Remington 597 - The Firearms Forum

Titech · 10-28-2009, 02:09 PM

I was just searching for a part for my remington 597 17 hmr. I noticed on the Remington website that these guns are being recalled. My question is does anyone know why? They say it is unsave to use. They are only offering $200.00 remington coupon for my gun. Sounds like crap to me. I think I paid a lot more than that.

Helix_FR · 10-28-2009, 04:07 PM

It was a problem with breech pressures and the 17HMR ammo in that particular gun. A slight out of battery fired round can blow the case head off. Its a real problem.
Here is a link to the past thread on it
http://thefirearmsforum.com/showthre...mington+recall

LDBennett · 10-29-2009, 07:47 AM

While some in the past have thought of the 17 cal pair of 17HMR and 17HM2 as the best new rimfires to come along, there have been lots of problems with them and guns made for them. When the cartridge was designed, a fast pressure rise powder had to be used to get significantly better performance than 22 Mag and 22 LR.

The bolt guns have little problem if head spaced correctly but the semi-auto's have had significant problems. It seems most of the ones on the market that manufacturers and home gunsmiths attempted to convert to 17 caliber (among them the 10/22) resisted modification. It took more than a barrel change. It took real engineering to get the recoil spring rate correct, and the mass of the bolt correct (since those two things provide the delay in opening required to allow the pressure to subside before opening the bolt even a little). If anything goes wrong in the cycle, like the bolt fails to completely close, the high pressures blow out the side of the case or at least bubbles it significantly. The home converted 10/22 was the worst offender due to poorly designed conversion "kits", poor home gunsmithing usually lacking adequate gunsmithing knowledge, and the general crudeness of the Ruger design that was, by the way, totally adequate for the lower slower pressures of the 22LR. What was need was a totally redesigned gun made adequate to the job. But gun manufacturers apparently never felt the market was there and only did minimal efforts or none at all. It is not an easy design task if you have to live in a somewhat crude and inexpensive existing design.

I have a CZ452 varmint bolt gun in 17HM2. The gun is no disappointment but actually one of the best rimfire bolt guns available in its price range. But the performance of the cartridge is not that much better than the classic 22 LR. The ammo is expensive compared to 22 LR and only ammo my gun liked was the Eley 17HM2. Group sizes with it were half the size of Hornady or CCI 17HM2 ammo.

The point is, the 17 caliber rim fire cartridge may be a godsend to some (namely hunters) but to those of use that just plink, it is a bust. That is, of course, only my opinion and yours may differ.

LDBennett

UncleFudd · 10-30-2009, 06:40 AM

LD;
Excellent reply and I appreciate your input on these guns/calibers.
I have not found the need or reason to switch to one of these calibers in spite of the hype and marketing.

I have shot prairie dogs in Wy with two fellows both shooting one of these and in the wind up there which is always prevalent, the rounds were for the most part worthless even at 100 yards.
The cost of the ammo pitted with the inaccuracy of either round has kept me from spending my money just to have one or both. I just go on using the 22 LR for the dogs under 100 yards and either my 222 Rem mag or 223 or 22-250 for the ones beyond 200 and more and even the 22-250 is not as expensive as the 17s.
I also load for all of my 22s which as everyone nows is the only way to afford shooting at all any more and now getting the components is becoming a challenge.
Primers being the bug in the ointment right now.
But back to my point which is in my own humble opinion, the 17s are in fact, truly a bust and I can see no practical matter for having one of them now especially after shooting theirs and one other and seeing the dismal results of their shooting or attempts to shoot accurately at any distance when a little wind is present.
But then who needs a practical reason to buy or own another gun!

UF

10-28-2009, 02:09 PM	#1
Titech Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1	Remington 597 I was just searching for a part for my remington 597 17 hmr. I noticed on the Remington website that these guns are being recalled. My question is does anyone know why? They say it is unsave to use. They are only offering $200.00 remington coupon for my gun. Sounds like crap to me. I think I paid a lot more than that. -->

10-28-2009, 04:07 PM	#2
Helix_FR TFF Moderator/Host Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Imperial, MO Posts: 3,625	Re: Remington 597 It was a problem with breech pressures and the 17HMR ammo in that particular gun. A slight out of battery fired round can blow the case head off. Its a real problem. Here is a link to the past thread on it http://thefirearmsforum.com/showthre...mington+recall Last edited by Helix_FR; 10-28-2009 at 04:12 PM..

10-29-2009, 07:47 AM	#3
LDBennett Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hesperia, CA Posts: 5,714	Re: Remington 597 While some in the past have thought of the 17 cal pair of 17HMR and 17HM2 as the best new rimfires to come along, there have been lots of problems with them and guns made for them. When the cartridge was designed, a fast pressure rise powder had to be used to get significantly better performance than 22 Mag and 22 LR. The bolt guns have little problem if head spaced correctly but the semi-auto's have had significant problems. It seems most of the ones on the market that manufacturers and home gunsmiths attempted to convert to 17 caliber (among them the 10/22) resisted modification. It took more than a barrel change. It took real engineering to get the recoil spring rate correct, and the mass of the bolt correct (since those two things provide the delay in opening required to allow the pressure to subside before opening the bolt even a little). If anything goes wrong in the cycle, like the bolt fails to completely close, the high pressures blow out the side of the case or at least bubbles it significantly. The home converted 10/22 was the worst offender due to poorly designed conversion "kits", poor home gunsmithing usually lacking adequate gunsmithing knowledge, and the general crudeness of the Ruger design that was, by the way, totally adequate for the lower slower pressures of the 22LR. What was need was a totally redesigned gun made adequate to the job. But gun manufacturers apparently never felt the market was there and only did minimal efforts or none at all. It is not an easy design task if you have to live in a somewhat crude and inexpensive existing design. I have a CZ452 varmint bolt gun in 17HM2. The gun is no disappointment but actually one of the best rimfire bolt guns available in its price range. But the performance of the cartridge is not that much better than the classic 22 LR. The ammo is expensive compared to 22 LR and only ammo my gun liked was the Eley 17HM2. Group sizes with it were half the size of Hornady or CCI 17HM2 ammo. The point is, the 17 caliber rim fire cartridge may be a godsend to some (namely hunters) but to those of use that just plink, it is a bust. That is, of course, only my opinion and yours may differ. LDBennett

10-30-2009, 06:40 AM	#4
UncleFudd Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Phoenix, Az Contributor Posts: 549	Re: Remington 597 LD; Excellent reply and I appreciate your input on these guns/calibers. I have not found the need or reason to switch to one of these calibers in spite of the hype and marketing. I have shot prairie dogs in Wy with two fellows both shooting one of these and in the wind up there which is always prevalent, the rounds were for the most part worthless even at 100 yards. The cost of the ammo pitted with the inaccuracy of either round has kept me from spending my money just to have one or both. I just go on using the 22 LR for the dogs under 100 yards and either my 222 Rem mag or 223 or 22-250 for the ones beyond 200 and more and even the 22-250 is not as expensive as the 17s. I also load for all of my 22s which as everyone nows is the only way to afford shooting at all any more and now getting the components is becoming a challenge. Primers being the bug in the ointment right now. But back to my point which is in my own humble opinion, the 17s are in fact, truly a bust and I can see no practical matter for having one of them now especially after shooting theirs and one other and seeing the dismal results of their shooting or attempts to shoot accurately at any distance when a little wind is present. But then who needs a practical reason to buy or own another gun! UF