Here is an important notice for anyone who owns a Remington model 597 rifle chambered in 17 HMR or who shoots Remington 17 HMR ammunition. Remington has learned that safety problems can arise when its 17 HMR ammo is used in semi-autos, including the model 597-17 HMR. Accordingly, Remington is recalling both the ammo and the gun.
The Firearm Blog reports: “Problems with the Model 597 and 17 HMR [are] not uncommon. Gun manufacturers seem to have a very hard time in trying to convert .22 blow-back actions to the more powerful .22 Magnum and … the 17 HMR.” Prompted by safety concerns, Remington has instituted a buy-back program for its model 597 17 HMR rifle. Remington will also provide $10.00 coupons for each box of Rem-brand 17 HMR ammo returned by customers. This ammo must be returned directly to Remington, not to the dealer where it was purchased. Remington’s Safety Recall Notice reads as follows:
| DO NOT USE REMINGTON 17 HMR AMMUNITION IN SEMI-AUTOMATIC FIREARMS.
DO NOT USE THE REMINGTON MODEL 597 HMR SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLE. Remington has been notified by its supplier of 17 HMR ammunition that 17 HMR ammunition is not suitable for use in semi-automatic firearms. The use of this ammunition in a semi-automatic firearm could result in property damage or serious personal injury.
Do not return the ammunition to the dealer. Remington will provide you with a $10.00 coupon for each complete box of 50 rounds of Remington branded 17 HMR ammunition you return to Remington. This coupon will be good for the purchase of any Remington ammunition at your local dealer. In light of the ammunition manufacturer’s notice, it is very important that you immediately stop using your Remington Model 597 17 HMR semi-automatic rifle. If you own a Remington Model 597 17 HMR semi-automatic rifle and wish to return it to Remington please contact the below Remington Consumer Service Number. In return for your Remington Model 597 17 HMR synthetic stock semi-automatic rifle, Remington will provide you a coupon valued at $200.00 good for the purchase of a replacement Remington firearm. If you have a laminate stock Remington Model 597 17 HMR semi-automatic rifle, Remington will provide you a coupon valued at $250.00 good for the purchase of a replacement Remington firearm. Remington will also reimburse you for the actual postage to return your Model 597 17 HMR semi-automatic rifle to Remington. Please allow up to 6 weeks after Remington receives your Model 597 17 HMR semi-automatic rifle or your Remington branded 17 HMR ammunition for the appropriate coupons to arrive. Instructions for redemption of the coupons will be contained on the coupon. For any consumer questions or instructions on how to return of your Model 597 17 HMR semi-automatic rifle or your Remington branded 17 HMR ammunition, please contact the Remington Consumer Service Department at 1-800-243-9700, Prompt #3. |
If you have a semi-automatic firearm chambered for 17 HMR ammunition, immediately discontinue use of Remington 17 HMR ammunition. If you have any Remington 17 HMR ammunition that you wish to return to Remington contact the Remington Consumer Service number below.
At least they have the great good sense to recall these rifles. The fact that they have problems doesn’t surprise me a bit after the experiences I’ve had with newer Remington products. If it’s a design problem, shame on the designers. If it’s a cost-cutting problem that caused a design problem, shame on the bean counters. Maybe the bean counters should count beans and the firearms manufacturers should manufacture firearms, but what do I know…
Comment by onomrbil — August 21, 2009 @ 1 pm
It sure is nice of Rem. to buy back their defective stuff for less than the customer paid for it. NOT
Comment by Boon — August 22, 2009 @ 5 am
I have a Remington 597 in .17HMR. I had a case blow out which blew out the bottom of the magazine. I figured that it was an ammo problem, so I sent the empty case with a blown out rim to Hornady. I never heard back from them.
I shot it again a while latter and it did the same thing, but more so. The plastic base of the magazine was shattered, the extractor was knocked loose, and so was the extractor spring. I decided that this was not an ammo problem and stopped using the rifle.
