New 10/22; what to feed it?

[Idaho45guy]

I haven't owned a Ruger 10/22 in over two decades. I sold the last one to pay a bill early in my marriage and I never replaced it. I preferred lever action .22s and I now have an Uberti Silver Boy that I planned on bringing to an Idaho jackrabbit hunt next month.

Then Washington state passed the idiotic and ridiculous Initiative 1639 that goes into effect January 1st.

It basically makes all semi-auto rifles "assault rifles" and adds a few restrictions such as ten day waiting period, approval by local police chief, must have attended a firearms safety course in last 5 years, $25 fee on each gun, etc. It's awful.

My bonus from work was a little bigger this year so I decided I needed another 10/22.

Bought the Copper-Mica edition since it was on sale for $219 and I liked the stock style...

Attachment 230863

I also ordered the Ruger BX-25 magazine for it. It also came with a cheap scope and rings as part of the Black Friday deal.

I have a limited number of CCI rounds, 600 of the Mini-Mags, a couple bricks of cheap Winchester Super-X.

Would like to pick up a couple of more bricks of decent hollow point .22s.

What's good these days? What works best in the 10/22?

[rwadley]

CCI mini mag 40 grain is the best I have found for my 10/22. The 36 grain HP version works ok, too. YMMV.

[Hardcast416taylor]

My advice to you is the same as I would tell anyone asking me that same question about their new .22 rifle. Buy a box of as many different makes and bullet weights as you can and then retire to a range with a bench and test them all to find the favored load.Robert

[Tom W.]

Mine likes the Remington golden bullets. Even the cheap ones in the little milk carton, although those in the plastic container that have each round in it's own little hole are a bit better. CCI is good, too. Winchester Wildcats don't do well at all in mine. I have a lot of failure to fires with any Winchester .22 rounds

[BNE]

That’s a nice little “assault rifle”.

I love the 10-22. There are in my family. I do not remember a brand that failed to fire if I was using the 10 round mags. The 25 round May can be more picky. If you have failure to fire problems, change out the firing pin with a volquartsen during pin. Made all the difference in the world with my daughters MkIV pistol.

Enjoy it. There are lots of upgrades you can do with that gun. They are lot of fun.

[marlin39a]

I've got several 10/22's. They all work well with just about anything. My favorite is Remington Golden 36 gr HP from the bulk packs. Also have a bunch of the BX-25 mags. I prefer the BX-15 for field use.

[dragon813gt]

It will most likely eat any and all ammo. My 10/22s are the only ones I don’t have to worry about ammo type w/. For bulk ammo Winchester M22 has been the most accurate. But I might be a little jaded because it’s the only type that feeds in all my 22s and I have a lot of it. I steer clear of any and all Remington Golden Turds because I’ve had far to many issues w/ them. And this was pre 22 shortage. Can’t imagine they got any better.

[Tackleberry41]

Depends, a factory carbine I had ate everything. One it got a nice barrel on it, got a little more picky.

[Kylongrifle32]

Mine from the mid 90's would shoot just about any bullet well. Then I just wanted a heavier flutted and replaced it with one from Midway and it shoots anything I feed thru it good but shots 5 shots into a ragged hole at 35yards with Remington yellow jackets ( my favorite squirrel and ground hog load).

But I have to agree with hardcast get several boxes of different ammo and go have fun deciding what your gun likes best.

Happy shooting

[Tatume]

I've had very bad results with "promotional" ammo, the stuff you can get at Wal Mart in boxes of 500 or more. They lead the barrel up something terrible, and accuracy is poor.

Try Federal American Eagle. It's not expensive, and shoots very well.

[17nut]

My Target 10/22 with factory hammer forged barrel, absolutely loves CCI Standard and will toss them into one ragged hole at @55yds all day long.

[country gent]

I have had good results with CCI ( green tag, Mini mag, and pistol) federal ( 711 and 911) and one that kind of surprised me the Velocitor ammo among others. I also recommend testing as many different ammos as possible in your rifle, it shows what your rifle likes and its just plain fun.

