Now that i've discovered the world of the Ruger 10/22... I guess i cannot resist the modification & "we can make it better" route...

Thus i ask thee... if you had a NEW 10/22, with 150 rounds through it... what are the first things that you'd do.. short of a new barrel (which will probably come soon enough)... This isn't a competative target gun.. but a gun for target and plinking and maybe some hunting along the way...

Wrong forum... oooops...

I'll move it for you.

The 10/22 desperately needs trigger work right out of the box, usually. With a decent trigger, it might not need another barrel... I'd always try that first.

The first thing I would do with any 10/22 is have one of the guys that specialize in them to do a trigger job on it. Next would be the barrel, which a lot of folks replace, along with the stock. You see where I'm going with this, right? Once you get started it is almost impossible to stop. :D
Regards,
Rich

See what you can do to make the barrel you've got shoot to your expectations? A .22 LR barrel, properly maintained, can last almost indefinitely. The temperatures and pressures don't chew them up the way high powder rounds do to their barrels.

As the others said, if you are shooting the original trigger either get it worked on or see if there are folks at your local range who have aftermarket triggers and who will let you try them? That's the best way to choose one you like. Until you have a good trigger you are comfortable with, you will probably never shoot to the gun's potential.

Next, in my view, is getting sights you can see and that work well for you. I like to put a scope on a gun I am going to shoot from sandbags just because my eyes don't handle iron sights as well as they used to. This could be temporary, say, a scope swapped off a different gun so that a scope base for the new rifle is all you need. At the same time, figure out what kind of sights you want on it permanently? One way or the other, get something you can see well enough to group the gun with.

I suppose, since I do it myself anyway, I would next bed the stock and use a barrel tuner to find out what the peak mechanical accuracy was going to be? If it still wasn't satisfactory, that's the point at which I would look at action blueprinting and a custom barrel. Buying a new stock before you decide for certain what barrel you will end up with could turn into a waste of money.

Also, .22 RF's are notoriously load sensitive, so you probably ought to think about buying one box of every .22 brand you can get your hands on, and shooting groups with them all to find what your gun likes best? .22 RFs can surprise you. It very well may not be the high price match ammo that it really likes. Which brand it likes best has to be determined over again if you change the barrel or do other major work on the gun.

Thanks for everyone's input... Much appreciated!

we'll start off with the trigger and a bit of "smoothing" out... BTW i do all of my own smithing, machining, etc... so nothing too difficult for me...

We'll start with a hammer, do some sear modifications and an extractor to begin with... and of course an auto bolt release since the stock one is a real PITA... Add a buffer, etc...

I've already decided... the stock walnut stock is staying so if i do a sporter GM barrel it'll fit with minor modifications... a bull barrel will cause me to make a jig and break out the router i reckon....

as for sights... i really need to visit an opthamologist in a bad way... enough so that i can admit it i reckon... I do want to stick with iron sights for now... just to get back into practice and proficiency with them... I like the Tech Sights but i fear that the peep will be too far from my eye for my liking... a Creedmor mounted on the stock would be nice... but with an aftermarket barrel, which is clean i guess i could either get a barrel band and front post or go with a reflex HUD type of display...

What are your experiences with the different sights available? The main reason i would prefer to stick with an open sight is that my Marlin 25N has a scope and i use it for longer range stuff and such... and it is extremely accurate...

just my thoughts... and thank you for yours....

I'd concur- the trigger needs work, definitely.
After that, I would put a good scope on it- a GOOD scope. Then you may find you don't need a new barrel, or anything else.
Test several different loads until you find one the rifle likes, and that may be all you need.
That was my experience.

lets see.... you want a super stock rifle with a stock looking barrel or are you going to get a green mountain fluted blue 920 barrel and a thumbhole stock set? you need a volquartsen target hammer,buffer, exact edge extrator,send your bolt to randy at CPC to have it pinned and faced and the rest of his treatment......oh you're gonna love shooting a 1022 custom as much as the rest of us!! especially when you find ammo that shoots one hole groups at 40-50 yds... enjoy!!


LIFE IS SHORT...........

oh don't forget to try the bulk federal 36 gr. ammo it works the best in my 1022 custom..........


LIFE IS SHORT.................

