can the 597 be competive in silhouette c

[sillywet]

Does it need a custom barrel or special bedding any info would help. Do remmington blue barrels shoot any better than their SS barrels.

cheers

Luckyd

[chunter]

I have a 597 as a backup gun to my Anschutz 1710fwt  for sb silhouette.  I have found that after I fixed the trigger and the ejector problem that this gun is a competitive .22.  

My 597  is SS and laminate, I have free floated the barrel, changed the trigger hammer, and fixed the ejector. This rifle will consistently shoot 5 shot .5 in groups at 50 yards and will keep 5 shot groups under 1 inch at 100 yards.  

I have found that this rifle is picky on ammunition. My rifle will not shoot the high velocity ammunition very well.  But, it loves ammo such as RWS target, R50, Wolf MT, Eley, these are lower velocity ammunitions and they shoot well.  However, because these are lower velocity ammo the factory ejector seemed to cause me problems every once in a while, however, it no longer has any ejection problems.

The main flaw that I have seen on my 597 is that the receiver is too soft. I tried mounting Leupold rings and bases and they fell off because the threads pulled out of the mounting holes.  I have been forced to use the machined rails that are built into the receiver.

My 597 sports a 4-16 power Sightron scope, and I have been able to do quite well in matches with this rifle.  

I think it all depends on luck if you can find one that shoots this well.  However, they are a lot of fun to toy with.
Hope this helps.

[gerry@fundy.net]

A member of my gun club has used a 597 at the last 2 .22 shoots and came 2nd both times.  His is a laminated heavy barrel that he bought used so he doesn't know if any fine tuning has been done to it.  It shoots better than most 10/22's I've seen.

[K2]

Should be perfect for  a new Silhouette game I am putting together.  This one will include stock 597's, marlin 60's 10/22's etc in a course using the 3/8ths pistol silhouettes.  Rules would be simple and straight forward and best of all only subject to rules changes every 5 years.  

I love silhouette but can do without the custom guns in a few areas.  If interested let me know what you would be interested in from a brand new silhouette association with joe average in mind  

Does it need a custom barrel or special bedding any info would help. Do remmington blue barrels shoot any better than their SS barrels.

cheers

Luckyd

[ajj]

Assuming the rifle is reasonably accurate, meaning average accuracy with no mechanical problems like a dinged crown, it has ample accuracy for silhouette. Much more important than sheer accuracy is the way the rifle fits you, how comfortable it is to hold and whether the trigger works reasonably well. Until you get well into master class and are so good that you intentionally take edge shots because that's where the sight settled, you don't need super accuracy. The challenge of shooting offhand is vastly more important than the mechanical accuracy of the rifle. This is always a good way to start an argument but it's provable mathmatically. If you're going to work on a gun for silhouette, work on making it fit and on getting a good trigger. Then, if you want to fiddle with bedding or other accuracy mods, no harm will be done but the money is better spent on practice ammo.

[K2]

That is true for pistol silhouette as well.  You don't need a sub 1" grouping gun for a target that is 32 inches nose to tail.   Working on sight alignment and trigger control is where it is at plus spend some time on you shooting position.  

Assuming the rifle is reasonably accurate, meaning average accuracy with no mechanical problems like a dinged crown, it has ample accuracy for silhouette. Much more important than sheer accuracy is the way the rifle fits you, how comfortable it is to hold and whether the trigger works reasonably well. Until you get well into master class and are so good that you intentionally take edge shots because that's where the sight settled, you don't need super accuracy. The challenge of shooting offhand is vastly more important than the mechanical accuracy of the rifle. This is always a good way to start an argument but it's provable mathmatically. If you're going to work on a gun for silhouette, work on making it fit and on getting a good trigger. Then, if you want to fiddle with bedding or other accuracy mods, no harm will be done but the money is better spent on practice ammo.