10/22 mods - where to start....

All -

hello. I'm returning to the shooting sports after a long hiatus due to family and professional time commitments and have recently reclaimed my collection from my father's house.

In the collection are 3 10/22s which are all stock with the exception of each of them has a scope installed.

Given my income level when I was shooting (just out of school and starting a family) i didn't have a lot of resources for any mods (and i frankly don't recall what was available back in the early 90s)... But I do remember that these rifles are a lot of fun to shoot. Back then, I spent most of my time on the AGC range which was just 10 minutes from my house and punched a lot of paper.

Now - somethings have changed...

1) I have more time
2) I have more $$

I've been surfing, lurking and reading many posts and am looking for some "starting points" for where I can take these rifles.

First and foremost, I want an ACCURATE rifle which is a steady performer. I'm more of a "go" type of person rather than a "show" type of person and while I've seen some awesome rimfires (http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=25854&page=23) i feel a little bit overloaded with all the options.

Of the ones I've seen, I'm more inclined to build less of a "tactical" rifle and more of a bull-barreled bench tack driver and I'm looking for some help on:

1) What can I do myself, vs what do I need a good riflesmith's help on
2) Any local smiths with good 10/22 experience (I live in Frederick)
3) short listing suggestions for
* Stocks
* triggers
* barrels
* optics
* receivers
* other
4) insight into which mods will make the most impact for the $$s. More funds may be available, but I appreciate better value over just burning cash.

admittedly, it's been a long time since I've been out shooting so there is no doubt I may be missing something or one of you will say - "man is he going about this all wrong"... If that's the case, please speak up and 'learn the new guy' I'd rather have an accurate rifle and a couple of ego bruises than spend more than I need on a rifle which falls short of the mark.

Thanks in advance...

trigger mods and part swapping you can do. so is barrel and stock swapping. get good gun screw drivers and have at it. rimfirecentral.com is a great place for .22 info

there are LOTS and LOTS, of things to get for these rifles.... for starters auto bolt release, its free and simple, there are plenty of thigns you can do yourself. and past that there are so many things you can buy.

auto bolt release shoulf be first, then maybe an extended mag release(homemead or store bought), then stock/barrel/trigger job(not neccisarily worth it if you ask me)/ you name it they make it

john

also if i can give you one tip it is for sure to replace the stupid slotted screw with an allen head screw!!!!

john

In the thread you mention go back a page and you'll see mine. All I did was add a Volquartsen trigger assembly and Green Mountain barrel. Total time to add the parts and open the stock channel for the heavier barrel was under 2 hours. Tools used were a screwdriver to take down the rifle, a punch and small hammer for the trigger assembly pins, hex wrench to remove and replace the barrel clamp screws, 80 grit sandpaper contact cemented to a 7/8" dowel to sand the barrel channel.

Impact are the targets at the top of the page you linked to. Cost for trigger assembly and barrel was $275 (gun show dickered price) but the same parts can be had online for about $320.

10/22s..

The real question is" where do you stop" with mods. Too many choices available

Ron - that's a nice looking rig. Thanks for the details about what you did, cost and tools needed. Do you happen to recall what the groupings measured before the new trigger assembly and barrel? (just curious)..

Here is what I did to mine. I wanted a bench gun that would one-hole and this one does.




Boyd's/Volquartsen stock, Green Mountain gain twist bull barrel, all internal parts Volquartsen. Only original part is the receiver. Scope could be better, its a BSA 9-24 but it does really well. It one-holes about 3/8". You have to try many different ammos. This one does best on Wolf Match. I have about $600 in it.

There are lots of stuff you can do to a 10/22 Rimfire Central is a good place to look at some more ideas. Barrels triggers stocks everything is doable on 10/22. I have 5 of them and love them all Kidd Makes the best triggers and barrels out there hands down but their are others who make good products as well. Bellow is a 10/22 I just built Kidd Bolt and Barrel trigger work done by power customs and a B&C stock very good shooter.

So many options out there for the 10/22... They are also easy to work on since the majority of the components are just drop in replacements. My build so far has,

Boyds Tacticool Stock
Green Mountain 20" Fluted Barrel
Kidd 2-Stage Trigger
Kidd Extractor
Kidd Cocking Assembly
Kidd Bolt Buffer
Volquartsen Bedding Kit
Mueller APV 4.5-14x40 AO

Go to ww.rimfirecentral.com and look in the Ruger forums BEFORE you buy. Some aftermarket items don't give you the bang for the buck.

SCARCQB said:

10/22s..

The real question is" where do you stop" with mods. Too many choices available

Click to expand...

I stop when it shoots well and fits comfortably. Mine needs a slightly longer butt (may be able to throw a pad on to get the LOP) and a raised cheekpiece (OOK OOK). Nice to have but really low priority would be an extended bolt handle. Everything else is just peachy keen.

Shamr0ck said:

Ron - that's a nice looking rig. Thanks for the details about what you did, cost and tools needed. Do you happen to recall what the groupings measured before the new trigger assembly and barrel? (just curious)..

Click to expand...

Thanks and you're welcome.

The groups before really don't compare for two reasons. First I only shot it once as built just for giggles since I knew I wanted to put a heavy barrel and decent trigger on it. Second, I shot it with irons and I can't see them for crap anymore so there's as much shooter error as anything in the original configuration groups.

The 10/22 and AR15 are aftermarket dreams. Since they are "bolt together" rifles, the average person who can punch pins can work on these.

While some folks spend thousands of dollars on aftermarket products, I find it hard to put alot of money into a rifle that cost me $129 (10/22).

If you are mechanically inclined, and have access to a lathe, you can cut back the chamber on a 10/22 factory barrel and recrown the muzzle and it will give you custom barrel groups. Then all you need to buy is a Ed Brown trigger and Volquartsen hammer and you will be set to go.

It's just a 22lr buy another rifle

I installed a Volquartsen Target Hammer. I took it out to Cresap today and this one little part made it feel like a completely different gun. I kept the factory springs rather than using the Volquartsen ones as suggested by others elsewhere. The trigger pull weight is much, much lighter now.