Today at 6:19pm I purchased my first firearm

[Toothpick]

A Remington 597 .22LR


*Looks just like this, but gotta wait till tomorrow to see a photo in my possession. (24hr hold)

Went in with intentions to purchase a Marlin 795 because I saw they had it on their website for $149.99. But after holding it I decided it felt to small. So I stepped up to a 20" barrel which made a difference. Plus the scope was a bonus.

Also got 100 rounds of ammo for 10 bucks.



I fully had intentions of my first firearm being a handgun. That's all I've been researching lately. But I was just fishing around and noticed the cheap Marlin and thought "149.99?? heck that's way cheaper than the handguns I been looking at". So I just said to myself "do it" and took off. I guess my second firearm will be a handgun

I also had to take the "floor model" because they were out of stock. I was a little hesitant at first, but it's still virtually brand new. Never been fired, just been sitting on display, they have trigger locks on them always unless a customer requests to see it with the lock off.

I'm very excited to bring it home and get familiar with it.

I'm curious is there anything that is an absolute must do with a new firearm?

 

[Lakebound]

Congratulations on your first firearm purchase. Now, if you are not already a member, I would recommend that you consider joining either the NRA or, a State level Firearms Rights Advocacy group. Especially in your State!

As far as what to do with a new firearm:

1. Read the owners manual thoroughly and pay particular attention to all safety rules.
2. Clean your firearm before taking it to a range to practice with it.
3. Ensure that your firearm is securely stored at all times when not in use, especially when you have children in the home.
4. Instruct everyone in your home about firearms safety.
5. If you have not already done so, take a basic firearms safety/marksmanship class in your area.
6. Join a RKBA advocacy group as soon as you can. Like it or not, you are a gun owner now ..... help us help you to protect your RKBA.

Frank

 

[Toothpick]

Congratulations on your first firearm purchase. Now, if you are not already a member, I would recommend that you consider joining either the NRA or, a State level Firearms Rights Advocacy group. Especially in your State!

As far as what to do with a new firearm:

1. Read the owners manual thoroughly and pay particular attention to all safety rules.
2. Clean your firearm before taking it to a range to practice with it.
3. Ensure that your firearm is securely stored at all times when not in use, especially when you have children in the home.
4. Instruct everyone in your home about firearms safety.
5. If you have not already done so, take a basic firearms safety/marksmanship class in your area.
6. Join a RKBA advocacy group as soon as you can. Like it or not, you are a gun owner now ..... help us help you to protect your RKBA.

Frank

Definitely will do all of the above. Thank you!

 

[maxman]

An absolute must is to learn how to clean it and maintain it.

 

[Kilroy08]

Welcome to the club!

Secure storage is part of your new responsibilities. Stack On makes some nice locking cabinets that start around $100. It's not enough to stop a determined thief, but more than plenty to keep curious youngsters at bay.

I would say that Lakebound hit all the salient points on the head.

 

[Slash McCoy]

What they said.

Also find a good place to shoot. A .22 is cheap to shoot and there is no reason not to spend the time to become proficient with it. Who knows... it could save your life some day. Meanwhile it will make a fairly good squirrel gun, so you got your foot in the door with small game hunting, which is a lot of fun even if you go home empty handed. With the optics, you can murder tin cans at 100 yards. Lots of fun for the buck in a .22LR rifle, yeah.

 

[tfinch]

Congratulations! I bet that rifle is going to be a pretty sweet shooter.

 

[Dr Yan]

Congrats. 22LR is a great round to start with. You will learn a lot about ballistics , bullet drop etc which is a great base for developing accuracy. It takes a lot skill to be accurate beyond 100m with a 22lr but it is great fun learning. And RELATIVELY safe too. A lot safer than a handgun too for a first firearm.
Remember never point a gun at anything your not happy killing !!!

