic stock. Being an "Old School" geezer I think plastic stocks are an abomination and I won't own one.

30-30man · « **Reply #9 on:** October 24, 2006, 03:09:28 PM »

The one I had and the ones I've seen can't be fixed unless sent to a gunsmith. I was lucky enough to hear it from one of Remington's oldest repair centers in the South. He has worked with Remington for over 70 years. He is 98 now and getting out of the business(leaving it to his son). He refuses to carry the 597 because of too many issues with it. He said mine was a bolt issue that was flawed from the design. The ejector is not long enough or strong enough to effectively throw shell casings without a stove pipe. The mags also drag and don't feed smoothly enough and that makes the problem worse (pot metal). Who wants to spend $100 on gunsmith work to fix $150 rifle when that same $150 can buy a trouble free Marlin 60 or even a Savage or for a little more a Ruger. He took my Remingtons and I traded for another Marlin 336, Marlin 60, and an old LC Smith that I had my eye on. I had to sweeten the pot some but the LC Smith was worth it. I've never been so happy. I have three guns that work now.

Three-08 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 28, 2007, 01:32:44 PM »

The Marlin model 60 and Ruger 10/22 are tried and true, about the best 2 autos going, Remington has been sold from what i hear, and true they are taking on a lot of Russian made guns. I don't own any Remingtons, only Beretta and savage, Browning

jgalar · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2007, 03:53:06 AM »

I bought my 597 to shoot bricks of bulk ammo, just as a plinker. I tried a bunch of the "fixes" and while they made it better, they did not fix it. It sat in the back of the safe for years until I found a container of fine valve grinding compound while cleaning up the garage. I figured what the heck the gun is cr@p anyway - so I coated all the workings with the compound and worked and worked the action. The gun will now shoot the Federal bulk ammo that I want to use. When shooting the gun I still need to keep a can of WD40 to spray it down when it gets really dirty and starts to jam again.

I'm not recommending or suggesting that anyone do the valve grinding compound treatment!!! I also thought of filling the barrel with black powder and firing the gun remotely but I won't recommend that either!

p15camborne · « **Reply #12 on:** April 30, 2007, 02:30:03 PM »

I bought a 597 .22 last December. It works great. Shoots cheapest Wal-mart bulk Federal ammo fine. The trigger was very heavy. I learned about a Volquartsen hammer at Rimfire Central. It cost $32 with shipping. I installed it. Trigger pull is acceptable now. Now just mildly heavy. Check Rimfire Central. There are fixes there for 597's with problems. From what I read sounds like newer 597's, like mine, are better. In fact, I think of my 597 as the new Nylon 66.

superdown · « **Reply #13 on:** April 30, 2007, 02:58:15 PM »

had a 522 viper and every one i talked to said that it was dookie they were wrong i wore it out it absolutely loved the rem thunderbolts many many dozens of bricks also had a nylon 66 my dad gave me like 20 years ago we wore that out to now i shoot a henry golden boy 22lr great little gun sorry i cant help with the 597 but good luck anyways. superdown

ironglow · « **Reply #14 on:** May 14, 2007, 04:13:04 PM »

Right three-08, it is hard to fault the Ruger 10/22 & Marlin 60 for semi-autos...tried and proven..

IMHO..the Ruger stock rotary magazine is the best in the business for reliable feeding and all the model 60s, 795s and 7000s have superb accuracy right out of the box..as did my "first production year" Ruger..

I have heard good things about the Savage 64 and accuracy...and then, for a few more bucks..the CZ 511

Why bother with the 597 ?

p15camborne · « **Reply #15 on:** May 20, 2007, 11:06:39 AM »

Why bother with the Remington 597? Because out of the box a 597 is much more accurate than a Ruger 10/22. A whole industry has developed around the 10/22 to make it shoot accurately.

tomzuki · « **Reply #16 on:** May 20, 2007, 11:52:03 AM »

I've got a 597 in .22 mag. Put a 3x9 scope on it and it shoots. I have noticed when at the range and I run a couple of hundred rounds through it it will jam occasionally. Seems to be a cleaning problem cause once I clean it no other problems. I read a while back that cleaning .22 LR barrels was a waste of time, but I still believe that the autoloading actions must be cleaned to allow smooth cycling. I've also got a .22LR 10-22 thats about 25-30 years old. The mags are much better from Ruger, but thats what you get in our synthetic world. Even the 597 metal mags dont stack properly, and once stuck cartridges are difficult to pull out.

