New (to me) 10/22, and a dilemma

What would you do?

  • Scope

    Votes: 57 82.6%

  • Red Dot

    Votes: 7 10.1%

  • Leave the darn thing alone!

    Votes: 5 7.2%
  • Total voters
    69
Status
Not open for further replies.
Picher said:
A bull barrel just makes the rifle hang better for us big guys, making rapid fire much easier to stay on target. A fluted heavy barrel is cool-looking anyway. I just "throw the iron sights away" and use a scope...but that's me. When a semi-auto .22LR can keep all shots under a half-inch at 50 yards, it's good to have fun, shoot varmints, and plink like crazy!
Click to expand...
You can do all the same things without making the rifle into a boat anchor.


crestoncowboy said:
Have you ever actually seen a possum kill one. Some say they do and some don't.
Click to expand...
I have caught them in the act. They usually just pull the heads off because they're too stupid to realize they can't pull a whole chicken through the wire. Coons are usually smarter about it. Never trust anything with thumbs. ;)
 
I hated Minks and Weasels. They will kill every chicken in the pen just for fun. Possums, Coons and Fox will usually take one and try to run off with it, but they'll be back every night. Small traps are the best way to deal with Mink and Horned Owls because they usually come after dark and you are not likely to hit one unless you were up waiting for him. By the time you hear the commotion, it's too late.
 
I went ahead and scoped it, installed a rear stud, and made a front stud out of scrap steel in the shop. I don't think it turned out too bad: 0220211341.jpg

Afterwards, I sighted it in at 30 yards out the kitchen window. Not a bad group for using the window ledge as a rest:

0220211343.jpg

Overall, I'm pleased with how everything turned out. Thanks again for your advice and the stories gave me a good laugh when I needed one.

Mac
 
20210220_150132.jpg Looks good.
Here's my current fleet of 22lr.
The carbine is the house slut.
It stays on a rack above the back door where any adults can use it and just about all of my in laws and out laws have used it a bunch.
The Marlin 60 at top is the one I usually let the grandson shoot. The other two are for my hands only!
 
If your eyes don't allow use of a peep, maybe it's time to go to the eye doctor to get them checked. You may just need glasses, or a different prescription than you have now. I also have had cataract surgery and/or laser treatment on my eyes and I see better now than when I was 10.
 
jmr40 said:
Scope it. I don't care for dot sights and a scope does everything better than irons or a dot. Personally, I'd invest in an aftermarket stock with sling studs installed and lose the barrel band. I like the 10-22's well enough, but not the standard carbine. The stock design sucks.

I like this

Hogue Rubber Overmolded Rifle Stock Ruger 10/22 Standard Barrel (midwayusa.com)

It doesn't have any collector value so don't let that influence you if you to want to install studs.
Click to expand...
I'm with "jmr40".

I have a thing against barrel bands because rifles tend to shoot better without them. I like to bed the barrel, supported at the end of the forend and action area, but nothing in-between. My rifle has a heavy barrel, but no band, and about 8 lbs. of uplift from an epoxy pad in the forend, made by hanging a weight from the barrel with the rifle supported upside-down with the desired weight hanging from the barrel while epoxy hardens in the forend. I bed the action before the forend, providing solid support while the barrel support pad sets up. I say "about 8 lbs" because it's not a critical figure, just an amount to make the barrel stable in the stock and keep down-force in the rear of the receiver if there's no stock screw in the rear of the action (a rear screw is sometimes provided with custom rifles).

The 10-22 aluminum receiver is quite flexible, so various loads can print differently on paper. Therefore it tends to shoot to closer POIs with different loads when the barrel has adequate forend uplift forend (6-8 lbs.).
 

I don't have a steel bull-barrel on my 10-22 for bench shooting, but for offhand shooting...to make me steadier, but it's made some pretty impressive groups, both offhand and off bags.

I posted this (benched) 10-bull target that averaged .372" for 10 consecutive 5-shot groups at 50 yards.

upload_2021-2-21_9-17-6.png
 
Last edited:
Picher said:
If your eyes don't allow use of a peep, maybe it's time to go to the eye doctor
Click to expand...

Definately not a problem for me. I love my peep sighted guns. But as to this one, it got scoped. I did so not because I can't see my sights, but because I want to be able to clearly see the critter I'm shooting at, at 75 yards. I only have one eye that works anyway (left eye has 30% vision from an accident).

The accuracy of the rifle in it's current form is perfectly fine. I have 10 different 22 rifles and a 17HMR; if I want super accuracy I can pick from a couple different ones. This little gun is a plinker for the farm. It'll ride in the truck or buggy and shoot critters mostly. No need (nor desire) for modifications. The fact that you modified yours to do what it does is impressive. Just not my cup of tea.

