ruger 10/22

[JulietTango]

i am looking to buy a .22 lr for target/plinking. people i know tell me to get a 10/22. but when i look at different forums i see other rifles in the same price range that boast greater accuracy as well as other qualities. why is the 10/22 so popular?

 

[ImARugerFan]

It's popular because it's a reliable gun and has tons of aftermarket accessories, barrels, and stocks for it. Check out the rimfirecentral.com forums for everything 10/22. Are you sold on the .22 you buy being a semi auto? If so, I've heard good things about the Thompson Center, and the Marlin Model 60 is priced like the ruger, but shoots a little bit better out of the box. If you're willing to go with a bolt, check out the savages and CZs and you'll be shooting dimes at 50 yards in no time.

 

[nyggis]

Hello and welcome to this forum!
Great people and a lot of good advice!

I think the thing with the ruger 10/22 is that you have a simple reliable construction with almost infinite possibilities to customize. If you want it to be more accurate, hold more ammo, look like something from "starship troopers", work like a hunting rifle, fun plinker or something else... its possible. And to a relative small cost.

Good luck with your purchase!

/ Erik

 

[Schleprok62]

Well, my experience with a 10/22 isn't so pleasing or wonderful. But, in defense, no matter what make or model, there are those who love it or hate it.

The Marlin model 60 is probably a better option for reliable and accurate out of the box. I have a Remington model 597 and I love it.

I do technically, still own a 10/22... it currently sits at the bottom of the Ohio River... right where I threw it...

 

[rangerruck]

most any new rifle, including the mossberg plinkster, is better and more accurate out of the box than a 10.22. That being said, I have a 10.22, and there is somehting so darn sexy and cool about the flush fit, semi auto mag, very cool... never the less, you can def do a ton of stuff with them. But you are right, you have to spend about 100 bucks, on simple internal changes and mods, to keep it both looking stock, and getting it accurate and reliable. Which means you gotta drop about 300 bucks to get it right. The marlin mod 60 will run used about 100 bucks, and will smoke a 10.22 all day.

 

[Pilot]

The only thing left stock on my 10/22 is the receiver and bolt. Everything else is aftermarket. Yeah, I spent a few bucks on it but now I have a cool, very accurate .22 with a superb trigger.

 

[ArmedBear]

The only thing left stock on my 10/22 is the receiver and bolt. Everything else is aftermarket. Yeah, I spent a few bucks on it but now I have a cool, very accurate .22 with a superb trigger.

10/22 = Soup from a Stone

A great gun if you don't mind throwing 85% of it in the trash and throwing a lot of money at making it right.

If you want an economical, accurate little .22 semiauto, I prefer the Marlin 60. If I want to spend money on a .22, I prefer something other than a 10/22 (e.g. Marlin 39 lever guns, .22LR AR).

I didn't chuck my 10/22 in a river. I did, however, sell it to spend the money on other stuff instead. Mine was not reliable or accurate in standard form, and I balked at spending a lot of money to make it right. The Marlin 60 has served me well as a basic semiauto, and the other stuff has been more fun as higher-end toys go.

 

[MCgunner]

There seem to be a lot of 10/22 haters on this board, which is sort of odd cause I love mine. But, it don't really surprise me considering danged near everything I own gets bashed on this board, Rugers, Tauri, Smith and Wesson (lots of Smith koolaid drinkers here, though), Kel Tec, Mossberg shotguns, Remington rifles, etc. Now, funny thing, people talk about Savage like it's a quality rifle. ROFLMAO! I have one, shoots good, but no Kleingunther. This board is strange.

Don't expect more'n hunting/plinking accuracy out of it, but it's a great little rifle, very reliable and will last a lifetime of plinking. All I added to mine is a Hogue stock. You can spend a ton on the aftermarket on the things, but it suited my needs right out of the box. I just like those over-molded Hogue stocks. Mine's a stainless gun and I use it as a knock around woods bumming gun. I have more accurate .22s, but my 10/22 is my go to plinker.

Hey, there are other choices, but my 10/22 is handier than a M60 and has a neater magazine design. I like the rotary removable magazine. It's just all in what ya want, I guess. BTW, I haven't had a jam, yet, and mine's bone stock. I even like the trigger, as plinkers go. I've had a few that didn't fire, mostly Federal Lightening, but that's normal, more a function of ammo than the gun. Any .22 will have a failure with a round to go off now and then, why I don't like rimfires for self defense not to mention the ballistics, but that's another thread. It shoots 1.5" accurate at 50 yards with iron sights, good 'nuf for what I wanted it for.

 

[CajunBass]

Yep, a lot of people hate the 10/22. Some seem to make a career of it. I'm not one of them. I think I replied to your thread on Glock Talk, if not your's someone asked the same question.

I've got three 10/22's all three stock out of the box. I've also got a Remington 597, a Marlin 39A, and a Stevens 46 bolt action. They're all good guns, but when I reach for a 22 rifle, most of the time it's a 10/22. Why? It's a light, handy, nice looking little rifle that does what I want it to do. The fact that they're fairly inexpensive, especially used, doesn't hurt any either. I got two of my three used but they still looked brand new. I too like the flush fit 10 round magazine. If you want to tinker with a 22, the 10/22 is the logical place to start. You can throw away everything but the serial number if you want to and build a whole new rifle. You don't have to, but you can.

