10/22 Travels and Thoughts

[Gtek]

Purchased my first in 1980 after just exiting High School, stained pallet wood, plastic banded, alloy trigger housing with flat mag release. Shoots okay other than stock trigger was 6+, stoned and played after purchased and it is now just over three and is a solid little shooter. 2001 bought another, went to installing fat barrel/Bentz and Hogue and a 3x9 and it shoots a little tighter, trigger still almost 5. The whole SBR/Brace monkey shine going on now I thought I needed a Charger, a 10" fixed lives here now and aluminum brace adapter is inbound. Bloop tube to be made to get to 16.1" on a take off barrel, 12" so can will stick out an inch at 17", or 10"/can with brace, time will tell. Trigger was 2.8 out of the box, did I win something? Well. with the 10/22 mental melt going on I find BX Triggers for $60, ordered two. Not being or wanting to enter into the level of screw in barrel and four hundred dollar trigger housing 10/22 club I got off the gas. The 2.8 went to the early, two new ones (2.1 and 2.3) in fat barrel and Charger. Hopefully this weekend all will get a truck ride!
Magazines- Always played the ten rounders, no need for more on bench or tree rats, etc. with flush and tight. The Charger came with a BX-15 and this is where the mind wandered. 10 rounds in the little rotary, okay, fifteen rounds in a magazine I can lay two boxes equaling 100 rounds on top and still have room and the just arrived BX-25's you can lay three boxes on? You would think with all the powerhouse engineering capabilities someone in camp would have captured a thought to create more than 25 rounds in a seven inch by inch and a quarter 22 long rifle magazine, maybe smaller magazine? Maybe I am being to critical or missing the thought process in the design. I have screw in palm stands for my Schutzen poppers. maybe that's it, beats me. A lot of Bill's stuff lives here but at the end of the day, but being real quite I still would probably grab one of the old tuned Marlins heading out for some 22 fun, maybe that will change.

[tazman]

Early 1990s I had a 10/22 stainless that worked and shot really well. I had a couple of my best squirrel hunts with it.
Later on life happened and that rifle and some other firearms went to pay bills.
In the last several years, I have purchased four different 10/22 rifles trying to find one that shoots and functions reasonably well. No luck.
I don't demand much. It needs to make it through a 10 round magazine without failing to feed or fire more often than every third magazine or so. Accuracy needs to be squirrels head at 40 yards. This should be easily attainable but none of the 10/22 rifles I have purchased will do that.
The last one was brand new in the box. Even after 500 rounds and a lot of cleaning, it would never complete a magazine without a failure of some kind. Failure to feed, failure to eject, and failure to fire were common. Accuracy was poor. I am talking 2 inch groups at 25 yard using good optics here.
The rifle was useless.
I have given up on 10/22 rifles completely. I don't want to buy a project rifle that needs a lot of work or third party parts to function properly.
A rifle should be able to do what I require right out of the box. Anything else is a ripoff.

[TNsailorman]

I had an early 10-22 that was very accurrate but had a hard trigger pull on it. Must have been at least 12 lbs. but if you took your time and squeezed very slowly you could overcome that somewhat. I have one that my wife bought me for Christmas in the 90's (stainless & synthetic) that is reasonably accurate. I did a complete trigger job on it soon after getting it. I used a kit that I bought through Brownelll's and it works great. Something under a 1 and 1/2 lb pull ( I am guessing as I don't have a trigger gauge) with a very smooth clean break. It is almost too light. Although it is reasonable on accuracy, I have 3 rifles ( a Winchester 67A, a Marlin 39, and a Winchester 190 ) that are more accurrate. 10-22 is a great little platform but as far as I am concerned, it is a starter platform to build on if you really want accurracy. may experience anyway, james

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Experiences and thoughts....well, back in about 1968 I had a friend who liked to hunt squirrels. He had purchased a Ruger 10/22, the International model with the Mannlicher-style stock. It was very accurate, and he was able to shoot grey tree squirrels, one per shot. I was impressed and desired to add a 10/22 to my accumulation, but couldn't get one for several years. When I did it was the regular carbine-style rifle. I was very disappointed with the accuracy, which didn't approach that of the one my friend owned. I sold it and bought a Marlin Mod. 60 which I found to be very accurate, and which I still own.
Actually, it is a Glenfield model. I think that the fact that there are so many do-it-yourself products available to make the rifle more accurate and for customizing that it speaks for itself.

