Remington Model 597 17 HMR

[dcannon003]

Can i get some feedback on this firearm and what knowledgeable owners think of this rifle ?

[CamW]

I bought one with the heavy barrel and laminated stock. It will shoot 1" groups at 100 yards if its not too windy. The ammo mine preferred is the Remington 17 grain. I've never had a casing blow out on me.

I'm using the magazines with the aluminum bodies, they hold 8 rounds. Some of my mags feed more reliably if I put only 7 rounds in them.

The factory trigger is OK, I put in a Volquartsen hammer and that helped a lot. I've never tried to polish the trigger parts to lighten the pull weight.

I changed the stock to the Boyd's Tacticool, it's a big improvement over the factory stock. The reach on the trigger and the height of the comb is much better.

The scope I'm using is the Burris Fullfield II 4.5x14 with Ballistic Plex.

I'm very happy with the rifle, the ammo is a bit expensive for plinking, but the it's great for ground squirrel hunting when you're walking around.

Here's a pic of my rifle.

[dcannon003]

I kno the Remington 597 in 17 HMR had some problems with the chamber fracturing and i thought they had all been recalled and then the rifle discontinued.. ive looked everywhere for a semi auto 17 HMR that wouldn't break the bank. (recently purchased a CZ 455 17 HMR wth heavy barrel, ive had a Savage 93 in 17 HMR for 6 or 7 years)..a vendor at a So. Cal. gun show has one in excellent condition that he said he would hold for me and honestly im kinda wondering if Remington finds out i have one, will they make me turn it over ?

[Izzy43]

I kno the Remington 597 in 17 HMR had some problems with the chamber fracturing and i thought they had all been recalled and then the rifle discontinued.. ive looked everywhere for a semi auto 17 HMR that wouldn't break the bank. (recently purchased a CZ 455 17 HMR wth heavy barrel, ive had a Savage 93 in 17 HMR for 6 or 7 years)..a vendor at a So. Cal. gun show has one in excellent condition that he said he would hold for me and honestly im kinda wondering if Remington finds out i have one, will they make me turn it over ?

They can't force you to turn it in but if it blows up then that's on you. All .17hmr semi-autos have been problematic. Most were replaced with .22WMR by the manufacturer via recall (voluntary).

[asphaltcowboychip]

I was actually shooting my pops Remington .17 Remington semi, when it blew up. The bolt blew, and charging handle went flying and it felt like someone had socked me. Somehow the scope was broke as a result as well. In looking at the brass that was fired, there were fractures in the neck where the bullet was seated. My father asked to get it repaired,but they (remington) related it was a recalled item and offered him pennies on the dollar of what he paid to return the entire rifle. He ended up getting a ruger heavy barrel bolt, put a leupold on it and it was the most deadly squirrel/coyote gun imaginable.

[dg29]

I was actually shooting my pops Remington .17 Remington semi, when it blew up. The bolt blew, and charging handle went flying and it felt like someone had socked me. Somehow the scope was broke as a result as well. In looking at the brass that was fired, there were fractures in the neck where the bullet was seated. My father asked to get it repaired,but they (remington) related it was a recalled item and offered him pennies on the dollar of what he paid to return the entire rifle. He ended up getting a ruger heavy barrel bolt, put a leupold on it and it was the most deadly squirrel/coyote gun imaginable.

Yep, they offer something like $150 to $200 in a certificate that you can use to purchase another rifle, or product, in their line-up. If I were the OP I'd pass on it.

[G21Shooter]

The problem with those guns is Remington tried to make basically a action designed for the .22 lr work with the .17 HMR, which resulted in a unsafe rifle.

[dcannon003]

im glad i dont have hide it or pretend i didnt buy it yet (i did) lol.. i haven't shot it yet..picked it up on the 10th..been super busy cranking out AR15 parts on our CNC.. planning a trip to central Calif to do some plinkin on ground squirrels on my day off next week.. my girlfriend is very excited to go.. got lots of lead free ammo..hoping for a sunny day

[G21Shooter]

Wear good eye protection and keep the chamber clean and bolt well lubed... Good luck.

