The need to 'accurize' a 10/22?

[Mobuck]

I see lots of tricky widget stuff claiming to improve accuracy of the 10/22 but sometimes question the 'WHY?' of this. A couple days back, I pulled a nearly new 10/22 out of hiding and took it out to do some pre-season practice. I bought this rifle for Granddaughter, but she didn't seem to like it so it's been in the gunroom rack for a while (like 5-6 years). I didn't bother to check the zero but figured I'd move the targets closer until I could hit them and go from there. First shots from 40 yards at the 4" steel were hits so I switched to the 2" and ran 9 of 10 shots on those. Going totally against the grain, I changed from Aguila sub-sonic that was in the magazine to ancient Winchester Wildcats and ran 10 for 10 on the 2". That seemed too easy, so I moved the swinger rack out to 60 yards and finished off the partial box of Wildcats w/o a miss on the 2" swingers. Shooting sitting on the ground using crossed sticks-not sandbags on the bench. That calculates out to less than 3 MOA.
I suppose if I had been shooting at even smaller targets and using sandbags, the 'lack of accuracy' would have been more apparent???? This is a run-of-the-mill 16" threaded barrel, no sights, polymer stock 10/22 with a Nikon 3-9x40 'Rimfire' scope. If this is typical, I don't see much need for more accuracy. :unsure:

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Try it on an American Rimfire Association factory target at 50yds .....if a 1022 is accurized the Unlimited class target must be used. My Unlimited 1022 was built specifically for the RFC "ARA" type matches. My off the shelf 1022 is accurate to pop tree rats but it won't put 25 timed bullets on that little speck of a tiny dot like my Unlimited class rifle will. Oh and lowest score edge counts not highest (entire hole must be in using a scoring plug).

 

[s4s4u]

Trigger can be improved on nearly any stock 10/22, but other than that I don't get too carried away.

 

[Mobuck]

Since this rifle seems to have some potential, I may 'gift myself' a trigger upgrade. It did help another 10/22 considerably.
Next session out, I'm going to actually check the zero @ 60 yards as it seemed I was hitting the upper half of the 2" discs most of the time.

 

[thinckley]

The only thing I do to any of my 10/22's is to replace the factory with the BX trigger and add an extended mag release. That is enough for me, but I am not shooting competition.

 

[WAYNO]

Nor do I shoot competition, but...

I am enamored with the tiniest little groups at fifty yards.
The first requirement is a decent trigger. BX at the low end, to VQ, Jard, Timney, etc., at the expensive end. A good trigger does not make the rifle more accurate, but it makes it far easier to shoot the rifle accurately and to duplicate shot-to-shot performance.

For shooting sage rats, a box-stock 10/22 works quite well with the aforementioned trigger upgrade, or even straight out of the box.

But back to tiny groups at fifty yards... A dedicated target grade 10/22 or target grade barrel makes a considerable difference over a stock sporter.

And all by itself, an even more impressive improvement in accuracy is via the ammo used. Folks think Mini Mags are great. And I say they are mediocre. Treat your rifle to some really high end rimfire ammo and be prepared to be amazed.

If minute of tin can accuracy pleases you, then the world is always a happy place. :)





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[GasGuzzler]

Trigger can be improved on nearly any stock 10/22, but other than that I don't get too carried away.

Likewise my 10/22 has an OEM barrel, receiver, and highly changed yet merely refinished stock. The bolt is stock too but all the rest of the guts are aftermarket and the trigger 100X better than stock. If I had not spent so many hours refinishing a second OEM "hardwood" stock for looks only, I would have put a bull barrel and aftermarket wood stock on it. Wish I knew someone with a lathe and I would hog out the channel on my modified finish stock stock and do the barrel swap. Might as well now.

 

[Goldstar225]

When I bought my 10/22 about 40 years ago I immediately installed a volquartsen hammer in it, a significant improvement and it remained that way until last year. Groups were OK but I always wondered if I could do better. I installed an 18" tapered Federsen barrel and my typical groups with CCI minimags and CCI subsonic HPs shrank to dime size for 10 shots at 35 yards. Not competition level but I'll call that good enough for tree rats.

 

[bittereinder]

I've found the main benefit of mini-mags compared with reasonable quality bulk ammo (Federal or CCI, for example) is that the mini-mags are very consistent for feeding. Lower velocity bulk ammo tends to shoot more accurately in my mostly stock 10/22, but there are occasional failures to eject.

 

[thinckley]

I actually just swapped a barrel out on my most modified 10/22. Not modified for accuracy, but modified for looks and functionality.

 

[Strawdog]

From my been there done that file.... I picked up a new Ruger Charger 22 five years back and have been tinkering with it and enjoying it thoroughly. In stock form I was lucky to get +-1.25" groups at 50 yards. Doing my research I followed the advice of the Forum Guru's and upgraded my trigger. Installing the Kidd Trigger Job Kit and Springs made a huge difference in mitigating my input errors on the trigger. The groups immediately shrunk to .75". Seeing this improvement encouraged me to try better ammo, finding some improvements there as well +-.5"... Recently I decided to seek the next step by upgrading the barrel ( 10" Feddersen Tapered) after all, in the interest of science can it get better? I'll be installing it soon and going to the range to test it out. I'll do my best to report back on the results.

 

[Mobuck]

This morning's range testing @ 60 yards indicates the rifle itself is pretty darned accurate. The decades old ammo on the other hand shows some 'issues'. One or two of five shots will deviate from the .5-.75" group by an inch or more.
With this in mind, I'll just move my targets up to the 50 yard line and continue my practicing.