DG

[Iron369]

Just put this one together last week. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230420/6845d2e66deec6b7f3fdea0d79a05ae9.jpg

[Mk42gunner]

My thoughts on the 10-22.
Somewhere there must be a factory one that shoots well out of the box. I have never personally seen one, but it may be out there.

You can make one shoot, but it ain't cheap. A good barrel and Volquartson internals help a lot.

If you want a fairly accurate .22 automatic, buy a Marlin Model 60.

Robert

[BadgerShooter]

I bought 2 10-22 T models when they came out 20+ years ago. They both shoot great and have been extremely reliable. I wonder how much of the reliability issues are mag related. I haven't purchased mags in years. Quality slipping? I own a raft of extremely accurate 22 match rifles and these Rugers are not far behind. Solid little performers. It's sad to see quality slipping on these and other standard guns we've relied on for years. You shouldn't have to rebuild a new rifle to get it to perform.

[Gtek]

My first Model 60 I bought as soon as I turned 18, for a whole $69 at Kmart and the first 10/22 not long after, yea I guess I am getting up there. I now have more variants of the Marlin's than somebody should probably have but I like them. This new Charger I stripped and grabbed a fired case, dropped it in and a fired case rattles in the pipe. It was purchased to build a plate run toy for morning fellowship with the other "Seasoned" shooters at the club. I hope it holds minute of plate!

[rbuck351]

I have only owned one 10/22. It grouped about 2" at 25yds with the 5 or 6 different brands of ammo I had on hand. I traded it for something and gave up on 10/22s.

[georgerkahn]

I was more than intrigued with the M1 Carbine stock kit (maybe, but do not 100% remember?) I bought from Brownell's to fit on a slightly-used 10/22 I had (at the time) recently taken in as trade from another club member. Hey -- in terms of looks -- I'd rate it a 9.7 on the 10-scale. In NYS any mags greater than having a capacity of more than ten rounds are severely against the law, and I "discovered" the rotary five-round ones PLUS the fasteners to attach two to each other -- kind of remembrance to "Jungle Clipping" mags in 'Nam. Re accuracy, albeit I bought and installed a Volquartson trigger, this carbine surely could not win any contests :(. BUT -- its looks (imho) surely make up for it, and -- a paper plate at 75 yards is still almost always hit... A fun carbine!
geo

[uscra112]

My thoughts on the 10-22.
Somewhere there must be a factory one that shoots well out of the box. I have never personally seen one, but it may be out there.

You can make one shoot, but it ain't cheap. A good barrel and Volquartson internals help a lot.

If you want a fairly accurate .22 automatic, buy a Marlin Model 60.

Robert

My sentiments exactly. The only one I ever had is the only rifle I've ever sent packing. Why own a rifle that needs double the purchase price in modifications to make it shoot as well as a box-stock Marlin.?

[racepres]

My 1977 model seems to do just fine... Wonder what years of production has to do with the equation??

[Rebel Dave]

All you guys that don't like the Ruger 10-22s, check out the Rossi RS-22. Its a nice little gun@ a good price point. mine shoots great.

Dave

[Texas by God]

I’ve never been impressed with their triggers or accuracy but both of the ones I had were reliable.
The first was a walnut stocked carbine I bought for myself on my eighteenth birthday.
The second was a beautiful stainless Mannlicher stocked one.
A hunting buddy offered me a Remington 700 .243 even up for it.
Duh, okay.[emoji3]


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[uscra112]

Ruger must assume that their customers will sooner or later try to cram these "hypervelocity" rounds, which have longer than standard brass, into the gun. Hence their chambers are wide and long, which does nothing for accuracy. Add to that that they hammer-forge their barrels.

As for me, I'm done with semi-autos. When I've needed a repeater .22 my Marlin 39s has always come through with flying colors. But I do use Model 60 barrels to rebarrel old "boys' rifles".

[Fishoot]

At last count, I think I have 6 10/22's. My experience closely resembles Gtek's, although I was a little later entering the game. That was back in the 80's. All of my 10/22's feed like ravenous wolves and never choke. I found a local man that had China turn out some trigger castings that he tuned and put in the original 10/22 trigger groups. The tuned trigger castings made for a pull of between 2 and 3 pounds and they were as crisp as over-cooked bacon. I found that the 10/22 factory barrels were just fine but needed to have the breech end of the chamber shaved so a round would just kiss the rifling with light thumb pressure. They also unanimously preferred Winchester Dynapoint ammo, which sadly, is no longer being made. Winchester Power Point shoots as well, if you can find it. All my guns are 1/2" at 50 yards, with the right ammo, trigger, and barrel tune.

