Ruger 10/22 Question.

[sbarkowski]

With the rising cost of guns and ammo I figured its time to spend more time with the good old .22lr. I have an old bolt action that fails to feed every so often and Im interested in a Ruger 10/22. My question is, is there any real difference with the standard model compared to the target model? Does the heavy barrel really make that much of a difference with the .22lr?

 

[ArmedBear]

My standard model grouped about as well as I could hold my Ruger .22 pistol, with the same ammo as the pistol.

Can't say how much better the Target model is, but it's got to be better than that.

Personally, I'd broaden my horizons and look around at other rifles before dropping the cash, either way.

 

[rangerruck]

it is noticeably better, and is more reliable. it has a much stiffer bbl, better extractor, tighter chamber.
That being said, any marlin or savage will outshoot it, for about 200 bucks less.

 

[ArmedBear]

any marlin or savage will outshoot it

BTW that would include a Marlin 60 with relatively cheap, not "match", ammo.

 

[Odnar]

If you do get a 10/22 (either one), I HIGHLY recommend replacing the stock extractor with the Volquartsen "Exact Edge" extractor. For around $10, it made a world of difference in the reliability of mine.

 

[jerkface11]

I had the "target" model. It would certainly hit a target. That's about all you can say for it though. Wasn't that reliable either the mags needed cleaning every couple hundred rounds.

 

[flyboy1788]

I have a 25 year old 10/22 which is a blast and has never ever ever failed to feed or eject and believe me I've used many many different kinds of ammo through it, but as far as accuracy is concerned, my marlin model 60 is much better. I can get quarter sized 20 shot groups at 50 yards all day long. At 25 yards I set up spent .223 shells and smoke them like no tomorrow

 

[8040Cougar]

i love my standard blued walnut carbine but its not the most accurate thign in the world. I too have a an old old stevens bolt .22 that doesnt like to eject spent shells, ever haha. I picked up the ruger because i didnt have any semi-auto guns to enjoy, and you can never have too many .22s. Just ask yourself whats more important, tight groups or semi-auto blasting fun. That said, you can make 10/22s very accurate, and a tack driving bolt action is a wonderful thing, so its personal preference really.

 

[Kymasabe]

I owned a Marlin 60 and hated it, would never feed properly, especially after it warmed up. My 10/22 has been 100% reliable. I got the cheap carbine version from Wal-Mart, added a bolt buffer, a mag release extension, and a cheap PowerCustom hammer (which cost about $10 and took all of 5 minutes to install) and I'll have this gun 'til I die. It's scoped and shoots nice tight groups all day long.

 

[Eyesac]

I don't know where all the 10/22 hate came from, but they're great guns. There's no doubt they have reliability issues, but so does every .22 out there. I own a stock Marlin and I'm not impressed, nor am I impressed with a stock 10/22... but you can easily find drop-in upgrade parts for a 10/22 and not so easily for the Marlin. To answer your question, yes the target model is going to be a better gun, but I personally haven't purchaced one because I'd rather put one together myself. Get the stock one, and buy a Volquartzen extractor and have fun, if you feel like upgrading later, buy some new parts!

 

[ArmedBear]

I don't know where all the 10/22 hate came from

Owning one.

I consider my 22/45 slabside target pistol to be a flawless firearm.

Why in hell couldn't Ruger put a working extractor on the 10/22, especially now that its price has risen so much? Why should you have to get one from Volquartsen? What about warranty service, when Ruger might just throw away your aftermarket parts?

I've bought a few project guns. What do they have in common? They're old! The most recent acquisition was made in 1926, and it shot fine from the get-go. The stock just needed some repairs.

When I buy a new-in-box gun, I want a good gun to be sitting in that box. Yeah, I might improve or customize some things if I want something specific that the market doesn't exactly offer, but I shouldn't have to.

 

[Geneseo1911]

Interesting. Apparently I got the only working 10/22 the factory ever produced. I bought mine used; a standard carbine model. It always outshot my buddies' .22 autoloaders, and depending on ammo, will shoot between .9 to 2.5 in at 50 yds. I've NEVER had a FTF for FTE (while using factory magazines; the aftermarket units gave it fits) in several thousand rounds, even with some nasty, dirty steel cased Rusky surplus ammo (that was the 2.5" group). The only fault I have with them is the mag release button.

I've often wondered if the target model shoots any better as well. I don't really think I'd need anything better unless I was shooting competition.

If all the haters above want to dispose of their "lousy" 10/22s, PM me, I'd like to build a Liberty Training Rifle for my wife.

 

[sbarkowski]

Thanks for the input guys lots of good info. They do seem fairly costly for what you get. Maybe I'll just look into another bolt action thats a little more reliable. The Henry Golden Boy has always appealed to me, never handled or shot one though. But it looks like a fun gun.

