• Accuracy. After firing nearly 1,000 rounds through this gun, I feel that I am accustomed to it. I am able to hit targets of varying distances with reasonable accuracy. One of my favorite shots is to line up 20 guage shotshells and plink at them from varying distances, using different stances.
• Weight. This gun is lightweight, making it comfortable and easy to carry during a long day in the field.
• Accessories. One of the deciding factors in buying this firearm was the impressive number of accessories available for 10/22. From custom barrells, triggers and stocks, to multi round clips and grenade throwers, both the imaginable and the unimaginable are available for this gun.
• Quality. Although not an ultra high end gun, it offers good build quality and reliability for it's price.

• The latch that holds the action open was difficult to get used to. I was convinced that the gun was defective until I became accustomed to using this lever properly.
• The magazine was nearly impossible to remove from the rifle. After much frustration, I contacted Ruger by telephone. The person I spoke to at Ruger was very helpful. They told me what to look for, and it turned out I had a magazine intended for the Ruger 11/22. They sent the proper magazine within a few days and it has been working fine ever since.
• The stock on this rifle is VERY short. Not all of the 10/22's I have seen have a stock this short. There must be several variations of this rifle. Perhaps I will purchase a stock extender I saw in a catalog recently.
• When using Remington "Thunderbolt" ammunition, the action would jam every 10 shots or so. This ammo also left the action and barrell FILTHY! Switching to jacketed ammo seems to have done the trick. The gun almost never jams now.

I will eventually purchase a scope for the Ruger 10/22. Any advice? Please be as descriptive as possible.

Thank you for reading this and for your input.

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Stanley Rosenblum wrote:

I think the lever which locks the slide back is even trickier. I try never to use it because it takes me a dozen tries to unlock it. I've had the gun for a year. Am I a slow learner?

I never bedded the barrel and get frustrated at how long it takes before my shots stop stringing-typically 30-40 shots. The difference between the first and last may be 3" high X 3"right at 100 yards. I don't want to have to pay the price of the gun for a target barrel. 

When the gun warms up it can shoot 1/4" or better groups. I like the gun, I liked the price, but you get what you pay for.

I purchased the standard 10/22 but with stainless metal. It's well built and a sweet rifle, but no tack driver out-of-the-box. For anything over 50 yards, you'll probably need a scope, and the ramp or groove-type scope mounts just don't get it done. The scope you mount on them keeps shifting, which is not a good thing. I've been told you can get it drilled for a standard type scope, but I haven't done that yet.

My overall impression is that it is a good plinker for the money and you plan on using iron sights within short range. It's not a varmint rifle, unless you're talking about squirrels within 25 yards of your back door, unless you spend a lot of money fine tuning it. I have it, and will probably never sell it, but it is not what I want for a squirrel rifle. To get it tuned to be able to hit a squirrel's head at 50 yards with confidence would place me in the price range of several fine rifles that would do the same right out of their box, without the hassles and time delays.

What else can I say? It's ok for the money, but not great.

JS

Mike, I have a Ruger 10-22. Its one of the ones that has the laminated real wood look. A very beautiful rifle. It's a completely stock rifle, with a Bushnell 4X banner scope. I found the traditional .22 scope rings inferior, So I payed the extra money and purchased some Tasco World Class Rings. well worth the extra money. I consistently shot 1/2" 5 shot groups. The only bad thing I didn't like about the rifle was that after 20 shots or so, the barrel heated considerably, and accuracy, of course, suffers. But for hunting, it's a fine squirel gun. Of course you my permission to use any of my words. Good Shooting, Jim

Permission to use my comments: I, Mark Pruett, give Mike Lapierre permission to use my comments concerning the Ruger 10/22 rifle in his article on the Avid Outdoors web site.

Now that that's done, I bought a 10/22 about 2 months ago for about $150 US. Originally, I had been in the market for an inexpensive Marlin or Remington self-loader, and didn't intend to spend more than $120. But when I compared the 10/22 to the cheaper rifles, it was obvious that the Ruger was a better rifle, so I went ahead and spent the extra $30. Now that I've had it for a while, I have to say that it's been excellent- I couldn't have asked for more. 