I contacted the closest Remington repair center and told them that I had a problem with my emington 597 in .17HMR. His immediate reply was “have you blown out the magazine yet?” According to him, there is a known excess headspace problem with the emington 597 in .17HMR. They set the barrel back, re-cut the extractor slot, and replaced the missing and broken parts. All of this was done under warranty.
I fired a half a box of ammo in testing with no problems and no pressure signs (the blown cases had bulged bases). Note that the two previous failures were within a half a box of ammo.
This heavy barrel, laminated stock rifle is beautiful and shoots great. Right now, .17HMR ammo is pricey and hard to find. Only time will tell if it really is fixed.
Comment by Steven Hunter — August 23, 2009 @ 12 pm
I read of this Mod 597 in .17 HMR recall in Shotgun News. Called Rem. at their 1-800 # and found that I did have the gun listed. Was told to give name, address etc. to receive a shipping label. When I asked about the buy-back amount, I was told about the $200.00 amount my gun “was worth”. I told the gentleman I was speaking with that I paid over $300.00 for the gun. He told me that is all they were paying, In fact that is all any gun manufacturer was paying for the recall of any .17 HMR semi auto rifle. He said Remington was going to destroy the rifles. We then got into the discussion about the ammo itself. They wanted that also. The ammo was going to be relabeled with a warning not to be used in a semi-auto rifle. As part of this discussion I was lead to believe that I would be sent a shipping container for the rifle. I gave the man my shipping info and a week later received a small envelope with info and a shipping label only. No container for the rifle. It was then I learned that I was to ship the gun to them, was to wait to hear conformation concerning they got the gun. I could then go and purchase another firearm from Remington. I was to then send them my receipt and they would sent me a check for $200.00. I started to check as to what other .17 HMR rifles Rem. have for sale. I found they had NONE! I called the company and found they did have a model available. It was in their custom shop and cost somewhere in the $1300.00 and up range! So, let me see if I am getting this correct. I lose $100.00 Plus in my original purchase (By the way the gun has never been shot), I have to buy or make a container to ship my gun and then I have to buy another Remington product of which a comparable caliber is an additional $1300.00 plus. Some how some where I get the feeling I am being taken advantage. Does Remington not feel even the least bit responsible for this obvious design flaw? It appeared to me to be a R&D problem, not a cartridge manufacture problem. I find is hard to believe Rem. is handling this whole affair in such a casual way. Not only are the risking their customer base but are looking for a massive lawsuit. One other thing I forgot to mention, I can not find another company that produces a semi-auto in .17HMR. If one is out there I haven’t heard of it and I have not seen any recall notices for this caliber in semi-auto. I called the NRA people and got a guy who said this just doesn’t sound fair. He suggested I write to the CEO of REM. and send a copy to Wayne LaPierrie of NRA. That is next on my schedule. If you own a 597 in .17HMR or are just a Rem customer add you voice to this issue. It may be a firearm of another gauge or caliber that is next on the recall list and this comp. must be made aware they cannot handle this recall in this fashion. They need us more than they we need them! Thanks for hearing me out.
Comment by Dave Herzig — October 21, 2009 @ 11 am
Great idea Dave! How about posting a copy of the email and addresses here so other people can use them also. This will make it easier for more people to contact them on this issue.
Comment by Dan /Sigwarth — October 24, 2009 @ 8 am
A good friend told me about his great experience with this little round for varmints. After reading this postings Remington is out of my short list of candidate rifles. I want a manufacture that backs his product and takes care of value customers. Mike Cruz
Comment by Mike Cruz — October 25, 2009 @ 9 am
I’m not an attorney but I am wondering if there is class action potential here.