JBB,

when you speak of CPC, and i've been reading a lot of threads here and there with those letters in it, what exactly does he do to the bolt...

Seeing how i'd like to go with a 20 inch tube, more for asthetics than performance... i think that precludes me from SS... correct?

IT IS EXPLAINED at rimfirecentral alot better than i can but here goes..... he trues up the face of the bolt at the breech end kinda like blueprinting a guy might have done to his car motor back in the seventies.. to make it true as best he can to specs... then he radiuses the and smooths out the back end of the bolt......... one of the best things i like is he puts a pin in the bolt over the firing pin to it from going up and causing miss fires and then to top it off he jewels the side of the bolt you see through the ejection port..... looks really pretty too!! i think i might work on the bottom of the bolt to make it work in the action better too... all for about $55..... i wouldn't have not sent my bolt there to get a true 1022 custom!! i hope i put alittle light on the subject of what RANDY AT CPC does...........good luck......


LIFE IS SHORT..........

Only reason i asked here is because RFC has been moving servers for the past day or so and i can't "browse"...

I did find the CPC website... looked at what he does... his price isn't out of line by any means... not too difficult to do if you have a machine shop at your disposal...

thanks for the information :)

I would agree with the other posters that trigger work is the first item to pursue. A decent gunsmith can alter your existing trigger to a good 2 1/2 to 3 pound break for a modest fee. IMHO the better way to go is with a new custom hammer or sear. Either will bring you trigger pull down to 2 1/2 pounds or so. Power makes good parts as do several others. I prefer going this route because I feel the after market hammers/sears are much better steel than the factory parts. Midway usa offers lots of 10-22 parts you can purchase via the net.... Another item to consider is the barrel band at the front of the stock. I have never had a 10-22 that didn't shoot better without the band and with a little bit of bedding work...

This rifle has been worked over by so many folks. It is abit like the "1911 of .22 rimfire rifles". It makes me wonder "what did Bill Ruger Sr. do to his personal specimen?

I can recall only two that I have been privleged to perform work on in the past decade. Both were hunting rifles. The first belonged to a "bud" that just asked me to "check it out" for the coming hunting season. I loaded the mag and fired it as is. My first "attempt" at the trigger had me looking to see if I had left the saftey on? Nope! It just pulled hard. This rifle had been in service for awhile.

The second one was "new in the box". It came to me from a new shooter that asked to use my "range" to sight-in his new rifle/scope. He got "flustered" about failure to feed/eject.

My "fix" in both cases was a "detail" clean and lube job.
I won't say that I made a competitive rifle of either one. Both of them shot near 2MOA with "bulk" ammo though! Made a big difference to the trigger on the first one, and made the second "run" as it was designed.

Disclaimer: I am not a gunsmith! I just enjoy making this stuff work. "WILL CLEAN GUNS FOR FOOD" is on my underwear. "WILL CLEAN GUNS FOR UNDERWEAR" is on my hat. I DO NOT CLEAN UNDERWEAR FOR ANYONE!
Cut those "pesky brown spots out' for yourself!

A tip: Old underwear makes decent cleaning patches. Cut the brown spot out and put it in a postage-paid envelope that came from junk mail. Send it in :D .

I don't own one. I do think the Ruger 10-22 is a great rifle! Alot of good shooters and smiths agree! Simple cleaning can work also. Depends on what you want to do with it?

Cheezywan

I have three 10-22's. The first two started out as mine and ended up being my son's first repeaters. The last one is mine. I would start with a buffer as it is the simplest thing to do. I polished the triggers myself on the boys guns with a cratex fine wheel and made a huge improvement in them.

If you know what Eagle belting is a short piece of .25" diameter orange Eagle belt material will make a good recoil buffer. This and adding scopes are the only modification I have made to mine. One of the guys on rimfirecentral sells buffers that look like this same stuff and buying one from him for about $6.95 or whatever his price is would be a good thing.

I would go with a sporter contour on an after market barrel if I were to go farther. Since I smoothed the triggers on two of them they are starting to have some extraction problems and the next thing might be an extractor upgrade.

The sky is the limit on these guns but start with the easy, lower priced mods.

Thank you for all suggestions and everything you've passed along... much appreciated eh.

Ordered some parts to get the action in better shape (hammer, buffer, etc)... i'll do the bolt work myself...

I have been looking at the Reflex red dot optics... huge span in prices, sizes and offerings... anyone have any suggestions on those? I have never seen a 10/22 with one mounted but short of magnifying optics i think they'd fit my desires pretty well...

. . . If you know what Eagle belting is a short piece of .25" diameter orange Eagle belt material will make a good recoil buffer. . .

I've useed Fenner's link belts to cut vibration. I was not familiar with their Eagle line. Would you mind looking at the link here and telling us which Eagle belt you are referring to? If you have the time, could you make and post a picture of your buffer for everyone's education?

Link: http://www.fennerdrives.com/eagle_polyurethane/eagle_home.asp

Thanks!

I just "re-read" all the posts here. It "seems" that all here are really dedicated to getting the most from this fine rifle.

For "pure accuracy" improvements, I agree with trigger work first. Second on my list is the barrel. More so, the chamber I think! Too much "freebore" in most rimfires. After that, it is about making them "work" longer and better.

I have always been pretty well pleased with a rimfire sporter that will hit a walnut at fifty yards or so. I 'figured" that nine more rounds in the magizine made up the difference?
Like all, I prefer to get it done with the first shot. Nine more in the same hole is "big fun" too.

Cheezywan

Now that i've discovered the world of the Ruger 10/22... I guess i cannot resist the modification & "we can make it better" route...

Thus i ask thee... if you had a NEW 10/22, with 150 rounds through it... what are the first things that you'd do.. short of a new barrel (which will probably come soon enough)... This isn't a competative target gun.. but a gun for target and plinking and maybe some hunting along the way...

JA,

Send it here - It will come back BETTER!

http://www.clarkcustomguns.com/

The Ruger 10/22 can become a real money-pit. I bought the no-frills 10/22RB model with standard barrel and birch stock.

First came the Power Custom Trigger, Hammer and Sear... Then the VQ Bolt Release and Buffer...
Then I was about to lay down the money for a new Boyd's stock and GM target barrel...but I couldn't do it.

I couldn't help but think that if I wanted a 22 that shot like an Anschutz, why didn't I just buy an Anschutz in the first place. With all of the aftermarket parts and the cost of the original gun, I could have bought a rifle that was a tackdriver out of the box. On top of that, this rifle would never simulate the feel of my deer rifles (bolt actions).

Well, I ended up buying a CZ 452 American that puts just about anything into tiny groups (not just Winchester Dynapoints or Wolf Match Target or whatever like so many 10/22s).

Then I made the best investment (in my opinion) for my 10/22. I got a Williams Firesight Peep for it, and that thing is a blast to shoot now. With the peep, I'm not worried about how small of a group it can shoot, but I seem to be able to put a full clip into whatever I'm aiming at within 25 yards in very little time.

Hey, why have one fun .22 when you can get two of them for about the same price?

amndouglas

I'll move it for you.

The 10/22 desperately needs trigger work right out of the box, usually. With a decent trigger, it might not need another barrel... I'd always try that first.
Can i do the triggerwork myself?Or who can do it 4 me?

Drop-in parts are the simple, easy way to go. Any of the gun parts suppliers should have what you need - example, dig around on www.midwayusa.com and search on "10/22"....

i really lucked out when i got parts for my 1022 custom... volquartsen customs had their target hammers in the bargain bin because they were seconds... they were cosmetically flawed.... but they were mechanically sound in that they were shaped right... i called their shop and talked to scott volquartsen.. he said if i bought the parts from them they will install them.... carroll is only about 45 mins from me so i went down to volquartsen customs and they had one of the techs there put the hammer in but when i came back to pick it up scott v told me the hammer was in but the tech was still workin on the trigger pull to get it the way he liked it! i asked how much that was going to cost and he told me nothing he just wanted it right... sooooo. i got a target hammer installed and a sear-trigger rework from a custom shop for $20..... YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT SERVICE!!!!! my baby 1022 had absolutely the best trigger pull i've ever felt on a 1022..... if you can get to volquartsen customs it's well worth it!

LIFE IS SHORT...........

There are two book out (The Ultimate 10/22 Manual) $19.99 and ( Customize The Ruger 10/22) $29.99 Cabelas have both books listed in their 2007 Shooting and Reloading catalog. Have fun.