Good things:

Reliable ammunition feeding and no jams- as long as I'm using high or hyper velocity ammunition. Standard velocity ammunition- Winchester T-22 Target in particular, doesn't give enough recoil to eject the shell fully, and the case gets mashed on the way out of the ejection port.

Fairly accurate- with a scope I get around 1" groups at 50 yards.

Inexpensive. 

Easily taken down for cleaning.

Well made- the parts don't look like they were thrown together, unlike some of the Remington and Marlin models.

Magazine design is inside the rifle- keeps it from getting beat up if you're moving around in the woods.

Bad things:

The trigger pull sucks bad. It's so heavy that I have to squeeze to the point that the vibrations show up in the scope crosshairs before the rifle fires. That's going to be the first thing I get fixed.

Magazine release might be a little easier to find without looking- maybe a raised button or lever, rather than a lever that's flush with the rest of the stock.

The barrel can't be cleaned from the breech without taking it off the receiver. I know that you aren't supposed to clean .22s all that often, but it's still irritating to have to rig up a pull-through cleaning kit from weed-eater cord.

Factory magazine's 10 round capacity is too small.

Hope this helps you in your article.

Mark Pruett

Hi Mike, I used to own a Remington pump action but it was stolen last year. I now own a Ruger 10-22. This little rifle is quite nice. It's easy to take down and clean, the magazine loads easily and tucks nicely out of sight under the stock and I have not had trouble with non-ejected shells jamming the action no matter how fast I pull on the trigger. However, I find that Ruger could have installed a different rear sight. I would have liked to see a combination of 2 open sights and 1 peep sight like my old Remington had. The open sight on the Ruger may be adjustable but only the middle part or the "fine" part of the sight moves. P.S. you may use all or part of my comments for your article.

You can buy an aftermarket magazine release that is a hell of a lot easier to use than the one that it comes with. My cousins and I just bought the releases for all our 10/22's and love them. We got them from Cabelas. You ought to give them a call.

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In response to your posting, a few years ago i bought a 10-22 used it had been used quite a bit you might say. In my personal oppinion the 10-22 is a very good firearm to have, there are numerous options for the rifle. The only drawbacks to the rifle is the thin barrel which gets hot easy and lessens accuracy. Which could be solved by adding a bull barrell, if thats in your budget. I was the third owner of mine and i put at least 3,000 rounds myself through it and was still a reliable gun. In closing id just like to say dont let yours get stolen like mine.. 

I am in the market for a .22 and not yet purchased but sooned to be will be a ruger 10/22 because of the quality, price , easy operation and overall satisfaction I have come in contact with owners of this firearm.

Sean Kennedy 

I bought my 10/22 NEW for a hundred bucks on sale and consider it quite a steal. I find it vary user friendly and extremely fun to shoot. You can put a couple hundred rounds through it and literal minutes. I purchased a bull barrel and a synthetic stock at the combined price of about a hundred and twenty bucks, and also a bunch of extra magazines. These all add considerably.

I bought a 10/22 as my first gun ever. I love it.

The only shortcomings I can think of are:

o The bolt doesn't lock open after firing the last round (when firing a 25-rd magazine I usually lose count: did that "click" mean an empty magazine, or was it a hangfire? argh)

o The bolt lock is really awkward to operate. It takes two hands, and I always feel like an idiot when I try to unlock it

Aside from that, it's a heck of a lot of fun to shoot

-- Landon Dyer

Mike,

It's a great little rifle and I agree with your comments. We have enjoyed working with the rifle. You may want to visit our site and see what we've done.

http://pw2.netcom.com/~kevrhods/1022.html

Generally nice guns. Have owned 6 or 8 over the years. Lots of things to do to it. Stock they are only so-so acuracy wise. BIG PROBLEM !!!! Magizines suck, never had a good one. Factory Magizines fail to rotate, over 30 different ones. After market do not fit flush. S. Douglas Heard doug@stone-soup.com Stone Soup Canine http://www.stone-soup.com/