[Mk42gunner]

I haven't shot enough .22 in the last few years to form a good opinion on the current crop of ammo.

With that out of the way, the last 10-22 I had started out in life as a stainless Mannlicher type. It ate everything, but wanting more accuracy I rebuilt it into kind of a Sportsman's team challenge gun with a Green Mountain barrel Fajen stock and assorted Volquartsen action parts. After a few hundred rounds to get broke in, it still ate most anything but put them into nice little groups instead of patterns. By the time I was done I could have bought two good bolt or lever actions and liked them more.

The one thing I really learned was don't drop the factory ten round magazines in the desert sand, (I was stationed at Fallon, NV at the time). The would work perfectly until they touched dirt, after that no way. It didn't matter how I cleaned them, even if I took them apart; they did not work reliably afterwards.

That rifle has been gone for about fifteen years and I really don't miss it. I prefer tube mag .22 autos if I have a choice.

Robert

[upr45]

We have 4 of them which go from the 80's until a recently mfg's takedown. They all shoot most ammo without hickups with 1 exception -- the cheap remington thunderbolts. Have had to clean the lead smears out of the barrel with those & requested the offending person discard them, even giving them some of my stash during the shortage years. Rem subsonics will stove pipe, other than that, have had no issues with FED, CCI, or Win.

[dverna]

Mine is not very picky about ammunition, but every gun is different. I agree with trying different brands and finding what works for your gun. The Federal Auto Match is nice stuff but not HP. Enjoy your new 10/22. They are a great gun and easily upgraded if you wish to do so.

[nagantguy]

Being a 10/22 junky; just picked up another one for my baby son MY and only for me starting point is the federal champion 36 grain hollow point; as I’ve found the stuff to shoot well in most semi autos, once broken in and sighted in than 36 grain cci mini mags or if they don’t like that 40 grain cci standard velocity. Had good luck with that. My costs twice what it’s worth heavy barreled Boyd’s stocked volquestren reviver 10/22 shoots match ammo of about any flavor very well; but not much better than the 40 grain round nose cci.

During the shortage I was able to lay in a good supply of Remington bucket golden bullets and several bricks of wildcats; and after long being prejudiced against the Remington bulk 22 the golden bullets shoot very well in an assortment of 22s ; there are duds and and the occasional ones that need to be hit twice to go bang but a 1200 round bucket for $55 I guess that’s to be expected.

[Drm50]

My 10/22s are from 60s and early 70s. They would sight in with about any 22lr ammo. Today there
is a big difference in 10/22s and 22ammo. I would guess you will have to go by trail and error these
days. I was one of the original cheerleaders for 10/22s back when they came out and up through the
years until they started cheapening them. A early 10/22 didn't need aftermarket parts to shoot well.
The new 10/22s to me are nothing special, the older ones were the best 22 for the money on the market.

[rking22]

4 1022s and a Charger in the house right now. All cycle most anything and go bang. Accuracy will vary dramatically within those varieties. As little as 5/8 inch at 50 to 3 inches , from the same rifle. As far as cheap, I prefer the Blaser and Federal american eagle. Both notably more accurate than Rem, Winchester bulk stuff. The 36 gr Federal hps shot well back in the 80s, not so much in more recent lots. As always,with 22s, ymmv....dramatically!
On magazines, the Rugers work well, I prefer the 10 rnd. Also I reduce the torsion spring tension on them and clean whenever they get balky(1000 rnds + usually). Aftermarket have been nothing to prompt another purchase,

[NyFirefighter357]

Mine like just about anything. I'm wary of Remington Thunder duds they each sound different when shot. I like CCI's the most. I hunt with Stingers.

[Idaho45guy]

Mine like just about anything. I'm wary of Remington Thunder duds they each sound different when shot. I like CCI's the most. I hunt with Stingers.

I LOVE CCI Stingers, but they are nearly impossible to find around here and very expensive. I still have a 50rd container of them stashed away, but I'm too stingy to shoot them, lol.

I remember back in the day that paying $3 for a 100rd box was considered extravagant. Now they are $5 for 50. Crazy.