And they say 10-22s aren't accurate????

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MCgunner

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I just sat down and fired 5 groups off the bench from 25 yards to test various ammo for accuracy. The gun is sighted in for Eley Match which is 1" at 50 yards accurate in the gun, but costs 20 bucks a box of 50 when you can find it. For this testing, I dug out some CCI mini mag, Federal 550 round bulk HP, CCI Standard Velocity, Remington Thunderbolt, and Federal Auto Match. The mini mag, thunderbolt, and auto match did fair, .75". The Federal bulk did worse at near 1", but the CCI standard velocity equals or exceeds the Eley match at 1/3 the price. With the CCI standard velocity, I got all holes touching, best estimate about 1/4". I need to fire it at 50 yards to see if I can get 1/2" out of it. That's amazes me! I guess it just happens to like the standard velocity CCI stuff. It feeds it well, too. I backed that group up with another equal group, so it wasn't a fluke.

Now, I have a volquartsen trigger in the gun and a Hogue stock on it which eliminates the barrel band. THAT is ALL I've done to the gun. I don't know that I've seen any other plinker grade gun shoot any better, frankly, and that includes the vaunted Marlin M60s everyone's so hot about. The Marlin guys just LOVE to put down the 10-22s. Well, I'm ready to take 'em on!

But, instead of taking on Marlins, I'm kinda thinkin' about taking on squirrels this afternoon.
 
My 10/22T with a homemade trigger job and free-floated barrel will keep in a 1'' bull, at 100 yards, on a still day. It prefers the bulk Blazer lead ammo.

It spends most of it's time in the bedroom closet waiting for a chipmunk. . .
 
MCgunner, try RWS R-50 and R-100. Those gave me one-hole groups with my 10/22. (Every gun will be different, though)

My 10/22 match gun can knock out perfect scores on NRA Smallbore targets at 50 and 100 yards.
 
When I got my 10-22, I sat down at the range with what I had, CCI Mini Mag and Federal bulk. Decided CCI Mini Mag was the way to go in that session. Just figured that's probably as good as it was going to get. Everyone on the net told me it was an inaccurate POS, so why dispute it?

I did try R50 and RWS Target (have a few rounds left over from my club shoot days) in the gun and they didn't perform well enough that I was going to shoot them in preference to CCI mini mag for anything. My gun sorta prefers the Eley. My old Remington bolt gun shoots lights out with RWS Target, though, and it isn't THAT expensive. That's what I used to use in the Remington to clean the Marlins clocks in our little club competitions back 20 years ago. :D I think I just happened to hit gold with CCI SV in this rifle. .22s are like that, no two seem to like the same thing. The CCI SV stuff shoots as good as RWS Target does in my Remington and is cheaper, plus my volquartsen trigger in the 10-22 is MILES better than that old Remington which has always been crisp, but quite stiff. Not only is the CCI 1/3 the price of the Eley match, but it's a 100 round box vs 50, so actually it's 1/6 the price! :D

I've yet to try any green tag, but I'm real happy with the standard velocity.
 
Who is they? While I don't count 25 yards as a viable test for a rifle's accuracy, all three of my old 10-22s would cut one holers (1/2-3/4) at 25 yards. My first "match" gun, made with a "kit" from Midway was disappointing. Didn't shoot much better at 50 yards than the parent gun did. My "real" Ruger 10-22 match was much better and after doing the "Volquartzen" trigger job, hanger, stock bolt, bolt release mod, was pretty good. Only problem was it wanted to throw the first shot from a fresh mag about 3/8" out. On the little bullseye targets we shoot (20 shots for score) that was like taking an automatic 6 for the first shot. I had to fire the first one into the berm, then shoot five for score.
I tried "single" shot methods which gave me five fliers...not in the same direction.
My present 10-22 is a standard model which I put on a walnut stock (nice trade), a Jard trigger, and an unfired stainless barrel (think Frankenstein). I lapped the barrel, put on the better barrel block and bolt and this thing flat out shoots. 3/8-1/2" at 50 yards with Eley Club, Eley Match, and almost as good with Federal Gold Medal Match (std vel). Wish it would shoot that well with Automatch as it is available and not too pricey.
Next project...M&P 15-22 with three sighting systems. Fun gun anyway.
My main gun...CZ 455 Varmint. Bushnell 6-18X scope. It shoots way better than any of the 10-22 match guns I've had.
BTW, one of the biggest surprises with 22s was a TC Contender Carbine in 22lr with a 4X TC Recoil Proof scope that I got in a bad debt trade...first group at 50 yards was 3/8" with CCI Minimags. Followed it up with a 3/4 and a 1/2". Only five shots but I was hooked.
 
I built up a couple of 10/22's into target rifles. 1 is very accurate but the other not so much. Or I haven't found the ammo it likes.
 
I've owned several over the years. Some are more accurate than others, but most will put 5 shots into 1" at 50 yards with good ammo. Closer to 2" with cheap bulk ammo.

I really think getting rid of the barrel band makes a difference. I don't care for the stock shape on the Carbine and went with the Hogue instead.

