If you have a Dunhams Sorting Goods in your area sign up on line for their discounts. They’ll alert you to sales and send you coupons. I just got Remington Thunderbolts at $1.79 a box + a 20% discount. Hard to beat.
Nearly anything but Remington green. Remington makes great firearms but their 22 ammo sux.
I like my .22 (Ruger 10/22) but recently bought a .17 Mach 2 and a .17HMR. Yes, the ammo is more expensive but both are a hoot to shoot! :-)
http://www.the-armory.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/rimfire.html
If you are more interested in reliability, accuracy and terminal performance, any of the CCI loads will serve you well. Don't let price unduly influence your choice. You will spend more on coffee and gasoline getting to a good shooting location than the price of quality rimfire ammunition. The ultimate 22 Long Rifle ammunition is CCI "Stinger" brand. It will accomplish all tasks well and kill critters 30% deader. Yes, I designed it, 34 years ago. It was the original "Hyper-Velocity" 22 Long Rifle loading. Several imitators and wannabee clone have come and gone. Stinger retains the crown. Well over one billion rounds have been produced to date. For good reason.
Couldn’t tell you how many CCI Blazers I’ve shot. I’d guess between 30-40K.
I’ve put them through my chronograph, a Ransom Rest, and some fired over good old sand bags.
Results: At 50 yards the group size was 1\8” bigger than match grade stuff.
They work great in every kind of gun I tried including an old Stevens 22\410.
I used to buy the 5000 case. Shop around, you’ll find a deal.
I have a 597 also and all I use for hunting is CCI Stingers.
The worst .22 ammo is Remington Golden bullets.
The next worse is any other Remington ammo that isn’t match grade. the Golden bullets have lots of duds and zero consistency.
One step up from that is the Winchester 333 packs often found at Walmart. It’s ok ammo but very smokey and you get occasional duds but no where near as bad as the Golden Bullets.
The top two “value” bulk packs that I’m familiar with are the Federal and Blazer packs. Both are good, reliable ammo. You may get one dud per Federal 525 pack.
I’ve shot 3 boxes of Blazer 525 in the past 12 months and had ZERO failures. The ammo is clean and consistent.
The best non match grade ammo is the CCI stinger ammo but you pay for it. The 500 packs run around $70 or so.
CCI Mini mags are also good and a little less expensive than the stingers. I’ve only ever seen those in 100 packs.