Thinking of getting a 10/22 International Sainless Steel, need advice

[Miscer]

I have a Savage Mk. II F with a nice accutrigger. I really like the trigger, the sights are okay, but the mag loading is horrible after a few hundred rounds.

I really like the look of Ruger's SS full walnut stock rifle, it looks nothing like the generic ones. From what I've read, the ruger mags have aftermarket loaders available to speed things up, and ease the pain.

Compared to a Savage trigger, the 10/22 has a plastic one which is probably of lower quality. Are there any metal triggers and trigger guards available which could rival a Savage? Is this a good route to take to improve the rifle?

 

[pope_face]

I don't have much experience with the Savage or the metal trigger guards, but allow me to say that parts availability will be the least of your concerns with a 10/22. The only thing you're limited by is your imagination and your budget. There are some people on here that have some very nice match-grade 10/22 rifles that I'm pretty sure could outperform a stock Savage.

With respect to "improving the rifle": What exactly are you after? I don't find the stock 10/22 trigger to be that bad, and there's some relatively simple modifications that will eliminate trigger creep and give you a smoother feel. If you actually want match-grade, then I suspect an aftermarket trigger assembly is the way to go, but they aren't cheap.

As far as specific triggers: I believe Volquartsen makes trigger assemblies, but I don't know about housings. KIDD makes single- and two-stage triggers in aluminium assemblies. Timney makes trigger assemblies with aluminium assemblies as well. There may be others, but those are the main ones I know of. I can't speak to the quality of any of these, but I believe the KIDD assemblies are highly regarded on here, and I've heard Volquartson makes some good stuff as well, and I think Timney is good but I can't recall anything specific on them.

 

[coleman1495]

There is aftermarket triggers available for the 10/22. Alternatively you could find an older 10/22 with the metal trigger guard. I don’t think the plastic triggers are at a disadvantage.

The factory Ruger 10/22 are very inaccurate though.You may find that is a much larger issue than the trigger. I have owned two of them and had access to 2 more. All four of them were useless for target practice. The groups they produce are all fairly similar. These lousy groups also match every Ruger 10/22 that I have seen on the range.

Don’t worry about the trigger guard, the 2.5” groups at 50 yards will be the real deal breaker.

 

[05RAV]

I have a Savage Mk. II F with a nice accutrigger. I really like the trigger, the sights are okay, but the mag loading is horrible after a few hundred rounds I really like the look of Ruger's SS full walnut stock rifle, it looks nothing like the generic ones. From what I've read, the ruger mags have aftermarket loaders available to speed things up, and ease the pain. Compared to a Savage trigger, the 10/22 has a plastic one which is probably of lower quality. Are there any metal triggers and trigger guards available which could rival a Savage? Is this a good route to take to improve the rifle?

I have had for some time a Ruger 10/22 Manlicher/full walnut stock in stainless steel (see pic). It's an excellent gun. Not comparable at all to a "regular" 10/22. Impeccable fit and finish. I mounted a small scope on it (cheap) and it shoots like a champ. At 25 yards grouping is 0.25-0.7in with cheap 22LR ammo (Federal Value Pack). The trigger pull is 4.8-5.3lbs which is good enough for me. Don't worry about a "plastic" trigger. It's not really "plastic" but a reinforced polymer composite trigger. No problem with damaging it. Surely, if you wanted you could buy Volquartsen but they are very expensive and IMHO not worth it for the purpose.
At the moment BullsEye has 10/22 Manlicher walnut stainless on sale for a great price of $479.99. It's worth every penny.

 

[coleman1495]

I have had for some time a Ruger 10/22 Manlicher/full walnut stock in stainless steel (see pic). It's an excellent gun. Not comparable at all to a "regular" 10/22. Impeccable fit and finish. I mounted a small scope on it (cheap) and it shoots like a champ. At 25 yards grouping is 0.25-0.7in with cheap 22LR ammo (Federal Value Pack). The trigger pull is 4.8-5.3lbs which is good enough for me. Don't worry about a "plastic" trigger. It's not really "plastic" but a reinforced polymer composite trigger. No problem with damaging it. Surely, if you wanted you could buy Volquartsen but they are very expensive and IMHO not worth it for the purpose.
At the moment BullsEye has 10/22 Manlicher walnut stainless on sale for a great price of $479.99. It's worth every penny.

Call me hesitant to believe the accuracy claims. What besides the aesthetics is different from a regular 10/22? Obviously it has a different stock which definitely helps but not that much.

 

[pope_face]

Call me hesitant to believe the accuracy claims. What besides the aesthetics is different from a regular 10/22? Obviously it has a different stock which definitely helps but not that much.

I may be wrong, but wouldn't 0.25" - .7" groups at 25 yards be about 1 - 3 MOA? Considering that it's only at 25 yards on a stock 10/22 (so I'm assuming 18.5" barrel) with normal velocity ammunition, I believe it's not enough distance for the bullet to go subsonic, so this claim makes sense to me (although I'm not an expert in any of this by any stretch of the imagination). I imagine accuracy out at 50m or 100m would be much worse, which could still fit with your previous experiences.

 

[coleman1495]

I may be wrong, but wouldn't 0.25" - .7" groups at 25 yards be about 1 - 3 MOA? Considering that it's only at 25 yards on a stock 10/22 (so I'm assuming 18.5" barrel) with normal velocity ammunition, I believe it's not enough distance for the bullet to go subsonic, so this claim makes sense to me (although I'm not an expert in any of this by any stretch of the imagination). I imagine accuracy out at 50m or 100m would be much worse, which could still fit with your previous experiences.