Mike, I have owned my Ruger 10/22 for more than fifteen years. In that time it has gone through many changes. After being involved in an ATV accident with the rifle, it would not shoot the same. The stock was cracked and the barrel was scared badly. I left it sitting in the closet for several years, then I finally did something with it. I purcased a factory tappered stainless steel match grade barrel from Jim Clark in Louisiana. I had the receiver bead blasted and a trigger job done by Briley Mfg. in Houston, Texas. Incleded in the trigger job was an over travel screw, a MUCH lighter trigger pull, an extended magazine release (approx. 1/2" long) and the slide is much easier to use. It locks back the same way as any Ruger 10/22, but to release it you only need to pull the slide back a little and then let it go! This is one of the things that I am most pleased with now. I would really reccomed having a trigger job and slide job done to any 10/22 owner. It only cost arround $100.00 to do and the improvement is incredible. With all of this work done I still have not found a scope that really suits me needs yet. I currently have a Burris 6X AO compact mounted on it. The AO is really needed, because fixed power riffle scopes are fixed paralax free at approx. 150 yds. or so. They don't work well up close. 

Check in the Brownell's catalogue for some great 10/22 parts and kits. The prices are a little steep in the catalogue, but you can get some good ideas. They usually list the Mfg's name, so you can contact them directly for a better price.

Sincerely, Bryan Rennell Gainesvelle, GA

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Hi there, I have just purchased my third 10/22. The problem with the mag release can be fixed with a quick release attachment (I believe ram-line makes this). I also had no luck with the Thunderbolt ammo, but it seems to like Remington Target, and Sub-sonic. I was able to get the best accuracy with the Sub-sonic rounds(much better group). If you own the standard version try rmoving the barrel clamp. The most accurate of the three I've owned was deluxe, and I belive it was the free floating barrel that helped. After removing the clamp on my stainless I began to get a much better grouping. Kevin Brooks

I have owned two Ruger 10/22s and have been very pleased with both of them. My first 10/22 was the standard carbine model. It was very pleasent to shoot and astonishingly accurate.I fired roughly 2500 rounds through it and never had a problem. I put a Bushnell 4-12x40mm rifle scope, mounted in see-through mounts that use the same hole for the base that is included with the rifle, for long range shooting. I can confidely say that I could consitantly put 10 rounds in a 3" group at 75 yards with it. I was looking into buying a Remington 541 HB-T target 22 when I came across the Ruger 10/22 Target model. The ruger looked very nice, pulled up superbly, and the cost was about a hundred dollars cheaper. At the time a friend of mine was looking to to buy just the standard version, he got hooked on the 10/22 after firing a few rounds from mine and also seeing how accurate mine was. I couldn't qiute afford the target model that I wanted so I made a deal with my friend. I would sell him mine with the scope mounts and the sling and swivel studs for $130. Two weeks later I had my new rifle and had it out on the range. The only problem that I have had with either of the two rifles is have enough ammo on hand to be able to shoot these fine and accurate firearms. I have had my 10/22 for about 5 months, and have shot probably 1000 rounds through it. Not a single jam.

In responce to a number of people mentioning how their 10/22's don't cycle with subsonic ammo, I found the problem went away with my first one after about 12 months. I now own a stainless steel one and it didn't fire them untill recently, thus I would deduce that after a breaking in period they work fine, also has any one seen the 22 short conversion for the 10/22's they are great.

You have my permission to print this letter.

My son and I each have Standard Model 10/22's and have found CCI Stingers not only accurate, but lethal. We traveled to Bozeman, Montana the first week in April and shot up two bricks of CCI Stingers and destroyed hundreds of Gophers. Great fun I might add. We have Bi-pods that attach to the front (after-market) sling swivels that allow you to rest your rifle on the hood or whatever. We have scopes with mine a 3-9 32mm while my son has a 4x 40mm. I have see through mounts to make up for the narrow field of view.

We can consistantly put all our shots in a three inch circle at 100 yards from a rest. We use the peel and stick varmint targets. We have no cycling problems with CCI Stingers and the bore remains remarkably clean. I too thought about a bull barrel, but I can not hold the rifle any tighter than the groups I am getting. If you shoot varmints and rounds by the hundreds, read up on the chambering difference of the target barrels. They are really fussy about cleaning frequently.

