Mak;
Are we talkin' Montana gophers here? The kind I spend a lot of time & energy shooting?
If so, I'm gonna suggest the standard 10/22, not the target version with the heavy barrel. Considering the extremely rapid and varied shot angles, runners, and groups, I find that heavy barrels have too much momentum to easily accomodate the very quick changes that occur in the sport.
Buy three more stock Ruger magazines, not any hi-caps, and use them. They are dead reliable & fit in pockets much better when walking the gopher fields.
Another point for the std 10/22 is that a good number of barrels give excellent accuracy. If, after doing the proper amount (read a whale of a lot) of ammo testing, your stock barrel simply will not shoot, get another. You can find them for free up to about $10.00 max. Many people pull the stocker without ever testing it & spend a fair number of bucks changing what they may not need to. Their loss can be your gain.
Spend money on the trigger & a decent scope first. You can do a lot worse than the Sightron 3-9X S1 rimfire for about $120.00. By going with the standard, you can get the scope & a Volquartsen trigger & still have some money for buying ammo for the test sessions. And be in budget.
900F