Just pulling out some odd guns and here I find a Ruger 10-22 Carbine I didn't remember I had. Looking to maybe do a couple "upgrades" for mainly just gopher shooting etc. Ordered a Ruger BX drop in trigger assembly already. What other upgrades are recommended without breaking the bank so to speak? Suggestions welcome.

1. The better trigger mod than the BX is the Volquartsen target hammer kit and trigger. Most times that kit can be found for around $60 and works much better than the BX trigger.

2. Auto bolt release mod: Takes all of about 5 seconds to perform this mod: $0


3. Extended charge handle: $25

4. Extended mag release lever. $15

5. Bolt properly headspaced: $0

6. Volquartsen extractor and spring kit: $15

7. Nylon bolt buffer: $5

8. Bolt mods that help with function: radius and polish the rear of the bolt.

Many more mods, but those are the necessary ones. For the type of shooting I do. YMMV.. A huge performance upgrade would be changing out the factory barrel to a Kidd, or similar type barrel. Stock upgrade is also a consideration. The Magpul Hunter X22 is a great stock, if one wants to upgrade to a better stock.

Do you have a link for number 5?

Send it to CPC. It'll come back right.
Based on all I've read.

Just install the trigger and give it a try, if you aren't happy with the grouping results then try removing the barrel band, it may be binding causing accuracy issues. After that it becomes just how much money you want to throw at a gopher shooting gun. For just shooting gophers I have found the basic 10/22 adequate enough, it won't win any benchrest matches but it is hard on gophers.

I take 10/22's for what they are - an inexpensive reasonably accurate and fun thing to shoot, they can turn into a real money pit though if one gets carried away.

drover

Great tips. Keep them coming!!

I do my own. It's pretty easy. Just like a lot of work that can be done to the 10-22. There are a lot of mods that can be done at no cost, just time and a little know how.

That is a possibility, if you would rather pay someone else to do easy work that most guys should be able to do.

Do them smart and they don't have to be "money pits". I have about $450 into my current one. That is total cost of rifle and parts.. Also, if done right, they can be extremely accurate/tack driving sob's. Not just "reasonably accurate". Just depends on what you really want, I guess..

Perhaps I am reading the OP's post too simply but as I read it he is asking about upgrades for a gopher gun. In my experience with 10/22's that most of them unmodified will group about 1" to 3/4" @ 50 yards for 5 shots, a trigger upgrade will cut about a 1/4" from those group sizes.

So taking into account how much accuracy is required to kill a gopher out to 50 or 75 yards where does the point of diminishing returns kick in? I doubt that the extra $275 spent on a Kidd, or other aftermarket barrel or another $200 or so for a Magpul stock is going to increase the amount of gophers.

The money spent on a BX trigger or some other upgrade is likely the best money spent on a 10/22 simply because it makes it more shootable.

drover

You read it exactly right, drover. Was not wanting to spend a ton on it -- just something to shoot as a back up gopher gun. But I think I would like to try a couple of bsa1917hunter's tips. They seemed like good ones if I can figure out how to do them. I'm not quite sure what his #2 tip, Auto Bolt Release Mod accomplishes exactly. Maybe he will chime in. I'm also curious about his #5 and #8 tip and how to go about accomplishing them.

The Ruger bolt hold open is a robust design which must be manually operated to engage and disengage. I like this because the bolt is held no matter the bump or jostling, many people don’t like it because they find manually disengaging it to be too tedious. The modification is removing the plate from the trigger assembly, grinding the notch into a triangle, reinstalling into the trigger group. This still requires you to manually engage the bolt hold open but allows you to slingshot the bolt or manually disengage the bolt hold open. It also allows the bolt to close on your finger if you bump it when cleaning or clearing the chamber.

I too am waiting for him to expand on #5.

#8 is to soften the bottom rear edge of the bolt to lower the resistance when cocking the hammer.
Stock bolt https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts...t-carrier-groups/bolt-assembly-complete/
Aftermarket bolt with softer edge https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts/rifle-parts/rifle-bolts-bolt-carrier-groups/1022-bolt-assembly/

The great things about the 10/22 are that they are modular and they are so popular that there are a plethora of after-market parts available. It is easy to put a lot of money into a 10/22 by changing parts piece by piece, what I call the "Stone Soup" process, but I have come to the conclusion that spending the $250 or so that a full tune up by CPC costs is a more cost effective and holistic approach. I've done it both ways several times over, so this isn't speculative advice. Good luck with your project.

You did the best thing first. Make it easier to shoot well, then see where you want to take it from there. Aftermarket triggers may have the edge, but the BX will do okay based on my example of one.

50 @ 50 from a bone stock 10/22 except trigger redone.

What choke tube did you have in it? Reupold Improved Cylinder? Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!...............

A few things to consider. A trigger does NOT improve a rifle's accuracy. It does make it easier to shoot more accurately, or as Drover said, more shootable. If you do a good job of controlling a bad trigger and get bad accuracy, no trigger job will make it accurate. I have a Ruger 10/22 magnum that has the second worse trigger of any gun I own. I can still get 1 inch 5 shot groups at 100 yards with it.

Ammo can make a HUGE difference. Don't write off a 22LR until you have tried several varieties of quality ammo.

For those who aren't real handy, a barrel and a stock are good starting points. I don't love Hogue stocks, but they are cheap and based on my sample size of 2, they are pretty darned good. Shaw Barrels aren't the best, but they can be had for $150 and they too are very good. A drop in trigger assembly, like the BX, is easy to install and makes it quite a bit easier for you to shoot your rifle's best.

Plenty of stuff to add....

Extractor is where I started

TK or MCarbo & others have plenty of stuff

My take down 10-22 SS is a hoot.........

Cheap/dirty ammo is the weak link

https://www.tandemkross.com/maintenance-combo-for-ruger-1022.html

Mount/optics selection is #1. Only a Drooling Fhuqking Retard,would mount same on the receiver of a TD. Hell...they'd probably even add a Loudener. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

Yep, ammo matters. That right there is the easiest and cheapest thing to do first.

Was out this morning checking zero and plinking with a 1968 vintage 10/22 carbine, the original style with barrel band and all. The only thing done to it was that after putting up with a 9 pound trigger for 55 years, I finally bought a BX trigger for it a couple months ago. It currently wears a Weaver Classic 6x38 scope, which is okay as far as it goes but definitely not the crème de la crème of modern optical equipment.

Anyway, the wind was calm so just for grins I fired two 10 shot groups with the two kinds of ammo on hand, some several years old CCI AR Tactical and some recently purchased Federal Automatch. 10 shots each at 50 yards. The AR Tactical put 9 rounds into .56" with one flyer that's definitely my fault. With the same shooter, same rifle, same everything, the Federal Automatch put 10 rounds into 1.05". Not a dig on the Automatch, in other rifles it shoots great.

AR Tactical. Not going to set the .22 benchrest world on fire but not too shabby for an old, well worn rifle.



Automatch. I fired a second 10 shot group to give this a fair chance and it was about the same.



Fwiw, either of those groups is small enough to kill a gopher sized animal out to 50 yards and the AR Tactical could stretch that to 100 or more.


Nothing wrong with upgrading a 10/22 as an end to itself, the sky's the limit, but if the goal is to shoot minute of gopher with minimal outlay, a simple test of a few different types and/or lots of ammo could preclude the need, emphasis on need, for anything further.

Randy at CPC is an absolute guru with the 10/22…

"without breaking the bank", What Big Stick, Drover, and Jim in Idaho said. Put some kind of scope on it, about any scope's better than the factory sights, see how it shoots with the Trigger kit you ordered, and try different ammo,