Biggest piece of crap ever. Jams every 3rd round (if your lucky), crappy trigger, mine wouldn't stop rusting probably due to the rough cheap Krylon spraypaint metal finish (actually krylon would probably have been an improvement).
The two happiest days I had with my 597 were ont he day I bought it for $120 and on the day I sold it a month later for $80.
Yes I am very biased. I will continue to reccomend against the 597 whether or not Remington ever addressed the problems in the earlier runs of the rifle which were substandard junk that Remington had decided to use the buying public as their QC- if they would have taken 5 minutes to test them in the factory, they would have seen that most of them didn't work. I'll never forgive them, I'll never recommend a 597, and I sure as hell will never buy another.
If you are open to suggestion for other .22's may I suggest the Schultz and Larsen model 70's that are now trickling into gunshops and Gander Mountain Stores. They are a bolt action single shot aperture sighted target rifle, capable of phenomenal accuracy, and can be picked up for as little as $250.
If I'm not mistaken, savage now makes bolt repeater with target apertures for the same price, I've heard nothing but good things about them.