30-30man · « **Reply #17 on:** June 01, 2007, 11:56:39 AM »

The 597 I had was bought off the shelf in 2005 so I would call it a new one. It was accurate but hardly reliable. It was very frustrating to shoot. Even my grandson hated it and he's happy with anything. It had the pot metal mags. It was still junk and no I don't think they are any different then or now. If you have one that works, put it in a case and call Remington fast. It is 1 out of 1,000,000. I have never seen a 597 that would unload 10 rounds without jamming. It's just a bad design.

ironglow · « **Reply #18 on:** June 02, 2007, 12:09:30 PM »

pc15,

As far as accuracy, I only spoke for my "first year" 10/22..very accurate right out of the box. Where Ruger really shines is the beautiful, best bar none magazine and probably the most dependable .22 auto action.
When speaking of accuracy, i was referring more to the Marlin 60, 795 & 7000..very few stock "hardware priced" .22 autos can keep with their accuracy..and their feeding isn't bad either..

p15camborne · « **Reply #19 on:** June 03, 2007, 05:16:53 PM »

My Remington 597 was reliable and accurate. I hardly think it was one out of a million. I only cleaned it once when I first got it. I used automotive brake cleaner. I think that helped. I believe people can clean semi-auto rimfires too much. They might mess up how the bolt slides on the guide rods. Might use too much lubrication. Lube collects dirt. Read Rimfire Central, one of their secrets to 597 success is loose guide rods with no lube. I never adjusted and never lubed the guide rods. I shot 60 rounds thru the 597 Saturday morning. Shot fine. Also my 597 was a late 2006 model. Maybe Remington had ironed the bugs out by then. I had the third generation magazine. I understand Remington will replace the old mags for free. But my 597 was ugly. So Saturday afternoon I traded it in on a new in box Winchester 9422. Local gun store still had one. I was looking for a Browning BL-22 to go with my old BLR. Was surprised to find a new 9422. Sighted it in with my Leupold rimfire 2-7 scope today. Fun to shoot. Accurate out of the box. I'm happy to have a pretty .22 with a wood stock. Nice to have a gun that cost more than my scope. Good luck with your 597's. If they aren't right, call Remington and read Rimfire Central.

ironglow · « **Reply #20 on:** June 04, 2007, 04:48:50 PM »

P15;

You will note..I didn't run the Rem 597 down..I only gave positive reviews to Marlin for accuracy and Ruger for their slick magazine and dependable operation. I do not own, nor have i even used a 597..so I would feel uncomfortable running it down.

BTW: that new lever should look sweet in your gun rack !

30-30man · « **Reply #21 on:** June 05, 2007, 05:44:01 AM »

If you are happy with your purchase great! I'm glad you have one that works. I own an old Western Auto pump that everyone says is junk but I love it none the less. I stand by my statements though ...Your gun is the exception. When the oldest Remington repair center in the country says they are junk, somethings wrong. I learned the hard way. I hope yours continues to work as I couldn't get rid of mine fast enough. Guns should work right out of the box without having to take them apart and play gunsmith. I

Charles/NM · « **Reply #22 on:** June 05, 2007, 12:27:24 PM »

After reading all the post above I have one thing to say: Any gunsmith that's worth his salt can make a 597 shoot reliably. The ones I have worked on NEVER jam. If the bolt flops back and forth easily and you use the latest clip it will shoot well.

Zachary · « **Reply #23 on:** June 06, 2007, 07:04:06 AM »

When I was in the market to buy a bolt-action .22LR, it was at a time when the 597 came out. I must say that when I saw ad on the 597 in one of the magazines, I fell in love with it. However, since it was a new model, I had some concerns about it. As a result, I went with a tried and true bolt-action rimfire that has been praised over and over again for its accuracy and reliability - the CZ 452 American. Plus, the CZ was less expensive and, from what I understood at the time, the best value out there.

Well, I must say that the CZ 452 American is one of the finest rimfire bolt-guns that I have ever shot. In fact, I loved it so much, that I bought another!

Now, after I have seen so many different people complain about their problems with the 597, although it is a beautiful gun, I am glad that I didn't buy it.

