Armscor 10/22 Clone Range Report

Ganderite

Ganderite

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 99.7%
355   1   0
Location
Farm south of North Bay
I bought this last week from SFRC for about $215. It came with only one magazine, a Butler Creek steel lip 10 rounder. It works perfectly.

The rifle has a good heft to it. It is a man-sized rifle. The wood has a cheezy stain finish. I look forward to using some steel wool on it and then using some tung oil (and inside the stock, too.)

There was just a little bit of shipping oil on it. It only took a quick wipe to make it presentable. The action was dry. It got a squirt of G96 and it ran smoother.

The front sight is held on with a single screw. When I went to give it a dab of blue Loktite I found it quite loose. The front sight is fine red fibre optic red dot.

IMG_03042.jpg


The rear sight is a cheap open sight with a bobby pin type elevator for adjustment. My old eyes can’t use an open sight, so I installed an adjustable peep sight I have had in my junk drawer for years. It mounted using the scope base tapped holes.

IMG_03062.jpg


The first outing was a pleasant surprise. The trigger was very good and actually improved a bit with some shooting. It shot HV ammo perfectly, but would not cycle reliably with standard velocity ammo.

I came home, installed the peep sight, lubed the action with some CLP, collected as many different types of ammo as I could find in the locker and went back to the range. Shooting off a bench at 20 yards, it cycled perfectly with everything except old Russian-made Lapua standard velocity target ammo.

Results, best to worst:

Aguilla Match, Stnd Vel
Rem Golden, Hi Vel
Armscor HV Hi Vel
Federal Classic Hi Vel
Win T-22 Stnd

IMG_02972.jpg


My conclusion is that I am very pleased with the rifle. It is 100% reliable, accurate enough to show preferences to some ammo and has an excellent trigger, out of the box.
 
Metal or polymer trigger pack?

If it's all metal, I might buy one just to dump the cheap polymer trigger pack in my actual 10/22...
 
I bought a 10/22 last year out of nostalgia from the one my grandpa let me borrow every now and then back in the late 70's, early 80's...

I was just shocked at how different the two rifles are. My grandpa's ended up with one of my cousins, still get to shoot it every now and then. 40 years old, runs like a champ, all metal trigger pack, metal barrel band, decently accurate, reliable as all get out...

The new one I got last year, blech each and every part. No comparison. The interior of the receiver was so rough I lost a few hours polishing it out - it had overcast in a few spots inside the receiver that I had to bloody well Dremel out. Polymer cased trigger pack with a few metal bits here and there, mostly for show I think. The stock bedding needed a good sanding - if you ran your finger down the barrel channel you came away with slivers.

After I put the work in, it runs fine, reliable, decent groupings with the right ammo... But for the price of them, I would expect better fit and finish. I've been wondering about these Rock Island/Armscor knockoffs, tempted to get one just for comparison.

Now I'm even more tempted.

Thanks for the post Ganderite. good food for thought.
 
I just bought one at WS in Saskatoon this week. I will also do a range report whenever it get reasonable to do so. Came with scope base and BC steel lip 10 round mag. Cheesy finish on the stock. I will await Ganderite's refinish report before I attempt to bugger mine. :p
 
dummy rounds said:
Ganderite, did you use the factory front sight with your peep? Is the front sight high enough?

DR
Click to expand...

Funny you should ask. Yes, that is the factory front sight. No, it was not high enough.

I used a small rat tail file to cut a notch in the rear sight base, so i could run the rear peep a little lower. With peep at the bottom, it shot 3" high at 25 yards. A good setting for a 100m zero.

So I took the front sight off, cut some shim stock into a little strip and putit under the sight with a bit of epoxy to hold everything snug. Turns out that height is now a perfect 20 yard zero. About right for my purposes.

I have a better quality side mount peep sight somewhere that I could sue if this sight did not work. I wanted to use it because it looks a bit like a M1 Carbine sight sitting there.
 
My local gun shop has a Philippino made Ruger, apparently the knock offs, are made with Ruger parts, just assembled in xx country. I took a good close look at the one at my gun shop, and the stock appears to be Mahogany.

They want $350. for the Ruger, and $210 for the knock off, I personally think the knock-off looks better...
 
Pantharen said:
My local gun shop has a Philippino made Ruger, apparently the knock offs, are made with Ruger parts, just assembled in xx country. I took a good close look at the one at my gun shop, and the stock appears to be Mahogany.

They want $350. for the Ruger, and $210 for the knock off, I personally think the knock-off looks better...
Click to expand...

If that was the case, then the barrel shank and receiver holes would be the same dimensions as the Ruger....but they are bigger for some odd reason. That's the only knock against then is you can't use any of the aftermarket barrels in the RIA guns. Good deal if you like the OEM setup though.
 
Pantharen said:
My local gun shop has a Philippino made Ruger, apparently the knock offs, are made with Ruger parts, just assembled in xx country. I took a good close look at the one at my gun shop, and the stock appears to be Mahogany.

They want $350. for the Ruger, and $210 for the knock off, I personally think the knock-off looks better...
Click to expand...

100% not true, all parts for that gun are made in PI
bb
 
the finish was kinda dull on the wood. I sanded it off. here are the results. OH,..I' put a lot of ammo through this gun since Ive had it, and nothing bad has happened yet. Very happy with it.
easterguns011_zps455fd572.jpg


Hay ganderite...If you want your stock done in ANY color, PM me.
 
Last edited:
The only ammo that doesn't cycle mine is Winchester TARGET in the black box, it wont cycle my Browning buckmark either....its crap ammo.
 
lone ranger said:
the finish was kinda dull on the wood. I sanded it off. here are the results. OH,..I' put a lot of ammo through this gun since Ive had it, and nothing bad has happened yet. Very happy with it.
easterguns011_zps455fd572.jpg


Hay ganderite...If you want your stock done in ANY color, PM me.
Click to expand...

I like the way the wood grain is still visible withthe colour. How do you do that?
 
Ganderite.. I have a detailed HOW TO under- "easter coloring stocks LOOK" posted. It tells you everything you need to know.

Thanks for posting on the ammo. You will enjoy your RIA
 
Well, I couldn't wait. I stripped out the RIA 10/22 clone and dug out my gallon jug of Circa 1850. The marvelous crap came off easy enough.

After removing the rare, exotic finish, I steel wooled the crap out of the stock in order to try to remove the "cross-hatch" from the side grinder used to "smooth" the stock. Interesting wood..... It is a rare wood, found only in certain areas of the Phillipines. It is called "Nearest Bush". :p

There were a few spots that had filler, but there wasn't much I could do about that. After cleaning the stock up as best I could, I took it over to my friends place and we applied a very light shot of Dark Walnut stain. I brought it home and put a light layer of raw linseed oil on. I'll let that dry and give it another shot tomorrow night.

Poor pics, I know. It actually looks a bit better than the pics, and a way better than the original muck on the stock. Couple of things I would do differently: 1. Take more time to sand/steel wool the cross-hatch; 2. Use a lighter stain. 3. Maybe just paint the stock, depending on how many spots had filler.
View attachment 10370View attachment 10371View attachment 10372
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom