10/22 Mods and accessories

[MarcusOrilius]

Greetings fellow Ruger 10/22 members

I know that this has been discussed before, but it needs an update…

So what are the must have mods for the Ruger 10/22?

What would you modify after the must have stuff has been done, and in what order of importance for getting your groups smaller? (Let’s assume this is for target shooting)

Have you been keeping track of all the $$$ you have been throwing at your Ruger 10/22? What’s the total now?

My rifle so far with prices in Canadian (eh?) dollars:

Package deal:
$388 Ruger 10/22 RPF All weather carbine
Bushnell Sharpshooter 3x9 40mm scope (no laughing)
Carry bag
Gunlock
Extended magazine

Required Extras:
$25 Plastic transport case
$12 Lock for the case
$18 500 rounds of cheap ammo – with lots more to come!!!
$22 Bore snake
$14 Cleaner
$35 31-decibel earmuffs (not for my rifle, but for the cannons shooting next to me)
$10 Eye protection

Mods / Accessories:
$45 Butler Creek Sling
$17 VQ Extended mag release
$28 VQ Automatic bolt release
$4 Swivel screws
$65 Harris Bi-pod

Need to purchases:
$35 VQ Trigger
$5 Recoil Buffer
$150 .920 20” Blue Bull Barrel (Butler Creek or Green Mountain???) OPINIONS REQUIRED
$100 Hogue OM Stock
$50 Weaver rings and rail
$400 Scope (Bushnell Elite 3200 or Leupold Vari-X I???) OPINIONS REQUIRED

So I went from a $400 gun to a $1500 gun without blinking. No wonder my wife rolls her eyes when I tell her “It’s just a cheap .22!” or “Just one more part!” What have I started here? HELP ME!!!

[Jimineez]

Just a note, midwayUSA sells Adams & Bennett .920 barrels that are made by Green Mountain so I'm told for under $100. Sometimes they have a package with a stock for a total of less than $100. I just got one of their closeouts for under $90 for corelite stock and 18" A&B barrel and it shoots great!

Also, I think a $400 scope is way overkill for a .22 that won't shoot much farther than 125 yards

Ohh, those prices are US dollars .....

[gun freak00]

I know the feeling about the wife thing. She can't see putting $1000 in a $149 gun. She calls it the sickness.

Where to start on the mods?

1. Barrel... I chose to go the more costly rout and got the Clark SS wide fluted barrel and cut it to 18 3/4" ( just because they would cut it for free), I didn't need the 20" and wanted to cut some weight without affecting accuracy. They have their own patented chamber reamer that leaves all the accuracy of a Bentz chamber but will funtion flawlessly even after shooting many rounds. The Bentz has always been to tight for me personally ( your milage my vary) and even target shooting I don,t like to interupt shooting to swab out the barrel and chamber every 60 rounds. With the extra wide flutes it does cool down faster than a bull barrel without flutes. It out shoots the "snake barrel" from Volq. all day long without the FTF's. I have several Volq's, a Green mountain ( best bang for the buck, parder the pun) and 2 Clarks ( 1- 18 3/4" and a 20" non fluted).

2. Bolt work ( easy mod)... I put a a radius on the bottom of the bolt at the rear. Most people with "stove piping" problems think it is an extractor problem and it is not. They go out and buy a aftermarket extractor and find they still have the problem after it is replaced. If you look how the bolt retracts the hammer there isn't much leverage as it slides back. Putting on a radius raises the contact point of the bolt to hammer giving it more power to do it's job. Walla better cycling and no stove pipes.

3. Trigger work... This is probably where the responses will hammer me,everyone has there favorite.
The best trigger I have on a 10/22 is a tuned Kidd trigger. It is a direct replacement trigger group, plug and play. The down side they are around $400. To make a long story short, I traded other stuff for a gun that had the trigger in it. I sold the rest of the gun and kept the trigger group.

Now for the budget minded, the rest of my 10/22's I prefer a trigger job over just replacing a part or two. Everything works together and having all parts matched will result in a better pull not just a lighter pull. For what you spend on replacing a hammer and sear plus shims or springs, you can have a professional do a trigger job and have a crisp,smooth as well as a light pull. I also drill and tap the trigger shoe and install a set screw for overtravel. This is easy to do and well worth doing.

I also do the "JBweld trick" . this eliminates the creap ( or take up) in the trigger. Even after replaceing trigger parts with aftermarket parts, you still have creep. You clean the parts well after removing them and assemble them as they would be in the gun. Note where the creep is and mix up the JB weld and put it inbetween the parts noteing to use release agent on the top part. When it cures trim it down and walla no creep and no over travel just sweet shooting trigger. ( note, I abbreviated this procedure. If you want to know how it is done let me know).