I have had two 10/22's and love them. The first was stolen it was stainless with brown stock. The second is stainless with the green wood stock. I have probably shot 1,500 rounds through it and it has only hung using Thunderbolts. But I have never seen an auto .22 that shot thunderbolts good. My gun has never been taken down and cleaned so I think the quality must be very good since it is used as a predator rifle in my truck on my farm. I have a Bushnell 3X9X32 and is nice for the price for getting a closer look, but the 32mm lens does not allow much light. This is my experience feel free to use it.

Mike: My experience with 10/22 has been flawless except when trying to use aftermarket magazines such as Ramline. Solution to that problem, forget it, buy a couple extra genuine Ruger magazines. You stated you switched to "jacketed" ammo and had no further jamming problems. I think you probably mean "plated" because there is NO jacketed ammo made in .22LR. I think your problem was simply that specific ammo. I've used lots of Hansen Target ammo which is not plated and had flawless performance with it. In my particular gun, this is also the most accurate ammo it will shoot. At 50 ft. it will shoot all into one ragged hole. At 25 yards. it groups under 1/2 inch. I have a 77/22 that will shoot ragged one hole groups at 25 yards. My favorite squirrel rifle!

Mike,

My 10/22 is now VERY old and is still my favorite gun. It has become my favorite grouse gun. It wears a 2-7 Redfield tracker and has never failed to perform for me. My 10/22 has gone through more than 15 bricks of ammo and still shoots like the day it was new. The only trouble I had with the gun was when using the "coated" Remington Vipers. The wax coating tended to bind the clip up after 300+ rounds. It simply needed to be taken apart(the clip, not the gun) and cleaned thoroughly. The gun itself is very easy to disassemble for cleaning etc.

Can somebody explain the difference in performance between the 10/22 stainless steel barreled Rugers and the hammer forged barrels ?

The difference is about .75 inch @ 50 yards. 

It seems to me that some one makes a flexible replacement pin (to reduce wear and tear on rifle)  for the rear .25" diameter, 10/22 bolt carrier stop pin. Anyone know who makes that? Cheers!

i use 1/4-inch delrin rod.  any good plastics supplier will have it.
steve in tx

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It`s the same people who make the shock buffers for a lot of other guns (can`t remember the name offhand).  I checked out their site, and the damned thing was $19.95 and guaranteed to last _5000_ rounds!! Sheeesh! That would make it good for maybe a year, at the rate I shoot. When I find out what particular plastic the thing`s made of, I`ll buy some in bulk and make my own.  Twenty bucks for one cut on a plastic rod??!  Jeez, I hope Clint doesn`t find out about this before he finishes my rifle.

HTH,

Good news for a change:

Last month I saw a note in this Newsgroup from a shooter who had ordered the stock/ bull barrell kit from Midway under their summer special price of $99.

I had been meaning to do this for some time and the thought of a "good deal" finally prompted me to act.  My goal was to produce a .22 semiauto plinker at the "knee of the curve" for price/performance. And to have a little fun in the process.

In two seperate orders, I purchased the blued heavy bbl with the Coffee colored Fajen laminated birch stock, the Volquartsen hammer/spring kit ($30) and a Bushnell 4x12 scope w mounts (abt $100).

The target gun was a brand new Ruger 10/22 carbine from Kmart.

The merchandise from Midway was delivered as expected for the advertised price in the time-frame promised.  Their telephone order staff were friendly and helpful. 

The BBL is 18" long (a *little* short side IMHO, but probably a good balance).  Installation was straightforward. The Fajen Scope Hii stock is nice and the finish adequate for a service grade firearm. I'll probably go back and redo this with some green Locktite before considering it a final job.   Recommended

The hammer/spring mods (which I had seen described as "drop-in") required a fair degree of dexterity, but indeed did not require any machining.  Have the Ruger manual there and open because the whole trigger assembly comes apart for this mod. [ Hint:  a piece of square thick toothpick  served me well to keep the trigger/sear assembly together while positioning it in the housing (on the 3rd or 4th try).] Be sure (per the instructions) to check the safety for function afterwards.  A sheet of hints might help, but they did give a phone number which you could call.  The results were a lighter trigger pull which certainly contributes to better accuracy, but it did not result in a "good" crisp trigger action.  Recommended.

