10/22 Unmod accuraccy?

[HARRYMPOPE]

I haven't had a 22 semi auto rifle for about 20 years.I traded into a STD 10-22 from the 1990's that is unmodified and has 3-9 cheap Tasco on it.With CCI Blazer and Aguila lead HV HP it has shot .675"(best) to 1.25" (worst) for a full 10 shot clip at 50 yards.The cheap Federal and Remington Golden's go a bit over 1.5" but with most of the shots much smaller.Is this how they typically shoot? Most folks i hunt with have them so modified they dont even remember shooting them stock.I bedded one and did trigger work on a buddies in the 1980's (back before you could get aftermarket parts) and it seems with match ammo it shot 5 shot groups under 3/4" at 50 yards quite a bit.

Are you supposed to clean these things? :grin:

George

[NoZombies]

Are you supposed to clean these things? :grin:


I religiously clean mine every 5 years. (or anytime I take it apart for something else)

Usually with a scope that's solidly mounted, I've found most 10/22's will generally shoot under 1" at 50 yds as they left the factory, with at least one flavor of ammo. Usually they'll do it with something like mini-mags.

[winelover]

Mine will tell me when it needs to be taken apart and cleaned. I start getting FTF because the bolt wont full close due to build up of bullet lube and powder. Action cleaners will only postpone it for so long. Mine is the full stock version and is a little more involved when taking it apart.

Winelover

[montana_charlie]

Usually they'll do it with something like mini-mags.
I bought mine back when they only cost about sixty bucks, new.
I only shoot a paper target with it when I need to do something with the sights.

Otherwise, it is downright headshot dependable on squirrels/rabbits and smaller vermin out to sixty yards.
And CCI Mini-Mag solids are all that I use.

CM

[Love Life]

I have cleaned mine a couple times in the last 10 years. It has had an el-cheapo Tasco 3X on it since I have owned it. Mine likes remington thunderbolts and chews ragged holes in paper at 25-50 yards. Kills what I point it at within reasonable distance.

[uscra112]

Mine is cleaned with a Bore Snake every time it's used. Didn't get used much, because with ordinary bulk ammo it was no more accurate than a slingshot. 5 MOA was typical. This last summer I got into selecting ammo, and also made tools to "bump" ammo to get a uniform .2250" bullet diameter. That improved some kinds of bulk ammo to a bit over 2 MOA. Selecting and bumping CCI MiniMags got the thing down to 1 MOA. That's still more dispersion than my Marlin 39A will do using MiniMags without selecting and then bumping the bullets. Tried the 10/22 a couple of times on the garden woodchucks anyway. Accuracy was such that the quick followup shot was an absolute necessity. It's back in the safe, and probably will not be taken out again, except when the grandkids want to go plinking.

[TCFAN]

I bought mine for 39.00 dollars new in the late 60's. It came with a walnut stock and no warning on the barrel. Never did shoot very good. So I put a heavy barrel and a Bell&Carson thumb hole stock along with some trigger work and a Weaver T 10 scope and it now give my Anschutz 54 sporter a run for its money.Very seldom have to clean it..........Terry

[JeffinNZ]

Interestinly enough my observations are that almost all the reports of fine 10/22 accuracy a from older rifles. I have seen some 10/22's shoot very average at best.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I bought a International model 10/22 back in the mid `60`s. It was and still is a real nail driver if I use the old Winchester Hi-Vel L.R. H.P.`s. I`ve made up a heavy barrel and stocked model with a after market trigger that was a real 1 holer to shoot. I have another old std. model from the `60`s that is used most now due to the value of the International

[TNsailorman]

I bought the first one I saw back in the 60's, very early one, It shot well but the trigger pul must have been 12 lbs( I didn't have a way to measure trigger pulls back then ). I still killed squirrels without much problem, even a few running. I sold it and never had another until the late 80's. The trigger was better, being around 6 lbs., but the accuracy wasn't there on the new one. Groups run a little over 1 1/2" with a scope. Later, I did do a complete action rework on it using Ron Power parts and the trigger is now a clean 2lbs. with glass break let off. It still will not shoot with my stock 1966 Marlin 39A. Ruger 10/22's are fine rifles IF you are willing to do 3 to 6 hundred dollars of work on them and then set a 10 to 20 power quality scope on top of that. If you want a stock shooter out of the box, they are down the line a ways from other rifles such as the older Marlin Model 60's, Remington 552's, Marlins 39's, etc. I've got an old Winchester Model 67 single shot that will out shoot the 10/22's I have handled. Still, if you want to fill a target full of holes in a hurry, and not worry about grouping, its right there with you. james

[Artful]

Ruger 10/22's seem very ammo sensitive to me - and newer guns have larger chambers than earlier guns it seems. If you go over to rimfire central you will find all kinds of talk about setting back and rechambering with Target pistol (Ruger Mark 2) and improving accuracy in factory barrels. But just selecting ammo and testing will tell you it can be an accurate 22 for hunting - put I would agree that my Romanian 1969 bolt and Marlin 39 lever would both outshoot my 10/22's in stock form.

[Shiloh]

You're right about 10/22's being pick and ammo sensitive. A aftermarket barrel and trigger/sear or good trigger job really sharpens accuracy.

Shiloh

[HARRYMPOPE]

I have had a few BSA Martini's (Int's 12/13's etc)-Win 52's-Rem 37's-Rem 40x's- Anschutz 54's/2013's in various forms and know how well a good 22 with good ammo can shoot.So back to my original question-is my about 2 MOA Ruger 10-22 decent for a 22 semi ?