[k1dude]

All .17hmr semi-autos have been problematic.

Not true. Volquartsen and Alexander Arms have been making .17 HMR semi-autos for years without any problems. Both have outstanding reliability and safety records.

The whole .17 HMR is unsafe in semi-autos was started by Remington to cover for their engineering screw up. Instead of taking the blame for screwing up massively, they blamed the cartridge.

[G21Shooter]

Not true. Volquartsen and Alexander Arms have been making .17 HMR semi-autos for years without any problems. Both have outstanding reliability and safety records.

The whole .17 HMR is unsafe in semi-autos was started by Remington to cover for their engineering screw up. Instead of taking the blame for screwing up massively, they blamed the cartridge.

Yeah Alexander Arms and Volquartsen are the only safe/reliable .17 HMR semi autos on the market. Both are expensive and hard to get, and can still have case blowouts if the chamber is not kept clean.

[k1dude]

Yeah Alexander Arms and Volquartsen are the only safe/reliable .17 HMR semi autos on the market. Both are expensive and hard to get, and can still have case blowouts if the chamber is not kept clean.

Some problems have been mistakenly attributed to keeping the chamber clean. That would be an out-of-battery detonation, which isn't possible with the actions we're talking about. Nonetheless, a clean rifle isn't a bad practice. Some previous problems had to do with timing. If the bolt was too light and/or not sprung properly, the shell would be in the process of being extracted too early - resulting in a blown casing. Remington's cure was to use a heavier bolt to slow it down by adding tungsten - which is brittle. So their bolts began to blow apart. They then blamed the cartridge rather than admitting they were idiots adding a brittle material to the bolt. It worked fine under the lower pressures of the .22 WMR, but not the higher pressures of the .17 HMR.

Proof of the problem being Remington's: After they blamed the cartridge, they recalled their rifles rather than the cartridges being recalled.

Ammo manufacturers have also beefed up the case/rim and created more consistent pressures with the .17 HMR as a precaution. So if you're using ammo made in the last couple years, you shouldn't have a problem.

Keep in mind there are very few problems with current semi-auto .17 HMR's. You just hear about the tiny minority of problems because of the efficiency of the internet. There are lots of people with over 20,000 rounds down the pipe with nary a problem.

[dcannon003]

i have a trigger job done on every hunting rifle i own.. does anybody make a good aftermarket trigger for the Rem 597 ?.. i have Giessele triggers in all my AR 308 deer rifles... should i try Volquartsen to lighten up the trigger pull on this Rem 597 17 HMR ?

[CamW]

Here's some videos for working on your 597.

https://www.youtube.com/user/docv73/videos?query=Remington+597

Rimfire Central has a Remington 597 forum and a .17 HMR forum.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=218

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

[G21Shooter]

Some problems have been mistakenly attributed to keeping the chamber clean. That would be an out-of-battery detonation, which isn't possible with the actions we're talking about. Nonetheless, a clean rifle isn't a bad practice. Some previous problems had to do with timing. If the bolt was too light and/or not sprung properly, the shell would be in the process of being extracted too early - resulting in a blown casing. Remington's cure was to use a heavier bolt to slow it down by adding tungsten - which is brittle. So their bolts began to blow apart. They then blamed the cartridge rather than admitting they were idiots adding a brittle material to the bolt. It worked fine under the lower pressures of the .22 WMR, but not the higher pressures of the .17 HMR.

Proof of the problem being Remington's: After they blamed the cartridge, they recalled their rifles rather than the cartridges being recalled.

Ammo manufacturers have also beefed up the case/rim and created more consistent pressures with the .17 HMR as a precaution. So if you're using ammo made in the last couple years, you shouldn't have a problem.

Keep in mind there are very few problems with current semi-auto .17 HMR's. You just hear about the tiny minority of problems because of the efficiency of the internet. There are lots of people with over 20,000 rounds down the pipe with nary a problem.

Good to know. Its a mystery to me why Ruger can't get their act together and get the design right on a 10/22 in 17 hmr and a 22 mag for that matter.