There has been some postings that this hammer job results in misfires. I have shot several hundred rounds through this modified arm with no cleaning and have not experienced a single misfire. YMMV.

The Bushnell scope and Weaver mounts fit and worked with no problems.  I've seen better scopes, but this works for me and is good value.  I got the "see-through" mounts and it sits up a little higher than I'd prefer, but the next lower mount might give clearance problems with the scope bell.  Such are the joys of mail-order gunsmithing. ;-)

The result of this effort is a nice little plinking gun that I can coax into routine sub 1"  5 shot groups at 100' with bulk Winchester ammo.  And I have been away from shooting for < 10 years, so it might get better.  <grin>

I have seen some conflicting opinions on how and what to bed on this piece so I have decided to wait on that operation until I'm convinced. I'm not sure what the net effect will be.

The next step is to shoot a variety of ammo through it to find what it "likes" before I standardize.  And a sling would be nice.  My only other beef is with the stock bolt release.

Dave

Disclaimer:  I am not associated with any of the above mentioned vendors except as a satisfied customer. Modifying firearms is not a pasttime for the unskilled or incautious.

Mike: My experience with 10/22 has been flawless except when trying to use aftermarket magazines such as Ramline. Solution to that problem, forget it, buy a couple extra genuine Ruger magazines.  You stated you switched to "jacketed" ammo and had no further jamming problems. I think you probably mean "plated" because there is NO jacketed ammo made in .22LR. I think your problem was simply that specific ammo. I've used lots of Hansen Target ammo which is not plated and had flawless performance with it. In my particular gun, this is also the most accurate ammo it will shoot.  At 50 ft. it will shoot all into one ragged hole. At 25 yards. it groups under 1/2 inch. I have a 77/22 that will shoot ragged one hole groups at 25 yards. My favorite squirrel rifle!

Bought mine used at a gun show, it came with one of those "rimfire" 3/4" cheepo scopes.  Shot better with open sights so I mounted a 1" 3-9x32 tasco and was very pleased.  2.5" groups at 75 yards are no problem.  I also had the bolt lock problem, some times the bolt would lock open so I removed the lock all together. Works great that way, but I would not recommend anyone try it.

My all time favorite firearm. An inexpensive, but high quality, time-tested rifle that will provide years of quality shooting. I have owned several of these rifles, and none has had exactly the same shooting charactoristics, however, all have been good, and one, my first, was unbelievably accurate. Wish I still had that rifle... Would like to here of any good full-auto conversions (what a blast!) that you have heard of. Don't buy a scope, it will only slow your carbine down... shoot it up,  Enz

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I have the Ruger 10/22 Stainless Steel with the factory Target Bull Barrel. After market Thumbhole synthetic stock. This gun shoots perfect right out of the box. It's wearing a Swift variable 4/12 @ 40mm with parallax adj. Bench rested it will hold half inch groups at 50 yards using the CCI Stingers. And one inch groups at 100 yards (also bench rested) but with a few wild flyers once in awhile. And I am only an average shooter.  Fifty to seventy-five yard squirl/rabbit head shots are no problem for me as long as I am sitting down in the typical one knee up position or steadying the rifle against a tree.
I have owned many and still do, 22's and the Ruger 10/22 has always been the best. That's why I decided to spend the extra money on my second 10/22 (this one). I have about $700.00 with the stock/rings/scope. Joe...in West Augusta, Virginia.

A good tool for cleaning a 10/22 is a standard military issue M 16 5.56 mm/223 cal. cleaning kit. This works good on all weapon parts. I own a 10/22 with standard barrel with a recoil/flash surpresser and stock sights , chocote black pistol grip, folding stock assembly. This works great with a 25 round mag and takes out tons of those pesky Alberta varmints.                                  >From a proud Canadian Solider. 