[Fishoot]

Racepres, My first Ruger wo/22 was about the same vintage. I bought it used. It had 2 rails for the bolt to ride in cast or machined into the top of the receiver. I think that gave the bolt more support in its back and forth cycling. Later models only have one rail.

[Gtek]

Never considered a little face trim for a light kiss with possible tightening up of the group, might lean into that. I have a little pile of Marlin microgroove barrels and was even toying "stubbing" a 10/22 shank and a tighter chamber for the fun. Thank you Mr. Fishoot for your thoughts.

[Goldstar225]

I've owned 2 10/22s. Both were/are reliable and capable of taking squirrels to 50 yards. I've had my current one for 35 years. When I first bought it I installed a volquartson hammer which brought the trigger down to 2 - 2 1/2 pounds. Good accuracy with CCI mini-mag HP. Had one series of winchester power point that would consistently group under a dime at 25 yards. Last fall I decided to squeeze a little more precision out of it and installed a Federson 18" tapered barrel. So far CCI mini-mag and CCI subsonic HP are grouping under 1/2" at 35 yards, slightly bettter than the factory barrel.

[fastdadio]

Pops gave me a new 10/22 for my 16th birthday in 1974. I still have it. I cant even imagine how many 10s of thousands of rounds this rifle has put down range. My friends and I shot the snot out of it. Every outing was at least a brick (500) rounds, sometimes multiple bricks. This went on for decades. The trigger group finally wore out and it started firing multiple rounds at a time. First two rounds, then 3 rounds at a time. I didn't care about that, it was actually kind of cool, but then the safety detent broke and the safety bolt was just loose and flopping side to side as in tilt the rifle to the right - safety on. Tilt to the left - safety off. Couldn't have that so I contacted Ruger and they sent me a new trigger group in the mail.
Cleaning was only ever punching the bore, oiling the bolt with what ever I had at the time and wiping it down. When the new trigger group arrived I decided it was time for a complete disassembly and cleaning. I'm still amazed at how much gunk I scraped out of the upper receiver.
In all that time and rounds fired, the rifle has never, not once, failed to feed, fire, or eject a round. A dud round is the only thing that will stop it. The bore still looks good and it shoots as tight a group as it did when new. As in all rifles, ammo is everything when looking at groups. It does very well with Ely Standard and target ammo, and is good enough with Federal Game 40gr standard vel. ammo. I've never fed it much of the 36gr high vel stuff since it doesn't group well with that at all.
So with all that being said, I guess we can all agree it's not a target rifle, but when it comes to a dependable, durable, all around, plinking, hunting, youth training fun gun to own, the 10/22 has earned it's place.
My dad gave it to me and myself and all my friends shot the dog snot out of it. I taught my son to shoot with it, and now his son, my grandson, is learning to shoot with a 10/22 that his great grandfather gave to me almost 50 years ago.
Kind of cool when you think of it that way. If that's not an heirloom rifle, I don't know what is.

[Outer Rondacker]

I stopped building up 10/22s over 15 years ago. I love them but parts got very expensive. Guns are now junk from the factory now. If you dont mind doing a little bit of work they can be good little guns. Sadly I think money can be spent elsewhere on a better rifle. I am also as others have mentioned done with semi rifles. A henry lever is a better purchase in my mind. If you need a semi grab a Marlin mod 60 stock out the box will run circles around the 10/22. The only thing I see that the Ruger has to offer is a magazine. If you do not need semi than I would suggest the Savage mod 93 FVSR. Great short bolt action for cheaper than a ruger and has a magazine with suppressor ready threaded barrel. Can be had for under 250 bucks if you shop around.

[racepres]

Racepres, My first Ruger wo/22 was about the same vintage. I bought it used. It had 2 rails for the bolt to ride in cast or machined into the top of the receiver. I think that gave the bolt more support in its back and forth cycling. Later models only have one rail.
Hmm.. I can't seem to truly identify 2 rails.. looks like a shelf between to raised areas perhaps on top...If I had to describe the bolt Guide, I would agree the "shelf must ride between those raised "rails" .. I would also say that the bolt rides on a Rail on the inside, and the Shelf that is on the Right (ejection port) side. Maybe Mine only has 1 Rail... tho it is in the 116-916XX serial block
Interesting Observation none the less...
as an aside, I also have a Winchester model 94 that dates from 1982.. last of the Non AE I believe... terrible receiver finish tho...

