This 10/22 just wont shoot worth $#*%

[buck1]

This has been a long bumpy road. Several years ago I was out of town and fell in love with a Ruger USA shooting team SS hammer forged bull bbl 10/22. I bought it and got it scoped.
The groups were only fair(1.5" at 50) as I tryed Remington, winchester, CCI, Federal, ETC. . I play with it a wile get discusted and put it away for a long wile, then do it again, and again .........ETC.
I have a good trigger in it , Tryed 3 differnt scopes, all kinds of rests , bla bla bla.
It dont like me.
To be fair I have not tryed the high end ely etc ammo. But still it should shoot better than this. My other 22s will out shoot it with multiple ammos.
I am thinking it should shoot closer to 3/4 at 50 yds.
This thing looks like it should be able to shoot the wings off a fly, but not even close.
I work long and strange hours , so it may be a few days before I get back to this thread. ANY THOUGHTS GUYS?......Buck

[uscra112]

In .22 rimfire, good ammo is everything ! No gun will shoot better than it's ammo, but correct ammo can make a dog look like a fox. More on this later. . . .

Cheap ammo (and some not-so-cheap) ranges from bad to worse. Weight variance can be upwards of 3 grains, which is a lot considering that the whole cartridge only weighs about 50. Bullets in some common ammo vary in diameter and runout. I know this because I've been systematically evaluating such ammo for a couple of months now. (I used to do process control gaging before I retired, and I just can't give it up.)

If fifteen bucks a box for Eley Match puts you off, (it does me), be it known that ordinary ammo can be improved by weight-sorting and "bumping".

In weight-sorting I found that, of the ones I've tested, only Eley target ammo, (NOT Eley Sport), Wolf Match, and Federal 922 had really good weight variance out of the box. Even so-called "target" ammo such as Winchester T-22 and Federal 711 rather stunk. Of the less expensive ammo, the winner so far is CCI MiniMags, hands down. (Have yet to find any Federal Automatch to compare.) Sorting out the real outliers eliminated the bad fliers in my groups, so things did get better. Using sorted lots having weight variance under +/-0.2 grains did even more.

But I started this project to evaluate the practice of "bumping" the .22 bullet to make it a uniform .2250" diameter. This in fact has worked quite well for me. It ought to. Semi-autos almost all have very sloppy chambers. Even the much-touted "Bentz chamber" used in many 10/22 "target" barrels is nominally .2264" in the bullet seat, as against real target .22s (i.e. bolt guns) which have seats of .2240" to .2245". A normal cartridge in a Bentz chamber is rattling around like a loose lug nut in a hubcap.

Proof at the range: I had a bone-stock 10/22 that was a 5 MOA rifle. Never used it, it was so bad. Using sorted and "bumped" MiniMags, it will now shoot 3/4" groups all day long at 50 yards, off sandbags. This year it will be the go-to CIWS for chucks in the garden. It's now at least as good as my Marlin 39. I may even try it in silhouette match this summer.

(Full disclosure: I say bone stock, but I did use a shim to wedge the action tighter in the stock, and it does have an improved trigger.)

The downside of sorting, aside from the fact that it's tedious, is that with some cheap ammo you will end up with maybe 20% of the lot which is too far off to use for anything but making noise. That's another point in favor of MiniMags. I get two lots of 45 to 50 rounds from a box, each lot having variance of +/-0.2 grains, and that leaves only half a dozen or so that must be relegated to duty as "foulers". But since I have found it to be absolutely true that you have to shoot at least a dozen rounds of any ammo to "condition the bore" before trying to judge whether it's any good, maybe it's not all THAT bad a thing to have a few rounds set aside as foulers.

Phil

[tomme boy]

You might have to cut off a inch or so and have it re-crowned. I think I remember a lot of people on RFC forum having to do this to make it shoot right.

What I would do, sell that barrel and get a aftermarket one. You will be $ ahead by doing this.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Wow uscra112 that was a great read thank you for taking the time to post that.

[crabo]

Try a box of Wolf Target or SK Standard Plus, (same thing, different packaging), for about $5 a box. If it won't shoot with that, you need to start looking at crowns, scope mounts, scopes, ect.

