SmallCaliberCentral

Man the market must really be doing well for Ruger.....Had a problem finding a 10/22 Target model contacted them for a bit of assisstance....Expressed my frustrations with them and their attitude is like.....Oh well, do whatever you have to do.....Maybe pull the trigger and go with the Remington 597 and do the mods to bring it up to standards.....very disappointed......

When/if you find that Target Model you're after, figure on still spending some bucks to bring it up to 'standard' also. One of mine is that model, and I've spent about $800 on it so far in addition to the price of the rifle back in '92 or thereabouts. The three I own really shoot, but it took some dinking about to get them there.

Once you get one home, think: "Volquartsen and Power Custom". My honest opinion is to just buy an off the shelf Wally World el cheapo, use the action housing to build "a really nice 10-22" with aftermarket parts. No difference in the action at all from the Target Model or el cheapo......Ruger CALLS it a target trigger.......uh huh, whatever, it's your money.

Coincidently, at the moment I'm working in my shop, building a "custom" 10-22 for a rancher friend (that's loaded with ground squirrels...). He dropped off an el-cheapo base model 10-22 last week with $1,000 in hundreds with instructions to build him "one like you have". That amount exactly covered a Magnum Research graphite/ss barrel, B&C thumbhole synthetic stock, complete replacement action parts with Volquartsen/Power Custom, and a new Leupold VX-2 EFR 3-9X with Lupy Alumina flip covers, steel mount and rings.

As Ruger sells over 25,000 of them yearly, you can imagine how worried they are that you find the one you're looking for. We're talkin' the Ivory Tower Syndrome here........

From experience, I'd shy away from the Rem 597....Ruger got it right the first time around with the 10-22 if you get my drift.

Good luck with the quest.

I hear what you are saying Rick....and I agree whole heartedly....Have you any experiences with the Green Mountain Barrels....I have one in one of my Centerfire rifles and it really shoots well...was checking out Brimstone Gunsmith triggers and some other goodies from Tactical Solutions....you are right Ruger triggers is like pulling a tractor......doesn't matter whether it is the "Target" model or stock...I was hoping that by going the Target Model route that I could get a good barrel and stock out of it.....but maybe I will just go the route you suggested.....any suggestions for stocks....I like the adjustable ones as I can shoot it and my daughter could shorten it up and she could hunt with it as well....Christies has one that I had eyed but others are there as well.....Thanks again.....Respect your input.....

No personal experience with Green Mtn, but all I've ever heard of their barrels has been positive. The folks over on rimfirecentral seem to think they're okay too. Tactical Solutions also is excellent in addtion to the makers mentioned above. One of our crew has a fully supressed Tactical Solutions 10-22 and a MK-III....a very sweet combination to be sure.

Lots of stock options for these rifles. No matter which stock you decide on, you can always have it shortened, save the piece for later when your daughter has grown into the rifle, wood, lam or synthetic. A synthetic will be lighter, probably easier for her to hold properly, but if the rifle will be shot from a rest most of the time, consider a nice laminated stock. I've grown to like thumbholes, but again, lots of options.

One of my rat rifles, a re-worked Clark Custom with a Boyd's lam stock:



You've probably seen it before, but this one weighs about 5.5 lbs the way you see it, loaded with sling. It wears a B&C synthetic:



Here's some of the crew's rifles at the ranch, just after a cleaning session:



The ground squirrels on this ranch have really learned what an accurate 22LR rifle is all about. Skippy has the word out....we'll be baaaaack.

One you've got a donor rifle, and before you spend any hard-earned bucks, "build the rifle" on paper, keep track of cost, then when funds allow, gradually order parts in, and before you know it, you'll have one sweet shootin' little .22 autoloader.

OK Rick....kind of agree....I have a list already started.....Going to pick up a rifle Friday and start from there, Just trying to sort out particulars at this point....Did a bit of "homework" and found out there is really no gains involved with longer barrels so a 16 1/2 incher would be fine.... Probably start out getting rid of that tractor pull trigger and clean up (polish and radius the bolt) and aftermarket extractor and pin the firing pin. Have to get rid of that darn bolt stop but did a bit of work on a friends gun and we used a 1/4 x3 inch Nylon bolt ($.070 at Lowes) and it works great...then after a bit of internal work go to the barrel and stock...Really looking forward to this project gun.....Already planning for my 2nd one...will use lessons learned on this one for #2....LOL Thanks for the help.....shoot straight....shoot often.....

I've built two myself and have to agree with Rick. The action is all you should keep from Ruger. Volquartsen and Kidd are the top for modified 10/22's. Rimfirecentral has everything you ever needed to know about how to do an upgrade. I love the photo threads for ideas on how to custom. My dad's has a Green Mountain barrel and it shoots bug-holes. I would just buy a complete trigger assembly. I have a Kidd and Timney. I think the Kidd is the best for the money. I have a B&C synthetic varmint-target stock and its nice. My dad had just a Hogue overmolded that cost $80, it works great too. Ruger 10/22 is such a great rifle to modify! So fun. I'm sure there are more in my future.

