[legion]

I've owned both a Ruger 10/22 and Remington 597.

The 597 was head and shoulders above the 10/22 in accuracy and feel out of the box.

The 597 was also a royal b**** to clean, where the Ruger was easy in that department. I sold the 597 because cleaning it was an exercise in futility as you had to line up the bolt on two rails and compress both springs at the same time while tightening one at a time--it only worked successfully one out of 100 times. The other 99 times the spring (and sometimes its tiny set screw) would go sailing across the room. In the year I owned it, I lost 5 set screws and bent two springs.

My recommendation? Get him a bolt action .22 Mag or .17 HMR. I have both and this is what I keep instead of a .22 semi. A little more powerful than a .22LR (and thus a little more cooler), way more accurate, and very simple to clean.