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Ammunition Rifles

Remington 597 Rifles and .17 HMR Ammunition Recall

remington_logoRemington Arms Co. has announced a major rifle recall, and a serious warning on .17 HMR ammunition.  Remington is immediately recalling all of the Model 597 rifles chambered for the .17 HMR.  Remington is not offering any repairs, rather they are issuing coupons of $200-250 for a replacement Remington rifle and refunding the shipping costs of sending the rifle back.

Additionally, Remington announced that their .17 HMR ammunition is not to be used in semi-auto firearms.  Stating that the use of Remington .17 HMR ammunition in a semi-auto firearm “…could result in property damage or serious personal injury.”  People wanting to return the ammo will be issued $10 coupons for each box of 50 they return.

Remington specifically states about the ammo:

The use of this ammunition in a semi-automatic firearm could result in property damage or serious personal injury.

Yikes.  The whole thing is a bit of  a black eye for Remington.  Any time you have to recall a product, you will generate bad press and probably lose a few customers.  That is unfortunate.  Remington is known to make quality firearms and ammunition.  My experiences with the brand has always been very positive.

However, a recall without any repair is an even bigger problem.  What this suggests is a design defect rather than a single part problem.  What that defect may be, well, we may never know the specifics.  I’m guessing it is something pretty serious, and something that is cost-prohibitive to fix.  Not only does the company have to refund up to $250 per rifle, but there are customer loyalty issues to consider.  If the company is willing to lose a few miffed customers, then I suspect the cost of designing and implementing a fix must have been very steep indeed.

Recalls on Remington products are relatively few, especially when compared to the sheer number of products they produce in the sporting, military and ammunition verticals.  The company makes a lot of things, and a recall now and again is to be expected.  Don’t judge them too harshly.

By Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson is a gun writer, amateur historian and - most importantly - a dad. He's done a lot of silly things in his life, but quitting police work to follow his passion of writing about guns was one of the smartest things he ever did. He founded this site and continues to manage its operation.

13 replies on “Remington 597 Rifles and .17 HMR Ammunition Recall”

Dear Remington

what is the exact nature of the danger in using my remington 597 lshb in 17 hmr? I shoot this rifle regularly and have volquartsen extractor and hammer for improved trigger action. have shot more than 2000 rounds through this rifle. your recall price is rediculous low and I want to know why and the specifics of what accidents or incidents have occured to generate this recall. you can reach me at my e-mail or my phone is 970-XXX-XXXX. Sincerely

Dan Stucker

Hi Dan,

Thanks for stopping by. As I’m sure you realize, this is not a Remington web site, and I doubt if any of the Remington customer reps will see your message here. I edited out your phone # for your privacy. You might want to go to their site and e-mail or call them directly.

Richard

By Post Author

Dan,

My son was shooting his 597 and a round ‘exploded’ in the chamber last year. It was so bad that the magazine was blown apart and the receiver was damaged. If he had not been wearing eye protection I am sure he would have lost his eye. He received a cut on his check and some burns on his face. Before someone says we did something wrong or the gun was dirty, just know he is 17 and has been hunting with me since he was 2 years old. I should have said something sooner about this as it happened months ago and I am just now getting around to doing something about it. I too think the $200.00 is low and not all of our ammo is in boxes, but at this point I was ready to throw it away. We need to get the word out better as I had not heard anything about it. Please pass this on to anyone that has one of these guns. I hate to loose it as we too shoot a lot and this was a great shooting gun.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

I to have had my .17 explode on me. The round did not feed completely into chamber before firing. It blew up the clip, cracked the receiver and the stock.This rifle was clean and well oiled. I have owned many other models of Remingtons but this rifle is not safe to shoot!

my 17 hmr model 597 mag. exploded on me this past sunday. It appears as though the shell was not fully engaged in the chamber when fired. The shell(CCI) tore thru the back and split in front. The clip completely
blew apart. My hand was burned and my ear still echoes.
I love the gun and it is hard for me to return for a $200 coupon. What to replace it with?

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