Ruger 10/22 Bull Barrel?

[AZ Heat]

I am looking at getting a Ruger 10/22 and am deciding between bull barrel or standard. The specific bull barrel model I am looking at is the K10/22-T. So my question is, should I spend the extra money for this model or just get a standard barrel model? Am I going to get better performance/accuracy with the bull? Are there cons to getting this as well?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Shear_stress]

Depending on the price difference at your shop, I would say buy the standard 10/22 and then upgrade with an aftermarket barrel/stock. You may save money and will realize accuracy equal to or better than the factory bull barrel. The 10/22 is insanely easy to modify (a barrel swap takes five minutes with no special tools), and there is enough aftermarket support out there so that you can get exactly what you want. Plus, you don't have to pay the whole cost upfront.

You might try rimfirecentral.com also. Lots of good advice there.

Edited for clarity.

 

[rockstar.esq]

A friend of mine and I have talked about this topic many times over and heres what we have come up with. First and foremost, the bewildering array of aftermarket parts for this rifle is at best a double edged sword. When my friend totaled up the cost of all of his planned modifications, the price was nearly $2000.00! For that kind of money, you could have simply had Volquartsen build you two rifles, one to go with black shoes and one for the white ones...
That said, if you are reasonable about what you want to achieve and you know how to stop the mod madness, I'd advise the aftermarket barrel since you could sell your old barrel via e-bay. I have to admit that I really like all the options however I just can't see myself stopping short of $500.00 which when you consider that the original purchase price of the gun was under $250.00 there just might be a case of overkill. No matter what you do, the 10/22 is a fine rifle and you won't regret buying one.

 

[Shear_stress]

If you've got the cash on hand, you really can go crazy with the aftermarket parts. I have nothing but respect for people who go out of there way to turn their 10/22 into something truly unique. The question, though, is what *you* want to get out the gun. When I wanted to modify my 10/22, my goal was maximum value rather than maximum performance. After doing a lot of research, it seemed like the initial few hundred dollars buys the most gain in accuracy. Beyond that, the accuracy improvement per dollar spent nets you diminishing returns.

My roughly two hunded and fifty dollar investment bought me an Adams&Bennett (aka Green Mountain) 18" long, 0.920" diameter bull barrel and overmolded Hogue stock (a $120 package deal that was on sale from MidwayUSA); a Volquartsen hammer and auto bolt release pack ($35) and extended magazine release ($18); a cheap red dot scope ($30) and Weaver adapter ($10); and a recoil buffer of some kind ($10). I downloaded some instructions from an internet site that I have since forgotten and put the whole thing together in an hour and a half with no prior experience with 10/22 modification.

The trigger is light and crisp, and I can chew a little hole in the target at fifty yards, which is good enough for my purposes. I am not a big fan of synthetic stocks, but the Hogue is contoured nicely, seems very sturdy, and was very inexpensive compared to the nicer looking laminated stocks. Also important to a lefty like me, the Hogue was at least ambidextrous. I do wish I had spent more on the scope, as the one I bought need to be modified to fit on the scope base properly, but I can always upgrade. Everyone is different and has different needs, but I am very satisified with the accuracy and shootability of this rifle, and I love the balance of the 18" bull barrel.

To return the original poster's question, I would rather spend the money on a regular issue 10/22 and modify it with a few carefully selected parts. The end result is a gun just as (or possibly more) accurate than the factory target model, but you have truly made it "yours". To me, the standard 10/22 is just too good an opportunity for modification to pass up.

 

[SamlautRanger]

Buy the Bull Barrel version

I just bought the bull barrel model you are looking at. Got it with Blue steel for $350. I have a old (20 yrs) 10/22 and was just going to upgrade it but when I looked at how much a bull barrel, new laminated stock to fit the bull barrel, and a target trigger well it almost came out to what the brand new one cost. So now I have a brand new ruger 10/22 with a hammer forged bull barrel and recessed crown, a target trigger, a nice wood lamninated stock and a scope mounting rail all for $350. Plan on mounting a 2x aimpoint I have on it. Should be a great plinker and tack driver!!

 

[kngflp]

I bought a 10/22 with grand ideas of tuning it up later on. It was made in 1978 and looks so classy the way it is, plus I was out shooting a guy with a bull barreled custom gun anyway. So I decided to leave this $99 investment just the way it is.

 

[CB900F]

Az Heat;

I'll second the opinion of Kngflp. Ruger 10/22's have their faults, & the trigger is usually the most noticable. That being said, many people replace the stock barrel without giving it a second thought. Better they should make sure that they can out-shoot the stock barrel first. I've found stock 10/22's to have very good barrels, in some instances truly outstanding barrels.

Money spent on the action/trigger will return it's investment many times over. A Hogue stock is also a low-cost very worthwhile expense IMHO. But the barrel? Uh-uh, not until a lot of ammo testing & then accuracy testing is done first.

900F

 

[Sir Aardvark]

Check out this place:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/

Also this place:

http://www.perfectunion.com/

they will have more info on the 10/.22 than you could digest.

I've seen people post where they will pick up a used 10/.22 cheap, sell the stock barrel on gunbroker, buy an aftermarket bullbarrel and stock, and then tune it up into thier very own tack driver for low bucks.

I, myself, enjoy doing all the work I can on my own firearms. The 10/.22 is one of the easiest to customize, aftermarket supported firearms ever made. You will find that every single part in the gun has an aftermarket replacement, including stainless steel receivers!. It is one of my most favorite firearms...so much so that I have 4 of them.

 

[jefmad]

Whichever model you buy make the first thing you do is go get a Volquartsen target hammer. They cost $35 shipped to your door and will reduce the trigger pull to around 2-3 pounds. Enjoy!

