Which Remington 597 for my 1st .22

[fnhooked]

I haven’t shot a rifle in years (last one was a M-16) ‘cuz I’ve been having too much fun with my 9mm and IDPA. I can see a hole starting to form in my wallet so to hopefully save a little money and still feed my addiction, I’ve decided on the Remington 597 for my 1st .22 rifle based on price, accuracy, easy to field strip to clean, last-shot “hold open” magazine, etc but still have some questions.

I’m planning on doing mostly range/target shooting with the possibility of competition later but, honestly, any rifle I get will shoot more accurate than me. I will need an inexpensive scope that is good for up to 100 yards or so and I’m really considering getting the ProMag Archangel Remington 597 Stock Tactical Mag Release 6 Position Stock kit just ‘cuz it looks cool.

http://www.promagindustries.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=AA556R

I’m looking at 3 different options in rifles:

1) Remington Model 597 Semi Automatic Rifle .22 Long Rifle 20" Barrel (model 6550) with Gray Synthetic Stock with adjustable front and rear iron sights, about $190.

2) Remington Model 597 Semi Automatic Rifle .22 Long Rifle 20" Barrel (model 6513) Gray Synthetic Stock Matte Finish Includes Scope 3-9x32mm and Mounts but no iron sights for about $35 more, about $225.

3) Remington Model 597 Semi Automatic AAC-SD Rifle .22 Long Rifle 16.5" Threaded Barrel (model 80910) Black Synthetic Stock Matte Finish without iron sights or scope for about the same price as the model 6513, about $225 plus scope.

From what I can tell, there isn’t much differences between #1 and #2 and the iron sights and scope so is the scope from Remington on #2 above decent enough for 100 yds max or should I get a different scope? If so, any thoughts, suggestions?

What are the pros & cons of going with #3 over #1 or #2? I know shorter threaded barrel but how will that effect accuracy, if at all. Also threaded barrel allows for suppressor … any advantage?

I would love to buy both but on the low end, I’m looking at a minimum of about $250 without the Archangle, $350 with it.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Twitch2120]

Re: Which Remington 597 for my 1st .22

the 22lr doesnt gain much past 16" of bbl. infact you will see velocity loss out of 20". my little brother has option 2. the scope is ok, made by bushnell. he dropped it at the range a few months back and it cracked one of the lenses. bushnell sent us a new one free of charge. i would go with option 3 then put better glass on it. atleast something with AO or sidefocus and more magnification.

 

[dinkydonuts]

Re: Which Remington 597 for my 1st .22

Definitely go with the AAC-SD option if you can. They now also sell heavy barrel versions of the 597 which would be a great platform to build a semi auto precision 22.

FWIW, my 597 from 5 years ago has run through thousands of rounds and I can still squeeze out <1 MOA @ 100 yards with Wolf Match Target. Stock barrel, stock action. Can you claim the same for a 10/22?

You should invest in getting a Volquartsen Target Hammer as well as the Volquartsen Extractor immediately. The target hammer should make the trigger pull more crisp, and the extractor will make it nearly 100% reliable over the factory mushy metal extractor. I also put a different stock on mine since the factory one is just plain ugly.

 

[fnhooked]

Re: Which Remington 597 for my 1st .22

Dinkydonuts … nice setup! And I appreciate the points you both made about getting the AAC-SD over the basic but I have a tendency to jump into things to quickly and I want to make sure this is what I want. I almost got a 10/22 before I ran across the 597; pros and cons for both, I guess, but I wanted something I could enjoy out of the box and then upgrade if and when I wanted and that’s what I think the 597 will allow me to do. Plus, I just ran across a basic 597 for $165 delivered making the difference between the basic and the AAC-SD about $60. So, I could end up with the basic 597 + Volquartsen Target Hammer $40 + Volquartsen Extractor $19 for roughly the same price as the AAC-SD but better. I could live with that but probably won’t stop there.

I need a couple of mags, at least, that will hold open on the last shot and not jam and a minimal case that will protect the rifle sufficiently.

Then I can get a scope and bipod, probably the bipod first (UTG) for $20-$25 and a decent scope. A couple I’ve looked at were Tasco 3-9x50mm World Class Riflescope (good optics, warranty and eye relief) or Barska Huntmaster 3-9X50. What kind do you have?

After I get done with that, then the Archangel kit, maybe. That’s kind of where I’m at now. Who knows about tomorrow.

Thanks again for the input. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to share.

 

[azwolf1500]

Re: Which Remington 597 for my 1st .22

The 597 I built is shooting sub MOA with CC mini mags. It has a Jarvis 20" barrel and is nice to shoot. The problem I ran in to was stock options. However I build guns once in awhile on my 07FFL license so i just modified the original stock to look like a McMillan A-5 and painted it like any of the large rifle I used in the precision rifle classes I teach. I'm new to the forum so I can't figure out the posting pictures garbage.