First rimfire. 597 or 10/22?

I bought a Remington 597, because the rifle fit me better. I found the others (Marlin 795 and 10/22) just didn't fit, they felt toy like to me. It did take a little work to get the 597 to run right, a few minutes with some fine steel wool on the bolt and proper torque on the guide rods. Never had the issues I've read about. I have one 30 round mag that ran perfectly after a little cleaning and sanding off the flash and rough spots on the follower. The factory 10 rounders all worked flawlessly. If you don't mind spending a little time tinkering with it when you first bring it home then the 597 is a good choice. Then again I like tinkering with my guns.
 
My 50+ year old Cooey 60 is ultra-reliable, easy to take apart, lightweight, and shoots LR/Long/Shorts out of the tube mag. I've not been shooting very long, but the Cooey can hit a spent shotshell reliably at 40-50 yards in my hands, iron sights.
 
IMPOSSABLE! Everyone knows you have to have a $1000 rifle and spend at least that much on 'glass'......
ps: please don't tell anybody but I like old mossbergs,clean them up,apply many coats of oil and the walnut or mahogany stocks come up beautifully,good triggers,some even adjustable......even if I have to mount bushnell 22 scopes($50)on them because my eyes don't seem to work on iron sights anymore.As my dad told me 50 years ago when I asked him 'if a certain caliber could kill a deer?"yes,if you hold it straight''
I shot a lot of gophers back in Maple Creek when I was a teenager staying at a farm up on the 'bench'.Happiness was a single shot Cooey with iron sights,a pocket full of shells and the day all to myself
 
I've had as many 22s as camster. I tend to shoot 22 much more then any other caliber. For what you're trying out right now, I would recommend starting out with a marlin 795 or a marlin 60. I still own 2 10 22s , never have owned (though I did have some time on a couple) 597s, have the blued and stainless 795, 2 stainless 60s. I've had jamming issues with most types of semi rifles. Almost always due to ammo type. The 795 though seems to be the best balance of least picky and most accurate of all the semis I've owned ( out of the box) and the price just seals the deal. I bought and sold the cz 512 too accurate, but horrible trigger and didn't seem worth the price. I also haven't had good luck with the new mossbergs, although the old ones are awesome.
 
I bought a 10/22 target. Switch the stock for a hogue black. Added a quick mag release, Extended bolt extractor and a fast fire red dot. It is so accurate and reliable that it is scary. It's light and fun to shoot. I know some people will laugh but it is a good home d rifle too. Almost no recoil, not noisy and lot's of bullets. 12 g is too messy. Restricted firearm will get you into trouble. 10/22 will stop intruders. Don't worry, I have other stuff for bears or larger animals.
 
grelmar said:
You would need good luck to hit a gopher at 75yards with a bone stock 10/22.
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I must have been lucky. A lot! Made lots of 100 yard plus hits.

I wanted to put a bull barrel on my 10-22, but it shoots well enough as is that I won't dink with it. I have had it for nearly 30 years now. Might get around to stuff like radiusing the bolt or changing the extractor out, but it works and works, so maybe, maybe not..


The real question I have for the OP, is... What do you want to do with it?

If you want to whore it out with aftermarket stuff, the 10-22 and it's clones pretty much has the choices. If all you want is a high cap mag, the choices widen a bit.


Pretty much any rifle you look at has their detractors as well as their fanbois, and it can be a PITA to separate the irrational from the rational commentary.

Do you want cheap or do you want quality? Accuracy? Fun shooting tin cans fast? Easy carry when in the bush? Truck gun?

Me, the only Marlins I would bother to take a second look at are the older lever action guns. The 715 looks like a poorly built toy, feels like one too. The Savage MkII guns that I have used were all functional, but felt cheap. Old Mossbergs look like they were designed by guys that thought British airplanes were good looking. Most of them sure do shoot, though.
The perfect gun has not yet been built. Ya gotta learn to work with what ya got in hand.

And it'd be a boring ol' world, if we all wanted only the one choice, wouldn't it?

If you don't mind tube mags, look at the two Browning choices.
Shop used. Lots of great quality guns available.
Anshutz through to Walther and all between and on either side!