I have put more than 5000 rounds though my 12 year old gun and it only miss fired 4 times. It is strong gun I have dropped it dozens of time and it still works and no repair on it. Jon 

Hi,
 Stay away from ALL remington ( and peters ) ammo, thay will jam when feeding and at times you will have to use something like a screw driver to
remove the shell. Also I get two good shots for evory dud.... I have the best luck with the Federal jacketed hp's ( about $9.00 at Wal-mart)

I CHOSE THE RUGER 10/22 INTERNATIONAL [STAINLESS] DUE TO THE LOOK AND FEEL OF THE WEAPON,BUT ALSO FOR THE USE OF THE WEAPON. HERE IN LA.I HUNT VARMITS IN THE SWAPS AND SOUGHS AND DUE TO THIS ONLY THE RUGER 10/22 HAS BEEN ABLE TO HOLD UP IN THESE CONDITIONS. SOMETIMES I TRIP OR FALL AND THE ACTION IS FILLED WITH MUD,GRIME, OR ALGE,EVEN UNDER THESE CONDITIONS MY RUGER STILL CLEARS AND FIRES WELL. THE ONLY DISLIKE THAT I HAVE IS THE WEIGHT OF THIS MODEL. IT DOES NOT PRESENT A PROBLEM TO ME BUT RATHER TO MY WIFE. IF YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR A WEATHER RESITANT WEAPON THIS IS THE WEAPON FOR YOU.  SAFE SHOOTING. SHANE WINK

I just recently purchased a Ruger 10/22, and I agree with you, it is a godd .22 cal. rifle.  I have a scope put on mine, and i like it even better.  If you are going to get a scope for your 10/22, I suggest the Simmons 22 Mag 4x32. it is about 50 dollars at Wal-Mart of a gun shop, beleive me, it is all you will ever need for a scope.

I saw at the top of your page the high capacity magizines you have for your 10/22. Where did you get them at, i have looked all over for them.  If you could, can you e-mail me back and tell me where to get them and how much they cost.  Thank you. Sincerely, John Manning

I Just Purchased a used Ruger 10/22 Carbine.  I also got a Tasco 4x40mm Silver Antler scope.  I like the gun for the most part.  I like its wide grip and that it doesn,t weigh much.  I don't like the hard trigger pull.  Also If I put 10 In the clip The 2nd one James Every time.  I thought it would help if I cleaned the action but that didn't work.  I still haven't figured it out. 

You have all permission to this info. I purchased the standard model carbine in the stainless, added a stainless folding stock by butler creek, a vented hand guard for the barrel, and butler creek 25 round clips. I've shot 2500 rounds with my Ruger, with no jams ever, and I've used some old, waxed, bad ammo. I prefer CCI mini mags for my Ruger. As far as the heat goes when shooting, get a vent guard, it's a life saver. Butler creek has been my brand of choice for all my options, me and my buddies have stuck with them for years. It's almost discouraging to hear some of these bad stories about jams and mis-groupings, me and a friend flew 1500 rounds in 45 minutes and never had a problem with either. However with a folding stock it's not exactly a tack driver either. Have fun, and remember function first, looks last! -AC Brown

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I recently acquired a 1022 too and it's become my favorite plinker. I bought the stainless international carbine model. Soon replaced the wooden stock w/ a folding synthetic stock (manufacturer unknown) mostly because the low profile of the intrnational model made it difficult to sight when wearing glasse. Also wanted a longer pull.

Bought a Simmons scope which I'm very happy with. It's a 4X35, cost about $65.00. Mounted it w/ raised mounts which allow sighting w/ open sights if desired. 

Only 1 real complaint about the 1022: came from the factory w/ a very high trigger pull. I checked it- it was nearly 9 pounds. Had a new trigger
installed w/ 2.5 # pull. Gives much smoother action.

I actually have a Sabatti (Italian import) that is identical to a Ruger 10/22, but with a bull barrel.  It was ~$100 cheaper than the Ruger and shoots sub MOA at 100 meters; I love the gun, but I've never seen any others, as the gun shop I bought it from had to spec