Looking for accuracy improvement suggestions/confirmation for Ruger 10/22

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grimblyd

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So. I've managed only once to have a 1/2" or better (50 yds) group with my ruger 10/22. I'd like to improve on that. Typically my groups are 1" with the occasional flier that makes me want to shred the target before my wife sees it!

I have made the following upgrades/improvements to it. (Gun was purchased in the 80s. Pretty much a standard 10/22)

Extended mag release.
6-24 scope, with red/green light up capability. (some kind of crazy knock off that I got on Amazon.Ca for $65. Surprisingly nice for that money)
Bipod

I've purchased a selection of mid range quality ammo (CCI mini mags, Winchester TG, a few others that I am trying)

I've done some research, and the 'best bang for my buck' on accuracy improvement seems to be pointing to the Volquartsen 10/22 trigger kit. I do find the trigger very heavy and suspect I am pulling hard to fire it, and the likely source of my fliers


I am on a budget as I am retired, and have a lot of interests, so have to spread the money kind of thin!

Is there anyone in Edmonton/Red Deer or Calgary that stocks Volquarsten parts kits like this?

Am I right on this, that the biggest capital improvement (outside of training and practice practice practice of course) for this will be the trigger kit?

Are there any other 'on a budget' improvements that will improve my accuracy?

As always, thanks in advance for your input!
 
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How handy are you with tools and metalworking? I squared off the face of the bolt on mine and removed material from the face until the recess for the cartridge was .042", and that made it a bit more consistent. The trigger is fairly easy to do yourself too. You can aneal the hammer and sear, then drill and tap them for adjusting screws. That way you can control the sear engagement and take a lot of the travel out of the reset. Getting rid of the factory trigger return spring and plunger setup and making a lighter internal spring from some piano wire helps too, as well as drilling and tapping the trigger guard for an over travel screw. Free floating the barrel is another easy and free mod that can improve accuracy, and bedding the stock isn't real hard either. It wouldn't hurt to check the crown either, it might need a bit of touch up. All this stuff can be done for next to nothing if you're handy and have some time. Rimfirecentral has some articles on building what they call a superstock 10/22 on their site, definitely worth the read.
Kristian
 
grimblyd said:
So. I've managed only once to have a 1/2" or better (50 yds) group with my ruger 10/22. I'd like to improve on that. Typically my groups are 1" with the occasional flier that makes me want to shred the target before my wife sees it! ............ As always, thanks in advance for your input!
Click to expand...

I'd venture to say that you're doing good the way your 10/22 is now. I mean your 10/22 is fine and you are good enough too.

If you want to spend more for better accuracy, just get a bolt action CZ452/455 Varmint/American/whatever. Or a Savage MKIIG or F. This way you have two different flavors of rifles. YMMV.
 
turbo_bird said:
How handy are you with tools and metalworking? I squared off the face of the bolt on mine and removed material from the face until the recess for the cartridge was .042", and that made it a bit more consistent. The trigger is fairly easy to do yourself too. You can aneal the hammer and sear, then drill and tap them for adjusting screws. That way you can control the sear engagement and take a lot of the travel out of the reset. Getting rid of the factory trigger return spring and plunger setup and making a lighter internal spring from some piano wire helps too, as well as drilling and tapping the trigger guard for an over travel screw. Free floating the barrel is another easy and free mod that can improve accuracy, and bedding the stock isn't real hard either. It wouldn't hurt to check the crown either, it might need a bit of touch up. All this stuff can be done for next to nothing if you're handy and have some time. Rimfirecentral has some articles on building what they call a superstock 10/22 on their site, definitely worth the read.
Kristian
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Thanks Kristian. I'll head over to that website and check it out. As far as my skill set with metalworking, I'd say a dilettante at best. The mods you suggest are intriguing and I think I'll try to track down some youtubes and give some of them a go! Gotta start somewhere, and I'm thinking worse case scenario I end up only being able to shoot my old single shot Anschutz till I get the replacement parts in if I bugger this up!

Thanks again.

Dan
 
easyrider604 said:
I'd venture to say that you're doing good the way your 10/22 is now. I mean your 10/22 is fine and you are good enough too.

If you want to spend more for better accuracy, just get a bolt action CZ452/455 Varmint/American/whatever. Or a Savage MKIIG or F. This way you have two different flavors of rifles. YMMV.
Click to expand...

Nobody wants to hear "scrap the 10/22 tune-up and buy a CZ"...but being totally honest, it's exactly what I was thinking. I'd agree with easyrider with his assessment of the accuracy you're getting, and, with your idea to try several types of 22 ammo. Thats always the first task with any new 22 in my opinion. A better trigger is always a step in the right direction (CZs benefit from a little hug in this regard too) but the trigger on a CZ is already better than a 10/22 out of the box. I'm really of 2 minds when it comes to this stuff grimblyd~since I can see both the merit in having fun getting a plinker like a 10/22 running better...AND the merit of recognizing the "diminishing returns" argument against it. Biases right up front;

1. I'm a CZ (and now BRNO) fan
2. FAR prefer bolt guns (have owned semis by Winchester, Ruger, Marlin) and have shot a couple others
3. Believe that 10/22s are overpriced for what you get
4. The Marlin 795 offers superior accuracy, a better charging handle, last shot bolt hold-open~but crappier sights and mag release. Both have good 10-round factory mags. Thing is, the Marlin can be had for about 1/2 the price.