[Forrest r]

Most stock 10-22's I've seen/used will shoot 1" (good) to 2" (bad) groups @ 50yds. If you have a rifle/ammo combo that will consistently do better, count your blessings.

[Jack Stanley]

My deluxe sporter is from the late seventies . It's trigger was somewhere between atrocious and blasphemy . The hammer was replaced with an aftermarket and fitted to the rifle which helped tremendously . I put a used Leupold centerfire scope on it and it does pretty well with a few different types of ammo . When using other types of ammo it will remind me of how bad it used to shoot with everything .

It gets cleaned every few years or so not so much for the shooting it does now but for the environment . It hangs in the barn loaded with Velocitors just waiting to bust invading woodchucks . For that job it does good and when I get a day when I can hold the rifle still . I still have a small stash of Super-X ammo from back then that will still make one hole groups .

My pal on the other hand , nearly pulled out what little hair he had trying to get a late nineties production standard model to shoot . He finally had to strip it down to the action and use aftermarket parts to make a rifle that was accurate and reliable .

Jack

[MBTcustom]

Part of the reason I am in the business I am in, is because throughout the years I have had an absolute talent for finding all the lemons. I bought a 10-22 from walmart because I liked the 22" barrel length. I thought that the extras long sight radius would make it better for iron sight shooting. Well, that gun wouldn't shoot for beans, so I mounted a scope on it and benched it on sandbags with a target at 50 yards. No matter what ammo I put through it, it wouldn't shoot any better than 4". (My smoothbore shotgun does better than that with RB loads!) I have also found a Ranch mini14 that produced similar groups at the same distance, and a Ruger #1 that shot 2" at 100yards (not mine) that the manufacturer insisted was well within their "4MOA at fifty yard" standard.
Therefore, I have been a bit of a Ruger hater for the last ten years.
However, even though I still think their idea of accuracy is a joke, as well as the whole 10-22 and mini lines, they are gradually winning me back through superior customer service. I intend to give Ruger another chance, but when I find something wrong, its going back to the factory. How they handle that return when (not if) I send it will decide my mind permanently about them.

[HARRYMPOPE]

sounds like i am in there then.

George

[JLDickmon]

I can't tell you my RSI stainless w/ the Mannlicher stock is any more or less accurate than my Target model with heavy forged barrel and 16x scope on it.. I do know the Target model won't shoot target ammo worth a darn.. but it likes the high speed stuff.

[superior]

I have a late 80's Deluxe Sporter and a mid nineties T model. They both make a ragged hole at 50yds and the T does it at 75. The sporter has a 4x scope and the T has a Leupold 3x9. A few years back, I replaced the barrel on the sporter when I noticed that the groups were opening up to 2 inches at 50. The sporter had been cleaned through the muzzle many times before I realized this was a bad practice. The T has only been cleaned from the breach. After the new barrel was installed, I was able to hit a thumb-tack with 4 of 4 shots at 50yds, leaning against the side of my Jeep. After many shots now, the new barrell is still superbly accurate.

[HARRYMPOPE]

superior could i assume that your 10-22's are shooting 1/2 MOA?

George

[rbuck351]

I traded for a slightly used std 10/22 bolted on a cheap 4x scope and went to sight it in. It shot about 2" at 25yds with the 4 or 5 different 22 ammo I had with me. I then took out my Ruger MKI T which shot about 1" groups with the same ammo. I promptly traded the 10/22 for something else and have never got another one. My dad had bought me a Savage 1919NRA target rifle a few years before and now some 40yrs later it still shoots 1/2" to 1 1/2"groups at 50yds depending on ammo.

[JLDickmon]

used to be these things weren't bad shooters.. but now I think they chamber them with a 1/4" drill bit

best part is, usually a barrel and a trigger group will get them shooting dime sized groups in nothing flat.. for a couple hundred bucks..

[shotstring]

Back when I was a young teenager, my friends and I all had different inexpensive 22's. Mine was a used JC Higgins semi auto. We all made head shots on doves at 40 to 60 yards and considered it normal. Wrapped in tinfoil and slow cooked, it became our standard hunting fare. Since then, I have owned 3 or 4 10-22s, a couple of winchester levers and a couple of browning breakdowns and they all shot about the same. Nothing really outstanding, but nothing really bad either. I kept selling the 10-22s because they never impressed me enough to keep one. But then, nothing was cheaper, so I always ended up buying one when I needed a cheap 22. I was surprised to see how Rugers now seem to dominate all the attention except for a few high priced bolt guns or CZ or Savage bolt guns on occasion. They never seemed like anything special to me and in fact I considered them to be strictly middle of the pack. Guess times have changed with the custom work.

[HARRYMPOPE]

I had it out again this AM.it is averaging about 1" for 10 shot groups(shot pretty rapidly) with CCI STD velocity and Hi-Vel Aguila lead HP's
The Federal and Remignton bulk stuff not as good at a bit over1.5". The Blazer is best of the bulk stuff at about 1.25"

george

[Finster101]

used to be these things weren't bad shooters.. but now I think they chamber them with a 1/4" drill bit

best part is, usually a barrel and a trigger group will get them shooting dime sized groups in nothing flat.. for a couple hundred bucks..



Problem is it's only about a $200.00 rifle to start with.