Now I'm not going to try to tell anyone the 10/22 is the best 22 rifle on the market. They're probably not, but they're good enough for me, and apparently a lot of other people. There are other good ones too. I like the Remington 597. Good rifle. I think the Marlin Model 60 is ugly, but a lot of people say they shoot good, so I'll take their word for it.

Pick the one you like, and have fun with it.

 

[hqmhqm]

I think the 10/22 is one of the best .22 rifles. Particularly the synthetic stock, it is light, and very reliable. I added a bolt buffer, extended release, and bolt quick release. And I wish they had bolt hold-open on empty magazines.

The iron rear sights that come with it are lousy, however using the Tech Sights, or a scope, makes up for that.

I have a Browning Buckmark, which I like a lot but don't find as accurate and reliable; it sometimes has trouble feeding from it's mag in cold weather particularly.

The Marlin 60 was too heavy in my opinion, for my daughter who is only 10 years old.

We have a browning BL-22, but the trigger is too heavy and the sights are not very good.

The Ruger may seem kind of plain and boring, but it actually works very well.

 

[ArmedBear]

And I wish they had bolt hold-open on empty magazines.

They do. For another $55 or so.

My Ruger did not feed well. Magazines seem hit-or-miss, judging by my experience and people around me at the range (e.g. one guy the other day had 4, including 2 that were actually good).

Old ones seem to feed better, and some new ones, too. Maybe mine was built on Friday afternoon or something.

The Marlin has been 100%, without any hassle, and the stock, with a higher comb, works a lot better with a scope than the Ruger standard stock does. The standard Ruger stock fits well if you use irons, but not a scope.

 

[Schleprok62]

Well, just so everyone knows, the 10/22 I had was a retarded red-headed step-child out of the box... every kind of problem you can think of - FTF, FTE, Magazine would not release, etc... it was returned to Ruger for repair/adjustment/replacement... I got the same rifle back, with a note of something was "realigned." Well, whatever they said they did, didn't fix it... I got so miffed I threw it in the river and went and bought a Glenfield model 25 for $50 at a local pawn shop... that #25 was more accurate than a $50 rifle had a right to be...

My 597 I got new, for $125 at Outdoor Outfitters locally. All I did was bring it home, clean it, and take it to the range... it's been 99.9999% relaible with about 5000 rounds through it...

Now, as I said before... regardless of make/model... there are those that have had great luck, and horrible luck... I was in the latter group... I did not say the 10/22 was a bad rifle, I said the ONE I had was... Would I buy another one??? NO!! Would I buy another Remmy?? YES!!! Would I buy another Marlin/Glenfield?? HECK YEAH!! (I have 2 now...)

 

[ArmedBear]

It seems a lot of people think the 10/22 is worth buying, so I resold mine for 170 bucks and bought a Marlin with (some of) the money.

That's the one thing I can say about it. Mine was a POS, but I got money back out of it.

 

[aka108]

I've had a 10/22 for years and never really liked the feel of it nor the accuracy. About 10 yr ago Midway had a Adams&Bennet bull barrel and a Hogue replacement stock for 99 bucks. Went ahead and ordered it and the rifle now shoots far tighter groups and feels better in hand. Trigger is not great but I don't want to put any more money in it. As mentioned by most above, there are hundreds of aftermarket parts from different manufacturers that make it a excellent piece when modified. Out of the box it has weaknesses. If you want a inexpensive a pretty accurate rifle try the Marlin 60. Best accuracy for any reasonable money would be a CZ 452 or 453. They are bolt action if that matters to you.

 

[tenbears]

Since 1978 I have used the same Ruger 10/22, reliable, accurate, and upgradeable,I cant say anymore.

 

[CB900F]

JulietTango;

My experiences with the Ruger 10/22 platform have been good. Shooting buddies that have them have not complained to me either. I've seen some box-stock 10/22's deliver very good accuracy. The secret to that is to do a lot of ammo testing & find what your particular gun likes. Which will probably be something different than what the next 10/22 on the firing line likes.

I'm not saying you can't get a lemon, in any product line it happens. But by-and-large, the 10/22 didn't get to be as popular as it is by being somethng better put in the toilet.

900F

 

[ds/ks]

They are popular because they are tough, reliable and have that kick ass Phoenix logo on them. Prussian eagle

 

[ArmedBear]

The secret to that is to do a lot of ammo testing & find what your particular gun likes.

They all shoot the really expensive stuff pretty well... Like $8/box of 100 Mini Mags. Kinda defeats the purpose of a .22, for me.

The goal, for me, is to find a .22 that will shoot most anything without a lot of hassle. Doesn't have to shoot the worst ammo ever made, and if there's some particular one it doesn't like, okay, but if it can't feed at least some of the bulk stuff reliably, it's outa here. I'll buy whatever I need to for the best accuracy, but if I want to put a few hundred rounds through it and plink, I don't want to spend match-ammo money to do it.

So far, my Marlin 60 feeds what I give it. People report that it only works with HV ammo. Well, the manuals SAYS so, so that's all I feed it. Most bulk ammo is HV anyway. Stingers work fine, as well. My .22LR AR upper also works with whatever I feed it, as do my lever guns. You'd expect that from lever guns, I guess.

The fact is, as much as people say that .22's are very finicky about ammo, not all of them are.

I've certainly seen 10/22s that were reliable enough without mod's. Mine wasn't. My friend's really old one is slick and very reliable. It's also walnut and anodized, not "hardwood" and painted. I don't know how old it is.