Accuracy improvements for Ruger 10-22?

[Patrick L]

I have played around with both rim sorting and swaging the bullet to a uniform diameter. I have Paco Kelly's tool for the swaging. I plan to add weight sorting to the mix this summer.

As to whether or not it helps, I think its a qualified maybe. In my experience, if ammo is shooting very poorly you're wasting your time. Likewise, I wouldn't do this on any premium ammo, it's already been done, that's why it's premium ammo. And don't forget, if you can't shoot a group, fixing the ammo won't help.

BUT, I found some inexpensive ammo "wants" to shoot. I have a ring binder that I keep all my targets in. I have found that CCI Blazers and Mini Mags would often shoot 4 rounds into a dime at 50 yards, but then there was ALWAYS a flier. I assumed I was just yanking one, but after repeatedly doing this over an extended period (like 3 years or so) I started to wonder. A VERY experienced older shooter told me he had tested this same thing extensively, and he felt that it was simply inconsistency in the ammo.

So to make a long story short, tweaking ammo that had ALREADY SHOWN POTENTIAL seemed to reduce those mystery fliers. Again if a particular brand is shooting 1 inch plus at 50 yards, probably a waste of time.

I'm not done yet, this project continues...

[30calflash]

I didn't read all the replies but unless you've bought a lot of A/M parts already maybe look into Ct. Precision Chambering:

http://ct-precision.com/

A friend had the work done to his, I'll see about the outcome on it.

[NSB]

I have seen very few Ruger barrels that shoot stellar groups. I’ve seen some so bad that you couldn’t group in five inches at fifty yards. I actually saw one once that had the bore off center at the muzzle. If it were mine, I’d buy an inexpensive aftermarket barrel for it and see how that works. Almost every aftermarket barrel I’ve ever seen put on a Ruger 10/22 shot anywhere from “pretty good” to “excellent”. I’ve shot literally hundreds of thousands of rounds of rimfire ammo over the years, much of it in competition. I’ve never seen a really poor barrel perform simply by shooting premium ammo. All you’re doing there is putting lipstick on a pig…..it’s still a pig.

[uscra112]

Well, nothing will fix a genuinely bad barrel, but it's easily demonstrable that sorting commodity ammo by weight and rim thickness, and swaging it to increase/uniform bullet diameter, will cut groups shot from merely ordinary barrels in half. In these days of ammo famine that's got to count for something.

[tazman]

If I can't get this rifle to shoot acceptably without spending money on new parts, and by just making adjustments, it will go down the road.
I am not going to use match ammo in it. I will shoot hunting ammo like I would use on squirrels or rabbits.
Acceptably means squirrel head sized groups at 50 yards. Call it about an inch.
Currently, it is nowhere near that.

[NSB]

Regardless of what you hear about weighing, sorting, etc, none of that will make a bad barrel shoot good. If it were me, and I didn’t want to buy another barrel, I’d send it down the road. All the other things you can try are usually a waste of time. If you want to give it a try, I have most of a container of LBT here that you can try using. It’s not something I’ll be using again so you’re welcome to it. It might help a little bit. Send me a PM if you want to try it.

[tazman]

Regardless of what you hear about weighing, sorting, etc, none of that will make a bad barrel shoot good. If it were me, and I didn’t want to buy another barrel, I’d send it down the road. All the other things you can try are usually a waste of time. If you want to give it a try, I have most of a container of LBT here that you can try using. It’s not something I’ll be using again so you’re welcome to it. It might help a little bit. Send me a PM if you want to try it.

Please forgive my ignorance. What is LBT?

[TimD]

My deluxe model dates from the mid 90's and does not have a barrel band. Accuracy was around 3" at 50 yards if memory serves. I don't remember aftermarket triggers and barrels being around. I decided to glass bed the action, not a fun job, and float the barrel. Groups shrunk to about 1" at 50 yards. It is not picky about ammo and shoots everything about the same. It is stock except for the bedding and a Bushnell 3x9 scope.

It was the first gun I glass bedded. I floated the barrel first then used a Dremel to hollow out the wood around the action, filled the receiver voids with clay, and used enough release agent for two bedding jobs. For a few minutes the next morning I thought it might be permanently bedded but it finally came out. It was not an easy job, but was worth the effort in the end.

