Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 10/22 upgrades…which ones and in which order

that takes the fun out of doing it with your son when you send it off

Yeah, the boy learns absolutely nothing, except that you can send your schidt off to someone else and let them handle it. That is kind of the sign of the times though. I remember when my grandpa showed me how to adjust the Timney on my sporter m1917 when I was 12. That is a better experience to share with a son or grandson, as far as I'm concerned...

That was on my list of things that definitely need to be changed. Inexpensive and makes a ton of difference in manipulating the system. Especially for a kid, even though I've seen many grown ups monkey fart around with that stupid function of a factory 10-22..

I have a 10-22 I really need to do something with it. Don’t shoot very well I do know that. Take BSA list start ordering parts for it..

If you do that, it's a total transformatioin and you aren't going to be spending $1,500.00 like someone mentioned. Most things can be bought on ebay very easily and reasonably priced. The magpul X22 stock gets rave reviews and is very adjustable. The reason I suggested it. Great for a kid or an adult. That way father and son can have matching rifles, but LOP and other adjustments will be cake. I paid $120.00 (new) for that stock on ebay about 5 months ago. A good stainless Kidd barrel is a thing of beauty. Absolute tack driver and Kidd stands behind their products. Tony Kidd makes sure they are good before they go out the door. Bypass the other barrel manufactures because some of them are a gamble. Green mountain is one of them. You pay almost as much for a Green mountain, but you are not guaranteed its going to be a shooter. Here's how the Kidd does with different ammo. The thing is not finicky. I can go downtown to walmart and buy Federal automatch for this one and it shoots great:






Barrel cost me $274.00 on ebay. Not bad for the precision you get out of it. Also a side not that the op may appreciate. You can sell your factory parts like barrel and stock and recoup some of the costs. That's what I did and you wouldn't believe what some guys are paying for those parts.. Just a fyi..

Trigger and the best scope you can afford. Then shoot it as much as possible

I bought my 10/22 back in the late 70s. Over the years I've slowly upgraded it until all that is still Ruger is the receiver. Last week I had the opportunity to sight-in and shoot a friend's current production10/22. The first thing I noticed was the very gritty and heavy trigger pull. So, that would be the first thing I would replace. If you can afford the Kidd trigger (I went with the one stage at 2.5 lb) I would upgrade the trigger group to the Kidd first. If the Kidd trigger is too expensive right now, I'd at least upgrade to the Ruger BX trigger. While replacing the trigger also replace the metal bolt buffer with a nylon one that will be easier on your bolt and receiver and dampen vibrations some.

Next I would then upgrade the barrel if the factory barrel's accuracy is not up to your liking. I went with a FJ Feddersen 18" heavy barrel and it was a huge upgrade. With barrels, you pays your money and takes your chances. Feddersen, Kidd, Green Mountain are all capable of making a good barrel with a quality semi-match chamber. Obviously, if you upgrade to a heavy contour barrel you'll need to get a stock that will accommodate it. I prefer wood stocks. I had Claude Gatewood make me one years ago. You and your son will figure out what type you prefer or that will suit the type of shooting you'll do with it. Feddersen does make a replacement barrel with the original contour if you want to keep it a light carbine.

Next I would upgrade the bolt and bolt handle. I went with a JWH Custom, The Competitor, and a Kidd handle. The Kidd bolt will work just as well.

After all that, you too will have a 10/22 whereby the only thing that is still Ruger is the receiver.

Well I did seem to gloss right over this supposed to be a father and son project. My bad.
My current 10/22 has a green mountain sporter barrel, JWH bolt, jard trigger and free floated the factory walnut stock. I need to bed it and have the back of the receiver drilled out for cleaning. Have another one with green mountain barrel, BX trigger and factory worked bolt, headspaced, pinned firing pin and radiused . Need to bed that one too.

I picked up a used birch stocked stainless sporter with a weaver v7 on it for 225otd at a local pawn shop. I have a little more than 225 in it now

GM stainless fluted barrel, action and pillar bedded, brimstone tier 2 job, kidd charging kit, volq extractor/firing pin. Rustoleum metallic blue paint job. Since pic I've put a proper rimfire scope on it. This thing is silly accurate. They are just fun to tinker with.