[jh45gun]

Sell it and buy a Marlin. I have owned 5 10/22 rifles in my life time I now Own Marlin Bolt actions two of them older Marlin 80's one I use for Silhouette shooting. But I have shot Marlin 60 rifles of others and I owned one and any of them shot better then the Rugers and as well as my 80's and that is with standard cheap ammo. I am shooting silhouette with of all things Rem Thunderbolt or the Fed pack hollow point ammo and both shoot well in either Marlin rifle I have.

[Jim]

Several months back, I bought a little 'Cricket' .22 single shot for 'coon huntin' cause it's light weight and easy to carry. I went through no less than a dozen or more different brands/types to find what it wanted. Oddly enough, I found that it shoots the Aguila high speed and CCI Blazer really well. I was kinda' surprised at that, thinking the expensive stuff would be the best. Not so.

I really believe that if you're patient enough and go through every ammo you can get your hands on, you'll eventually find something that will meet your expectations. If you give the rifle the opportunity, it will tell you what it wants.

[largom]

Had a guy bring one into the shop with the same problem. First and only thing I did was to recrown the muzzle. Gun shot one ragged hole after that.

Larry

[montana_charlie]

Of the less expensive ammo, the winner so far is CCI MiniMags, hands down.

Know the truth when you hear it ...

CM

[Ola]

Try a box of Wolf Target or SK Standard Plus, (same thing, different packaging).

Really? Wolf rimfire ammo is made in Germany by Lapua owned factory? That would explain why we DO NOT have Wolf .22's here (we have all the Wolf center fire ammos, made in Russia). Those ******** in Lapua!

[shotman]

bet crown to be problem also look at the bolt up it may be loose. as its not fitted to receiver

[hiram]

Check to see the 2 v-block screws are tight.

[uscra112]

Really? Wolf rimfire ammo is made in Germany by Lapua owned factory? That would explain why we DO NOT have Wolf .22's here (we have all the Wolf center fire ammos, made in Russia). Those ******** in Lapua!

Well, I'll vouch for the fact that my boxes of Wolf Match say "Made in Germany".

Good point made about the crown - it's unusual these days to see a bad crown on a factory barrel, but if it got dropped or ?? that could be a problem. Get a good strong magnifier and inspect. I use a 10X jeweler's loupe. That level of magnification should also show you wear caused by the previous owner cleaning it with a rod from the muzzle without a rod guide. Corrective action may be no more than lapping it, but if it's badly dinged or worn, cutting off the barrel may be necessary.

Phil

[hiram]

I took my 10-22 apart. ran a cleaning rod in until it touched the rear of the receiver and drew a circle around it with a marker. I then transcribed the circle with dividers to the outside of the receiver and drilled a hole a little larger than the cleaning rod.

Now you can clean fron the rear instead of the muzzle.

[dnotarianni]

Check to see the 2 v-block screws are tight.

+1
Also check that the reciever mounting bolt to the stock is tight. Anything loose will toss accuracy out the window.

Dave

[lcclower]

10-22, put on your reading glasses and go over to rimfirecentral.com.
It is the mother lode of 10/22 wisdom.
Or sell the 10/22 and get a CZ.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Buck. I can solve your problem. Box it up and send it to me! I`ll give it a nice home in my safe with my other 10/22`s.Robert

[buck1]

Thanks for the replys guys!
I have doubble checked every screw on it a few times, pulled the bbl and cleaned the he77 out of it from the rear,swapped scopes, rings, and stock, new fireing pin, and the crown is a thing of beauty. This things killing me!
Funny thing is as Jim said my Sons $100.00 Crickett will out shoot it and with bulk Remingtons no less.
Now heres something I forgot to add, every once and a wile it will shoot a dime sized group. Say 1 in 20- 30 groups It does this. But it is not repeteable with the same ammo, hold ,cheek/rest placement. Thanks again....Buck

[crabo]

Really? Wolf rimfire ammo is made in Germany by Lapua owned factory? That would explain why we DO NOT have Wolf .22's here (we have all the Wolf center fire ammos, made in Russia). Those ******** in Lapua!

http://www.championshooters.com/stor...cat=312&page=1

[Ola]

Thanks. That explains it completely.