What is the fuss with the Ruger 10/22

[Kentucky]

The Ruger 10/22 seems to be held in much higher regard around here than any other semi-automatic .22 rifles? I have never owned or shot one (but I am wondering if I need one ) What is the reason that they are so much preferred to any other .22 rifle?

 

[XavierBreath]

A bountiful aftermarket of parts that allow you to turn it into a very accurate rifle that looks just like you want it to look.

Same reason the 1911 is popular.

 

[Cueball]

The aftermarket parts availability, and the fact that it is a tinkerer's dream. They aren't all that great out of the box, but if you love to do mods, there is probably no place better to start.

 

[JohnKSa]

Solid design that is easy to work on and has a tremendous variety of available accessories.

Decent/reasonable performer out of the box, but capable of being quite impressive with some work/accessorization.

Hmmm... Reading my definition reminds me of another gun...

 

[ghost squire]

Personally I dislike it, but I suppose it does the job its intended to do, be a plinking rifle... As others have said, if you want to put a 350 dollar titanium firing pin into a 149 dollar gun to improve lock time then this is the gun you want!

 

[wally]

How else can you get dime sized groups at 50 yrds with ammo that runs $27/500 in an under $350 gun? Less if you find a beater and repace the barrel and stock. All it takes is a couple of hex head wrenches that usually come with the barrel!

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=131138

--wally.

 

[rockstar.esq]

Wally if you're paying $27.00 for 500 rounds of .22LR I have to say you're paying way too much. Most of my practice fodder runs $10.00 or so. And as to the accuracy point, you've certainly got a good one however I have a Tula TOZ -7 that simply rocks! I've gotten sub MOA out of it at 100yds! It only set me back $225.00. Course it's Russian, bolt action, and hasn't got any aftermarket at all...

 

[ghost squire]

How else can you get dime sized groups at 50 yrds with ammo that runs $27/500 in an under $350 gun? Less if you find a beater and repace the barrel and stock. All it takes is a couple of hex head wrenches that usually come with the barrel!

WHAT? HAHAHAHAH! Maybe my friend got the one bad one but there is no way in hell I could get dime size groups out of it, at anything over 10 feet. In fact I think its crazy that you're claiming that... By its very design it seems like it would be less accurate then a pistol.

 

[goon]

My dad bought one in the early '70's. He kept it with him while he was working in strip mines for shooting snakes and rats. It was passed on to me in about 1995 and I was the first to ever clean it. It ran for over 20 years and thousands upon thousands of the cheapest .22 ammo without ever being cleaned!
Rivals the venerable AK for reliability, doesn't it?
For the cash they are a great little plinker.

Having said that, my CZ-452 will still shoot the pants off mine.

 

[JohnKSa]

I've gotten respectable accuracy from 10/22 rifles. They're not spectacularly accurate in factory trim, but they're not AKs either.

 

[crashm1]

Devils with bushy tails

All I know is they are cheap and accurate enough that I have no problem killing the squirrels that are attempting to move into my house with humane head shots even though I am sorely tempted to make them suffer after lying awake listening to them store walnuts in my roof. You know how a squirrel gets a walnut to it's pantry? By rolling it.

 

[MCgunner]

I bought a used one at a gun show, stainless, $150. It is like new. I replaced the stock because I love this Hogue stock with the grippy rubber. I wanted an iron sighted gun, but did buy a scope mount just in case I got the urge, but I have a couple of other .22s with scopes and didn't have an iron sighted one.

I get on this board and everyone's knockin' the gun! I had thought everyone liked the 10-22. I like it. No, it's not target accurate, but it's about as accurate as any other .22 auto plinker, accurate enough for hunting, and really well made. I like the rotary mags, too. It serves the purpose for which I intended it to. My old Remington bolt gun is much more accurate, but no biggy there. I don't intend to spend a bunch of money on barrels and stuff, fine for me for what I wanted just the way it is. But, it's nice to know there is a huge aftermarket for the gun out there. I could turn it into a tack driver if I wanted to, got into rimfire competition or something. I admit it's not any more impressive a gun than a Marlin M60 in stock trim, but that's okay, too. I do prefer the rotary magazines to a tube magazine. I now own 4 .22 rimfire rifles. I wanted this 10-22 just because.

 

[silicon wolverine]

Most people buy 10/22 beacuse you can turn them into anyhting you want. the rest of us buy them beacuse you can blast away for hours without cleaning or breaking anyhting. I have a 10/22 stainless i have 100K + rounds through with only one part broken. (ejector, it just plain wore out about 90K) I dont clean it near as much as i should but it just keeps bangin away. Its kinda like a .22 Ak. Just keeps going and going and going........

SW

 

[ACP230]

Mine shot very well as a stock gun. I liked the looks of the 10/22 from the first ad I saw. That was my original reason for buying one. I had an old Glenfield semiauto .22 for years, but the Ruger was a better, and better-made gun.