4 Extractor... I have a couple of aftermarket extractors but have never seen a difference between them and the factory. Most so called ejecting problems with these guns is really stove piping as mentioned above. I had one of those
Gattling gun kits that used 2 rifles and you could crank the handel and get the guns red real fast. They had factory extractors and never failed after thousands of rounds.

5 Bolt handel... I found the bolt handel a little small for my big mits and opted to use a 10/22 magnum bolt handel in stead. It is bigger and is a direct replacement. I also polished the recoil rod and put Wolf recoil spring in place of the stock ones ( got a few of them free when ordering many other springs).

6. Firing pin... I drilled a hole across the top front part of the bolt and put a pin in it to keep the firing pin from moving up and down when shot. This has almost eliminated "flyers". As stock, the pin can move up and down and not always hit the round in the same place, this just helps eliminate one more variable in the equasion.

7. Cleaning hole... I drill a hole in the rear of the receiver in line with the bore so the gun can be cleaned from the breech end out to the crown. Cleaning from the crown end is never good. Patch worms work great but sometimes leave stuff behind, a good carbon fiber rod will not hurt the barrel. When the stock is put back on, the hole is covered up.

8. Extended mag release... I do it my self and like it 10 times better than the aftermarket ones and you can take your gun hunting too.

Everyone useually replaces the bolt buffer, it is a given. Why not use the old pin for something good? I drill a hole in the center of the factory mag release and tap it. Then I take the old pin and round it on one end and thread the other. Screw it in and (you guessed it) walla, extended mag release that works good and you can take it off when hunting. Ever lose the mag out of the rifle because you accedently hit the release, not good.

For the people who can't tap and thread, drill the hole almost through and expoxy the pin in place after rounding opposite end. Clark guns does this on all their compitition guns ( where I got the idea). If you buy their extended release thats what you get, a modifyed stocker.

9. Bedding.. I am a firm believer in bedding the actions of my guns. In my experence with bull barrels, I bed from the ballence point of the rifle back. This is useually from 2 inches in front of the receiver ( where barrel bolts on) back to the sides of the stockleave the rest free floated. If you surround the receiver with bedding it will not come out and is not needed. Light barrels, carbon fiber, tention barrels do better with pressure pointing than full bedding. Your miliage may vary.

10.Scope mount.. My prefference is Clark's barrel/receiver mount. This allows for rigidity in the mount being attached to barrel and receiver for contricity to the bore. I useually put some bedding compound between mount and the gun ( gun is covered with release agent). this takes care of any variances in the receiver. Some receivers have the dreaded "hump" from casting which can cause a distorted mount.

11. Scopes... I do not agree with the fact a scope shouldn't cost much. If you can't see it, you can't hit it. I can't stress the fact of good glass enough. I use a Weaver grand slams variable to 32x and Tasco custom shops up to 50 x. With good strong glass, you can see if your jerking the trigger, if your breathing is effecting the shot and many other self inflicted problems. Granted at the higher powers you can get serious jitters but this is eventually overcomed. With a variable you can work toward that goal. Another must for a strong short range scope is adjustable optics for parralax or AO. Everone eyes are different and this helps to focus the small holes better.

12. Adjustable buttplate... They are expensive but well worth it. A custom fit can't hurt and they look as cool as they are functional.

13. Stocks... This is a personal preffrence to everybody. I like Richards microfit stocks, not cheap but worth it. The Boyds blaster is the second choice, I have both and really like them.

14. Bipods... I rather use a good rest, enough said.

These mods I use on all my guns with good success and like I said before your mileage may vary.

[RunningWater]

I have a budget set-up with my 10/22.I bought a 10/22 from a yardsale.$125 got me the rifle,two 25rd mags,muzzle break on the barrel,butler-creek handguard,(which the break and handguard made it look like a mini-14,kinda cool,but not what I had in mind)scope-mount,and cheap scope.
What I changed:I put a bullbarrel on it that I got because it had a blemish in the powder-coating that was very small.Brand new.Paid $58 for it shipped.Put a Power Customs target hammer in it:$30.Bolt buffer:$6.A Corlite stock from Midway,on sale:$20.Scope:$30.Weaver mount:$10.Bought 10rd ruger mag.:$16.
I sold the barrel with muzzle-break,cheap scope,and cheap scope mount:$30

So for around $265 I have a tack-driver that I'm very pleased with.Its still a work in progress though.Waiting to see what the stocks Rineland will be releasing shortly.(makers of the R22)It just might turn into a different gal.