 

[moosehunt]

I guess I got the second decent one, that being the low end carbine. With a good 4x scope and Leupold mounts, using a bench, I can regularly shoot 20 round groups under an inch at 50 yards. It is not at all uncommon to get 10 shot groups that I can cover with a dime at 50 yards--and this all with economy ammo, i.e. Federal 550 pacs. I did replace the extractor which addressed an occasional failure to eject. I later put in a trigger upgrade and an aftermarket stock and a couple other things to run up the price. It looks better, but doesn't shoot any better. It shot those same nice groups before and after. I'm not saying it's a match rifle, but shoots as good as I do. Incidently, I guess my pard has the third one that is good. His is the stainless with the mannlicer (sp?) stock--shoots good as mine. I guess we're just lucky?

 

[johnmcl]

S,

You didn't talk much about your goals for your new rifle.

For recreational plinking, I think the 10/22 is hard to beat. Mine's fairly insensitive to what ammo is used, and the rifle hammers targets just fine. Now, is it a precision piece of smallbore rifle-work? Of course not, Bill Ruger designed a fun little semi auto that sells for under $200. We should stand in respect for his ability to do so.

One uber-cool aspect is that the 10/22 can grow into what ever you want. Midway frequently has Butler Creek and Hogue barrel/stock combinations for around $100. Butler Creek barrels are widely rumored to be relabeled Green Mountains. There's nothing finer for us mere mortals than a GM barrel.

So, kick-*ss hunting gun, national class competitive rifle, or just fun plinker, all are within reach with a 10/22.

oh ya, skip the Henry and get to a 39A...

 

[ArmedBear]

BTW I have a hypothesis about stock 10/22's. Some people do report having good luck with them.

Ruger has made some great runs here and there. And they've made a lot of lemons, too.

My gun didn't feed reliably, didn't eject reliably, had terrible accuracy, and wasn't good for enough rounds between cleanings to be fun. Magazines are hit-and-miss as well. That's my objective experience -- a true POS if ever there was one.

Others here report having a lot of fun with stock Rugers, and I fully believe that they do.

There's nothing wrong with the design (as Volquartsen, Magnum Research and thousands of garage gunsmiths have proven.) But it can be built quite poorly, and Ruger has proven that to many of us!

If Ruger marked the guns so we could tell which ones are built well, I might buy another one (if I could get a stainless Mannlicher style one). As it stands, forget it.

Another factor. People have different expectations. I have a friend who likes his 10/22. I was at a range shooting next to him and his wife, with my Marlin 60.

He looked at his target, then at my target, and said, "Man, that thing IS accurate!"

Then his 10/22 started malfunctioning. He showed his wife how to clear it and how to push the bolt shut. He said, "Yeah, it's had 150 or 200 rounds through it. Gotta clean it when we get home," and they kept on shooting it a few rounds at a time between jams.

Next to them, I just kept on shooting the Marlin, 15 rounds at a time -- with bulk ammo, no less. I'd shot as many rounds as they had.

So, his "great" 10/22 really didn't work worth a hill of crap, by my standards. But apparently, he expected the thing to shoot fist-size groups and foul up to the point of frequent malfunctions after 150 rounds. So it met his expectations.

Now I think that, if you can't grab a clean and oiled .22 and shoot a brick through it without worrying about it, it's not a fun plinker. My 22/45 and my .22LR AR will shoot several bricks of cheap ammo between cleanings, especially with a drop or two of CLP from my little range bottle on the bolt between bricks.

Unreliable guns aren't fun. There's a reason .22LR is sold by the brick. Furthermore, if I can't hand the gun, fully loaded, to an inexperienced shooter and expect that they can empty it without malfunction, it's not fun either.

But some people have lower expectations.

In sum:

1. I think that some 10/22s are built better than others. Do you feel lucky?

2. I think that some people just don't expect their guns to work as well as I do, so lousy accuracy and unreliable cycling don't register as all that negative.

 

[ArmedBear]

oh ya, skip the Henry and get to a 39A...

I agree re the Golden Boy. If you want a budget lever .22, get the basic Henry for $250 and don't pay $200 for glitz. If you want to spend $400-500, get the Marlin 39; it's made of machined steel and will last essentially forever.

 

[rugerfreak]

I've owned probably 10 10/22's since the '80's---and NEVER had reliability or accuracy issues. One went 10,000 rounds before I cleaned for the second time(ALWAYS clean when new)---didn't need it--I just felt like it.

I'm thinking not a bad 10/22---but rather a bad 10/22 owner.

