Is a 10/22 aftermarket bull barrel worth the money?

[84wh1]

Hey guys,

As the title says, is it worth it to install an after market 10/22 heavy barrel? I was thinking something in 14" for my SR22 but i dont want to waste my money if it wont make any difference precision wise.

Thanks

 

[BCRider]

How do you support the rifle when you're shooting right now? If you bench rest the gun and have a light touch then likely you'll see some improvement. If you shoot from an unsupported standing position I'd say "save your money".

The improvement from swapping barrels is going to be a small one in most cases. Small enough that you won't notice the difference unless you're shooting the rifle in a manner that eliminates a lot of other larger sources of wiggle and wobble. And that means you're only going to see the difference if you're shooting the rifle from a rested position.

I say "likely see some improvement" since even if shooting from bags or some sort of rest it's surprising how the little things pile up to prevent a truly small group. Even with bags or bipods there's a technique to shooting from rested that needs to be optimized before you will see really small groups.

So I'd suggest first that you ensure that YOU are optimized as a support system so that you are getting all that the rifle has to offer from stock condition.

For my own shooting from a rested position I found that the less I touched the gun the better. I can't mess it up if I'm not touching it, right? So I use a forward rest and scrunch my support hand under the butt as a rear rest and then look through the scope or peep sights without any cheek contact. Then I squeeze the trigger by pinching the trigger and rear of the guard between my thumb and forefinger. That's right I don't have my trigger hand around the stock for this. The only two points of support are the forward bag and my one hand around the lower corner of the butt end of the stock. I found that my rifles shot best like this.

Of course it's easy to shoot this way with a rimfire. I wouldn't suggest the same way with a seriously hard recoiling center fire rifle.....

 

[Curly1]

Heavy barrels will droop on a 10/22.

 

[84wh1]

Ive sort of set up my Sr right now as more of a DMR style so most of the shooting will be from prone using a bi pod.

 

[84wh1]

Heavy barrels will droop on a 10/22.

What do you exactly mean by droop?

 

[OneInTheChamber]

Heavy barrels will droop on a 10/22.

I have to disagree with that statement, if the v block screws are torqued correctly you should have no issues. I've had a heavy barrel on mine for about a year and ZERO issues. As far as making it more accurate I'd have to agree with bcrider that there are far more variables to shooting accurate than just adding a heavy barrel, you need to do your part and practise practise practise

 

[hoytcanon]

Heavy barrels will droop on a 10/22.

Barrel droop is largely a "wives tale." It is rare regardless of barrel contour. V-Block set screws are not necessary.

 

[84wh1]

I have to disagree with that statement, if the v block screws are torqued correctly you should have no issues. I've had a heavy barrel on mine for about a year and ZERO issues. As far as making it more accurate I'd have to agree with bcrider that there are far more variables to shooting accurate than just adding a heavy barrel, you need to do your part and practise practise practise

Oh I agree with you. Im def no dummy behind a gun. Just dont know if I want to bother dropping money on a heavy barrel if it has zero affect on my groups

 

[Canada tail]

It is like buying aftermarket plastic stock for sks It is a 10 22 and I suggest you save the money.

 

[BCRider]

Prone and a bipod will certainly help. But I don't know what "DMR" stands for.

Bottom line is that unless you are shooting slowly enough that every shot is a slow and identical Zen like experience you will likely not see a big and maybe not even any improvement from a new barrel. It depends on you and whatever this DMR style of shooting means. However I would suggest that if there is any sort of a shot timer involved that the pace is such that the stock barrel is already more than good enough. Spend the barrel money on you by buying more ammo for more practice in that case.

If that isn't the case and you're taking your time for each shot and you can work on your style then see what you can do on your own. If you can set up a rear bag and shoot the gun for groups where you literally only reach in and pinch the trigger back against the guard with thumb and forefinger with no other contact at all. That'll simulate a sled style bench rest setup. The gun will be shooting as tight a group as it can at that point. If you can match or nearly match that when shooting in this DMR style then you might well find that a new barrel will improve things. If the group opens up to 1.5 times larger or more then you're not going to see any improvement from the barrel. The limit is being set by you and the style of shooting you are doing.

