Remington 597 vs Ruger 10/22

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I have the 597, and I would say get the Ruger. I had problems with mine jamming, but that was easily fixed. But the Ruger has a ton of aftermarket parts available, and the 597 has almost none. You can easily change the barrel, trigger, stock, etc. on the Ruger. But the parts I have seen for the 597 were much more expensive, and you don;t have nearly the options. JMHO
 
I have a 597, and I don't see any need for a large library of aftermarket parts. It shoots very reliably and accurately. Remington has largely fixed the issues with the 597; some still have problems, but they are the exception. I find the 597 feels great in the hands and is very easy to shoot well.

Generally, the 10/22 has a greater chance of being reliable out of the box.
Generally, the 597 has a greater capacity for accuracy out of the box.

GENERALLY. Your mileage may vary.

If you are just looking for a plinking rifle and something for small critters, either will function very well. If you want a benchrest quality rifle, both have enough aftermarket support to build up the rifle to that point (Volquartsen makes barrels, stocks, hammers, and extractors for the 597- about all you need).
 
This would be mostly a bench/range rifle. I know that there are better rifles out there for this purpose but I have narrowed it down to these two.
 
I traded for a 597 Magnum recently and have owned a 10-22 for a while now. I like both. The 597 is more man sized, fits me better. It is also VERY accurate. It functions 100 percent for me. This thing shoots 1.5MOA even with the stiff trigger, my one complaint. I'm going to get that aftermarket hammer for it to help the trigger pull, hopefully, but it's a very good rifle right out of the box, very accurate.

Yeah, the 10-22 makes a better project rifle. You can turn it into a wannabe commando rifle or a match grade target rifle if you have enough money. I stuck a Hogue stock on it (because I like it) and left it alone. It's my only iron sighted .22 rifle and I plan to keep it an iron sighted rifle, though I bought a scope base for it. I have several other rifles with scopes plus the Remington. My 10-22 is a stainless model (I like stainless) and it's a great little plinker, but it's not capable of the out of the box accuracy of the Remington. Hands down, the Remington shoots better. It needs no improvement. To get the 10-22 to shoot that well, I'd have to spend several hundred bucks on it.

I still like the 10-22 for plinking and such. It's a great little compact rifle and would make a good hunting rifle. It's accurate enough for that out of the box. I have better squirrel rifles, though, more accurate anyway. Accuracy is the one thing the 10-22 really doesn't have out of the box. If you wanna shoot informal match competition, the Remington is the better choice. You just need to fix that stiff trigger. The 10-22 will take huge influx of money to get the accuracy, but its potential with enough money spent is a lot higher than the Remington just due to the huge aftermarket. Still, if I wanted a match rifle, I'd get an Anschutz.
 
If you get a 10/22, get a bolt buffer if you plan to mount optics or a peep sight. Before I made a buffer, the screws would shake loose on the mounts even if I used loctite. After I put the buffer in, the problem stopped.

I know it is a matter of preference, but I prefer the blued 10/22. Because the reciever is aluminum, the barrel and the reciever look different. It looks wierd to me. Also, scopes and bases are usually blued, and they look funky on the reciever. The newer SS models at Walmart- the 22-inch barrel versions, also have black trigger guards and painted recievers.
 
10/22 = wood and metal

597 = plastic and metal. the trigger group and stock is plastic.

The 597 is much more apt to break in my experience, though Remington's customer service will take care of it and send you replacement parts free.

I do like the 597, but if I had to choose one, it would be the 10/22.
 
my head says the 597 is better in every way, sights, fit , finish, etc. Plus they are now making some pretty decent aftermarket mags and stuff for it. that being said, I am still a little unsure of the reliability of this weapon. this is the only reason i would choose the 10/22 over it.
 
Wow, plastic? That's right classy!;)

Actually I have no problem with plastic rifle stocks, but wood looks nicer and is more valuable, so given the choice between the 2 at the same price, I'll take wood. Really the only thing that erks me about the 597 is the plastic trigger group.

I've had a 10/22 since 1985 that's had zero things break on it. I've had a 597 since last April and I've had 1) the bolt stop fly off and 2) the hammer pin broke in half while shooting. And those are the facts, not opinions.
 
Unless this happened this week, there are no 597 aftermarket mags available at this time. Promag and Eagle have been claiming to be coming out with 20 rd mags "any day" since last spring! Don't think so? Please provide a link to the aftermarket mag for sale.

I like the 597, but it has some issues.
 
Stained birch is "valuable"? BWAAAAA, ha, ha, ha. Dang, spilled my coffee.