Fair enough the claim is made for only 25 yards. Still I think the OP might find his Savage was a lot more accurate.

 

[pope_face]

Fair enough the claim is made for only 25 yards. Still I think the OP might find his Savage was a lot more accurate.

You're probably right about the accuracy being better with the Savage. Having said that, I think the parts availability is where the 10/22 really shines, so if the OP wants to build a target rifle then I'm sure they could do so, although chances are it'll cost more in the long run than simply buying a high-quality bolt-action rifle to begin with.

 

[Miscer]

There is aftermarket triggers available for the 10/22. Alternatively you could find an older 10/22 with the metal trigger guard. I don’t think the plastic triggers are at a disadvantage.

The factory Ruger 10/22 are very inaccurate though.You may find that is a much larger issue than the trigger. I have owned two of them and had access to 2 more. All four of them were useless for target practice. The groups they produce are all fairly similar. These lousy groups also match every Ruger 10/22 that I have seen on the range.

Don’t worry about the trigger guard, the 2.5” groups at 50 yards will be the real deal breaker.

I am ready to bear the heartbreak of a poor shooter. We shall see. I might just set it aside for easy duty on my 6" gong at 100 yards.

I have had for some time a Ruger 10/22 Manlicher/full walnut stock in stainless steel (see pic). It's an excellent gun. Not comparable at all to a "regular" 10/22. Impeccable fit and finish. I mounted a small scope on it (cheap) and it shoots like a champ. At 25 yards grouping is 0.25-0.7in with cheap 22LR ammo (Federal Value Pack). The trigger pull is 4.8-5.3lbs which is good enough for me. Don't worry about a "plastic" trigger. It's not really "plastic" but a reinforced polymer composite trigger. No problem with damaging it. Surely, if you wanted you could buy Volquartsen but they are very expensive and IMHO not worth it for the purpose.
At the moment BullsEye has 10/22 Manlicher walnut stainless on sale for a great price of $479.99. It's worth every penny.

Thanks for the quick review. I'll get my hands on it, then decide how much more work is needed. The trigger, extractor, and firing pin are as far as I'll go in case it doesn't cycle or trigger pull is too rough.

Fair enough the claim is made for only 25 yards. Still I think the OP might find his Savage was a lot more accurate.

Savage has the accuracy advantage of being a bolt gun. It would be more fair to pit it against a CZ but without the good looks.

 

[Major Sights]

I love mine, Though I changed the sights for Tech Sights.

 

[IanC]

I have an international model which i installed a set of peep sites, williams rear and a globe front sight. I really love shooting this rifle at 25 yards accuracy is just great. I can normally make a ragged hole standing with it. I really like the weight distribution with the international stock and Irons. Cant really comment on accuracy further because i really dont shoot well with irons past 25 with anything even my marlin 39m. The most basic upgrade i suggest is the volqarsten hammer and a tuffer buffer which is what i did. It drops the weight considerably but i find makes for a lot of slack in the trigger pull. Feels more like a 2 stage trigger. Perhaps its best to get the full vq kit. I wouldnt worry too much about reliability i have 3 10/22s and they all work!
https://imgur.com/gallery/E8voe
Dont ask about the stock, had a friend refinish it what was under the factory birch/ paint finish is crap wood so coated in bed liner.

 

[05RAV]

Quote Originally Posted by 05RAV View Post
I have had for some time a Ruger 10/22 Manlicher/full walnut stock in stainless steel (see pic). It's an excellent gun. Not comparable at all to a "regular" 10/22. Impeccable fit and finish. I mounted a small scope on it (cheap) and it shoots like a champ. At 25 yards grouping is 0.25-0.7in with cheap 22LR ammo (Federal Value Pack). The trigger pull is 4.8-5.3lbs which is good enough for me. Don't worry about a "plastic" trigger. It's not really "plastic" but a reinforced polymer composite trigger. No problem with damaging it. Surely, if you wanted you could buy Volquartsen but they are very expensive and IMHO not worth it for the purpose.
At the moment BullsEye has 10/22 Manlicher walnut stainless on sale for a great price of $479.99. It's worth every penny.

=coleman1495;15116519]Call me hesitant to believe the accuracy claims.

What I mean by "accuracy" is, obviously, NOT accuracy of the rifle. That must be tested in a gun vise.
The accuracy I show is what I call "shooting accuracy" which is a function of shooter's accuracy (variable), accuracy of the rifle (fixed), quality of the optical device (like I mentioned above, I mounted a cheap UUQ 3-9x40 compact tactical scope)(variable) and the quality of ammunition (I used cheap, bulk, Federal Value Pack)(variable). Since the three factors (including me, the shooter) are at their bottom, it seems that a 0.3-0.7" grouping at 25 yards (5-shot strings) indicates an inherent accuracy of the rifle. I din't test it at 100 yards because it didn't make sense to me with a cheap scope. My range doesn't have a 50 yard lane. However, I'll try 100 yards in the near future.

What besides the aesthetics is different from a regular 10/22? Obviously it has a different stock which definitely helps but not that much

Everything. Like you mentioned the stock, barrel and other parts material which is stainless steel, high quality machining etc.

I have another Ruger 77/22 bolt action stainless manlicher (see pic) which is even more beautiful than the semi-auto 10/22 stainless manlicher. It is much more expensive than the 10/22 and perhaps even more accurate. However, I have not tested it yet because I'm still looking for a scope.