Let us be honest. I have about six custom 10/22 rifles, including a custom 10/22 magnum. I have never owned a 597. I have fired several though, including one of the now-discontinued custom shop jobs in 22 magnum. I've fired examples of both rifles that were great right out of the box in the reliability department, and examples of both that were jamomatics. Same goes for accuracy. The Remington may have a edge on average out of the box accuracy, but so does the Marlin 60 so if that is your criteria, the oracle has spoken, so to speak. That said, I would never by a Marlin 60 because they seem cheap, are not attractive to me, and do not lend themselves to tinkering, which, after all is my main interest in firearms of any kind. I like to tinker. Therein lies the gravamen of this debate. The Ruger is a rifle for those who like to tinker and want to build something special, unique just for the joy of doing so and to see how good they can make it. The Ruger design and suport in the industry makes it the choice for these kind of people ... and there are a ton of us. The Remington is becoming an alternative choice for this brand of folk. The Marlin never will due to design problems and the cheapness of the build. For now though, the Ruger is the only real game in town for the dedicated tinkerer, and because of fhat, it can be BUILT into a very accurate gun quite easily. Yes, it is expensive, but tinkerers are not typically interested in that. I mean, consider the average wildcatter. Most wildcat cartridges aren't really doing anything that some standard cartridge can't do. The tinkerer and wildatter are in it for the creativity and learning, same as the guy who buys an old Camero and buts 25k into making it a hotrod. Hell, he could have spent 20k and bought a new Camero ... but then, where's the fun in that, if you are a tinkerer?! regards.