[Combat-wombat]

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one. Is there anything I should know about it? Any problems? Any reason I shouldn't buy it? Does it have good accuracy (I do not need great accuracy at all, this is basically a fun rifle. I just want it to have fairly good accuracy), is it reliable, etc.?

Also, what about those Butler Creek "Hot lips" magazines for it? I will want spare magazines and I like that you can clip those together. Do they feed reliably, etc.?

[Jeff C]

I have had great luck with my 10/22. I have owned it since 1991 and have not had ANY problems with it at all.

My other 10/22 in a NIB, never fired one that I got when my father-in-law passed away. He bought it new the day after the attempted assasination on President Regan. He thought "they might try to outlaw guns," so he bought this 10/22 and put in the back of his closet.

He gave it to me two days before he passed away...I will keep that one forever and pass it down to one of his grandkids, or great-grandkids someday. I have had it since 1994 and to this day still have not fired it. I still take it out about once a year to check on it.

I don't know about any of the aftermarket mags, I only use the factory mags.

The aftermarket support for the 10/22 is IMHO the strongest of ANY .22 rifle. I have never heard of anyone having an issue with reliability. It tends to be the .22 semi-auto that all others are judged by.


Good shooting,
Jeff C.

[Sisco]

10/22's are like old Chevys. Leave it stock or customize to your hearts (or wallets!) content.
I've never used the "Hot Lips" mags but from what I understand they wear out quickly. "Steel Lips" mags are supposed to be more durable but there's probably nothing more reliable and less expensive than factory mags.

[E=MC^2]

Ruger 10/22...Ruger 10/22...Ruger 10/22...That's all anyone talks about.

This is what I was thinking when I hung around the old Firing Line board. One day I finally broke down and bought one. I went with the el-cheapo model because I thought it looked very similar to the M1 Carbine. I like the look of the barrel-band and steel buttplate. Price was $140.

Accuracy is very good with the factory iron sights. Ruger uses a nice sharp "v" on the rear with a white diamond below it. After letting several people fire it I've found most can do sub-5" groups@100 with their first magazine using the irons. Speaking of magazines, I now have 10 for this 10/22 and think it's the smoothest feeding system invented. Ruger uses a rotary design that allows it to fit flush with the stock.

With my 12X Leupold I found that 1"@100yd groups are not uncommon. I do have a couple complaints though-

1. I dislike the bolt-release lever. It requires an awkward motion to work it. I see there are companies that now offer a replacement which allows normal release.
2. Trigger was fairly heavy when new. Replace hammer with a Volquartson or clean up the original's sear engagement area. I did this to mine.

I know many people that have ditched the factory tapered barrel and replaced it with a bull. I doubt I'd be able to shoot any better with a heavy barrel. I also like the looks of the tapered version better.

To give you a little idea of how much I dig this thing...I recently purchased a Swarovski 1.5-6X42 for it. The optics cost nearly 10 times more than the rifle itself, but I've always thought the optics are the most important part of any weapons system. The 10/22 just makes a good platform to mount them on.

FWIW-I gave away 2 of these for graduation gifts last spring. Great value! Worth a try, anyways.

[45R]

CW-
Building a 10/22 is alot of fun. You can go super crazy and rebuild everything but the reciever or just swap out the barrel and add a Volquartsen target hammer. The stock trigger is horrible.

Save your money on the "hotlips" magazines and get the stock Ruger 10/22 mags. They are durable and the hotlips plastic magazines seem to wear really fast. It will keep your 10/22 shooting reliably. Hotlips magazines and Ruger 10/22 mags run about the same cost.

My set up for my 10/22 is
Ruger 10/22 SS
18 in Fluted GM barrel
VQ Target Hammer
VQ Buffer
4-20x40mm Bushnell Scopechief
Fajen Thumbhole stock

It shoots a small hole the size of a dime at 50 yards.


45R

[Sisco]

Read the posts at www.rimfirecentral.com
Lots of good info.

[Coltdriver]

The only thing I would add is that it will probably not cycle reliably for about the first 200 or so rounds. Everyones experience varies on this, but, if you have this experience don't worry about it. It will clear up as you get it broke in. And it will clear up permanently.

I had a stock one that is now totally tricked out. Got the bug and just could not stop. Postage stamp shooter at 50 yards with run of the mill ammo.

They are great plinkers and plenty accurate out of the box for the vast majority of shooting.

[Redlg155]

By all means..get one.

If you want an out of the box rifle that will actually fit, try one of the Wallyworld specials or deluxe models. The longer barrel and full size stock was worth it to me. I paid $212 for mine in stainless and I've been pleased with it.