 

[a j cave]

I can shoot my VQ barreled 10-22 better than before. I then put in a VQ hammer, reduced trigger pull and improved again. If you are killing paper more than gophers I think it is worth while. I use mine a lot in the gopher patch and love it. Hope this helps, YMMD

 

[elimsprint]

One thing no one has touched on is chambers. IMO most aftermarket barrels, no matter the taper, have better chambers in them than stock Ruger barrels. I have a Ruger SS Target barrel that wouldn't shoot worth crap (1.5-2"@50) but after I sent it to a member here to get re-chambered the groups were cut in half. It still isn't a "target" barrel by any means but it shows that the chambers have a lot to do with accuracy. The problem is that you need a tight chamber for accuracy but a loose chamber for reliability and Ruger goes for reliability with their chambers.
On my most accurate to date 10/22 barrel, custom chambered by the guy who went on to start Rimfire Technologies, the chamber is so tight that the only way to get a live round out of it after it has been chambered is to either discharge it or pry it out with a knife or chisel. It will rip the rim before a live round comes out using the extractor. That is the barrel I used for my spot on the 1/2" challenge so it does shoot.

 

[Curly1]

Barrel droop is largely a "wives tale." It is rare regardless of barrel contour. V-Block set screws are not necessary.

Pretty well documented problem for a wives tale, but, if you say so. I personally have never found aftermarket barrels in the 10/22 to help with accuracy though, so why risk it?

 

[willisjake]

Pretty well documented problem for a wives tale, but, if you say so. I personally have never found aftermarket barrels in the 10/22 to help with accuracy though, so why risk it?

I have to jump in and say your comments are way off...

A well documented problem and common a problem are two very different things. Winning the lottery is well documented, but it does not happen to everyone who buys a ticket. Most commonly 10/22 barrel droop appears in google searches and not real life.

As to after market .920 barrels, they will improve both off hand and rested shooting, if you cant tell the difference there are some other issues in play.
I found a good barrel turns twoonie sized groups into dimes. Maybe a waste if you are shooting pop cans at 50 yards but a huge difference if you are shooting paper or taking head shots at little critters.

IMO a good barrel is one of the best improvements you can do to a 10/22

 

[little_airwolf]

Pretty well documented problem for a wives tale, but, if you say so. I personally have never found aftermarket barrels in the 10/22 to help with accuracy though, so why risk it?

I agree with it being a problem. A design problem with long heavy aftermarket barrels. Short barrel aren't as bad.
However do you think swapping a stock barrel with a kidd or volquartsen barrel won't effect accuracy?
Come on, why do these manufacturers have such a good reputation then?

 

[Curly1]

I agree with it being a problem. A design problem with long heavy aftermarket barrels. Short barrel aren't as bad.
However do you think swapping a stock barrel with a kidd or volquartsen barrel won't effect accuracy?
Come on, why do these manufacturers have such a good reputation then?

I have had several 10/22 that I have tried barrel changes on and very little change was noted by me or others shooting it. Ammuntion has had a greater impact than a barrel change on most 22's IMHO and experience. I have watched folks change barrels and they preceived a differnace so to them it was good, but, on paper it was marginal at best with greater accuracy improvements coming from ammuntion changes, trigger work and floating the stock barrel. I will not say a heavy barrel will never affect accuracy as some guy named Murphy will come along and prove me wrong. I am saying it has little impact for most and the money can be better spent on ammo, trigger etc.

PS I am not slamming any manufacturer as they produce what we buy, for many, it's a heavy barrel they buy and it makes them feel good, sooo, it must be better, right?

 

[little_airwolf]

Sounds like you need more trigger time.
Also what distance are you shooting at?
Sure there might be little difference @ 25yds, but when you're shooting 100+ yards, aftermarket barrels are king compared to a stock 10/22!