Later, I made it into an understudy gun for my high power rifle. It shot even better with a peep sight added. I bought my first large cap mags for the 10/22 here.

Next, I added a Fajen stock, heavy stainless barrel, and a 4-10 power scope for a specific light rifle match at a bowling pin shoot I used to attend.
I started shooting .22 benchrest with the gun set up like that.
It probably will stay in that configuration now, but I could make it back into a stock gun if I felt like it.

 

[JohnBT]

"What is the reason that they are so much preferred to any other .22 rifle?"

They aren't.

John

 

[hksw]

How else can you get dime sized groups at 50 yrds with ammo that runs $27/500 in an under $350 gun? Less if you find a beater and repace the barrel and stock. All it takes is a couple of hex head wrenches that usually come with the barrel!

WHAT? HAHAHAHAH! Maybe my friend got the one bad one but there is no way in hell I could get dime size groups out of it, at anything over 10 feet. In fact I think its crazy that you're claiming that... By its very design it seems like it would be less accurate then a pistol.

Mmm. Don't know the 10/22 well, huh?

Out of the box, my 10/22s have all been 1"-2" group shooters at 50 yds. (Totally stock.) Very few folks do get a ringer and in OE form can get ½" groups, never seen it myself but it has been said. Now if you were to drop in just a Green Mountain barrel, a stock to fit it, and a target hammer (or do it yourself), getting ½" groups should be no problem. (Should cost you no more than $200.)

Head on over to rimfirecentral.com and see what you can do to a 10/22. If you're anywhere near NE OH, let me know and I let you try out a few of mine.

 

[Brian Williams]

I got mine just to get a folding stock and 25 round mags. Cheap and easy blasting

My Daughter Whitney at the range...

 

[mrmeval]

10/22 is good because after you spend 2,000 dollars it shoots well. Similar to the 1911.

 

[R.W.Dale]

How else can you get dime sized groups at 50 yrds with ammo that runs $27/500 in an under $350 gun? Less if you find a beater and repace the barrel and stock. All it takes is a couple of hex head wrenches that usually come with the barrel!

Even if your 10-22 does shoot dime groups that's not really all that great.

According to my calipers a dime measures .710

 

[wally]

rockstar,

I pay about $27/500 for Wolf Target Match ammo to get dime sized groups at 50 yards. For quarter sized groups, $8-9/500 is all it costs.

--wally.

 

[hksw]

Even if your 10-22 does shoot dime groups that's not really all that great.

According to my calipers a dime measures .710

It is my understanding that, generally speaking, when some of the more serious rimfire gunners say 'dime-sized groups', it usually means the entire group can be covered up with a dime, i.e. not center-to-center. Subtract 0.224 from the dime diameter to get group size. Usually 5 rounds also.

 

[Darth Ruger]

...after lying awake listening to them store walnuts in my roof. You know how a squirrel gets a walnut to it's pantry? By rolling it.

LOL!! {Cleaning Coke off my monitor...} That's the funniest thing I've read in a long time. You sound like you know of what you speak.

I like your name for them, too.

 

[dm1333]

I don't own a 10/22 so take this for what it is worth. If you want a semi auto that is accurate try a Thompson Center Classic. Mine was $330, very reliable, and accurate as hell with American Eagle ammo. Kneeling behind a rock, with the rifle resting on the rock, it will put 5 rounds of Eley into one hole. Any spread in my groups when shooting off that rock is vertical, because my breathing will cause the shots to string. Plus it has a very nice walnut stock, great blue finish and is all steel. No offense to the 10/22 guys, but the only one I ever held felt like a 4x4 chunk of pine in my hands. I gave it back to the clerk and then asked what that other .22 was, 20 minutes later the paperwork was done for my Classic.

 

[.38special]

WHAT? HAHAHAHAH! Maybe my friend got the one bad one but there is no way in hell I could get dime size groups out of it, at anything over 10 feet. In fact I think its crazy that you're claiming that... By its very design it seems like it would be less accurate then a pistol.

Your friend must not be much of a shot....... And I dont know of anyone that can shoot their pistol better then their 18 in barrel 10/22. 10/22s are very accurate stock. I shoot at the 50yard range with no scope and do very well, and thats with cheap Remington hollow points. With a 4x scope that I am soon purchasing, and some good ammo, I guarantee I will have dime size groupings.

In answer to your question Kentucky, the 10/22 is so popular because for under 200$ you can get a resonably accurate .22 rifle, which a couple hundred later can be turned into a VERY accurate .22.

 

[DougW]

Well, I guess that my 10/22 would be considered reasonably accurate. I can shoot 10 rounds into a dime size hole at 25 yards all day long. Actually, it is a little boaring to shoot, since I can shoot it better than just about any other rifle I have. I did not buy it for it's accuracy though. The first rifle I ever bought back in 1976 was a 10/22. Had to sell it in 1999, but bought a new one on 2000. For me, nothing else comes close, especially with the Eagle Arms 25 round mags I had since before the slime bill in 1993.