Just keep in mind that you will eat the cost of a lot of customizing if you ever decided to sell the rifle. No one will give you 500 dollars for a Ruger 10-22 even though you put that much into the rifle. I've seen folks having a fit trying to sell tricked out .22s here.


God Shooting
Red

[Detritus]

stay away fromt eh the Hot Lips mags they are a complete waste of money....

because of how the "gun/mag" system works, the plastic mags get teh hell beat out of them, and become unreliable....
the Mag int eh 10/22 is not only the stoage and feeding system, but also serves as the primary ejector (the upper most "lip" catches the rearward traveling case and pitches it out the port) that little stamped steel thing that sticks out of the trigger group is only to kick the empties out if you happen to be doing single shots without the mag in. so teh top of the "lips gets hit at least twice for every round cycled.

and with most factory mags running at around $10-12 at wal-mart, there is just no reason NOT to buy the factory spec version.

oh and another mag tip... for the 10/22 stick to the BX-1 (curved base) magazines, it is best NOT to use the JX-1 flatbase model (for the 77/22 and 96/22) for some reason the JX-1's have a habit of getting jammed in plac e and requiring disassembly of the gun to remove them. and again at teh same price they're just no reason to get the JX-1. (BX-1's only drawback in the bolt and lever .22s is that it sticks out of the botom of the stock.)

[Combat-wombat]

Okay, I'll avoid "hot lips". But the similar "Steel lips" mag system is okay, right?

[Art Eatman]

I had never been really pleased with the size of groups I got from my 10/22. So, one day I sat down at the benchrest and tried nearly a dozen different varieties of brands and power-levels of ammo.

For whatever reason, the "QuikShok" (spelling?) stuff gave me the tightest groups.

For tin-can plinking, any old ammo. For popping pests, the QuikShok.

:), Art

[Dave Markowitz]

By all means get a 10/22. It's the best .22 autoloading rifle ever made, IMHO. When I was growing up my dad had one, which my brother and I used to shoot the snot out of. It was decently accurate and incredibly reliable. It got cleaned after every 1000 rounds -- maybe.

I have the standard model with the barrel band. The only accessory I've added is a scope (currently on my Savage 93GL). I do plan on improving the trigger pull, as it is way too heavy. I've read that the easiest way to do so is by putting in a Volquartsen hammer.

I use only the Ruger factory mag, since you can't get >10 round mags for it (pre-bans are few and far between and expensive). the Ruger mag is a great design and contributes to the rifle's reliability.

You'll need to try different kinds of ammo to see which is the most accurate and which is most reliable. CCI Mini Mags generally work well, IME. Winchester XPerts will cause jams, IME.

[Combat-wombat]

Okay, if the "Steel Lips" mags are a horrible choice, I'll go with the factory mags. However, I really like the fact that you can clip them together. Unless enough people tell me that they are absolutely downright horrible, I think I'll get a couple.

[hksw]

Huh. I've never had any problems with the Butler Creek Hot Lips mags (25 rounds) I've been using for over 10 years now. I (and a friend) have had problems with Ramline and Eagle and that teardrop plastic mags but not the Hot Lips.

Recently, I did encounter a fellow 10/22 shooter who had said that he has experienced mag failures regularly with the stock mag as well as extra OE mags for his 10/22 and 77/17. The cartidges were hanging up in the rotor and not feeding the rounds to the top. Said he has taken the mags apart to clean but the problem persists. He even loaded a 77/17 mag to show me and true enough, the mag was hanging up. Couldn't tell him what it could have been as it was the first I've ever seen it occur. My OE 10/22 mags have always worked fine for me. Maybe the inside of the mag body is a little rougher nowadays.

[zahc]

You can take ruger mags apart and clean them, and you're supposed to.

Get a VQ hammer!
Try lots of different ammo.
You can easily modify the stock bolt release if you want.
You should get a bolt buffer, it'll be quieter.

Go to Rimfirecentral.com.

[JeepDriver]

Recently, I did encounter a fellow 10/22 shooter who had said that he has experienced mag failures regularly with the stock mag as well as extra OE mags for his 10/22 and 77/17. The cartidges were hanging up in the rotor and not feeding the rounds to the top. Said he has taken the mags apart to clean but the problem persists. He even loaded a 77/17 mag to show me and true enough, the mag was hanging up. Couldn't tell him what it could have been as it was the first I've ever seen it occur. My OE 10/22 mags have always worked fine for me. Maybe the inside of the mag body is a little rougher nowadays

I had that problem when I got my first 10/22. It took a little tinkering around with it but after I tore it completely down and re assembled it, paying close attention to how I tensioned the spring, the mag worked fine. I think that are just some of the factory mags out there that don't have the correct tension on the spring.

[JohnBT]

frodo527 - The best autoloading .22 ever made? I know a lot of folks think so, but it won't even make my top 10.

Don't mind me, I've never liked the feel or the look of the things or the way they shoot.

John

[jsalcedo]

I bought one with a folding stock 17 years ago and it has never failed me.

I never had an original mag because mine came with a ramline 30 rounder that still works perfectly to this day.

A month ago I bought an original stock for it and a nice scope and now its almost like a new gun.

[DougCxx]

Two suggestions: first, the factory barrels aren't that great, many people think that Ruger uses a poor twist rate. Whatever the reason, you can safely assume that almost any aftermarket barrel you install will shoot better than the factory one did. Many people get straight-target barrels, but some places do make better-quality sporter-contour barrels that drop in to the original stock and fixtures.
.....
Secondly, use some restraint when rapid-firing (this goes for any gun, but cast-bullet ones particularly). Once I rapid-fired through about four 30-round magazines and somewhere around 70 shots the bullets exiting the barrel stopped going "POW!" and started going "ptth---thhhhhoooo". The barrel heated up from firing enough that the bullets had leaded it badly--I knocked a lot of shavings and a 1.5-inch long lead "tube" out of that barrel before it was clean enough to shoot again. Between brushings and general -restrained- shooting, all the lead did eventualy wear out until the bore was silver again. :D
~

[Ringer]

Anyone put a bipod on their 10/22? Would you put a sling swivel in the stock and mount it that way? Been toying with the idea of adding one and wondering the best way to do so. BTW I've been pleased with my 10/22, NIB for $139, can't beat it.

Thanks

[45R]

With my 12X Leupold I found that 1"@100yd groups are not uncommon.


Just out of curiosity what kinda of ammo are you using to achieve these groups? I've only shot my 10/22 out to 100 yards once and the bulk pack ammo wasnt cutting it.

[Combat-wombat]

Okay, I take it the Steel Lips mags are fine.

[zahc]

I have a bipod on my 10/22. I got a sling stud installed on my Boyds' smart stock. Make sure you get a Harris.

[Keith]

If you want a target rifle, get a target rifle fer crissakes!

If you want a tough, reliable and accurate (enough) rifle, get the 10/22.

There is one inexpensive upgrade I would recommend. Buy one of these aperture sights that mount on the screw holes of the reciever. This lengthens the sight plane considerably and you'll get an immediate improvement in the "apparent" accuracy. No beer can within fifty yards will be safe!

Keith

[No4Mk1]

Amen Keith! The Williams firesight set for the 10/22 is amazing.

Combat-Wombat, you can buy clips to connect the factory mags together too. They make them to hook either 2 or 4 mags together. I have used the 2-mag clips and like them. The 4-mag clips look like they would be cumbersome.

[ocabj]

I recommend using regular 10/22 ammo and not target ammo for breaking in a 10/22. Get a brick of CCI Blazer, Federal HV, or Remington.

As far as inexpensive upgrades, the Volquartsen Target Hammer (just get hammer, not sear) and the Volquartsen Extractor are must haves. The VQ bolt release and extended mag release are also inexpensive upgrades that make shooting very convenient.

[Bainx]

When applying lube to the action, use it very, very sparingly. It took me years to finally figure out that the 10/22 wants to operate nearly dry.
If you use a good amount of lube in and around the bolt, it will gum up and jam in no time. That is a promise.
I finally found some "Dry Slide" moly type lube I can brush on and it turns to a dry film. Works great.

[Dave Markowitz]

rodo527 - The best autoloading .22 ever made? I know a lot of folks think so, but it won't even make my top 10.

Don't mind me, I've never liked the feel or the look of the things or the way they shoot.

Well, that's what makes a horse race.

[Bowlcut]

Would say 110 ish for a used 10/22 be worth it? It has probaly a few thousand rounds though it. black metal....not the stainless like id want. but little over 100 with ammo and a case....thinking its hard to beat. replace barrel and hammer and maybe a scope....would ya do it?

[Detritus]

be aware that the "stainless" guns are still Aluminum receivers, just like the black/blue ones. (unless of course it's a 10/22Mag THEN it's steel, and i've never seen a "stainless" 10/22mag, ruger does not seem to list them either) if i remember right the only thing made of SS on the silver 10/22s is the barrel.

