Beginner to Rifles, Just got me a Ruger 10/22

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WVUmountaineer

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Hey y'all,

I'm a 19 year old college student, originally from "The People's Republic of New Jersey" but now attending school in a much gun-friendlier state of West Virginia at WVU, as you might have guessed. Ever since my god father took to shoot his 92fs with him at a range last year, I've been hooked. Well, I still can't get a pistol even here in WV, so I purchased a Ruger 10/22 rifle. I haven't actually gotten it yet, it's in WV waiting for me, where I return from Christmas break Sunday. This gun will only really be used for going to the range and shooting with my buddies for the foreseeable future.

I just have a few typical newbie questions.

-What ammo is best I look for? Any to definitely avoid?

-Any accessories or parts I should definitely consider?

-Aside from obviously reading the manual, anything I should read/watch?

Also, this may be a bit more complicated and I know any answer I get here isn't exactly mandated by law, but when I go home in the summer, what should I do? Here in WV all I needed was to be over 18 to get the gun, I didn't even need to be a resident. I'm sure that's way different in New Jersey, and with the recent case of Brian Aitken (Google it if you aren't familiar, it's really interesting) I'm more than cautious with this. How could/should I transport it? If this an impossible task, worst case scenario I guess I could just sell it before I go home.

Thanks for any and all help guys, I really appreciate it. Have a good one.
 
Ammo: most cheap bulk ammo should work fine, except for Remington's. Avoid it like the plague. Federal bulk ammo works fine with my '04 10/22.

Accessories: the aftermarket for the 10/22 is enormous; if you want, you can spend hundreds of dollars customizing your gun with a thumbhole stock, bull barrel, Volquartsen target trigger group, etc. Personally, I'm planning on buying Tech Sights and a web sling so I can take mine to an Appleseed shoot when one finally winds up near me.
 
HEY, I'm from California too
and My personal (I was in the army at the time) first gun was a 10/22

great place to start, almost ubiquitous, seems like everybody who has more than 1 .22 rifle has a 10/22.

every gun has it's personality, ammo varies by batch,
it you are looking for dime sized targets at 100m ammo quality means something different than getting through a mag with no malfunctions.
 
To me, I like to keep it simple.

Ammo wise, 10/22 will run pretty much anything. Best bet is try this and that till you find what you like the best / work best on your rifle.

As for the gear, Maybe scope would be only thing i would put. No tacticools.:)
 
The 10/22 is a great rifle. I agree, keep it simple. The 10/22 should shoot almost any ammo.
Good luck and have fun.
PS, the Morgantown area is beautiful, you're lucky to have escaped the People's Republic of NJ.
 
Gorgeous country where you are! You will enjoy the 10/22. Feed it whatever .22LR ammo you find. As I typically run cheap stuff in mine, I find that the chamber starts sticking after a few 1000 rds and needs a good scrub:D.

Get some additional mags. I prefer the factory rotary mag, but the aftermarket mags have gotten a lot better and can be had for less cash. Is yours new enough to come stock with the factory extended magazine release? If not, that is probably the only upgrade I recommend for a plinker.

Any other addition is personal choice. I prefer no scope on mine. Enjoy!
 
My 10/22 is my Liberty Training Rifle - it has seen 2 Appleseed weekends and a Rifleman Boot Camp - where it got me my patch on day 4. I upgraded to TSR100 Tech-sights (60-, and well worth it), dropped in an auto bolt release, and added sling swives to facilitate the use of a military sling when in position. I also added an M14 style flash hider 'just because rifles look better with one', and an oversized charging handle - just for S&Gs. Total cost of upgrades was under $85-, and as I said the last teo weren't strictly necessary. The factory extended mag release is fine. My rifle prefers high-velocity round nosed non-plsted lead bullets - depending on which specific model you have and how the stars were aligned when it was assembled, you may find yours has a different preference.

Appkeseed has banners on this site - and the 10/22 seems to have been made for that kind of shooting. So get out there and get learning!
 