A good while after I floated the barrel I read it was a bad thing because of the aluminum receiver, but I have not had any problems.

It has been a while, but I remember having to take a lot of material off the forearm near the tip, especially on one side.

[dverna]

My stock 10/22 did not shoot very well either. I got a Green Mountain barrel for it and it helped a lot. I had not shot it for years and took it out a couple of days ago. 16 (5 shot) groups averaged just under 1" at 50 yards. Just used Federal Auto Match I had. Going to try some other cheap stuff but I am OK with that if that is the best it will do. The trigger is not great so I may invest in improving it. And I need a better scope on it.

If you are adamant about not spending anything, I would try two things. Put a tight patch down the barrel and see if there are any tight/rough spots. Lapping would help if you find an issue. I would also touch up the crown using a brass screw and lapping compound.

I am curious about the rim measuring idea. I had a few groups with the Auto Match that were .6-.8". If rim sorting would get me from 1" to .7" that would be worth doing for the hunting ammunition I need.

Keep us posted on how you make out.

[NSB]

Please forgive my ignorance. What is LBT?

Look at response from Crappie-Hunter. It’s a bore lapping paste that’s pretty easy to use. Instructions for it can be found on-line. It’s pretty much just dipping a bullet in the paste and firing it through the barrel…clean, and repeat. Google LBT barrel lapping and it should come up. Dverna’s comments about a tight patch down the bore looking for tight spots is a good place to start. Put a lot of lube on the patch and make sure it’s fairly tight (don’t get it stuck) and you’ll feel any tight spots in there. That’s where the lapping compound does its work.

[uscra112]

I went and bought this gage:

https://www.amazon.com/Raven-Eye-Cus...A%3D%3D&sr=8-1

$21 on Amazon. Haven't gotten real serious with it yet, but it's easy enough to use. A small sample of 65 Auto Match, already weight sorted, showed a min-max range of .0385 to .0400, leaving out one outlier at .0405 and one at .0375. (My digital caliper only resolves to .0005.) Something I found interesting is that almost any cartridge could be made to show thicker or thinner by by .0005 rotating it in the gage. Draw your own conclusions about that.

[Seeker]

For what it's worth, there are a few things that I have done to my 10-22 that has worked for me. It shot 2" 50 yd. groups at best and now it will shoot 1/4" groups at 50 and same hole at 25yds.

1- Shoot ammo with the velocity specs. to match your barrel length.
1000-1100 fps for 16"-18" barrel
1100-1200 fps for a 18-20" barrel
1200-1300 fps for a 20-22" barrel
1300-1400 fps for a 22-24" barrel

My 10-22 loves and is most accurate with CCI SV which is rated at 1070 fps and if I shoot any of the high velocity stuff, the groups open up.

2- Clean the bore good and the chamber really good. I do this by using a new or slightly used bore brush in the chamber and first 1" or so of the barrel after a good soaking with solvent. I'm betting that a lot of good .22s have been sent down the road because of poor accuracy, when a good cleaning was all that was needed to remove the carbon ring that builds up just in front of the chamber that can't be removed with just a casual cleaning. I use Ballistol on all my guns but others have their own preferences. The remainder of the barrel gets swabbed with patches and brushed once or twice with a worn out bore brush. You don't want to remove the seasoning from the bore. Remove that carbon ring and you will see a difference.

3- I was a little skeptical of this but it did improve the accuracy of my 10-22 that I bought back in the 80s. It's just a bare bones, birch stock, stainless barrel, aluminum receiver 10-22. everything is stock, except the electrical tape and Konus 6-24X44 scope.
Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud6TbXHJbo4&t=214s

I haven't felt the need to fiddle with the torque on the action screws yet, but I may play around with it some day. I hope some of this helps you out. I don't claim to be no expert by any means but it works for me. It doesn't cost anything to try and may save another perfectly good rifle from being sent down the road because it didn't shoot good. The 10-22 wasn't meant to be a precision shooter but it sure can be a tack driver if it's taken care of.

[30calflash]

Nice write up Seeker, may try it with mine.

I had 1980's version that shot honest 1.25" at 50 yds with Remington Golden HV and a Bushnell 4x scope. If I'd known better that the newer ones were difficult I wouldn't have traded it off.