[Sactown]

I haven't had any problems with the Steel Lips magazines nor the factory rotary. I haven't used the plastic lips. The 10/22 is a great plinker. Buy the cheapest one you can find and then work on the upgrades one at a time, preferbly the cheapest upgrade first to see how much difference the upgrade will make. I have one upgrade that is a must for the 10/22. You have to replace that crappy factory extractor. I went witht he Volquartsen Exact Edge extractor. The factory party is poorly made and dulls pretty fact. Here's my current setup:

VQ TG2000 trigger
VQ THM Carbon Fiber barrel with comp
VQ Cantilver barrel mounted scope mount
Weaver Rings
Weaver Grand Slam 6.5-20X40mm
VQ Extractor
Bell and Carlson Anschutz Style Stock.

It's a real tackdriver with Win Dynapoints at $10 a brick at Walmart. Easily sub-dime at 50yards. Dynapoints shoot real clean. I can go through 1,000 at least before the action gets seriously dirty. Good luck on your 10/22.

[twoblink]

My first gun, and after almost 40K rounds.. it's still a fun gun.. (man, I do miss my guns!!)

#1) I put a bolt buffer, not for the recoil savings, (as there is none) but to save the frame. A good idea in general I think, and I do it for all my guns that I can get bolt buffers for.

#2) The trigger is HEAVY.. So I replaced it with a drop-in. Now it's at 2.5lbs and a very sweet shooter. Accuracy improved by about 50%.

#3) As an M1A owner, I wanted to practice using peep-sights. I didn't like the factory iron sights as I think the gold bead is hard to see in strong light. So I stuck some williams firesights on it, peep rear. Accuracy again improved by about 50%.

#4) The bolt release is HORRIBLE. I replaced that as well, just didn't need to try to manipulate it for 10 minutes just to get it to stay open, and then another 10 minutes to get it to release.

#5) My friend's got some hot-lips (of cheap clones of them) and he has two types. One with metal lips which feed just fine, the second with plastic lips which jammed 8 out of 10 times. Junk. If you get hot-lips, get the speed feeders, Very cool. I prefer the factory mags myself as you can go prone with them, and the reason I liked the Ruger rifles in the first place, it's flush.

As for a bipod, my friend's got an "external bipod", you just rest the rifle on it, and it's got some tactile sticky foam stuff on it, and so the rifle doesn't slide around. Very nice if you are going to "tactical it" and scope it etc..

I can't, but my friend can do about 1/4" groups @ 50 yards with my rifle. Same hole @ 25 yards. I shoot about 1" groups @ 50 yards, down from 3" groups after trigger and sight change..

[jsalcedo]

I recently took my 10/22 to my dads property and loaded up three 30 rounders and aimed at a coffee can nailed to a dead oak from 40 yards.

Looking through the scope I was able to rapid fire 30 rounds in about 3 seconds into the can.

I kept my 10/22 stock because I could never find anything that needed replacing.

Mine has about 40K to 60k with the same plastic 30 round mag although I had to superglue it once or twice when oil degraded the original glue.

The only thing I would add is a barrel shroud because that mother gets
hot after about 300 rounds of rapid fire.

[varoadking]

:eek:

[jsalcedo]

Thinking back it was probably closer to 5 or 6 seconds.

I have one of those trigger attachments but I haven't got around to trying it out yet. The paperwork says it does 900 RPM by pushing foward on a lever in the triggerguard that uses the 10/22 trigger return spring
for the rapid fire effect.

It came with a legal type document you are suppoed to show to a LEO
in case they want to arrest you for having an illegal machinegun.

Anyone try one yet?

[twoblink]

I've had my friend time me before, 30 rounds just shy of 6 seconds, into a rolling orange.

(You DO play roll the orange right???)

[Remander]

Re: What kind of ammo to get better groups?

Each rifle seems to have a favorite of its own, but I find the bulk, such as Remington HV, is fine for plinking to 50 to 75 yds. Move up a couple of bucks to CCI or Aguila (mine likes it) and you will likely see a substantially tighter group. Then it's on to Eley, Wolf, Lapua, etc. for benchrest target accuracy.

For my money, the $3 more per brick for Aguila over Bulk pack is well worth it. Other folks swear by Winchester Dynapoints.

Buy a few boxes of all the flavors you can find and punch holes in paper from a bench rest to see the difference in YOUR rifle.

Many folks think they are dead-eye dick shooting cans, but that leaves a lot of room for error. Shoot some paper to truly test accuracy. It's humbling.