 

[mmattockx]

Hey guys,

As the title says, is it worth it to install an after market 10/22 heavy barrel? I was thinking something in 14" for my SR22 but i dont want to waste my money if it wont make any difference precision wise.

Thanks

One thing not mentioned yet is your desire for a 14" barrel. Whether an aftermarket barrel will help you out or not, it is the only legal way to get a 14" barrel.

Prone and a bipod will certainly help. But I don't know what "DMR" stands for.

DMR is short for Designated Marksman Rifle. As in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_marksman_rifle

On my most accurate to date 10/22 barrel, custom chambered by the guy who went on to start Rimfire Technologies, the chamber is so tight that the only way to get a live round out of it after it has been chambered is to either discharge it or pry it out with a knife or chisel. It will rip the rim before a live round comes out using the extractor. That is the barrel I used for my spot on the 1/2" challenge so it does shoot.

That is usually because the bullet is engraved into the lands of the rifling, not because the chamber is a super tight fit on the case itself. I have a Shilen match barrel on a Savage Mk.II action and it is the same way.


Mark

 

[BCRider]

Thanks for the DMR information. So it sounds like slow and deliberate.

Let's face it. There's a lot of things that can be done to improve the rifle and the shooter. A barrel is only one of them. In terms of the shooter to rifle interface a lighter and sharper trigger counts for much to allow the shot to be sent with as little disturbance as possible. That's got to be worth a good amount right there. I'd say it's a toss up which to do first, barrel or trigger. But a nasty trigger might mask any improvement from the barrel swap. Unless the original was really bad at least. But a good trigger might just make a decent stock barrel show it's worth if the group manages to shrink due to the shooter being able to exert less off balanced force on the gun at the point of the break.

At least that sums up what I seem to have found so far. I've got a long way to go though so feel free to correct me if that's hogwash.

To me I find that a lot of folks try to "buy performance" when what they really need to spend is time instead of money. Time at the range in practicing their rifle skills and testing of ammo to find the onee that work best with their gun. If a shooter is honest with themself and checks their ego at the gate I believe that they'll know when they have hit their limit and if the rifle has more to offer or if it's time to upgrade a barrel or whatever.

So all in all I'm thinking that if you don't have one in the gun yet that doing the very well documented mod to the stock trigger group or installing an aftermarket trigger group would be money better spent at this point. It'll put you further ahead. And likely into a better position after some range time to decide if the stock barrel needs to go or not.

 

[Curly1]

Thanks for the DMR information. So it sounds like slow and deliberate.

Let's face it. There's a lot of things that can be done to improve the rifle and the shooter. A barrel is only one of them. In terms of the shooter to rifle interface a lighter and sharper trigger counts for much to allow the shot to be sent with as little disturbance as possible. That's got to be worth a good amount right there. I'd say it's a toss up which to do first, barrel or trigger. But a nasty trigger might mask any improvement from the barrel swap. Unless the original was really bad at least. But a good trigger might just make a decent stock barrel show it's worth if the group manages to shrink due to the shooter being able to exert less off balanced force on the gun at the point of the break.

At least that sums up what I seem to have found so far. I've got a long way to go though so feel free to correct me if that's hogwash.

To me I find that a lot of folks try to "buy performance" when what they really need to spend is time instead of money. Time at the range in practicing their rifle skills and testing of ammo to find the onee that work best with their gun. If a shooter is honest with themself and checks their ego at the gate I believe that they'll know when they have hit their limit and if the rifle has more to offer or if it's time to upgrade a barrel or whatever.

So all in all I'm thinking that if you don't have one in the gun yet that doing the very well documented mod to the stock trigger group or installing an aftermarket trigger group would be money better spent at this point. It'll put you further ahead. And likely into a better position after some range time to decide if the stock barrel needs to go or not.

You said it better than I did, thank you.