I'd check the NJ laws before you start buying 25rnd mags, and if you decided to get them, get them from tactical innovations. If you were by me I'd give you my hotlips magazine. I bought a second factory 10rnd for it to hold me over until I get ready to buy some 25 rnd mags for it.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with NJ laws so I can't answer that part.

Accessories? This is your first gun, you need a cleaning kit. For the 10/22 you also need a punch (1/8") and a little rubber mallet wouldn't hurt, though you shouldn't need it. When I bought my first gun I got a big cleaning kit will all types of caliber scrubbers and brushes, and it has served me better with every gun purchase. Also, take any allen wrenches that come with your guns and throw them in your gun bag. Trust me, this is the best place for them ;)

Ammo. You will hear people on a LOT of forums bashing remington bulk packs, but I've heard that about 1 in 20 or 30 rugers like them best. For bulk ammo, most people shoot federals and winchesters (mine prefers winchesters, but I gave the rest of my federals to another shooter who had a 10/22 that liked them). Just stay away from subsonic ammo, or at least test it in small batches before you buy big. Autos don't like subsonics.

To scope or not to scope? You don't really NEED anything but rifle sights for a .22, and scopes can be annoying at very short ranges. Basically, on the bulk ammo listed above, expect your groups to open up after 50yrds quite a bit due to sonic/subsonic barrier issues. High speed bullets drop below the sound barrier between 40-50 yards and that destabilizes the bullet. With velociters, they drop off around 70-80yrds making 100yrd accuracy more feasible, but you are going to pay a premium for them.

CCI is the gold standard for .22 ammo, and almost everyone agrees that it's the best. I'm fortunate that my gun shoots the winchester 555s just as good as the CCI ammo, so I've stopped "stocking up" on the minimags, and keep them now for hunting purposes only and use my cheapy ammo for target practice. Both print identical 10 rnd groups from my gun at 50 yards :D

For hunting, any high velocity ammo up to rabbits, but for slightly larger game you want a little more performance. Not neccissarily required, as I know there are others that will disagree, but for anything bigger than a rabbit or tree squirrel, I trust velociters in my gun.

If this is your ONLY gun and you are not in a dorm room with a moron and you want something for SD, well placed velociters have the penetration ability to stop a threat, and rifles of any caliber are far more scary to an invader than a hand gun. Specially if you have the wood stock like mine and a 25rnd mag. Makes it look like an AK to someone who doesn't know any better. I wouldn't recommend it for self defense, but for lack of something better (a spear maybe?) it can and will work with well placed shots.

Just my nickle.
 
Welcome to the fold

The 10-22 has its devotees. I sure like mine. Don't shoot it nearly as often as some other rifles, but it is nothing if not consummately reliable. I have found the Aguila 22's work well in almost every application and they aren't very expensive either. The Wolf brand is manufactured in Germany I believe by SKK, and that ammo is also a great value.

The rifle itself is good for prairie dogs out to maybe 200 yards or so, once you figure out holdovers! Only problem is that it spits its empties out onto the land.

I do not know where to tell you to start with the return to NJ. Seems to me that you might be well served to leave it in WV in someone's gun locker until you return next fall.
 
Avoid it like the plague.
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Wrong, try everything to find what your rifle likes. Lots of internet blathering about Remington ammo but it works great in my two dozen guns. For several of them, it's all I feed them.
 
CraigC is correct. Different guns like different ammo. You need to find what yours likes. You'll want dome paper targets and a benchrest at 25 - 50 yds.

Because it's a semiauto, it won't be a tack driver like a bolt action, but the upside is you can fire consecutive shots without moving.

NJ is a scary place for gun owners (read Constitution lovers), so you either want to apply for a firearm I'd at your town's police office or find a non-NJ friend to hold it for you or sell it.

Have LOTS of fun with this gun!
 
For me, the biggest flaw with a 10/22 are the godawful factory sights. I'd recommend either a scope or some tech sights http://www.tech-sights.com/to make it a lot more pleasant. There are lots of worthy other upgrades such as extended magazine releases, trigger upgrades, and etc. But if I had to pick one thing to change... the sights.

