Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 10/22 to build or to buy?

What a great thread!!! Thanks

Great thread!
Thanks for posting some useful information.
I am new to the10/22, bought a takedown a few years ago because the price was right.

0ne great things about 10/22 is they are plentiful and the availability of aftermarket parts.

I have a red dot on the takedown model and it shoots remarkably well.

Encouraging me to build another with scope and see just how accurate I could make it.

Because its a takedown I am not familiar with the V block arrangement.

I started looking at takedown barrels with the rail attached to the barrel. Seems like it would potentially circumvent all the V block issues.

Any thoughts on this?

Great writeup, bsa.

Thanks bsa. I just spent the last hour looking at 10/22 parts, which lead me to mk3 parts. I appreciate the time you spent on this article and relighting an old fire.

John, I wish I knew more about the takedown models. I do know they can shoot very well. One of my buddies is set up like yours with a red dot and it shoots surprisingly well. His likes that Tac22 ammo, so I gave him a few boxes. I was disappointed that this rifle does not like it, nor does one of my Savage bolt actions. Maybe I got a bad lot, because I know some of the other Tac22 shot really well in my Kidd barreled 10/22.

Check out this video. It's a pretty good one on the takedown model:

I'm glad you guys are liking this thread. It's been fun shooting this new rifle. I just looked at the weather report for tomorrow (12-4-23) and the wind is going to die way down. Something like 2-5 mph, which is very calm for around here. I may have to take the Kidd barreled rifle out with this new rifle and do some rifle dueling. 2 10/22's side by side comparison and shootout!! Been watching some videos on Youtube as well. Guys like Don (Rimfire SS) can sure shoot these rifles. His video's are always very informative:



If I shoot tomorrow, I'll let you guys know how they do.

After watching some of these youtube videos, I'm starting to wonder if I should be shooting 5 shot groups instead?? Would be much easier and conserve ammo. However, for a 22lr I'm used to shooting 10 shots for score. What say you guys??

I have to bed a buddies 10/22 and I am running low on Marine Tex so I think I will go to the hardware store and try some of the JB stick stuff, never used it before.

I've watched a couple of his videos. What I found most surprising is the difference between various bolts. He seems to like the Faxon bolt a lot. Might be worth checking it out to further tighten groups.

It works well. Just rough up the stock good, so it will stick. Hornady one shot case lube works great for release agent. The trick with it is to check to see how much you actually need with a little modeling clay. I will roll up a small ball in the palm of my hand. I'm talking pea size ball of modeling clay, then put your action in the stock. Press the action down in the stock, and then pull the action back out. Measure the thickness of the clay. Then you'll know how much steel stick you need. You can use a little more than your clay thickness, but keep in mind this is not runny or thin like your regular epoxy. When it hardens, it is strong. You will have about 6-8 minutes to work with this stuff. I'll generally run the action screw in, without putting too much pressure on the screw, while the JB hardens. With my stocks, I use the supplied pressure pad on the Magpul, and the Boyds stock is not freefloated, so where the stock stops the barrel and action, that is where I want it. I don't want to induce any kind of stress on the receiver. Some guys will actually float the receiver on these, but I don't like that either. I'd rather it were secure and in a constant state, in the same position in the stock every time, so I don't have to worry about where the torque setting is on the action screw. The reason for me doing this is because I like to pull the barreled action out of the stock when I clean the rifle.

I've actually had to pull my gun apart at a shoot before because I tried a different lubricant (Mil Spec CLP). That CLP was cheap, and I found out real quick why it was so cheap. It gummed up my 10/22 with the Kidd barrel, where it kept jamming up. The Kidd barrel is very sensitive to that type of thing because the match chamber is very tight. I was shooting it a few weeks ago, testing out some of the old Winchester T22 target ammo, and the lube mixed with the freezing temps were causing failure to feeds. Anyway, at that shoot, I pulled it apart, sprayed the inside out with rem oil, put it back together and was back to hitting golf balls that were hanging by strings at 50 yards. No other issues the rest of the day. The point of the story is I don't like a rifle that shifts POI. You shouldn't have to carry a torque wrench with you, where ever you go. I guess I'm old school that way.

