Remington 597

[ruger22com]

I will be snapping some photos this weekend of installing some parts on a new remington 597 (VQ hammer and extractor etc.)
Being new to this rifle myself, anybody got any accuracy tips?
Bob

[grandparem]

Welcome ruger.....

One thing most people have found with a 597 is that the standard model shoots as good as the HB models. What model is your's?
Just be sure you don't tighten the stock screws too tight and that the barrel is still floating. If you tighten the screws too much, it may be touching somewhere. Out of the box, most will shoot as good as a 10/22 that has had a lot of work done to it. There are of course exceptions to everything.... 10/22s that shoot good out of the box and 597s that don't, but generally they shoot good.

Things to check.... the guide rod screws are the first thing... back them off, then screw them back in until they either just barely touch or just barely don't touch.... don't tighten to 10 -12 in/lbs. like the book says.
Be sure you have the latest so called "3rd generation" magazines or you might have FTF problems with more than 6 or 7 rounds... because it might have just came from the store doesn't always mean it is a new production rifle... it may have been warehoused somewhere.
The hammer and extractor change is a good thing, but I have the Vq hammer and it only dropped it to 3 lbs. 6 oz.. I saw no change in accuracy. I have a 3-9X 3200 Elite on it, parallax reset to 50 yds. and generally shoot it at 6 1/2X for Hunter/Sporter. It will consistantly shoot 3/4" @ 50 yds. with no mods except the hammer. This isn't exceptional accuracy, but most basic model 10/22s won't do that out of the box.... most 597s will.
Keep the bolt/receiver/magazine dry of oily/greasy lubricants.
If you use the Weaver rail mount, be careful to not overtighten the screws in the top of the receiver, and be sure to Loctite the screws.

I realize these things are not the "accuracy things" you're looking for, but unless you want to make it a tack driver bench rifle.... Shilen or Lilja barrel, restock, etc., there isn't a lot needs to be done to them. Brian Voelker in Iowa has built a few that are like that, but that is really the next step in the accuracy department for a 597.

[ruger22com]

Thanks. Actually it is a "very lightly used" 597 I got off gunbroker for a c-note. Synthetic stock and looks brand new. I helped a guy at the range pop a VQ trigger in his and decided to buy one, and toss a site up with help photos on the net as soon as I figure out what will help this thing (I couldn't believe the domain remington597.com was still available!).
I have not even popped the takedown bolts yet, but did notice it has the new style magazine (10 with a circle around it) so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it won't have jamming/feed problems the older ones had. I grabbed a brick of remington hollow and will give her a workout this weekend.
I love the smell of a new gun in the morning!
Bob ;D

[Big G]

On my 597 magnum the top of the bolt was real rough(casting) and also inside top of reciever had overspray left from the finish being applied.I polished both and the gun was a lot smoother.It felt like it had sand in it before I did the polish work.The top of the bolt was so rough that it actually left some gouges in the reciver.The rifle was always 100 reliable, never one hickup.

[9x19]

A couple years back I bought a used 597 stainless in .22LR, and brought it home to try. I was pleasantly surprised to find it shot well, and had no feeding or extraction issues, but the trigger needed a bit of help.

I ordered a VQ hammer from Brownells, and mounted a low powered variable after I installed the hammer and, as expected, the trigger was greatly improved!

I sighted in the .22 and found it really liked the Federal Bulk pack ammo, giving nice tight groups without flyers.

The .17 was a bit tricky. The first shot after I had installed the hammer, the trigger would not reset. Odd, because I had dry-fire tested it several times after installing the hammer. So, back inside to take the action out, and the little coil spring was off it's bottom pin, how it happened remains a mystery. After putting it back, I had no more problems thru 50 rounds.

I'm happy to say the .17 proved to be every bit as accurate as my Ruger 10/17, and came with a better fitting (to me) stock to boot. I had no extraction or ejection problems with either rifle, and fired cases all showed good solid firing pin strikes, and no swelling in the .17s.

