New/old 10/22

Nice!! I just got a 10/22 as well, and find the trigger kinda tight. M*Carbo sells a spring kit to lighten the trigger pull and if you are somewhat handy, you can also polish up the seer and some of the trigger internals for a crisper pull. I'm going to put some more rounds through the 10/22 to break it in some before doing any mods. Here's a great video.

I've not heard of a 10/22 with a letter prefix before.
The front sight is of the earlier style, so maybe share another pic of the serial with the two # # 's taped over?

In one of my older Gun Digests, there is an article on the test fire of then new 10/22 that utilized a pre-production gun.
The staff shooting the test gun universally agreed the trigger pull was way too heavy for the gun.

ericuda said:

the trigger a bit as it is very stout.

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Ruger's reply was that they were going to have the pull weight issues resolved on the gun as full production started.
I, for one, am still waiting for Ruger to address it.

JT

Think you will find that scope is a K4. Nice looking rifle. Shot and cleaned mine so much I ruined the barrel and replaced it with a SS one. Accurate once again.

I'm also guessing Weaver K4 on the scope. Ruger still has a serial number lookup on their web site that could be used to determine the year it was produced. I got my used 10/22 in 1998 and according to Ruger it was produced in 1987. It's still going strong and has been trouble free.

Thats a nice looking little rifle. I've been wanting one. Maybe after the panic is over?

Nice. It should be fun getting that one into top shape. I would happily inherit or pick up another old 10/22. I have grandkids thus far too young to handle a rifle, but they're growing ...

lightman said:

Thats a nice looking little rifle. I've been wanting one. Maybe after the panic is over?

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You can still find them for Pre-Covid prices. The one I got had been shot exactly once. 20 rounds. It also had a red dot scope on it. $290. At my local, they are $280 new.

I was told the older 10/22’s like this one are a better rifle than the new ones. Better quality parts? Is this true or just someone’s opinion?

There should be a three digit prefix to that serial number. If there is not, you have one of the earliest 10/22 rifles. From '64 through '69 they had no prefix, which would put your rifle as being produced in '67. It will have a walnut stock, metal butt plate, and metal trigger housing. Later models went plastic on the TG and BP and birch or rarely beech for the stock.

I recently gave new life to a '71 model.

While losing our elders always leaves a void, you’ll be able to pay tribute by making new memories with their rifle every time you shoot it .

Last night I took down my 1985 era 10/22, gave it a good cleaning in the receiver and the bolt, then installed a Volquartsen firing pin and extractor. The process took about 35 minutes from start to finish.

If you want a super easy drop-in fix, the BX trigger insert cost me 50 bucks on sale and took about five minutes to install. The trigger pull is fantastic, but the trigger guard is plastic.

If that’s a turn-off you can get trigger inserts from others that are all metal ( pricy!) or buy kits from several makers that allow you to swap parts and still keep the original trigger guard.

Let us know what you choose to do and how it turns out/shoots for you!
Stay safe.

ericuda said:

View attachment 976094

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Oh my that certainly is an old one! And the D is definitely an interesting feature. I wonder if it is a duplicate or duplicated because the original had a fatal flaw that didnt pass inspection.

I would also be interested to know if that is the original finish. My '71 had Ruger's terrible masking stain finish hiding the walnut. Yours is beautiful!

Barnfixer said:

I was told the older 10/22’s like this one are a better rifle than the new ones. Better quality parts? Is this true or just someone’s opinion?

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In my opinion the old ones shoot way better. I have one from the 80's that was very accurate, and I was nearly beat in a competition with one against my CZ 452. That's the closest anyone ever came to beating me. I bought a new one at Walmart for my grandson. It hasn't been shot yet. Sub zero here today.

The "Warning, read your manual" stamped on the barrel came about in the early 80's.

Great guns, lousy, fragile rear sight, fat bead on front sights. I replace the front sight when I can with a finer blade.

Barnfixer said:

I was told the older 10/22’s like this one are a better rifle than the new ones. Better quality parts? Is this true or just someone’s opinion?

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The trigger assembly that comes with the newer 10/22s are far superior to the older ones. The seer mechanism is basically the same as the BX trigger upgrade. I've been told that if you do the polish procedure and change out the spring to a lighter one, the stock trigger can basically function like the BX upgrade. $10 vs $75 with some elbow grease.

Also the magazine release is much smoother on the newer models and it doesn't take the strength of Thor to get it to disengage. There is a little switch you have to engage to make sure the charger handle locks, and the newer models are better with releasing the charger handle. It's not great, but far better than the older model. It doesn't stick quite as often.

I like the drop-in BX trigger packages because zero work is involved beyond a field strip to swap the entire trigger assembly as a unit -- which means zero chance of my screwing something up.

The biggest downside to the BX is availability and panic pricing. The usual $50 discounted Gunbroker price for one has almost doubled in recent months.

Dave DeLaurant said:

I like the drop-in BX trigger packages because zero work is involved beyond a field strip to swap the entire trigger assembly as a unit -- which means zero chance of my screwing something up.

The biggest downside to the BX is availability and panic pricing. The usual $50 discounted Gunbroker price for one has almost doubled in recent months.

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Have you tried any of the upgraded magazine release levers? I'm thinking of upgrading that, but don't know anyone with any real world experience with them.

The one I bought in 1987 had a metal trigger housing. The one my FIL gave me in the late 2000s is plastic/polymer if some sort. It also came with the lever style magazine release. On my older gun I bought an aftermarket one made by Ram Line. I’m not 100% sure it’s much of an improvement.

Just my plain ol’ unaltered 1977 production...