[gun freak00]

Warning! The 10/22 has an inherant flaw in the design. It is to easy to upgrade and can eventually become addictive causing lack of funds in the old bank account. The cure is useually the same for everyone, the wife!

Sounds like you are on your way to a fine shooting rifle. Every time I see them go on sale at Dicks sporting goods ($139) my wife's butt cheeks cringe. She keeps telling me I have enough of them and to build something else. So far I have built 6 of them and yes she shoots one of them herself, I built a compact for the boy and even a pistol just because I could.

There are several little upgrades that you can do yourself that greatly effect the way it shoots and most of them cost very little if not nothing to do. If you want to do anything I mentioned in the above post, go to www.rimfirecentral.com they have everything 10/22 you can think of and their tips and tricks section is the best on the web. They have several record holders as members and all the aftermarket parts people as sponsers and they post too.

Good luck on your 10/22 addiction!

[RunningWater]

The above link is where I got my deals on my parts for my 10/22.
RW

[ssr562]

I agree the only way i could bulid my 10/22 was to make sure it was done before i got marryed. even if she does shoots it more than me i dont believe i would of stood a change of geting it otherwise.When she found how much i payed for it she frecked out.But she shoots it more than me.Women! :up:

[gun freak00]

My wife also complained how much i use to spend at Aim. Then 3 years later she seen how much the prices go up on what I bought ( better than her investments) and what it is now worth.Now I can buy anything I want as long as it is a collector peice and not a new gun. She doesen't see a profit coming from the 10/22's but they are fun to build and I can give them away for christmas presents to her father and stepfather. They buy me guns in return, what a good system.

[topolover]

"...cured of what we're sufferin' from, an' sufferin' from the cure...." :boozer:

Warning! The 10/22 has an inherant flaw in the design. It is to easy to upgrade and can eventually become addictive causing lack of funds in the old bank account. The cure is useually the same for everyone, the wife!

[ssr562]

I'm not sure this the place to ask.But im going to anyhow.Does any one know were to find a 50rd drum,for a10/22.I recall seeing one on nother site,but can find it agian.I know there out there some were.And if so how much do think they are.Thanks for the help. :animateds

[gun freak00]

Coles distributeing has them for$79.99. That is the common price that the go for, and they are good mags. Stay away from the ramline side by side 50 rounders ( looks like a Butler creek) as I had one melt in my gun. There are tails of a 100 round drums though I have never seen one.

[garsone]

I own a 10/22. does anyone know if the 10/22 magnum is any good?

[imanaknut]

I have to agree that a 10/22 is about as addictive as an AK variant. There are so many mods available to give you the ability to make yours a one of a kind. I usually start by polishing up the trigger, replace the mag release with an extended one, fix the bolt hold open so it works like a normal one, radius the bolt, install a buffer, and in the case of one day where I really got silly, I did this:

http://www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/13830Ruger_1022_num_3_Bullpup-med.JPG

[gun freak00]

I own a 10/22. does anyone know if the 10/22 magnum is any good?

I own a few .22 mag guns ( including a 10/22 mag) and like them very much, but I have had them awhile.

If you have none, don't bother with it. The rounds are becoming more expensive and the .17 calibers are dropping in price somewhat.

For just a little more for the ammo ( .17cal ) , you get a hole lot more as far as performance goes. I have shot rodents with the .22 mag for years but I really like the .17's distance and splat factor ( my term) better.

If you are looking for more power than the standard 10/22, the 10/22 mag or the .17cal would fit the bill. By changing bolts and barrels, you could go back and forth with the calibers on the same gun. The bad thing is there are no extended mags for them, just the rotary ones.

[ssr562]

Thanks for the info i'll be sure to check out coles to see if they still have them.

[ssr562]

Called coles and they do'nt have them anymore.But it was a thought.Thanks any way.

[topolover]

I have to agree that a 10/22 is about as addictive as an AK variant. There are so many mods available to give you the ability to make yours a one of a kind. I usually start by polishing up the trigger, replace the mag release with an extended one, fix the bolt hold open so it works like a normal one, radius the bolt, install a buffer, and in the case of one day where I really got silly, I did this:

http://www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/13830Ruger_1022_num_3_Bullpup-med.JPG
"Suuuuuuuweeeet!" -- Napolean Dynamite
Got a parts list for those of us that'd like to make a dup of yours?

[Megatron]

Another cool 10/22 stock is from Dixie Consolidated.

www.dixieconsolidated.com

Here's another cool 10/22 stock. It's called the Evolution.

www.rbprecision.com

[topolover]

Thanks Mr. Krinkov! Is making a 10-22 fairly easy?