Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Ruger 10/22 stainless 22" bbl. + Accuracy

New rifle, mounted a spare 6-24x scope in Weaver Quad lock ex-high rings & Harris bi-pod, then shot it at 50m. Like the looks of the stainless rifle & the extra 4" of barrel over my 10/22 carbine.

I'm kind of disappointed in the groups, shot CCI Mini Mag hp's, Winchester Wildcat, CCI Stinger & some Augulia HV.

Nothing shot lights out, 5 shots were running 1.5-2.5" @ 50m.

Made sure the bedding screw was socked down & Weaver style base/ring bases/rings were all solid.

Think that brand new bbl just need some rounds down it & will break in??

As of right now my old carbine w/ a Lyman 4x will out shoot this rig.



41

Possibly, but you may just need to try a few more loads. I know that's not easy right now, but perhaps you have a friend or two that may take pity on you. Much as I like the way Stingers whack stuff, accuracy ain't their strong point. If you'll be using it mainly for targets, be sure and try some standard velocity stuff. When switching from one brand to another, be sure to clean your barrel and shoot enough rounds to condition the barrel to the new lube before shooting for group. It doesn't always matter, but sometimes it matters a lot.

.22s can be very fussy.

I've never been terribly impressed with the accuracy of the Ruger 10/22 factory barrels. I consider 2" at 50yds the sort of accuracy to be expected from them. Put on a good match barrel and expect most anything to group an inch at 50, or 1/2" with preferred fodder.

Try some Wolf Target Ammo and if it doesn't group them , then you have the Average Ruger Factory 22 barrel

I bought a stainless 10/22 with the Mannlicher stock last year. It shot just as you described with several brands of high velocity shells. But, it shoots half-inch groups with CCI Standard Velocity. Local stores actual do carry some of that ammo on an irregular basis.

Also, I didn't think the factory trigger was too bad. But, my son talked me into upgrading. So, I installed a Clark unit for $150. It's a great trigger and makes it much easier to shoot the gun accurately. I thought I could shoot the original trigger just fine. But, I have to admit that I get much smaller groups with the better trigger. FYI, I sold the OEM trigger on eBay for $50 and helped offset the upgrade cost.

You ran a selection of really crappy ammo thru the gun for shooting paper. And you did it with a gun that is pretty crappy at shooting paper. It's not a target gun in it's current form, don't try. Never fear, I killed truck loads of game before I knew that 10/22's weren't good enough. I've been intimate with a handful of stock 10/22's and here are some rules to live by:

Plinkin = Whatever
General Purpose Hunting = MiniMags
Hunting critters like ground hogs and coon = CCI Velocitors

With these, if you ain't getting the job done than it doesn't need done by a stock 10/22. At that point you either need to upgrade, get a better gun or get a bigger gun. And that 6-24x is about as out of place on a stock 10/22 as I am on stage with the Chip'n'Dales. No one wants to see it, no one wants to even hear about it.

Come on man, don't hold back now, tell me how you really feel.

I'll dink around w/ it on a few more range trips, good advice on the trigger group, I just might do that. I'm not looking for a target rifle, just wanted to see what THIS sporter could do w/ the ammo I have on hand.

I like the way the HV ammo gets out to 100m, was smacking some small dirt clods towards the end of my shooting w/ that BIG OLD SCOPE ON 24X using the CCI Mini mags & hitting within 1/4" of aim-point. So the last 10 rounds put a grin on my face.

Gives a guy hope

Chip and Dale, the squirrels?

FWIW my last 10/22 didn't shoot very well when I got it. After sending the bolt to one of the guys on rimfire central and getting the headspace set and working on the firing pin, it was greatly improved. I'm still using the factory barrel.

I have the same rifle you have and IMO the longer barrel doesn't help in the accuracy department. But she's one helluva thing hitter when shooting offhand.


Travis

Ask your wife.

I hear you! When I bought mine, I knew it wouldn't be my most accurate .22. I bought it as a fun gun and because I liked the looks of the Mannlicher stock. But, with a few tweaks I found it can at least be minute-of-squirrel!

The other advantage of the Clark trigger group is that it's a metal housing.

What the hell you expect for a 239.00 walmart special deluxe????

Exactly what I got.



If you can take your eyes off me, the rifle is in my hands.


Travis

Damn man you just had to ruin a good picture of a gun and bunny didn't you! Should really have done a crop job and left out the eye sore.
I got one of them Walmart special deluxes too. Shoots half way decent but don't come close to my 77/22

Hell yeah!



Nice shot. I think its a sweet looking rifle, just want mine to shoot 1 MOA w/ any HV ammo I stuff into it.


That too much to ask??

No fun pouring a bunch of money into them. Just kill.


Travis

Look at it this way; you can spend a bunch of money trying to make it shoot into a half-inch at fifty yards, and when you succeed, you' ll have a $800 .22 that won't kill small game any deader, and as a bonus, it'll probably require you to clean the chamber every 50 rounds or so to keep functioning. Win win I'd say.

Looks like you are experiencing average 10/22 accuracy, The many I have been around over the years all shoot as you described, if want good accuracy you will need an aftermarket barrel......Good luck...............Hb

Can't say I could define average accuracy across the marque, but I've found out from my two that the type of ammo makes a big difference.

Have a plain 10/22 walnut stock I bought in 1968. Rarely if ever cleaned it and when I did it was done from the muzzle with a jointed aluminum rod. I took it out a few years ago to bench it to see what it would do.

Federal bulk pack HP spread 10 shots over 2" vertically at 25 yards. Winchester bulk HV did just as bad, so I figured oh well, I've probably ruined the crown.

Then I tried some good Winchester Super-X solids and they put 10 shots into a raggedy hole of .760" with 8 of those shots grouping into .347". This from a 40 year old rifle with plenty of bumps and wear on it, a 9 pound trigger pull and a 4X Bushnell Banner .22 scope on top.

Same same with my only other 10/22, a 10/22 Tactical - the ammo it doesn't like groups like crap, the ammo it does like groups like a target rifle should. I've used that out of the box 10/22 Tactical to win several 200 yard .22 silhouette matches.

Not like it's easy to find different ammo right now, but the shortage will be over some day. When it is, try different stuff to see what the rifle likes, it might surprise you.