Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Remington 597 22 Mag

I ordered a 597 magnum for my father for father's day. He has a groundhog problem and found his Nylon 66 22LR lacking since he is getting up in age and can't see the sights. A scope on that sheetmetal receiver cover is useless.

Well, my brother has a 597 22 mag that has a nice Leupold on it. He's had zero issues to date with it. He loaned it to my Dad and has not been able to pry it back from him. So we decided to buy Dad his own.

The rifle arrived at my FFL last week. I took it to the range Saturday to sight in the scope. The rifle was immediately jamming, not cycling, but it seemed to get better as I shot. I was just about done sighting in and was confirming zero at 75 yards when I had a problem. It seems as though the extractor failed, leaving a fired case in the chamber. Somehow, the gun was able to feed a second round into the chamber and when fired, the magazine blew out the bottom of the gun. I found the floor plate, pot metal body, follower and spring scattered on the ground. The bolt was missing the operating handle and extractor. I found the operating handle.

Luckily, I was wearing safety glasses, as the side of my face was peppered with debris.

I called Remington today. They are sending a return label. The lady on the phone suggested I call CCI (the ammo I was using) as well. I am waiting a return call back from a CCI "technical assistant".

I'm interested in what Remington and CCI have to say. To me, it seems the problem was a failed extractor.