Comment by Mike Neary — October 25, 2009 @ 2 pm
I too am the unhappy owner of this Remington rifle as well as a couple of boxes of their ammo. I just received their recall letter which is not very clearly written. Coinsidentally I had the magazine explode on me a few weeks ago and hadn’t had a chance to get it looked at. Fortunately I only received a couple of dings on my forearm. I called Remington after receiving the recall notice to make sure I understood what they meant. The notice starts off sounding like they are blaming the ammo and ends up the gun and all is no good. The “buyback” entitles me to $200 on the rifle and $10 on a complete box of the .17 ammo. Big deal, that gets me about 2/3’s whole on the deal. To make it even better, the money they send is good only towards Remington products! So there you have it, we won’t step up and take care of your current problem and go buy another one of our products and good luck! You can count me in the former fan of Remington club!
Comment by Ed Carson — October 27, 2009 @ 8 am
Great job Remington. You screwed a great number of us. It will haunt you some day in the future.
Comment by Joe M — October 29, 2009 @ 1 pm
This pisses me off I spent more than what they are offoring on buy back and then i have to use the coupon to buy another piece of junk remington firearm.Real nice remington
Comment by mike cooper — November 1, 2009 @ 3 pm
On he 2009 Remington Arms Co. Inc.web site they say they sell a Model Five 17HMR for MSRP $363.00 but not according to there rep.So which is it Rem.
Comment by R.Fletcher — November 2, 2009 @ 2 pm
I was not aware of any recall and took a brand new 597 out of the box that I had bought years ago and never got a chance to shoot. After 8 rounds the Hornaday 17HMR cartridge blew up in the gun and subsequently blew apart the magazine. Saftey glasses were the only thing that saved my eyes as the plastic from the magazine bounced off my table into my face. I checked the Remington website when I got home to see a recall had been issued. It is definatley a flawed gun design and based on my experience NOT a gun you want. This gun was originally intended to go to my 13 years old son but now its going back to Remington. What I would really like is for them to send me a .22 barrel and action in exchange for my .17 597 barrel. At least that way I would still have a gun I could use vs. $250 that wont buy anything….
Comment by Tom D. — November 7, 2009 @ 8 am
The interesting thing about this problem is that Remington could produce a replacement barrel in .22 and make a lot of people happy. It doesn’t seem to be a big job to replace the barrel and the mag should fit. The .17 barrels sold at retail for $99 which would be half what they are giving. Me thinks that there is more to the story than is being told. They are placing the blame on the ammunition manufacturer but they have a responsibility to ensure the product they produce meets a certain standard of safety. Obviously, their design analysis and test routine did not pick up this problem. It seems that a Class Action Suit could be instituted against Remington for design negligence with a good chance of sucess after a long period of time. Has any one contacted the Consumer Protection Authority? I don’t know if they have the power to dictate the solution or amount of money that should be returned. I have yet to see anyone who is happy with the $200 which is a Remington figure. I think I will wait until one of the barrel manufacturers make a .22 and go with an upgrade. Surely, one of them is working on the solution now.
Comment by Tom K — November 9, 2009 @ 8 pm
The really bad part is a complete failure of the government to control any safety recall with a firearm. If its truly a problem, Remington should be pushed by a government entity to recall the product. If you are a gun owner, you are totally on your own. Not the ATF or the CPSC..no help. They might send you to the FTC. They just collect info though. But, hey if you have “floor mats” causing uncontrollable acceleration or you have a stroller that could cut off a toddlers fingers your in luck.
My last remington…period
Comment by Brian — November 12, 2009 @ 1 pm
Having owned a rem 1100 shotgun and loved it ,i purchased a 597 17 hmr semi, loved it too but after the recall ,and customer feedback, the $200 rebate made a savage fan out of me!
Comment by robert van fossen — December 4, 2009 @ 5 pm
I purchased a few junk remington products in the last few years and dealing with remingtons “customer service” is a joke at best. Ill never buy another remington product and convice everyone I know to not buy their overpriced cheap crap either. Much better products out there by manufacturers that stand by their products. Never had a problem with ruger, marlin, or savage. Looks like remington will be going out of business soon enough.
Comment by jamal jackson — December 21, 2009 @ 9 am