I like the Hogue stock I put on my 10-22. It's covered in a grippy rubber that's non-slip and doesn't make noise when brush hits it like other plastic will. To each his own, but I sold the birch stock off my Savage 110 for 20 bucks on ebay and think I did pretty good. :rolleyes: That rifle has a Ramline stock on it now that is free floated and shoots much better than that cheap wood. The wood I took off the 10-22 wasn't exactly European walnut with hand checkering.
 
The Ruger 10/22 is a fine rifle. Accurate, reliable and can be modified as the owner wishes. It'll be around a lot longer than many other models. Buy it.
 
"Stained birch is "valuable"? BWAAAAA, ha, ha, ha. Dang, spilled my coffee."

MCGunner, I said wood (including stained birch) is more valuable than plastic. It's a fact. Just because you paid $60 for a hunk of new plastic and you sold your 2nd hand used wood stock for $20, doesn't make plastic more valuable than wood.

Though you may prefer plastic, a plastic stock is less costly to produce than a wood stock. Also, please know that I think that your rifle is likely much more accurate than you are regardless of which stock you have on it. Y'all come back now ya hear!
 
It may be more accurate than me, but it ain't as accurate as me with the Remington. I haven't scoped it, but I really doubt it'll shot five rounds into 1.5" at 100 yards. I have two Remingtons that will, the 597 and an old 512X I got for my ninth birthday. Best I've been able to do is 1" at 25 yards with the Ruger. The Remingtons will make one little tiny ragged hole at 25 yards. But, the Ruger is accurate enough for a .22 and serves me well.

I don't know if that Hogue was much cheaper to make than that birch stock. Probably was, but I don't know the details in the overmolding process for the rubber covering on the Hogue. It ain't that expensive to buy, so it CAN'T be that expensive to manufacture. But, I like it better.
 
I've got no problem with plastic stocks and they do provide superior weather resistance and don't warp in high humidity. I just think its nice to have a wood stock for aesthetics. And I agree the 597 is more accurate than a 10/22 (I have both). I like my 597, but it appears to me to be a little more cheaply built than my 10/22, not that the 10/22 quality is stellar or anything. If they would have put just a little more into the 597, it would have been a great rifle, but they pushed the envelope, and tried to undercut the 10/22 by too much.
 
[whisper] Marlin Model 60 [/whisper]
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Unless your stuck on having a removeable magazine, the Marlin is a fantastic rifle.

I had a 597. It was OK, had some jamming issues. I ended up giving it to a co-worker for his 11 year old boy (they didn't have much money).

I have a 10/22. Best way to describe them is chunky. The stocks are very thick side-to-side. The newer "classic" model is nice, though. They do have a ton of aftermarket support.

I have never owned a Marlin 60, but have fired countless examples. I do own numerous other tube-fed Marlin rimfires and prefer them to all others. Not as many aftermarket accessories for the 60 (though there is a bullpup stock available).
 
I have an early 597 and it jams consistently with Federal Classic, CCI mini mag, and Remington 525 bulk pack. The dual action bars with uncaptive springs are such a pain to reinstall after thoroughly cleaning I've given up shooting it at all.
My Ruger 10/22 eats all above plus others BUT only consistently with Butler Creek Steel Lips magazines. Standard aftermarket mags have plastic feed lips that wear out FAST. The Rugers single action bar with captive spring makes it easy to reinstall after cleaning.
 
I have a 597 that's had a lot of jamming issues. Even with the new mag that Rem sent me it would jam a couple times on every mag. I like the gun and it is very accurate but the jamming was getting on my nerves. I tried some of the mag mods that folks recomended but it was still jam city.
So I picked up a 10/22--stainless barrel. Accurate-no jams and a blast to shoot especially with the 25 rd Hot Lips Mag.
The scope has been removed from the 597 and put on the 10/22. The 597 has been reduced to back up plinker and I may even trade it if I can find someone who really enjoys clearing jams.
The 597 is a nice gun--I think the problems are mag related.
 
Buy the Ruger 10/22, you won't regret it, a great rifle. I have had mine for over 25 years and it has never failed me. Granted, it is a wood stock I don't take it out in the elements i.e rain ect. but it gives me kicks and giggles. My cousin (female) has been wanting a 22 for seveal years. She loves my 10/22 and this weekend I am going to buy her one for Christmas. Can't wait to see her open it up and warm the barrel. Good shooting all.
 
If anybody wants to trade...

they can have my M597 for their 10/22. Mine is crap. Numerous mags and ammo types have failed to resolve functioning problems. The extractor even fell out of the bolt during one recent range session. :fire: If I weren't so honest, I'd dump it on some unsuspecting soul at the next gun show.

Get the 10/22 - I wish that I had.
 
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