Cheers
Trev
 
I have both, and seem to pick up the 10/22 a lot more often than the 597. They both work well, but the Ruger just feels better to me.
They are both a great gun for the money but there are are better options out there depending on your needs.
 
marlin 795 or model 60 all the way. use the rest of the money you saved on ammo because you will go through a lot, the jw14 is tough to pass up for 99 bucks and there are hi cap mags you can make work with it, marlin 795 and jw 14 buy both and your cheaper than a 10/22. the 795 with even a cheap scope is a tack hammer
 
I just think its abit odd to compare 10/22 to the 597... one is pretty much the 22 semi standard and the other is cheep junk with longtime QC problems ... Hands down 10/22 !! and if you need more accuracy, its easy to upgrade

lots of fun for some to talk up an old POS gun that could drill the eye out of a gnat at hundred yards... cooey Jam-o-lots come to mind ... LOL

this reminds me of the 870 rem shotgun against blah blah blah, no name crap guns.. .. theres just no comparison
 
dimeN said:
I just think its abit odd to compare 10/22 to the 597... one is pretty much the 22 semi standard and the other is cheep junk with longtime QC problems ... Hands down 10/22 !! and if you need more accuracy, its easy to upgrade

lots of fun for some to talk up an old POS gun that could drill the eye out of a gnat at hundred yards... cooey Jam-o-lots come to mind ... LOL

this reminds me of the 870 rem shotgun against blah blah blah, no name crap guns.. .. theres just no comparison
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ya ya ya love it when people bash other things. mossburg 500 shotgun anyone, its easily on par with the 870 (I don't own either just did the research, own a hatsan which I love). I have a 597 with heavy barrel and you know what I DON't need to upgrade it to get accuracy like I would a 10/22.

this is why I love to laugh at post like this, they help no one as they most likelay never used it or have but likes the other one better but just bash. I am not going to bash a 10/22, if I wanted to spend cash working on a 22 ie dressing it up and such I would get this. 597 all I did was the vq hammer and extractor and its a tack driver and i am happy. So it depends on what you wan to do.
 
Of those 2, the Ruger 10/22 is a much better choice over the 597

As a first rimfire, I would sooner recommend a CZ45X bolt action
 
I own both rifles and they are on par with one another. Really if you to add on get the 10/22. If you don't care and want a decent set of out of the box sights get a 597. Either way you are ok. My plinking preference is the 10/22. My hunting preference is the 597 due to the longer stock and just a hair more stability FOR ME. You can't go wrong either way. Probably the 10/22 has higher resale if you want to sell later on.
 
If you're going to buy a 10/22 so you can customize it why not just start with a custom build?
If I was going to get that style of gun I'd spend the extra money and get one of those Tactical Solutions from Wanstalls.
Heck you can even finance them. ;)
 
I agree with Paatz….if its a 10/22 you want save up for a Tactical Solutions.
Sorry about the crappy pics…
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The only other 10/22 semi that looks interesting (IMO) is the Mannlicher. The bolt version is even better but its a 77/22
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So far I'm very happy with my 597 VTR. To be honest, I kinda choose the 597 because of how smooth it was and it's lack of aftermarket. I didn't want to fall into the $1000 ruger trap.
 
Have owned both now. They're about the same accuracy and reliability wise. However each rifle speaks to a certain type of shooter.
The 10/22 is a good rifle. It's not worth the hype though for me. It's as good if not the same as the 597 or the 795 for that matter.
If you're into dressing up your .22LR to make it look like some video game fantasy rifle then go with the 10/22. It has all the cheap junk plastic you could ever dream of slapping on a rifle to make it look cool and not change a thing about its efficiency. If you need to have 25 round mags so you can burn through 3000 rounds per range trip firing into dirt and then come on CGN to b**ch about the annoying ".22LR shortage" then again the 10/22 is what you want. You can turn a $300 plinking gun into a $1,200, $300 plinking gun! :rolleyes:

I prefer the 597 now personally though. It has a factory bolt catch on an empty magazine. The mag release is a slide button you can hit with your trigger finger to drop the mag. The stock feels longer. The barrel is nice and thick. The iron sights on the 597 are far superior to the 10/22 for actual sight clarity and adjust-ability but that is just my opinion. The 10/22 is far easier to strip just because of the design. However the 597 has two feed rails and springs on the bolt. It just seems more sturdy and beefy a system all around. I also prefer the factory 597 cocking handle/paddle vice the 10/22 factory style.

All of this is just my personal opinion from having now owned both but for me I prefer the 597 all around and it's CHEAPER! ;)
 
Check any 10/22 you buy these days. QC has gone for crap since they have been pumping them out as fast as possible to keep up with demand. Find out who looks after warranty. The numerous issues i had with mine put me off ruger all together.
 
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