Still have one 10/22 in the safe and 2 on lay-a-way-----my Browning T-bolt is currently getting most of my .22 attention.

 

[ArmedBear]

I'm thinking not a bad 10/22---but rather a bad 10/22 owner.

LOL -- this is a great example of a reasoned opinion.

I'm sure that explains why your gun can go 10,000 rounds between cleanings, and others might make it to 200 before they start to jam... The gun just magically knows that your gross neglect is benign, somehow.

My 22/45 can shoot several bricks between cleanings, no problem. Fouling on the chamber face degrades accuracy after about 1500 rounds, but it keeps feeding.

Perhaps you can explain why my 10/22 wouldn't do a brick, with the same oil, same maintenance, and the same shooter?

 

[LKB3rd]

I just ordered a Volquartsen hammer, extractor, bolt buffer, and recoil pad(for the extension, not the recoil lol) for my 10/22. It works great stock, except for occasional fte's with certain ammo. $71 of upgrades, and I am hoping for a lighter trigger, and reliable extractions with any ammo. We'll see.

 

[rugerfreak]

Honestly---I've never seen the issues with 10/22 that I read on the boards and I've been playing with them for nearly 30 years.

Even my buddy's rifle that he stored in a basement closet which rusted the barrel badly---still ran like a champ.

 

[SHvar]

Ive had the ruger 10/22 all weather model for years (stainless, with synthetic stock), it just oozes reliability from everywhere.
Ive taken a few firearms to the range and fired the most rounds through the 10/22 of all, returned, then left it dirty several times because I know it will function dry, dirty, and fires pretty accurate with any ammunition Ive ever tried in it. In fact I use the cheapest, pure lead bullets I can buy for it, far more reliable than its predecessor which was an Iver Johnson.
I just cannot think of anyone who has ever had a single problem with a ruger 10/22 (except one factory rotary magazine that exploded and scared the owner once)until I came to this forum, wow! That magazine had a problem with a stray piece of metal that acted as a firing pin when dumb luck lined it up right as the mag was spinning during firing.
I know someone who spent a few hundred on making his more accurate, but I dont need to shoot it for accuracy at 100 yds all of the time. I just shoot it mostly at 25 and 50 yds with complete accuracy.
If you can see almost anything through the Bushnell 3-9x40 scope on the top, you can hit it accurately.
I thought about getting one of those GSG5 22 rifles, but Im afraid that it just wont work as good as the 10/22 has for all of these years for so much more money.

 

[ArmedBear]

Honestly---I've never seen the issues with 10/22 that I read on the boards and I've been playing with them for nearly 30 years.

I believe you.

And from personal experience, I can say that I also believe anyone who says they have had the issues, and I've seen random people having them at the range, too.

All I can say is, there's a list of .22 rifles I'd rather shoot, than throw money at a 10/22.

And I have to ask you: if you paid money for a new rifle, and it was a POS, would you recommend it to someone else?

 

[S4gunn]

I purchased a 10/22 and would still recommend it to people NOT because it's the most accurate gun out of the box but because it's one of the most modifiable platforms out there.

Visit http://www.rimfirecentral.com
and you will find a wealth of info on how to make the 10/22 quite a shooter (there's even a section devoted to tips/tricks that will improve the reliability of the rifle without costing you any money).

NOTE: Do not be sucked into the idea that ALL aftermarket parts will make a rifle more reliable. For example, I tracked my extraction issues down to problems with the ejector NOT knocking the rounds out of the receiver because I was overzealous in polishing the top of it. Replacing the exractor seemed like a good idea at the time but really didn't increase the reliability of the rifle. Conversely, going to a titanium firing pin sounded like a good idea at the time when I noticed a few light strikes but in the end, removing mass from the pin only exacerbated the problem; going with a stronger hammer spring was a much better idea.

The best thing about a 10/22 is if you do go down the modification route, you will definitely learn how firearms work.

-g

 

[LKB3rd]

I just ordered a Volquartsen hammer, extractor, bolt buffer, and recoil pad(for the extension, not the recoil lol) for my 10/22. It works great stock, except for occasional fte's with certain ammo. $71 of upgrades, and I am hoping for a lighter trigger, and reliable extractions with any ammo. We'll see.

I got my VQ hammer, exact edge extractor, a bolt buffer on Friday, and just got back from the range.
Thumbs up! The trigger pull is a nice crisp 3 3/4 pounds. I was having fte's with blazer ammo once every magazine or two. Today, I shot 150 rounds of it without one fte. It was launching them authoritatively into the wall of my station. Did another 100 rounds or so of winchester xpert without any problems either. The new extractor appears to have cured my fail to eject/stovepipe issues, and the trigger is a lot better.