Dan,
Have you ever done the 22 Short conversion thing in a 10/22?
No. But I thought about it a lot. Then I got the short barrel for the Contender and never looked back. Had an old Rem 572 for quite a spell that did excellent work with shorts. Nephew has it now. Nailed 19 Muscovy ducks with it out in the back yard using CBs. Neighbors never heard the first shot.