10/22~I've reached a fork in the road..

[.22LRGUY]

So, here's the deal. For years, I wanted one of these things and finally...a couple of years back, I picked-up a new RB carbine. (matte black finish, bare-bones wood stock) Only additions were a bolt buffer and a red dot sight right away...then a couple of weeks ago, I installed an extended mag release. THAT I should have done much sooner, very easy to do and wow...does it improve the shooting experience. Anyhow, here's the deal~I only ever imagined this gun as a plinker, so I never bothered with scoping it. I have an Anschutz bolt-action field rifle that does a nice job of the targets further out..so why bother having a less accurate .22 semi auto.?

Well, shot the gun today...off a rest, intent on figuring out how accurate I could get with this gun/red-dot set-up. Turns-out, I was lucky to hit my 1" target dots consistently at a paced 35 yards. Pretty crappy. Now, between the sh***y trigger on a stock 10/22 and the snow that was flying, I don't think I had the odds in my favor..but it begs the question~what kind of accuracy IS a stock carbine capable of, and is some trigger work essential to get the most out of it? I've only put maybe..3-400 rounds through this gun in total, but today was the first time I ever shot anything smaller than a pop can with it, AND..the first time I ever really paid attention to the trigger.

As you can tell by the short list of modifications I've done to it, I'm not keen on dumping a pile of money into a Ruger to make it a shooter, but if I'm going to keep it..I think the trigger needs some love.

Thoughts?

 

[mmatt]

Definitely trigger. Mine is pretty stock, internals-wise anyway. The only real accuracy related "upgrade" it has is a target trigger, and it's a stock Ruger 10/22T target trigger, so not that great. I have a stock 16" barrel on it and it's not free floated by any stretch of the imagination.

Other than trigger, mess around with different types of ammo. My rifle for instance will throw bulk pack Blazers at about 10 MOA. Seriously. It's ridiculous. But if I use the pre-packed Blazers in the 50 round boxes, groups shrink to about 3 MOA. DynaPoints work the best for me in terms of bulk pack ammo coming in at about 2 MOA. The only ammo I've gotten sub MOA groups out of is $18/box Eley Tenex. As this is just a plinking rifle, let me assure you, it doesn't see that ammo very often.

 

[2kül]

Hah. You are on the slippery slope.
Get an aftermarket hammer from either Power Custom or Volquartsen, reduces trigger pull to something reasonable.

Best trigger advice is here: ht tp://www.perfectunion.com/vb/tip-s-tricks/

Canadian-friendly parts is here: ht tp://www.hawktecharms.com/

 

[AWOL]

Stock carbine 10/22 (circa 1980)
Burris Fullfield II 3 X 9 X 40 scope
100 yds bench rested w/little to no wind
Bulk Winchester 333 ammo
Rate of fire = approx 1 rnd/sec.

 

[homer76]

If you don't want to spend any money work on the trigger yourself. Rimfirecentral.com has a great tutorial on taking apart the trigger group and polishing the internal parts yourself. I spent a couple hours polishing and it made a world of difference. Not to mention all the crap I cleaned out of all the nooks and crannies.

Initially the trigger seemed hard to reinstall until I grabbed a nail that was similar in diameter to the pin. Cut it down and dropped the trigger in assembled and then pushed the real pin into place. I just wish I had come up with this before I had disassembled the trigger group half a dozen times!!!

 

[Colin]

My stock one was quite accurate and made nice groups, you might have a lemon.

 

[homer76]

You mentioned you were shooting with a red dot. What kind is it and how well does it hold zero? That might be your problem right there. If you're not happy with your 10/22 you can send it to me. I'll even pay for shipping!!!

 

[.22LRGUY]

Thanks for the input guys. Funny you ask Homer, my next move is/was to add a scope and see if that changes the outcome. It's a Chinese thing called a "Hammers", has 2x magnification...thought it would help my 41 yr. old eyes a bit. It doesn't. I have no real affection for red dots (and I've seen better ones in the flesh) ...but the quality of this one probably isn't helping things.

Looking at compact scopes, something 6X or under.

 

[DEZ]

i have to red dot scope good for minute of pop can at 50yrds as the further out you go the bigger the dot appears on the target I put one on my new mossberge tactical and took it off again there good for fast target accusition but thats about it I shoot better with open sites .