[Thundarstick]

Ive got one that's suppressed, quiet as a mouse fart,and accurate to boot! The only thing stock is the receiver, and I could probably have bought an Anschutz with the money I have in it! I've built a bunch of them over the years, and they can be made quite accurate, but with few factory components worth salvaging, even some receivers aren't square from the factory! I'm whittled down to one 10/22 these days and only keep it because it's so unique.

10/22s have several things working against accuracy from the factory, the worst offender is that sloppy chamber! You can't do much with one on the cheep! So sell it and buy something that works better for you!

[tazman]

I took the Ruger 10/22 to the range today and gave it a work out. I cleaned it thoroughly before the trip.
I tried nearly everything people have mentioned in this thread. Nothing improved the groups except for playing with the stock screw torque.
Turns out, the rifle shot it's best with the stock screw barely tight.
Unfortunately, even shooting it's best, it was still too inaccurate to keep. The best group of the day with it measured slightly over 1.5 inches at 25 yards. 6 shots in 1 inch with 4 scattered around out of the group. Not anywhere near good enough.
I can do groups like that or better with my old Remington 512 bolt gun with open sights.
Thank you all for your input. It appears this rifle is one of the bad ones. I am not going to spend any more time or money on it.
It is going to go down the road.

[Rizzo]

tazman,
When I read your OP it reminded me of the wide variation in groups that I got with different ammo that I tried in my 10/22.
Back in 2013 or so when 22LR ammo was scarce, as it is today, I bought whatever was available.
I ended up with quite a few brands.
I tried them all (maybe a dozen or so) and saw quite a difference.

I scan my targets into my computer for future reference so I went and looked at that data.
On my 10/22, the most accurate were CCI HP Mini Mags, CCI Std. Velocity, Aguilla Super Extra 40 grn., and Rem. Golden Bullets.
The worst was Fed. Champion solids 40 grn.
You said that you tried various ammo, with no satisfaction, although you did not mention how many different ammo you tried.

I realize this isn't the time to go buy different brands because of scarcity but I can't help but think it might just be the ammo.
Anyway, I just wanted to mention my experience on a similar situation.

[NSB]

Taxman, if you want to give it one last try, I’ll mail you the LBT paste I have and it’s yours to keep. You can’t hurt the barrel any by trying it and it may just be the ticket to getting it shooting better. I don’t think it will be a tack driver, but it may get to where it shoots five shots into an inch at 25 yards. You would have to try some standard velocity ammo to find out. Let me know and I’ll send it to you to try. All you do is dip the bullet tip in the paste and shoot the gun. Clean thoroughly and repeat. After a few shots, test for accuracy. It’s free and you have nothing to lose. Give it one last shot…literally.

[tazman]

Taxman, if you want to give it one last try, I’ll mail you the LBT paste I have and it’s yours to keep. You can’t hurt the barrel any by trying it and it may just be the ticket to getting it shooting better. I don’t think it will be a tack driver, but it may get to where it shoots five shots into an inch at 25 yards. You would have to try some standard velocity ammo to find out. Let me know and I’ll send it to you to try. All you do is dip the bullet tip in the paste and shoot the gun. Clean thoroughly and repeat. After a few shots, test for accuracy. It’s free and you have nothing to lose. Give it one last shot…literally.

Thanks for the offer but I am not going to work on this rifle any more. I am done with it.


RIZZO--- I tried 8 or 9 different brands and types of ammo in this thing. I even tried some low end match rifle ammo in it without success. The match was a pain in the backside. It wouldn't open the action far enough to feed the next round and didn't eject about half of them. It still didn't group any better.

[uscra112]

Leave the man alone, guys. He's made his decision.

[1006]

My 10-22 has always been accurate, but I do not know how accurate—I like shooting fist sized rocks off of the 100 yard berm at the range.

Some time ago I read an article about 10-22 accuracy gains. The author measured groups after a few enhancements-barrel, trigger, and bedding. The trigger gave the most improvement. I do not remember all of the measured gains, just that the trigger gave the greatest improvement.

I have found the 10-22 to be such a small gun that I have a hard time getting situated with it when aiming. I installed a John Manson but pad to increase the LOP. The pads used to be sold for the Mini 14 and 10/22. They fit the standard Birch wood stocks that have a barrel band.

A number of U-tubers suggest that the secret to a stock 10-22’s accuracy is in the action’s mounting screw tension. Mine seems to work well around 10 inch-pounds.