 

[fast14riot]

You should have bought two bricks of ammo, not just two boxes. You got a semi auto 22, your gonna fling lead like crazy! I recommend getting at least two more magazines as well. Maybe consider a Ruger MK pistol for your next gun, same ammo and an absolute blast to shoot. Oh, and 22's can be picky about ammo, personally I dont like cci due to the "cci flyer" that is always present. Sometimes its 1 in 10 rounds goes an inch out of my group, sometimes its every 3rd. Can be annoying. Oh, and with an auto you can only shoot standard velocity and higher ammo. otherwise it wont cycle the bolt.


-Xander

 

[the_ogre25]

I have the same rifle, it is a great little 22 gun. If you take it apart for cleaning do not try to remove the barrel from the action as the lug has been known to break trying to re-torque. If you want to know any of the common issues or reliability tweaks there is a section for the 597 over at rimfire central forum.

Edit:If you see the Remington branded 30 round "banana" magazine for it I have three and none of them feed very reliably. The ten rounders though are flawless.

 

[martym]

I will put this in all capital letters for you:

KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER AND OUT OF THE TRIGGER GUARD UNTIL YOU HAVE ACQUIRED YOUR TARGET AND HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO SHOOT!!!!

NEVER POINT YOUR WEAPON AT SOMETHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY!!!

ONCE FIRED, YOU CANNOT PUT THE BULLET BACK IN YOUR WEAPON!!

AFTER USING YOUR WEAPON, CLEAN IT BEFORE YOU CLEAN YOURSELF!!

 

[ackvil]

Congratulations on your purchase. First question: was your rifle boresighted at the store? If not, be sure it is sighted in properly.

 

[MrMurphy]

Lube the gun before shooting it. Being a .22, any normal lube will work. CLP "Breakfree" is fine.

Take some basic classes like the NRA teaches, or an Appleseed shoot to learn basic marksmanship.

Never get complacent with guns. I've been shooting for 30 years, carried a weapon daily for nearly 20 and you don't get second chances for mistakes.

 

[tinashubby]

As others have said:
Read the manual
Clean it before the first range trip
KEEP FINGER OUT OF TRIGGER GUARD UNTIL YOU ARE ON TARGET. IF YOU GET DISTRACTED OR SOMEONE ASKS YOU A QUESTION AT THE RANGE TAKE YOUR FINGER OUT OF THE TRIGGER GUARD BEFORE TURNING AWAY FROM THE TARGET. Sorry about the caps but this is about the best safety tip I know.
Secure your gun when you are not using it. Trigger guard lock, safe, etc.

You are gonna burn up some ammo with that .22 so start shopping!

 

[Jim]

Looking good Jason!

 

[Toothpick]

Thanks gents! I read the manual last night. Before it even started to talk about the gun there was about 5 pages covering the "Ten Commandments of Firearm Safety". I'm going to go over the entire manual a few more times with the gun in hand.

Edit:If you see the Remington branded 30 round "banana" magazine for it I have three and none of them feed very reliably. The ten rounders though are flawless.

It came with two 10 rounders. I planned on picking up the banana clip as well. does anyone make "generic" or non-remington branded magazines that are reliable?

Congratulations on your purchase. First question: was your rifle boresighted at the store? If not, be sure it is sighted in properly.

That's a good question that I will ask when I pick it up tonight. I have a feeling it wasn't. I got it at Gander Mountain. I'm just assuming they open the box, secure it on the shelf and start selling.

 

[Jim]

By the way Jason, this is not going to be a suitable firearm for Bigfoot hunting. as they say you will be "undergunned" hahaha.

 

[Toothpick]

By the way Jason, this is not going to be a suitable firearm for Bigfoot hunting. as they say you will be "undergunned" hahaha.

I can already envision the Jack Links commercial. "Messin With Bigfoot"

"I got em in my sights boys! *plink*....uh oh, RUN!!"

 

[the_ogre25]

I have not looked for other magazines for about a year but there were not any others ones then. Your rifle should be bore sighted from the factory but it does not hurt to ask.

 

[August West]

Nice weapon. Treat it with respect. Learn it inside and out.

Be responsible so you don't give the rest of us a bad name.