[bedbugbilly]

I don't remember what year I bought my first 10/22 - it was one of the standard carbines with a wood stock. I had seen them for years and one day when I was in a LGS to pick up a pistol I had ordered, I spotted one on the rack and decided it would be fun. I must have been lucky from some of the posts here as it was a decent shooter and it seemed to eat anything Liz fed it. Like georgerkahr, I ended up buying an M-1 carbine kit from Sarco and made it into that profile, added the sights, etc. and really enjoyed it. Then one day, the "Obama Shortage" hit. After a while, I parked my 22s and eventually sold the 10/22 M1. I had found NIB Henry youth model lever action with the Brooklyn address and once in a while I would put a few rounds through it at critters on the farm. I did miss the 10/22 though. Flash ahead to two weeks ago. I was still in Arizona where we winter and a friend went to Colorado to help his elderly parents move and his Dad gave him all of his guns. Among them was a Ruger 10/22 carbine with a synthetic stock - like new and probably never shot, along with a Ruger SR22 pistol. They were duplicate of what my friend already has, so short story, he sold them to me at a more than fair price. So now, I have another 10/22! My excuse for getting it was that I had a spare magazine kicking around from my first 10/22 and I needed something to use it in. Hah!

Not sure what I'm going to do with this 10/22. I'm not big on synthetic stocks, so I may try and find a "take-off" wood stock from a standard carbine - or - I may decide to convert it into one of the M1 carbine conversions again. I really did like the one I had before and like George says - it's kind of neat looking and fun.

I still have a very moderate stash of 22 ammo - not a lot, but it's not doing any good to anyone just sitting in a waterproof ammo can. At my age, it's foolish to not at least enjoy it and I've decided that I'm going to start picking up ammo when I can find it at a reasonable price - you have to understand that I am still thinking about how, as a kid, I could go to the hardware store in town, lay down 50 cents and walk out with a box of 50 rounds. Those days are long gone.

I also have a couple of other 22 rifles that I'd like to start shooting. I have a Henry lever action Frontier model that I have never shot - bought it new when I stopped to pick up a rifle that I had ordered and the LGS had just received two of them for stock - couldn't pass it up - always a sucker for an octagon barrel!

The other is a sentimental rifle - a Winchester Model 63 with the original Weaver scope - my Dad bough it new about 1950. It was always in the rack, but we were never allowed to shoot it as it was "Dad's gun". I highly doubt that it has had 500 rounds through it and it's like new. When I settled my parent's estate, I let my brother take most of the guns as he had kids and they all hunted. I chose the Model 63 and a couple of Winchester 94 comparatives.

My wife and I never had kids, but it's a shame that things are the way they are now - the anti-gun attitude, ammo shortages, etc. It's always a great pleasure for me to go to a range and see kids shooting 22s and other rifles/pistols under the watchful eye of their parents or grandparents - learning gun safety and the joy of the hobby. When I was a kid, they still offered shooting classes after school. They had a big rolling "trap" they kept in the old gym and different fellows from he community would come in and teach gun safety, shooting positions, etc. with 22 rifles. But then, every boy carried a pocket knife all the time for whittling, cleaning their fingernails, etc. - times have sure changed and not for the better.

[nicholst55]

Ruger 10/22 mags can be tweaked for reliability. Take a look on Rimfire Central for ideas and a how-to. I agree that as popular as the rifle has been for decades, you'd think that Ruger would make them a tad more accurate. I have no desire to dump $1K+ into a 10/22 to make it shoot accurately enough to be worth keeping. Even then, it won't be as accurate as a good bolt gun, let alone an Anschutz.

[Thundarstick]

You can have a semi- auto that will eat anything you feed it, or an accurate semi- auto, just not at the same time! The one I have now has a Clark barrel, aftermarket pinned bolt, Kidd two stage trigger, and custom stock. Running a neoprene bolt stop and suppressor it's quiet as mouse farts, and generally holds CCI Subsonic HPs in nearly the same hole at 25 yards (of course you get fliers from CCI ammo) but it's lights out on sparrows and squirrels! I've personally never had a factory 10/22 that would shoot under 3/4 inch at 25 yards, but I know some will. I swear my old 552 Speedmaster will out shot most and it's nearly 50 years old!

[35remington]

A stock factory 10/22 can be fairly reliable if kept reasonably clean and fed decent ammo. I have enough experience with variations thereof to suggest that anyone claiming bughole or small group accuracy with it will need to demonstrate it personally in front of me for me to believe it. So far after many years zero takers to that challenge.