My 597s in .22LR and .17HMR performed so well, I went looking for a good deal on a .22 mag to complete the "set". This one I bought is the standard model, matte sporter weight barrel in a synthetic stock, which is actually my preference. So, I ordered another Volquartsen hammer from Brownells.

While waiting for the hammer to come in I found the time to to take it out back and verify functioning... NO problems feeding, firing, or ejecting... even with the plastic magazine that accompanied the rifle. I’ve since installed the VQ hammer and mounted a Simmons Pro Hunter 1.5x-5x 32mm scope.

I am quite pleased... for now, to go with my, more than a few, 10/22s, I have three Remingtons: the 597 in .22LR, and two 597M, chambered in .17HMR and .22WMR.

Overall, I think the Remington has a better stock, the Ruger a better magazine, each is equal in terms of sights/scope mounts (although with the Ruger, you get free mounts, sometimes they are not well executed).

The Ruger has a few more aftermarket options, but the Remingtons offer more factory options (different contour barrels, different stocks, blued vs stainless).

Out of the box, the Remington was a bit more accurate than the Ruger, but both need trigger work to make them right (luckily, Volquartsen offers replacement hammers for both guns that helps a bunch ~ if you're the do-it-yourself type).

[Big G]

The Vq hammer helped mine very little.

[ruger22com]

I plan to have all the details and photos up on remington597.com in the next few days, but here is what I found in my tests in the last few days.
Using a leeman digital scale, I was inpressed with the 597's factory hammer. in 10 pulls it came in at an average of 5 pounds-3oz. (not much considering the lawyer freaked manufacturers these days).
I then installed a volquartsen hammer and it did bring it down to a much better 3pound - 2oz average with very little creep.

I then took it to the range, and found zero jamming problems with non-rapid firing (2 seconds between shots), but with rapid firing it would jam about every 5 shots. I think this may be due to the buffer being way to soft and messing up the cycling rate (though I will applaud remington for using a buffer in the first place!)
Before I slap an extractor in it,
I am going to have some harder polyurethane cast and experiment with this as a replacement buffer, to see if the cycling rate can be improved, and make jam free rapid fire an easy fix.

All in all I was very impressed with this little plinker...using a synthetic stock and factory barrel (with a 4x9 scope) it was punching nice little holes at 50 meters.
Bob

[grandparem]

bigg said:

The Vq hammer helped mine very little.

Only dropped mine from 6# to 3Lbs 6 oz. I understand Jarvis has discontinued their hammer and Jard?? I'm not sure what the heck they are doing. They were supposed to have their's out several months ago. Jard's was to be several parts to replace in the trigger assembly, then later a complete drop in assembly.
I waited long enough for the Jard set-up and by that time could not locate a Jarvis which most people said would drop the pull to between 2 and 2 1/2 lbs.

[ruger22com]

For what its worth, remington597.com now has a photo page that shows step by step how to install a volquartsen hammer, and also the before and after info.
I was really surprised how acceptable the 597's pull was to start with.

[9x19]

Nice... "hammer". ;D

[outlander]

Heres something you can try to make the trigger pull "feel" lighter.
The 597 has a very skinny trigger, all the pressure is on one small spot of your finger making it feel heavier than it is (pretty heavy).
I picked up a paintball gun trigger shoe. It's about 1/2" wide and spreads the pressure out over a larger area of your finger making it feel lighter.
The shoe has a groove in the back that fits over the trigger (after you widen it with a Moto-Dremmel) and tightens with 2 set screws.
It only costs around $8.00 and is worth it.

[grandparem]

I did the same thing with a paintball shoe.... got them off ebay for, I think, $2 for a pair plus another couple bucks shipping.
Look up hobby.pb on eBay.

[grandparem]

ruger22com said:

I was really surprised how acceptable the 597's pull was to start with.

You were just used to a Ruger trigger... Remington people are more particular and probably complain more when we find something we don't like ;D ;D!!

[toopointer]

I did the trigger shoe also, plus I put an allenscrew threw the trigger guard from behind the trigger so the trigger hit it after firing, and you have no after creep.
too

[Gun Smith]

Great job on the 597 hammer install instructions ruger22com! Joe