I also have the muzzle threaded on mine for my suppressor, but that is probably a bit more than you want to do (can do in NJ?)

I've found with the Remington rimfire ammo (at least the bulk stuff) is it has a lot of misfires in my several .22's. It is not every time or even the majority, but it is common enough and way more frequent than the various CCI and Federal (the wallmart bulk packs) rounds I shoot.
 
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My 10/22 is still stock though I'm thinking of running a red dot on it for awhile, BUT...

One accessory you will not regret buying is this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=540353

If you are like me when you go to the range you will notice ammo will just fly out of the end of the barrel all day long! I found it was my trigger accuator. (it's a joke). If you plan to be shooting all day, one of these mag loaders will really save you time, and save you from what my dad calls "ruger thumb" which you get from loading 550 .22 rounds into to steel lip magazines.
 
CCI is the gold standard for .22 ammo, and almost everyone agrees that it's the best.
Click to expand...

I don't know if everyone agrees, but I myself have had excellent luck and accuracy with CCI mini mags and everything I've shot them through, from Savage-Anschutz target rifles to Walther P22s to Ruger Mk series as well as 10/22 and Charger pistol.
 
CCI makes good stuff but it's far from the best. I shoot 2000-3000rds of .22LR every month but very little of that is CCI.
 
tried some winchester 333 today. good stuff and same POI as federal bulk but i had 4 FTFeed in 200 rounds. the nose looks too squared off to feed 100% though the gun had not been cleaned in about 500 rounds.
federal 550 bulk pack is flawless so far and the price is certainly right. i picked up some CCI mini mag solids today but i haven't shot any yet. just looking at the way it (CCI) has been put together gives me a lot of confidence in it.
 
I suspect the Eley is more like the Gold Std? As said, all .22's like to pick their own favorite ammo - try a bunch :)

Aguila SuperMax ought to be the hottest thing you can shoot - around 1650 fps - but it ain't cheap.
 
I have had no problems at all with Remington (Thunderbolts or the hollowpoints in the 550 round box), Winchester (Wildcats) or Federal ammo with my 10/22.

I have a 25 round magazine for it (Butler Creek maybe, it's plastic). I have found that to be pretty much worthless.
 
Welcome to the club! I've got an older 80s model that I love. Like others have said, unless you got a Friday gun, that 10/22 should eat any ammo you feed it. The bulk packs will likely have a few that don't fire per box, but that's what you pay for.

I wouldn't worry about buying better ammo like CCI Mini-mags until you've gotten good enough with the rifle that it makes a difference in your groups. Until then, practice practice practice. Hopefully you can find someone to teach you proper technique.

Above all else, keep those 4 basic rules of gun safety in mind at all times, especially if your friends know less about guns than you do.

On the legal issue, you'll have to find out exactly what the state of NJ requires for transporting the gun to your home. If you get lucky, the State Police might actually know the relevant statutes. The only thing I can say for sure is don't buy any magazines over 10 rounds unless you have a place in WV to store them.
 
I have a dozen 10/22s in all configs from bone stock to full blown $1500 rigs.

They all cycle most any ammo. They tend to like bulk Federal the most for accuracy, although my bench rigs shoot best with some of the $25 for 50 round brands.

Real issue with ammo is how fast they get dirty. Remington seems to get dirty faster.
 
Thanks for the advice so far guys, I'll definitely try ammo out once I get back to WV.

Does the gun come with any mags? How large?

Also, is it unheard of for maybe a store to hold the gun for me over the summer? Obviously I'd pay a little bit.
 
I have had no problems with any ammo in my 10/22, so I generally get whatever is the cheapest bulk pack I can find.
Tech-sights make a big improvement to the sights if you like/use open sights.
I think you made a good choice. If you ever end up getting a centerfire rifle, you will have habits developed without recoil and noise, to help fight flinching, and/or other bad habits.
 
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