I am looking for a .22 myself. Here are some reviews that I found on the 597: Gun Tests 6/99, American Rifleman 4/98, Guns & Ammo 7/98.
Gun Tests compared the 597 (polymer stock) and the 597 Sporter (wood stock) to the 10/22 RB (wood stock) and 10/22 RP (polymer stock). Despite offering desirable features that the 10/22s lacked -- grooved receiver, convenient magazine release, better feel to the stock -- Gun Tests picked the 10/22 over the 597, largely, I think, because both Remingtons had failures to feed when the clips were fully loaded, and malfunctions with Lapua Dominator and Federal Ultramatch ammunition. Groups were close, with a slight edge to the Ruger.
The review in American Rifleman mentioned that the 597 were "susceptible to rim-over-rim jams unless close attention was given to the magazine while loading....Loading the magazine is a little awkward as it must be done with consideration for the .22LR cartridge rims." (The Remington manual shows how to load the magazine to avoid failures to feed.)
On the other hand, the 597 that Guns & Ammo tested functioned flawlessly.
I hope this helps.
By the way, don't overlook the Marlin 7000: It is close to the Ruger 10/22T in accuracy at about one-half the retail price (Guns & Ammo 10/99).