1" groups with a 10/22 at 100 yards?

[45R]

I've read here and there about individuals shooting 1" groups at 100 yards with a 10/22.

So the question is what type of modifications are needed to acomplish this with a Ruger and what type of ammo would someone be using.

(Mine currently has 18" Fluted GM barrel, VQ target hammer, and 6-20X40mm scope)

I read the above now and then with never any pictures to back up the groups. My rifle is currently capable of shooting a groups the size of a dime at 50 yards with cheap bulk ammo. I tried shooting at 100 yards once with Wild Cat high velocity ammo and my groups looked like a shotgun hit it .

So help me out guys. Do I need to change to ammo, bed the stock, install a VQ or Kidd Trigger?

 

[VG]

In gun magazines, they shoot five to ten five shot groups and record the best, worst, and average. There are no "throwouts."

When you are shooting your own rifles and ammo, it is quite tempting to throwout a "flier" here and there, or the one you know you pulled to the left, etc, etc.

Here's an example on a target used to zero an M1 Garand. Four rounds would be in less than an inch, and you could probably pick a five round 1" group out of it. But the group (of 8) is 1.75" - and that's at 50 yards, not 100. So this would be more like a 3.5" group at 100. And this is my best shooting Garand - one that I shot 186, 4X (out of 200) at 200 yards in slow fire prone with using USGI milsurp. I know some Garand shooters who will shoot 25 rounds before they even look at the target through a scope, just so they don't start "flavoring their sight picture.

So your rifle may or may not be accurate, but you've got to shoot a buch of groups off a bench to find out. And your friends may not be so exacting.

 

[Mal H]

If you can honestly shoot groups of 5 or more the size of a dime at 50 yards with bulk ammo, then you are almost there. You don't have to change a thing on the rifle, but you should try some premium ammo and see how the groups tighten up. I've had good luck with Lapua Multi-Match and Federal 900 (both A & B). Even non-premium ammo like Win Super-X (not to be confused with Win Xpert) gives very good results in my 10/22.

 

[45R]

Mal H-
I took my sister and her boyfriend out to the range about 2 months back with the 10/22 and they were having a hoot with it at 50 yards. My sister being the "weapons specialist" put her boyfriend to shame. They took the rifle out to 100 yards and had a horrible time keeping the rounds in a 3" shoot and see. So they came over to shoot my M1A

I'll give the premo ammo a try and see what kind of groups I am getting. At 50 yards its POA. For a .22 would you happen to know what the average drop would be at 100 yards. I recall something like 3-4 inches.

TIA

45R

 

[Sisco]

My modified 10/22 (A&B barrel, Fajen stock, barrel free floated & action bedded, Volq. hammer) will do 1/2" groups at 50 with Federal bulk and Win dynapoints if I do my part.
Haven't yet seriously tried any 100 yd groups.

 

[larryw]

Shoot subsonic ammo.

Many supersonic 22 loads go sub-sonic at around 75 yards. The resulting shock wave from this trans-sonic jump impacts the heel of the bullet and knocks it way off course: where it goes is anyone's guess.

Target 22 ammo is subsonic for this very reason.

 

[Mal H]

I came back to say precisely what larryw just said in response to your "on at 50, way off at 100" problem. Nothing to add to his explanation.

As for the drop at 100 yds - it all depends. Bullet velocity is the biggest variable, and that variable is dependent on several other variables such as barrel length, lube, etc. You have to experiment with your own rifle and ammo. 22's are fairly unique in that respect, hard to predict for anyone else what a certain type of ammo will do.

 

[MrMunster]

For reference, the X-ring on the 100-yd smallbore target is 1".

There aren't many top notch smallbore prone shooters that can consistently shoot 10X bulls even with the best rifles, ammo, optics, and patience.

Don't believe me, check the results from Perry.

 

[Black Snowman]

My bone stock 10/22 when I had it would shoot groups small enough that I was frustrated by the scope I had because it only had 1/4" clicks and I couldn't get it perfectly centered. Taking out "oops" shots I could put as many rounds as I wanted into a dime size hole at 50 yards and that grew to about a quarter size hole a 100 yards. I used Winchester standard velocity ammo.

I may have just gotten lucky with mine, but that's my experiance.

 

[VG]

I'll give the premo ammo a try and see what kind of groups I am getting. At 50 yards its POA. For a .22 would you happen to know what the average drop would be at 100 yards. I recall something like 3-4 inches.

Most ammo manufacturers, such as Federal, have the specs on their website. A quick look at several .22 rounds shows a roughly 6.5 to 7.5" drop, with the rifle zeroed at 25 or 50 yards. www.federalcartridge.com

 

[E=MC^2]

I've fired 1" groups with a standard 10/22 on several occasions. The first thing that needs to be accomplished is eliminate any possibility of human error.

Up front, I have a cast-iron rest with pointed steel feet. I give them a few taps with a mallet to solidly ground the rest to the bench. My sandbags get filled with #9 lead shot, making them very heavy and stable. They have tall 'ears' with velcro straps I added for stabalizing muzzleloaders. Once the rifle is in place I tighten down the straps. These are not used with free-floated assemblies but work great with the 10/22 Carbine and such. Once everything's in place the firearm becomes a permanant part of the 150lb shooting bench. Every week I see someone trying to fire groups using only a few sandbags or a guncase as a rest. One can stand back and watch their barrel do the "muzzle dance".

The next thing that's needed for small groups is a small reticle dot or no dot. Two of my load testing scopes have the 1/4 minute dot, while one just has the fine crosshair design. I also think people choose targets that make it difficult to obtain good groups. I simply use flourecent stickers that are sold for pricing items at garage sales. They are 3/4" in diameter and placed on standard office printing paper. When I started out using targets with large bulls I got large groups.

The 10/22's need trigger work. Many people simply change the hammer and add a couple shim washers to the trigger's sides. If you look at the the sear on these rifles it is VERY sharp and VERY rough. I just use a Lansky Ultra-Fine stone on all my engagements. This is the yellow stone found in their knife sharpening kits. It puts a mirror finish on parts and is super smooth. I then finish it up with a polishing wheel in my Dremel.

Although trans-sonic speeds can greatly effect the flight of the bullet, I've got 1" or less with standard velocity rounds before. I mainly use Winchester's T-22 target ammo with my rimfires. It's fairly inexpensive and I normally buy a case of 5,000 at a time. Right now, though, my 10/22 is sighted in for Remington's Hyper-velocity Viper ammo. This has also been very accurate in my Ruger.

 

[varoadking]

I zeroed my 10-22...

...quite well at 50 yards and experienced a 6" or so drop when going out to 100 yards. The groups were diametrically larger at 100 yards, to the point of being a bit disturbing. This was with a red-dot scope. I have a Mueller 3-9x40 ordered for it and hope to see better results at 100 yards with it...

http://www.muelleroptics.com/3x9x40IGR.htm

 

[Okiecruffler]

My 10-22 has a standard barrel on it, and with cheap bulk ammo at 50yrds I can do pretty consistant half inch groups, but move out to 100yrds and 3 inches is a scarce accomplishment. I'm sure that at least 1 of those 3 inches is from shooter error. Drop, if I measure from the center of the group seems to be around 4 inches.

 

[Redlg155]

Strange, because I've almost had the opposite experience with my .22..well my former Remington before I got the Ruger.

At 50 yards I was lucky to get a 1" group, but we routinely shot a 4 inch by 4 inch steel plate at 200 yards. The holdover was about where the crosshairs thicken on a duplex reticle. Craziest thing was that it was more accurate at longer ranges than at shorter.

I even have a THR/TFLer for a witness.

Good Shooting
Red