Also, as for the post about buying Remington so that you are buying American, well....it seems that Remington is now owned by a foreign corporation. Which one I forget, but, in any event, it doesn't seem to hold true anymore that buying Remington means buying US. Perhaps that's why Remington is manufacturing so many guns oversees now.

Zachary

NONYA · « **Reply #24 on:** June 06, 2007, 07:27:18 AM »

Bought one,returned it,non stop problems from shot #1,by far the biggest piece of crap ever to receive the Rem logo,I wouldnt take one if you were giving it away.BTW my new Rem Genesis ML with a spanish barrel is the most accurate and well designed ML i have ever laid eyes on,the rotating block design is awesome,no tools needed to cap or uncap,it shoots more accurately than either my CVA or Knight did.

30-30man · « **Reply #25 on:** June 06, 2007, 09:12:50 AM »

A turd is a turd no matter where it came from...Even a blind man can smell one.....The 597 stinks no matter how many bottles of perfume you throw on it or air fresheners you hang off of it. In the end, it will still be a turd.

p15camborne · « **Reply #26 on:** June 06, 2007, 09:29:05 AM »

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170722

Nopal · « **Reply #27 on:** June 06, 2007, 02:01:20 PM »

I know you are all very knowledgeable about other firearms, but when it comes to the 597 you guys really need to drop by rimfirecentral.com's Remington forum and learn a thing or two about the 597.

Some of the posts here read like folk trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it !! You are doing the exact opposite of what the 597 needs and then you complaint that it doesn't work !

Most jams on the 597 are caused by very tight guide rod screws and/or gummed up extractors, plus too much lube.

For starters, the 597's action, by design, has very little friction and so it likes very little lubrication. A drop of oil on each guide bolt, or better yet, dry lube, and perhaps some lube on the trigger linkage components are all that's needed. Don't use grease on the guide rods, or slather them in oil, and please don't clean the action with WD-40 ! Excess lubricant tends to collect powder residue, and that increases friction rather than reduce it. Don't lube the magazines, either.

The bolt-face, in particular, should be kept lube-free, especially around the extractor because lube will collect crud and gum up the extractor. When I bought my 597 a few years back I ordered a VQ exact-edge extractor because I heard the 597 may have extraction problems. Several thousand rounds later, I can count the number of jams that I've had with my fingers, and still have fingers left. The VQ extractor has been completely uncessary and it's still collecting dust in it's original package. The factory extractor is more than adequate to fling empties with authority as long as you don't crud it up with lube.

The guide rods, strong as they are, can still bend under pressure. Though the bend is so slight that it's impossible to see with the naked eye, these bent rods can cause the bolt to seize or work slugishly. Back up the guide rod screws until they barely touch the rods and ignore the manual's torque recommendations.

My 597 was built early 2003. It has digested several thousand rounds of all kinds of ammo very reliably (subsonics, HV, hyper-velocity, etc), and on a typical range session I put about a brick's worth of ammo through it without a hiccup. It shoots very small, ragged groups, too.

The 597's design is very sound and reliable, but it's also a substantially different design that that of traditional blow-back autoloaders. It just has to be maintained differently than traditional autoloaders, too.

NONYA · « **Reply #28 on:** June 06, 2007, 02:57:11 PM »

I wouldnt buy another even i you convinced me the probs were fixed,why when u can get a brand sew 10/22 cheaper?

30-30man · « **Reply #29 on:** June 06, 2007, 03:52:00 PM »

I never said you couldn't put enough money into a 597 to get it to work but why would you? Who wants to put $200 worth of parts in a $100 rifle just to get it to function? I'd rather pay $300 and it work. I couldn't get rid of mine fast enough and I tried all the fixes and read everything at rimfirecentral. What finally convinced me was a man whom I trust and has been a gunsmith for longer than most of us have been alive, showed me in detail why the 597 is garbage. The mags are potmetal and the follower hangs up on burrs that come from the factory that way. He tore a brand new mag from the package and showed me. Also the ejector is too short and ground (I should say stamped) at the wrong angle. The guide rod thing is not really that big a deal if the screws are not tight to the point of bending the rods. I guess my biggest gripe with the 597 is that Remington could fix it with hardly any effort. All they need to do is recut the die that punches out the ejectors and make the mags out of steel. This would cost them very little on the manufactoring end but instead they continue to peddle a broken rifle right out of the box because it's cheaper to get you the consumer to fix it and from the sounds of it, you did.