If you bed your buddies rifle, let us know how it goes. Good luck with it!! Some stocks are in desperate need of this bedding process, and others not so much. One way to tell is if different torque settings effect POI or accuracy. You can also tell if when you tighten your action screw, you can see or feel the stock and receiver moving to meet each other. Tests can be done with a dial indicator as well, but not necessary.

Of the videos I've been watching, he's been praising the Brownells bolts. He has a few rifle builds where he uses that bolt in particular. I've had good luck with the JWH Custom precision bolts. The main thing is your bolt face needs to be perfectly square to the barrel with as close to 100% contact as possible. The upgraded bolts also offer things that reduce firing pin bounce, so as to keep things more consistent, and we know consistency is always key to great accuracy/precision. With my 10/22's where I use my original bolts, I'll work them over a bit. Polishing, radius the rear of the bolt to ease operation and make it more reliable. I also replace the extractor, firing pin and springs with a kit from Volquartsen. This is mainly if I'm going to use it in competition. I need it to be reliable and as accurate as possible.

Here's a video on the Magpul X22 Hunter stock. A good way to go, if you want to upgrade your 10/22 stock:



It may not be the best stock, but for the price point it works very well. Just bear in mind, you may need to bed it.

This was another review by Don on another round of bolt reviews:

Ah ha. Thanks buddy!

Went to the range today, to duel some rifles.


The first targets shot today, from cold clean bores:

I love the fact they are still shooting to the same exact place as I left them. I've had these out of the stocks, as I've explained to clean them.

First targets from the Elite 22S. I'm going to call it that because Tactical innovations Elite 22S is too long:




First targets shot with the Kidd barreled 10-22:




Elite 22S with Eley Club XTRA ammo:



Conditions were pretty nice. Temps from 48 to 51 degrees and about a 5mph wind. The rifles functioned very reliably, but there were some FTF on some of the lubed ammo. Got a couple FTF in the Kidd barreled 10-22, after about 100 rounds downrange. There were only 2 FTF on the Elite 22S. I'll post some more pics of how the Ruger 10-22 compared to the Tactical Innovations Elite 22S in the next post.

Eley club XTRA fired through the Ruger 10-22 with the Kidd barrel:




Scores are pretty similar at this point.

Next up is the Federal Gold Medal Match in the Elite 22S:



Federal Gold Medal Match in Ruger 10-22 with Kidd barrel:


This ammo is the preferred ammo for this rifle. It always shoots very well.

More pics in the next post................

The grand finale:

Elite 22S with Wolf Match Target ammo:



Ruger 10-22 with Kidd barrel. Wolf Match Target:



I couldn't be happier with either of these rifles. There was not much seasoning between groups, as you can see. I think with their preferred ammo, they can be pretty competitive against one another. I was at the range for 3 hours, and shot more, but I won't bore you with the groups shot with CCI STD Velocity, and the Winchester T22 target ammo. Hope you guys enjoyed this thread. It's been fun!!



Whether you build or buy, these things can be fun. With the right ammo, they can really lay them in there.

Heck of a write up as per usual BSA.. detailed and informative👍🏼

That was a great grab on that TI rifle and it looks like it doesn’t disappoint

Thanks buddy. I got lucky on that one, for sure. Even if it would have been an aluminum receiver, it would have still been a good buy, but it being stainless is the icing on the cake.. I was thinking of you and your brothers today, as I was littering the side of the bench with brass casings. I know you guys are ankle deep in that stuff sometimes!! ha ha..

Upon further review of the targets, I think the Kidd is the winner. But the Elite 22S won in reliability. Not by much, but it ran like a sewing machine today. I haven't counted it up, but I believe I fired off about 200 rounds through each rifle. Good day at the range.

I'd like to try some good Lapua Center X through these, and see how they fare. I also wish I had some more of that RWS Semiauto target ammo. That stuff looked like it really wanted to shine the other day. Unfortunately I only saw one box of that at Wiley Brothers in Reno.

I'd like to see what the " common " stuff did. CCI SV, Norma Tac, Fed Automatch, etc.................different opinion on Green Mt. barrels now???????????? LOL LOL Messin with ya! Thanks friend!

I always enjoy a good 10/22 thread and I enjoy a nice shooting 1/22 even better. These days I don't mind spending a bundle on one if it's going to be for me.