10/22 Travels and Thoughts

[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.