Is the Ruger 10/22 all it's cracked up to be?

I've got an older ruger 10/22 international in stainless that has been a beast. Not exactly a tackdriver but I've shot it anywhere from 50 to 150 yards without too much trouble. They're fun guns, but they certainly make the bricks of ammo disappear! I usually find myself shooting my old single shots and bolt guns over it, but it's always a blast to take out whenever the nephews and nieces want to go out to the range.
 
There are so many rimfire rifles better than the 10/22. Max capacity of 10 rounds for magazines. No last shot bolt hold open. Has a small lever thats a pain to engage the bolt lock back feature.requires more aftermarket parts or modify your factory bolt lock. Gritty hard trigger that requires a couple hundred in an upgrade for that alone. The list goes on. I have no idea why people think they are so great. They are not great. And the ruger quality control has gone way down in the last few years. You get sight dovetails that aren't square to the barrel. Resulting in crooked sights on a brand new rifle. I'm done with ruger.
 
It points well and feels nice in the hands, but I am not a fan of the bolt release and the lack of last shot hold open. The magazines are probably the best .22 magazine ever designed.
 
CountryAndCalibre said:
Looking to buy a .22lr for rabbit and squirrels. My research keeps bringing me back to the Ruger 10/22. There's so many variations of it I'm not sure where to start or which one would work best. What's everyone's experience with a 10/22?
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[BIs the Ruger 10/22 all it's cracked up to be?][/B]. Yes. Great little rifles. Find one on sale and give it a whirl.
 
The Savage A & B22s are less expensive, more accurate, more ergonomic and are 25-mag legal. Marlin 60s are more accurate, less expensive, 15-rounds and have good wood stocks available. Mossberg plinkster . . . Scorpio (sp?) . . . the list goes on. Lots of alternatives that don't need $hundred$ of "upgrades" to make them acceptable. " . . . all they're cra-p--- up to be"
 
Except for high end 22s like Annies or better priced CZ, they all require trigger change at the minimum. IF you want a bolt get a CZ, semi Ruger 1022, then you can change anything easily but dont have to..

I had a Marlin 60 and wasnt impressed, savage was ok but mags suck, 1022 have the best mags.
 
I might as well add my 2 cents to the mix

I have a stock Ruger 10/22 sporter and I really like it. I have other 22s - a Cooey and a Browning BL-22.

The Ruger is by far the most accurate with several varieties of ammo. The CCI products shoot great with the best hunting style ammo being the 22 Velocitor. This will usually get me 5 shots into an inch off bench at 50 yards (This load is devastating on Gophers). I should mention that I have a Weaver 4X Rimfire scope on top.

I am in the process now of trying different types of ammo to see what the best shooting ammo is at the most reasonable price. I will be trying some other CCI products such as SV and Minimags and expect those will shoot well.

I have only tried one brand of match ammo (Federal Ultra match) and it shot under an inch at 50 yards. Will have to try some other brands such as Eley and SK rifle match if I can find some for sale. Finding match quality ammo nowadays is difficult.
 
philthygeezer said:
IMO Ruger has been sucking the value out of the 10/22 the past couple decades.

I'd opt for an older one.
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The older ones certainly were more accurate, and reliable... enough compared to the new ones.

True story, my cousin could afford a new ruger 1022 back in the mid '70s, I could not, so I bought a tube fed Nylon 66. At 50 yards, his groups were about a 1/4" smaller (regardless of who was shooting it), but the Nylon was way more reliable.

There are so many who pay $300-500 for a new Ruger 1022, then spend $1000-1500 on it to turn it into something it is not, and then give up the sport because they were too busy f***ing with their rifle, and had not time or money left to actually practice shooting.

Lots of guys at our club have gone down this road, and own them, but when we have our open shoots, there are almost no 1022 showing up. Lots of bolt actions though, and a good portion of those are CZs and Savage Mk IIs; a goodly number of older BRNOs, mossberg, CILs and Cooeys continue to show up and often win.
 
I alway wanted to max out my 10/22. Why? Because it would be fun. I never have the funds to go through the whole process. Mine is an older synthetic "boat paddle" version. It worked good stock, I did put an aftermarket extractor in it. A few years later I put a completion trigger kit into it, made it much mote fun with double taps and no overtravel, along with a way lighter trigger. ( Power Custom kit ) I am in for about $430 ish. The thing has ruined many gophers day, and now it's in a Magpul Hunter stock. So +$ whatever that was. Now my kids can fit the rifle perfectly, and so can I. It is one of my never sell rifles. Works great, even eats Golden Bullets with harldly ever a fuss. ( best is Winchester Super Speed HP's, second is CCI HP. ( never shot target ammo, as it is a hunting rifle with a stock barrel ) I even have run a Bushnell TRS red dot on it, super fun. Shot lots of Grouse. I don't understand the hate on these things honestly. I know of 5 others that have various years of 10/22's, they all love them.
I wish I had mine all Kidded out.
I wish I also had a precision .22 bot gun.
 
Bought one new, right out of the box it would fail to eject 3/10 times per magazine full. Cleaning didn't help, neither did switching ammo brands. If your happy buying a new semi and then putting parts and work into it to get it to function like it's supposed to then give 'er!
 
Bought the cheapest new 10/22 for my wife in Feb this year. Its been amazingly reliable and based on how often i need to buy cci sv i think she has fired about 5000 rounds in a year. Its been reliable but its getting upgraded with some Dlask and MDT goodies soon. Only because she wants to compete a little closer to what my franken Tikka can do... she does NOT want a bolt gun and although the purity will soon be removed its still going to be her beloved little 10/22
 
I just looked up Volquartsen. $12.50 USA for an Exact Edge Extractor. Funny, they have them for the MK II, III, and MKIV, and of course the 10/22.
If you are happy putting time and money taking your new car to the shop for repairs under warranty..................., or Fridge........ make sure you don't put grippier tires on your truck either......................
I get it though, I wish things would just flipping work new. I have had way too many new things not work, it drives me nuts.
 
I have had three of them, and I've loved them all. All worked very well right out of the box. I swapped a Dlask 12.5" barrel on one of them, but the accuracy was actually worse than the factory Ruger barrel. The only thing I don't like about the 10/22 is the bolt release is a pain in the ass. So, all my rifles get the auto-bolt release mod installed and they run perfectly fine. Last-shot bolt-hold open would be nice, but no big deal for me. Also, I miss my old BC 25 round magazines ... no fault of Ruger though.

I had a Remington 597 once ... now that thing sucked. My first rifle ever, and also the biggest hunk of junk I've ever owned.
 
Got stainless synthetic 20 odd years ago, never done anything to other than a leupold rimfire this year, (bifocals are hard to shoot open sites) thousands thru it. My kids leaned with dads old Cooey that’s like 65 years old, and pretty much a tack driver at 30 yrds. then they got to use the ruger and waste my ammo having fun. Now my son will grab the cz with open sites every time, won’t let me scope the cz. Rugers are fun to plink with. If you have the funds buy one you won’t regret it. If you want to win shoots at the range go tikka or cz. You got a few more months, lol, before the boy shoots.
 
I have always really liked the 10/22, but it has its flaws and a modern bone stock one is a tin can plinker at best unfortunately.

The accessory market for this model is so diverse and varied that you can make it exactly what you want. (Even accuracy, up to a point.) I have several, each one has a different a build for a different use. The only bone stock model I own is a Mannlicher, and it is the least accuarte of them all, and underlines my point.

I would recommend them to anyone new to rimfires, but on the basis that they are a future modification project. As stock, they are very low on the accuracy ladder.

Candocad.
 
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