Mac
 
About all my rifles have scopes on them and the variables are 3-9X. Some folks have trouble seeing through scopes, but I'm an "old" surveyor and am kinda used to seeing small things like plumb bob strings or survey rods in the woods with an old 30X surveyor's transit for several hours a day. Modern variable-power scopes work great, especially when turned down to 2 or 3X for spotting animals in the woods but they have to be mounted to allow quick image acquisition. That means perfect height and eye distance that will enable full-image, quick shots.
 
MacAR

I voted for scoping it. It kind of reminded me of when I got my 10/22 over 40 years ago and quickly discovered that it was very accurate just with the iron sights. So it then occurred to me that a scope would definitely improve things even more and mounted a Weaver K2.5 scope on it. I have been happily plinking away with it ever since.

Most memorable shot was knocking the cap off of a liter bottle of water at 100 yards! To be honest about it, I would have been happy just getting a hit anywhere on the bottle at that distance!
xgZQSgg.jpg
 
MikeInOr

Like your folding stock on your 10/22! I have an older Butler Creek side folder that fit my 10/22 perfectly with no loss in accuracy whenever I swapped the stocks out.
 
Picher said:
If your eyes don't allow use of a peep, maybe it's time to go to the eye doctor to get them checked. You may just need glasses, or a different prescription than you have now. I also have had cataract surgery and/or laser treatment on my eyes and I see better now than when I was 10.
Click to expand...

Yep, going to get a new prescription bring red dots back in focus, too. Per my eye exams, my problem is my middle aged pupils don't dilate as widely as they did in my younger days.

So, my difficulty with a peep is I don't always get to shoot in better lighting conditions. Like my last outing with my Marlin 39 on a friend's property in far north Texas a few months ago. We all started our plinking session with late afternoon sun in the sky, and we kept shooting as the sun set. The targets were all sorts of things like cans and discarded happy meal toys sitting on logs with some trees overhead. Not exactly high contrast targets in most cases.

There I was starting out with the .093" aperture, then I removed that aperture as light diminished and I was able to hit targets a little bit longer, then it was over for me as I couldn't make out the front sight anymore. All the while the guys with the one 10/22 and one Henry lever (both with red dots) kept shooting and hitting.

The fact I've got a bit of bright orange paint on the front sight of the 39 just didn't help without light reaching that front sight.

I knew this lesson in advance, but I didn't bring a gun and optic suited for it. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. :oops:
 
Last edited:
You can get all the accuracy out of a Clark mid-weight as you get from a bull barrel, without making it into an unbalanced boat anchor. I don't have a problem carrying a 10lb rifle. I just ain't gonna carry a 10lb .22LR. This one is 7.5lb with the 21.5" Clark mid weight barrel. These taper to .720" at the muzzle. This one now resides in factory walnut with a Leupold 3-9x.

IMG_8118b.jpg

KIDD also has a mid-weight bull barrel that is similar in weight. The French walnut rifle I posted before now has a Shilen sporter weight barrel.

Remington and Savage got it right with their bull barrels, at around .750". Far better than the typical .920" 10/22 barrel.

Remington%20541%2003.jpg
 
MacAR

The Weaver scope is nearly as old as the rifle as I didn't waste much time in getting one for it. The lower magnification was great for the small game we were hunting and the 1" tube let in plenty of light.
 
I like irons, on a 22LR, and my Take-Down is unscoped.

But Leupold makes a 1-6 X30 scope which is nothing short of fantastic, for rifles like this.
 
bannockburn said:
The Weaver scope is nearly as old as the rifle
Click to expand...

I have 2 of those Weaver's on 22's, and I really like them. Wish I'd had another for this one, but the 3-9x is growing on me. I had it out today, and did a bit plinking and can honestly say, I do like both the scope and the rifle. Probably should've mentioned, this ain't my first 10/22, but will likely be a favorite before all's said and done.

Mac
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
  • Locked
Which Scope for a 10/22?
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
wally
wally
P
  • Locked
It's 10/22 So Show Me Your 10-22
2 3
Replies
64
Views
2K
Reloadron
Reloadron
3
  • Locked
Customizing the Ruger 10/22
2
Replies
27
Views
3K
Spyvie
S
weblance
  • Locked
My New 10/22 Takedown(Not What You Think)
2
Replies
26
Views
3K
chicharrones
chicharrones
S
  • Locked
My new to me 10-22 plinker :)
Replies
8
Views
498
sixgunner455
S
Back
Top