We just took our new Remington 597 Heavy Barrel with the scope option to the range for the first time.
First impressions were very positive.
The weapon feels solid and we fired roughly 300 rounds without any major issues. I have some cheap federal .22 ammo so I’m not really surprised that it fails to cycle every once in a while.
I started by sighting the weapon in, which went very well. Even just standing and firing on a blank section of plywood you can see how well it grouped and how dialing it in brought it right to where I wanted it. I’m standing and shooting here, so forgive the fact that its not perfect. It was our first day out with the rifle and my son just wanted to hit some targets.
The only negative I found was that when I did the post buy tear down and cleaning I realized that it is a bit of a pain to get the two bolt guide rails and springs back in place. You have to kind of work the spring on and then slide the bolt forward. It sounds easy, but it hurt my fingers. The good news is that you only have to do that full tear down after every time you go shooting. Most of what I’ve read says every two or three thousand rounds. Having said that, the type of ammo and how clean it is, as well as the environment your shooting in can change that drastically. Always make sure your weapon is in good working order before you shoot.