I currently have 3. One with a heavy Shooters Choice barrel I bought from Cabelas in a Hogue stock. No other mods. It is a shooter.

017.jpg


This one only has a Hogue stock. No other mods.

22s001.gif

I don't have a photo of a target, but this is my most recent 10-22. It has a 20" medium weight barrel and has become my favorite. Just enough weight to shoot well, but still just over 7 lbs scoped and easy enough to carry squirrel hunting. Accuracy sort of splits the difference between the other 2.

025_zpsygjaowen.jpg
 
Accurate 10-22's are fun and easy to build.

This one would shoot sub-0.5 MOA groups all day. I only had access to a 25 yard, indoor range...so.... a little easier to do so...but, still...a highly accurate rifle.

The Safari Gun

safarigun22_zps0f47713e.jpg

Ruger action and bolt
Green mountain 18 inch tapered barrel, stainless steel
Volquartsen V block
Kidd trigger
Boyd stock, hand painted. Floated barrel.
4-16x40 scope

Federal Premium Ultra ammo.
5 rounds, 0.119" CTC, 0.456 MOA
 
I got inspired and went out back in the woods and sat for about 2 hours this afternoon. One squirrel came out, popped him off a limb from 35 yards. :D Nice thing about those standard velocity CCIs, they're audibly quieter than the HV stuff. Doesn't disturb the woods critters. Of course, I often hunt with my Mk 2 and it's a bit louder. It seems to like CCI mini mag best.

I think I'm going to use the ol' 10-22 more because of the lack of noise.
 
Once you play with a suppressor on one you will really appreciate the quiet. The bullet impact on a squirrel is louder than the rifle fire.
 
I have one from the late 80's that shoot very well. My CZ 452 is a little better, at a match last year a guy with a stock 10/22 matched me for first. I won the tie breaker. I was a little surprised that that 10/22 was that good.
 
I have a number or 10-22's and I can't think of a better all around 22 rifle that I've shot since I got my first one over 40 yrs ago.
Lately my favorites have been those with the Butler Creek folding stocks.
 
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Trying out the new stock (setting it up for NRA smallbore under the newer optics rules)

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Targets from testing different ammo. RWS-50 bottom right, it cleans X rings right out in my rifle.

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MCgunner

My basically stock 10/22 (only added a Weaver scope and a pair of sling swivels shortly after I bought it back in '78). will deliver some amazing accuracy with Wolf Match Target and CCI MiniMags.

004_zps3f778854.jpg
 
Friend of mine just got a 10-22 take down, threaded barrel and did the NFA stamp to add a can to it. His note on this....WOW. What a package...and completely quiet.

I have heard that there are after market barrels for the take down version. But, if you wanted to get small and sleek, there is the Ruger Charger. I believe there are after market barrels for that that are highly accurate and threaded for a suppressor. THAT must be a heck of a package.

[Darn....now I miss mine.....]
 
MCgunner said:
Trent, the R50 is amazing in your rifle. :D
Click to expand...

Yes, it definitely is. I wasn't expecting to be able to punch the x ring out of an NRA smallbore target at 50 yards with a 10/22. Those X-rings are TINY.

Keep in mind though that I shot every premium brand of ammo through that gun AND tweaked the harmonic tensioner in that archangel stock for a while before I got it to that point. :)

I can clean the target reliably on sitting, kneeling, and prone, but standing, alas, is still an area I cannot conquer reliably. I only score in the low 90's on standing, average.

Also; the R50 wasn't cycling my rifle reliably but those are single-cartridge-load slow fire events only, so not too big of a deal.

Also I plan on taking that rifle squirrel and rabbit hunting this winter. Pretty confident with that R-50 ammo I can get clean headshots at 100 yards, kneeling with a sling ;)
 
The CCI standard velocity is good ammo in all my Rugers if I can find it. Remington Subsonics also work pretty good. None of my Rugers will group tho unless the barrel is absolutely filthy. They are dandy firearms but just never got a reputation for accuracy. It's a pretty standard thing with Ruger. One would think they would tweek the rifling or something so the out-of-box reputation would improve.
 
One other tidbit with my experience on 10/22's.

My rifle was a hammer forged match rifle from the factory.

About 500 rounds in, I was having serious problems grouping. Then, when I started shooting NRA Smallbore, I found that when I was doing load testing on a bag, I'd group 2" higher than when I was shooting with a sling, prone.

THAT confused the heck out of me until I discovered the barrel tensioning wedge bolts had worked themselves loose, allowing the barrel to move around.

My advice for any 10/22 owner is to take those babies out and loctite them, or at *least* grab a torque wrench and ensure the factory properly torqued them down.

I wasted a painful amount of expensive ammo before I found that problem on my rifle.
 
A fried of mine and I spent around 6 months testing out every different brand of .22 ammunition we could find, more than a decade ago now. We found a lot of Winchester ammunition that was almost as good as Federal gold match but under $8/500, I bought the entire lot and still have 20,000 rounds or so of it left.
 
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