 

[Shear_stress]

The way I see it, if maximum out of the box accuracy is the question, than I am not sure if the 10/22 is the answer. There are simply scads of bolt and lever action .22 rifles from CZ, Savage, Marlin, Winchester, Remington, etc. that will cover that ground pretty well at very reasonable cost. If you want an accurate, semi-auto, bull-barrel 22 rifle that you do not ever expect to customize, you can always snag a clip-fed Marlin 7000 and spend the savings on some good glass.

I will definately not say that the 10/22 is necessarilly inaccurate, but, compared to the vast selection of 22 rifles on the market, its chief advantage is ease of customization.

 

[ALASKACAJUN]

I walked into a gun shop the other day, and purchased a nice Ruger 10/22 with a cheap scope for $140. Left that gun shop and went to another one and asked Jon (a friend) if he had any barrels... He goes to the trunk of his car and pulls out a box of Green Mountain barrels, from 16" to 20". He hands me a stainless fluted 20"er and says $80, I bought that and a nice laminated stock for $135. Threw the 4-12X40MM Leupold off of my 22-250 on it and went to the range. The trigger sux but I'm gonna deal with that later. I've built 3 of these and it seems to be addictive, the thing is someone I know WILL want to buy this gun and I WILL sell it to them at a profit. It always amazes me that they won't just do it themselves...

- Clint

 

[Shear_stress]

"It always amazes me that they won't just do it themselves... "

It amazes me, too. There's a local shop that seems to sell a lot of tricked out 10/22s for pretty good money. Reminds me of the old Farside cartoon where the two archaeologists are simply carving an Australopithicus skull out of stone rather than going out into the field to find one: "This is disconcerting. Another skull, another fortune."

 

[sendtoscott]

Can you really buy a 10/22 stock w/o settling the barrel question first? It seems that there are different stocks required for different barrel thicknesses.

 

[jefmad]

Bull Barrels for 10/22's are almost all .920". You can safely get the stock you want inlet for that diameter and be safe.

 

[sendtoscott]

But you's still need to decide whether to buy a bull barrel before buying the stock.

 

[larryw]

I guess it boils down to use. I FrankenRuger'd my 10/22 and have a bull barrel on it now. There are times I regret doing that as it is no longer a light field rifle, but is nose heavy and poorly balanced.

You want to shoot bench rest with it? Get the Bull. You want to have a good general purpose, but the standard one and see how yours shoots (do the trigger job!). You can always buy the Green Mountain bull barrel and the Hogue overmold stock (what I did) if you want to go the bull route, but the new base 10/22s I've seen at my club all shoot exceptionally well.

 

[Clocktower]

I bought a bull barrel and the houge stock for my 1022 and I love it... I have a 1.5-4.45 nikon on it and it could not be happier. I even put a harris folding bi pod on it... I call it my mini me sniper.

 

[TimboKhan]

Modifications

Just a bit of a qualifier... Rockstar.Esq and I are real-life buddies, and it is me that he was talking about concerning the $2000.00 10/22. It is important to note that that was my DREAM 10/22, and yes, when I was dreaming about it and going through the catalogs, damned if it didn't work out to that much, more or less. As I recall, the stock that I liked the most was something like 500 bones, and the barrell was like $350.00. Include the slicked up action, the slicked up trigger, and the steel finishing, and it doesn't take long to get the price up. Rockstar.esq and I are in complete agreement about the ridiculousness of building a 10/22 that expensive, but thats the funnest thing about 10/22's! Name me another gun that you can, using aftermarket parts that are by and large "gunsmith free"(minus the finish work), go so crazy with. I own two 10/22's now, and on one of them I added a scope and an extended mag release, but other than that, I haven't done a thing to either of them and I have been extremely happy with them over the years. Oh, and by the way, had I done all that I wanted to do, it would have been a beautiful, beautiful gun.

Timbo

 

[444]

You are going to have to decide for yourself what you want to do with the rifle and which one fits into your needs.
We can't answer that for you.
I own two 10/22s. Wait, one real 10/22 and two clones. Or one 10/22 reciever with a bunch of parts on it and two clones.
My actual Ruger isn't something you would want to carry around in the field. Heck, I paid over $200 just for the trigger (Kidd). But, I don't need to carry it around. I have other rifles for that purpose. It is a lot of fun from the bench though.
My "field" 10/22 cost me about $1100. But, it has an integral suppressor. That is my recomendation.

 

[Eightball]

Don't buy the bull barrel until you see what a stock 10/22 can do. I bought mine consignment, with a Simmons scope already mounted--standard barrel, lots of things with it, upgraded stock that had obviously had some TLC--but the mechanism was standard. Using the optic, I can freehand groups 1"MOA or less at a distance of 200 yards--hundreds upon hundreds of times. Save your money, and use the savings to buy a good optic and ammo, go have fun. If you really need inhuman accuracy, go for the bull--but under what curcumstance is 1"MOA not good enough? Just my $1/50.

 

[El Rojo]

What I like about my 10/22 with a Volquartsen 16.5" THM bull barrel is first off it is compact and light. Of course shooting squirrels from inside of your vehicle is illegal in this state, but if you were to ever go to a state where it is legal, this makes this gun very handy. Second, I rarely miss with this gun and when I do, it is my fault. It is so accurate. 1 MOA might be nice, but when you are trying to kill squirrels dead with a .22LR, the more accurate the better.

Now, could you get a trigger job done and the gun shoot just as good? Quite possibly. Get a stock gun and get the trigger done first. You might like what you get. If not, get a bull barrel and away you go.