Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Better than a 10/22?

Yes, 2/3 of the time I stare at that pic, I am wondering where that stock came from. Looks to me like a one off custom made with good Walnut.

Lets face it. There's not much better out there than the good ol 10-22. I've been working on one recently. Setting it up for golf ball shoots and rimfire competition. Just got a new barrel for it today. Should be a good shooter when done. I'm still waiting on a new hammer from Volquartsen, then I might mess with the bedding a little. Still need to do a little research on that one though...Bed the barrel and float the receiver, etc...

For overall accuracy only, I prefer my CZ455 to my 10/22.
For overall "effect" and killing-power, nothing I've personally shot beats the 10/22.
It's never leaving my ownership.

(I have the deluxe sporter, about 30? years old)

Thanks for the compliments.
My 10/22 wears the factory stock.
'66 to '71 they did the fingergroove model (called sporter).
Mine is also factory checkered (making it kinda rare).

Urban Rifle Supply used to make an aftermarket fingergroove stock. Could get it with the old style front swivel pocket or without.

Wish they made them, as I'd drop a stainless one it.

My rig has marks from previous owner (bought it new). It however isn't beat up.......so squirreling still makes me a bit nervous.

My dad has a non checkered .44 mag fingergroove.
Was looking for a smooth fingergroove to have a 10/22 match (kinda sorta pair) but came across this and about had a heart attack.

Here is one to avoid. I have been a full time gunsmith since 09 so not that long but this rifle takes the cake for the all time worst designs and concepts ever assembled into one firearm.

I present the Remington 522 Viper.

Funny, the Vipers ran OK when they had the steel mag.
Still a clunker though (feel).

I knew exactly what it was. My cousin had one, I really like them. They are very collectable.

Yep the 522 was a POS but the 597 is a gem and I hate Remington so for me to say the 597 is a gem is a huge complement. The 597 isn't perfect but stock I would take one over a 10/22 any day. For a build then its a 10/22 all day long. Remington has their head up their azz for a good while now. Their auto shotguns have went down in quality year after year.

I've had a Belgium Browning SA .22 LR takedown rifle since I was years 13 years old.
Not until middle age did I get my 1st Ruger 10/22.

I now have five 10/22's and three are Davidson's or Talo exclusives with the RSI full stocks.
The Browning is a great little rifle but I like the 10/22's better.

Overall the Ruger 10/22 is the finest semi-auto .22 I've ever owned and used.....and I have owned and tried most of the competition over the last 45 years.

Now I will admit I got a bit lucky with the earliest 10/22's I shot as far as accuracy.

The first 10/22 I ever saw was one of the guns my father brought home in 1968 following a house fire that destroyed all of our families guns. He had his priorites straight and used the insurance money to replace the guns.....even before buying clothes for the family to wear.

He walked into a local gun shop and bought 10 long guns from the rack. Other than his Savage 99 in .308, he didn't specifically have anything in mind, but rather just picked the best guns available from the used rack. Luck was on our side as two of these guns were a Ruger 44 Carbine and 10/22.....both in the rare Sporter version (finger groove stocks). He'd never seen a 10/22 until then, but it "felt" like an adult rifle more than many .22's available in those days.....the fact the 44 was a near twin sealed the deal.

That first 10/22 was a tack driver from day one. It would keep 10 shot inside 1/2" at 50 yards. three years later I saved enough money from summer jobs to buy my own 10/22....the Deluxe Checkered version and it proved to be if anything even more accurate that the first rifle.

It was years before I found out that the 10/22 had a reputation for erratic accuracy.....the good ones were fantastic but the "bad" ones not so much so.

I have come to believe over the years that most of the accuracy problems with 10/22's are caused by the barrel band on the Standard models. I have almost never had a problem with any of the Deluxe or Sporter versions (neither of which have a barrel band).....always with the Standard models. These are either great or not as far as accuracy with no seeming reason. Maybe I'm wrong but that has been my experience.

AS far as reliability....it is no contest. The 10/22 beats all comers. You can even neglect and abuse the 10/22 and it just keeps on working. I try to regularly keep my guns clean, but sometimes they all get dirty. Doesn't seem to faze the 10/22 and even if enough gunk and dirt collect to cause a problem....just use a little cleaner to knock out the crud and it goes right back to working.

This can't be said of many other .22 rifles. One of the most consistantly accurate .22 rifles is the Marlin 60....but if you want it to keep shooting you CANNOT neglect the cleaning. The slightest build up or dirt will quickly cause feeding problems for the Marlin while the 10/22 just keeps on shooting.

The 10/22 has so many aftermarket parts available and is so easy to work on that it can be "customized" to fit the owners wishes. Couple that with the looks and style of a big game rifle rather than a "kids" rifle and the Ruger is top notch.

And Marlin 60 bolt buffers crumble over time.
Never liked them anyway.
BTW, my first 1022 (around '72 ?) was a standard with decent walnut.
Bbl band and factory trigger, it got the sheite shot out of it (me and my sis).........and it was decent.
Best standard I ever had (a few in the 90's).
Barrel band didn't hurt accuracy.
Worst rig ever was the DSP from late 90's. It shot OK, nothing great, but group shift was whenever it wanted.

Even as a kid I knew that Wildcats sucked.
Federal and SuperX did well on the targets and squirrels in my old standard 10/22.

My old Glenfield 20 really liked the Federals. Rattly mag, but way better trigger LOL.

I then as a kid, and especially now as an adult, absolutely detest a .22 rf rifle with a mag that sticks out.

Headache sufferer ever since kid, damaged neck too.......I carry my rifles in hand, rarely slung.

If the mag sticks out where my hand wants to be........nope.

Love my Winchester 63!

Amen^^^^^

When I lived in Canada I bought a near matched pair of FN 22's, a Trombone and a SA (the original Browning). Like a dumbazz I sold them though making good money. Today I am pretty pleased with a very old 10-22 with a Clark barrel in an old Fajen stock. Easy 3/8" groups at 50 using Aguila Pistol Match ammo. I shot it at the Arizona get together and it did well with its 4x scope.

I've bought and retrofitted around 7-8 10/22's and found them perfectly fitted for shooting jack rabbits on the run, multiple ground squirrels, large rock chucks, skunks, and crows due to their accuracy and firepower.

Using target grade barrels has helped in the accuracy department as well as some judicial trigger work.

For all out accuracy, but not necessarily in the hunting mode, my Biathlon rifle is king. Bedded action, floated barrel and around a 1.5# trigger are winners.

However I hunt more than a shoot competitive so the winner is still the 10/22.

I put a 24 inch stainless sporter weight barrel, a walnut sporter stock and a new trigger on my Ruger 10/22 and turned that rifle into what it should have been all along. It will shoot 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards on a regular basis instead of the consistent 1 1/2 inch groups it would shoot as it came from the factory and is still easy to carry. I have had it set up like this for probably over 15 years and see no need to waste time trying to find a better 22. For my use, my 10/22 is now as good as it gets.

I just got back from the range where the nickel sized 7 shot groups I punched over and over and over at 50 yards with my Marlin 995 and Mini-Mag HP's served to reinforce the notion that another 10-22 is not in my future.

I love that stock - if I had one, I'd definitely be more of a 10/22 fan and would be willing to spend a good bit if needed to make it shoot!