Stop it! You guys are making me want to unload my 597, give up my aspirations of getting a T/C Benchmark, and build a 10/22!

Sorry about that.......NOT....LOL...I start my "build" this Friday....Not going crazy with it but a nice maybe middle of the road job I think..Might be good for a 1st build....then the next one a bit better... OMG already talking about "the next one"....LOL. Want to treat the new addition well...anyone know what to feed it (I know each has its own preferences) I like the CCI's but will have to wait to see what she prefers....

For 10-22 "food", we've found a hard-hitting little number from Winchester. Originally designed and produced in Austraila, it's the WW Power Point 40gr HP. It was designed for the large Austrailan hares there, and really hits with authority. Accuracy is stellar in virtually every 22LR I own, including a Kimber 22LR conversion unit for my .45's. All my 22's thrive on the stuff.

Here's how it performs on ground squirrels from one of my 10-22's:



In a good 10-22 barrel, the stuff shoots about 1/2-5/8" at 50 yards, and really launches ground squirrels and PD's inside of 30 yards. We buy it by the case every year, and usually go through three cases a year on squirrels. Not the el cheapo bulk stuff, but a well designed, accurate and fast 22 HP that really has worked for us.

DRIVE ON Brother.....LOL... I noticed some people have had issues with certain brands of "food" either excessively dirty or with FTF or FTE....if anyone is interested Boyd's is having a sale on their stocks now....Rick what length of tube (barrel) do you tend to go with...? Am I correct that the shorter barrels tend to shoot a bit better in the autoloaders...? I know just the opposite in bolt rifles.......Think that's about it for question for now.....excited to get started.......LOL

Both of my build used the 20 inch barrel. These are bench-style guns for sage rats like Rick is shooting. I like the 20 inch. Half the fun of a 10/22 build is finding the right ammo. Get a couple boxes of everything! With your new barrel, even the bulk stuff will be 1 MOA or less. I tried the Win. PPs like Rick suggested and they are great varmint rounds. There are better target rounds, most of the CCI offerings. The match stuff will get you ragged holes at 50 yds. There are some bulk Winchester packs that look exactly like PPs, same velocity and truncated HP. I bought a pack but havent tested them yet.

Pmoper wrote:Rick what length of tube (barrel) do you tend to go with...? Am I correct that the shorter barrels tend to shoot a bit better in the autoloaders...? I know just the opposite in bolt rifles.......Think that's about it for question for now.....excited to get started.......LOL

Pmoper: Advanced studies have shown again and again that in 22LR barrels (bolt or autoloader), optimum velocity usually occurs around in 16 - 18" of barrel length. Longer barrels have shown to actually slow down the bullet, as it has reached peak velocity at around 16", the added length only adds friction and dwell time and slows the bullet accordingly. The length of 16" is usually referred to as the optimum length for velocity.

I've got 22LR bolt guns such as the Remington 541T that drives tacks, has a 24" barrel, but I'd wager if I cut it down to 16" (ain't gonna happen!), it would show a velocity gain. All my 10-22's have 16" barrels, even my Clark Custom, that originally came with a Douglas Air-Gauged Match chrome moly barrel at 20". I gained 78 fps (avg) after trimming it to 16" using WW Power Points, my standard varmint/small game 22LR bullet.

Another plus for the shorter 10-22 barrel is the handling qualities of the rifle. Vast difference from swinging a steel 20" barrel of .920" diameter after it has been trimmed to 16".....vast and positive difference.

Skippy here wishes I had left one of my 10-22's at home....this one I call "Lola" or "Lola Lite", as the thing barely weighs 6 lbs with a loaded mag......a joy to pack about all day.



In 10-22's, I personally would not want a barrel any longer than 20", much preferring either 16" to 18", but again, that's just me.

Late Edit: This is the 10-22 I just finished for my rancher friend that's overloaded with both squirrels and jack rabbits. B&C stock, Magnum Research graphite/ss barrel, all trigger group parts replaced with Volquartsen and Power Custom. Scope is a Lupy VX-2 3-9X EFR in Lupy STD rings/Ruger mount:



Flip-side:



At the request of my rancher friend, a couple of us are headed out there in a couple of weeks to "shoot as many of these dang rabbits as you can all night!" Seems he sees literally hundreds of 'em in his alfalfa at night under the ranch lights. We'll deliver his new rifle and break into a case of WW 22LR Power Point HP's and get to "work". Sombody's gotta do it, right?

Thanks Rick....Have read the same thing about barrel length...Just read a report that longer barrels only assist with Bolt action rifles...seems with auto-loaders that the bullet is only about 12 inches down the barrel before the action opens up to recycle...then gasses escape out both ends and this in turn starts to actually slow the bullet down slightly.....so in theory the shorter barrels seem to hold velocity and stability slightly better.....You "girls" sure are a pretty bunch.....I am sure your friend will fall in love with his new addition.....thanks for the input....My project rifle has been disassembled...bolt sent out for a little magic by Que, trigger going tomorrow to Brimstone....Barrel and stock were ordered last weekend.....thanks again......Paul