Nice rifle. Probably a great shooter. I like those deluxe stocks. Especially the walnut Deluxe model. Guys at my club love GM barrels, however some have gotten burnt. Getting one every once in a while that doesn't shoot very well or is finicky. I initially bought a GM for my most recent 10-22 and it was a dud. Groups hovered around an inch at 50 yards. Not spectacular to say the least. Some guys would be happy with it, but I didn't want to deal with it and bought the Kidd. Night and day difference... Sold the GM on Ebay for almost what I paid for it. Guy that bought it was happy with it.. Shot much better than his factory barrel, so it was a win win..

Trigger first. You may not need a new barrel.

HP Action Kit $138 Recoil Buffer $12.50 These are the improvements I put into my 10/22. I did this approximately 20 years ago for about half the price they are now. This is the scope I am using on it now Vortex Crossfire II 6-18x44 $259.00. A Butler Creek Synthetic Stock I think I gave 50 bucks for 20years ago. I don"t think they sell anymore. Then there is the original rifle I bought 40 years ago brand new for 50 bucks. I also have the 10/22 Magnum set up nearly identical to the .22LR.I think I gave $400 for it 20 years ago. The .22 LR will shoot a nickel size group at 50 yards. The .22 Mag will Shoot a group the size of a 50 cent piece at a 100 yards. My wife has a 96/22 Magnum customized by Chief AJ. I'm not real sure how well it will shoot because she wont let me shoot it. We got it about 5 years ago for $400. It looks pretty much original except for the Chief AJ logo engraving. I would post pictures But my file sizes are to big. gonna see if I can downsize the files.

I had a kidd heavy barrel on another, and it was lights out. Let it go and picked up a UL threaded barrel from them since I had a can coming. UL barrel isnt shooting as good as I hoped. I left the pressure point pad from my heavy barrel so I am thinking about removing it since I doubt there will be any barrel droop with the UL barrel.. This GM barrel10/22 is outshooting my UL kidd barrel 10/22 as of now.

I wouldnt have painted this stock if it was walnut, this was the cheaper birch or beechwood version of the deluxe.

Exactly. I have painted a birch stock a time or 2 as well. That is great the GM is shooting well for you. The kidd barrel should have an accuracy guarantee. I'm surprised it is not shooting lights out. I'm sure Kidd would make it right if you sent it back to them..

A lot of good thoughts already posted here. It could go in a lot of directions. Sending the whole thing to Randy (CPC) is one direction but as others said that's not the same as buying upgrades and installing them yourself. So which ideas have resonated with you so far?

One topic that seems to be overlooked so far is optics. Do you want to add a scope?

Not the op, but scopes are all over the board for these rifles. That may be opening a can of worms. Probably why no one has suggested or said anything about scopes. The op also did not ask. Don't ask, don't tell...

No offense to the OP. But I don’t understand why people buy 10/22 rifles, then replace the trigger, the barrel, stock, and maybe more.
Doing that leaves you with an expensive 10/22, that may or may not be much better than the factory original.
And the factory 10/22 is a decent rifle as is.
Btw, I have done that once. The end result was a marginally accurate 10/22 that was worth far less than I poured in to it.

Some people accomodate themselves to fit their gear and some people modify their gear to fit themselves and their specific expectations.

Ruger 10/22s are okay as they come, but being a modular design there are so many after-market parts to choose from they can easily be turned into whatever the owner wants them to be.

After installing a lot of different parts on a lot of different 10/22s, I've come to believe that a full tune up from CPC provides the most increase in accuracy for each dollar spent. You seldom get all of the money that you put into a parts gun out of it when you sell it, but you probably got some enjoyment/entertainment out of it and that is worth something.

Besides, you can't take anything with you when you pass, so you might as well enjoy it while you're alive.

True, 260 Remguy,
Or one could buy a Volquartsen for similar money than a 10/22 with many upgrades. And you’ll probably have a gun that will outshoot a tricked out 10/22. And the VQ Will resale better, I believe.
I just bought a VQ. Haven’t shot it enough to know for sure, but seems very accurate.
At any rate shoot what you like and enjoy it.