Anyhow, you'd think I was a sales rep for CZ the way I go on about them, but even though they sting a little $-wise up front, I personally don't know anybody who has just one...regrets buying one, etc. They may be out of your budget, but maybe not if you considered using your 10/22 "upgrade" budget, and sold the rifle.

Good luck with whatever route you take, and keep us posted on the progress!
 
Sometimes switching back and forth between different rimfire ammo looking for the best can create its own accuracy problems. If you really want to know how different ammo works, clean the barrel and shoot several boxes or a whole brick through it. Repeat with the next contender. Different ammo has different lubes and they don't necessarily play nice together. Once you find the one, you may never have to clean it again.

I've been through this, trying out a few groups with this and that ammo only to find out that everything was starting to shoot like crap. Give it a fresh start and time to settle down and it all works better.
 
if i may make a suggested course of action?
before you go out and buy trigger parts and start messing around with replacing stuff maybe try this.
take your gun down and give it the best cleaning its ever had and check out everything inside.
if youve used the gun and got a couple thousand rounds through it it should have already smoothed out most of the internals all ready.
if you havnt shot that much through it then you can smooth those parts out on your own.
but give it a good clean out, clean out the barrel, get is all sparkling clean and have a look at it.
start out by looking inside the receiver, check for over spray of the pain/anodizing black.
99% of 10/22's have over spray and the bolt is using braille to slide back and forth inside there.
so get some 2000 grit and a small piece of wood and clean it up a bit.
then have a look at your bolt, if it looks gross then polish it up to a mirror shine.
that right there will go a long way to making the gun run smoother.
check your crown (like Kristian said)
after that your into the trigger.
you can start by just polishing the seer and disconnector a bit.

watch this video - best one i have ever seen, these guys make one of the best triggers for the 10/22 and this little video is a internet gem.


after that you need to stop the over travel.
same as what Kristian said above - drill it and tap in a over travel screw.

all of that can be done without any parts replacement.
i ordered up a Dremel kit that was a polishing kit, had some compound and polish wheels, worked good.

free floating the barrel and bedding the action..... meh, im on the fence with that stuff.
get yourself a torque screwdriver and do up your take down screw to the proper lbs and keep it consistent is a good thing too.

with all that done your gun will or should run good.
if you do then want to go up a step you can do some after market trigger replacement stuff.

im like you, i have a 1984 ruger that i cleaned up and spruced up, i put a VQ kit in it.
it replaced all the internals and works very nice.

i have some pics of the inside of the receivers before and after cleaning and bolts before and after polishing, ill put them up for ya to have a look at.

welcome to the addiction, we meet ever Wednesday night right after the Narcotics Anonymous group in the church annex.

the following pics are from a brand new 10/22 i picked up 2 months ago, hadnt been shot yet this was right out of the box.
youll notice the black overspray on the inside and in the ejector cut you can see its all full of metal filings.

Ruger%20Charger%20046_zpsrelw8qvk.jpg

Ruger%20Charger%20047_zpsflxvqlmb.jpg

Ruger%20Charger%20050_zpsi4v6dapw.jpg


2000 grit wet with oil, a couple seconds of polishing.

Ruger%20Charger%20060_zpsqu10slki.jpg

Ruger%20Charger%20062_zpsjzkomnjq.jpg


bolt brand new, see all the machine marks
Ruger%20Charger%20039_zpsijwackyq.jpg


light polish
Ruger%20Charger%20053_zpsdn8tnkzl.jpg


here is a bolt from another 10/22 from 2013 production
before
031_zps7a0f4f0e.jpg

after quick polish
044_zps0e7a00f9.jpg

047_zps9a787065.jpg


same 2013 gun inside was all ruff
034_zpsb23a30e0.jpg


polished
039_zpsac59217d.jpg


the high points of the bolt before
027_zps54fe8e0a.jpg


and after
048_zps7a743ad0.jpg


really any place you have metal sliding along metal on the inside should be polished.
the better the polish job the smoother the gun is going to run.

hope some of that helps.
 
also, the VQ trigger kit.
if you get the big one..... HP action kit??? it will run your 150-180 i think.
you may want to look at 2 other options.

1 - Ruger Trigger BX, costs around 125 and is not bad. its a step up from the stock trigger but still no overtraver screw.
2 - Brimstone Gunsmithing, they have 3 tiers of trigger jobs, i have the top one and its heavenly.
(also) 3 - there are guys around that do trigger jobs locally on 10/22's, not sure how good they are but there are some around, couple in EDM too from what i hear.
 
I can understand the polishing would make the gun run smoother. Would it change accuracy at all though? Actually I think 1" at 50 yards from a stock 10-22 using a bi pod is pretty good. I would wonder if a proper shooting rest instead of the bi pod would make much difference?
 
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