I need to get a new .22 this summer and I cant decide between those two. What are the pros and cons of each? I know the Remington is larger (longer barrel, heavier, fatter stock) and there are aftermarket parts ofr it. Not as much as the 10/22, but simple pieces like new hammer to lighten trigger pull. On the other hand, I've heard nothing but praise from ProfessorEvil about the Marlin.

I just bought the standard remington 2 days ago.  I sighted it in yesterday.  I plan to put a scope on it so I just sighted the iron sights to about 50 yds.  I could put all 10 shots in a 4" circle and 3 of those shots hit the dime sized center.  As far as functiuoning, I used about 300rnds of Federal 22 (came in a milk carton type of box w/ 550 rnds), the standard remington (green/gray box) and CCI "top end ammo"  (I forgot the exact name).  The worst was the CCi with 3 jams out of 50 shots.  Everything else worked great.  Accuracy was equal for all 3 types of ammo.  I'm glad I bought the rifle and I think you will be too.   Just my thoughts.

I have fired both Marlin (model 60) and Remington (model 597 and model 597 Magnum).  I did not like the feel of the Marlin, overall it isn't that great of a firearm, most Marlins that I have held do not feel right and their stocks are a little to thin.  The relibility is well done, the action was a little rough but still functioned fine.  I wouldn't buy it but it seems to suit my uncle who has taken his fair share of wood chucks with it.

Now the Remington models are great, I love them and happen to own a model 597 Magnum.  They have a double guide rail, the 597 Magnum has a extra set of heavy duty springs on them.  They are very reliable, my friend has hardly fired his and basically it was NIB when we broke it out to fire it.  No problems feeding, the action is very smooth and operates like a dream.  Very good accuracy, I have my 597 Magnum sighted in at only 25 yards but it still is a tack driver at 50 yards.  I have even taken a shot at a squirrel over 50 and around 60 yards and that sucker landed like a ton of bricks to the ground.

For the money I would go with a Remington model 597 either in .22 LR or .22 Mag.

I have a 597 HB on the way from Gamaliel Shooting Supply.....at $229 I couldn't resist.

[hijack]What do I need to do to make a nice trigger?[/hijack]

Ran into a guy at the quarry I shoot at with a new Remington semi auto .22. Man did that thing have a stiff trigger. I think my Ruger P89 had a lighter pull. It was chokin' bad on Remington ammo too.

Yeah they do have a stiff trigger, mine worked itself out after 300-400 rounds.  Though I have a total of 3-4K run through it, but still is reliable as hell, expensive to operate though.  .22 Mag ammunition costs about 7 bucks for the cheap stuff of 50 rounds.  Sure it will have a failure to feed once in a while.  This I have found to be either the ammunition is riding to high in the magazine, or just a random event, for me it happens in between the 400-500 round range.  It happens more when you shove the magazine in to the well, this lodges the round upwards and causes the failure to feed.  Ammunition that has given me the most problems: Winchester, best: Remington Premier (its the only stuff that I use from them), CCI

First let me say that I'm a die hard Remington bolt action guy and generally enjoy remington products.
  My SS 597 was very accurate and I did like the feel of the stock better than a 10/22.
Here is how my SS 597 in .22 LR story goes.
  The trigger sucks, as previously stated.
  I had at least 2 failure to feed/failure to eject on all of my 4 plastic magazines using both round nose and hollow point ammo every time I shot the gun. I then upgraded to the "newer/better" magnesium mags. Malfunctions per mag came down to about 1.5 per mag. Gun was properly lubed and clean.
  I then bought the "newer/better" ejector. That helped, but the gun was still not as reliable as my 10/22.
   I then stripped out the threaded holes on the top of the receiver while mounting a weaver base.
   Broke one "ear" off the receiver while tightining the barrel screw. And no, I wasn't getting mean with it either.
   After the receiver broke, I lost it. I basically bent/broke every piece on that gun that I could over the side of a trash dumpster and then threw it in. It now resides in the local landfill and I haven't missed it yet. I'm sticking with the tried and true 10/22. YMMV

P.S., Remington customer service leaves alot to be desired also.


   

I've got a 597 LS HB.  The accuracy is very impressive.  Shooting from a bipod with a 6x scope, me and a friend consistently hit upright 223 brass at 30 yards, < 5 seconds per shot.

However, the mags I have do suck.  One's the black polymer, the other a dull metal mag.  Both mags have been apart, I cleaned and polished the insides, but the springs seem very weak.  Many FTF's and bolt closing on the last round.  Ammo tested so far was Winchester "X" and CCI Blaser.

I called Remington CS @ 800-243-9700 to bitch about it.  No questions asked they sent me two new mags for free.  The new mags seem to have stronger springs and smoother motion.  I haven't had a chance to test them yet.

As to the fragility of the internal parts, I managed to fully disassemble the rifle after the first 1000 rds, clean it and reassemble without problems.  The parts are simple, and fit pretty well.  The polymer trigger housing bugged me at first, then I remembered how many polymer guns are in my safe that I paid way more for, and think highly of.  I like this gun enough to try and solve the mag problems, it fits me like a real rifle and is plenty accurate.  Good luck with your purchase.

My 597 is fun to shoot. The weakness seems to be the magazines. They get dirty quickly and then eventually will stick on occassion and fail to feed the rounds upwards. Make sure you disassemble them and clean them periodically.

Rifle seems to work great with that Federal bulk .22. Didn't like the Remington Golden Duds. I think the problem was that there were just a lot of duds in the box, leading to failure to fires. Strikes weren't light or anything. What crappy ammo. =P

I too have a 597.  When shooting solid lead bullets I have noticed that the bullets leave a track of lead all the way up the front of the mag. This makes the follower stick and causes a fail to feed.  I was using cheap federals. They came in a red box.  Has any one had a similar experience with the solid lead bullets?

While I can't speak for or against the 10/22, I am fairly familiar with my 597.  I have put a couple hundred rounds through it with no feed failures.  This may have something to do with the fact that I bought a metal magazine since I can't remember where I left the polymer mag that came with it.  The iron sights were dead-on out of the box, and I was putting sets of five under a pop can at fifty yards.  I put my BSA 3-9x40mm scope onto the grooved receiver and was cutting a single hole at fifty yards within fifteen minutes.  I was shooting Remington "Thunderbolt" LRNs, and I tried some CCI Mini Mag HPs, which performed less-than-exceptionally.  Since bringing it home, the 597 has ridden my mom's garden of a squirrel, a chipmunk, and I've got a nasty surprise for the muskrat.

The long and short of it is this is a great rifle.  If you do your part, it won't disappoint you.  There is a shortage of aftermarket supplies for this gun, including sling attachments (but there is what looks like a semi-drilled attachment point on the forearm...I might have to drill and tap it).