Best 10/22 rifle for price

[kmostell]

I'm interested in buying a 10/22 to take to an Appleseed shoot and wanted some feedback from those who own 'em...looked at the Ruger and although its got a good reputation it just felt a little cheap to me..?? Any advice?? And anyone who's done an Appleseed shoot have a different recommendation ?

Thanks!

[Mark@Sea]

whichever 10/22 you get, replace the hammer. I used Volquartson in mine. Did wonders for the trigger pull; with stock parts the pull exceeded the weight of the rifle. The V hammer was an easy swap and took the pull down to maybe 3 1/2 pounds.

[Will H]

I agree with the above, but it really depends on what you are looking for. I have a 10/22 with a Volquartsen target hammer, auto bolt release, ejector, an ATI stock, and a scope. I love it and it will shoot a 1,000 round range session with no hiccups at all. My wife has a Marlin Model 60 that is nowhere near as reliable when the rounds fired gets above 300 without cleaning, BUT the Ruger's stock barrel cannot hold a candle to Marlin's micro-groove barrel.

Assuming you are going to stay with the stock barrel on either then I would say Ruger for reliability and Marlin for accuracy.

[Mark@Sea]

The Marlin, being tube-fed, isn't as suitable for appleseed.

[mikegideon]

Another vote for the VQ hammer

[Dolomite_supafly]

Buy a bare bones 10/22, the cheaper the better. Replace the hammer with a VQ hammer. It is extremely easy to replace. The remove the factory sights and put the Tech Sights on the gun.The Tech Sights are an AR-15 style sight that has quick and easy adjustments compared to the Ruger sights. The Tech SIghts are also a much better sight picture. All of this will turn your 10/22 into a Appleseed shooter. This same recipe has been used by a lot of Appleseed shooters.

http://www.tech-sights.com/

http://www.rimfiresports.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RSC&Product_Code=VC10TH

Dolomite

[vujade]

Great advice so far. I'll also add:

2 other great/cheap mods that will help with the appleseed:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/662086/bell-and-carlson-extended-magazine-release-ruger-10-22-polymer-black

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/568445/power-custom-extended-automatic-bolt-release-ruger-10-22-black

You don't need to mess around with the 25 or 30 round mags, they are harder to use when prone. Just the good ole 10 round rotary mags are best. If you want to spend a little bit more money, you can upgrade the bolt handle; I prefer something a little larger.

You'll need a gi/loop sling like this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/213015/cj-weapons-ar-15-web-sling-cotton-black

[TrickyNicky]

Hey buddy, good to see you posting up here.

If your starting to look at non-10/22 options you may want consider the Remington 597. I picked one up awhile back from Walmart for $199. with a cheap but decent scope and am liking it so far. Mine hasn't got open sights but they make ones that do.

One thing I like about it over the 10/22 is its more of an adult sized rifle as appossed to a carbine sized one.

I want to go finish sighting in the scope soon, let me know if you want to meet up and try it out.

<edit> PSA has some open sight models on sale for $120. That seems like a hell of deal if you ask me. If you don't like it I'd probably give you back your investment.

Edited October 5, 2012 by TrickyNicky

[DaveTN]

For a low cost .22, I don’t think there is any .22 out there than can compete with the Remington 597 for out of the box accuracy. Unless they got it taken care of they had some break in feeding issues, but mine was a tack driver. It’s still a good size for a youngster, but closer to the size of a real rifle than some other 22's.

[Steelharp]

My little Ruger carbine that I bought 10 years ago... I could hit little green apples at 25 yds out of the box. It's still stock, and will still do it.

[TrickyNicky]

For a low cost .22, I don’t think there is any .22 out there than can compete with the Remington 597 for out of the box accuracy. Unless they got it taken care of they had some break in feeding issues, but mine was a tack driver. It’s still a good size for a youngster, but closer to the size of a real rifle than some other 22's.

Mine pretty new, bought it maybe 4-5 months ago. Haven't really shot it all that much, maybe 100 rounds at the most but haven't had any break in issues so far. I know they had some trouble with their magazines at one point though, maybe that explains it?

Going to install a bipod I got on sale and then go finish the scope. For a rifle that's not totally sighted it will still pop clays at 25yards all day.

Now I'm seriously considering one of the open sight models for myself. At $120. it seems I can't really go wrong...

[graycrait]

Lots of good suggestions here. I second Dolomite's suggestion for Tech Sights and VQ hammer. http://www.tech-sights.com/ruger3.htm http://www.midwayusa.com/product/163143/volquartsen-target-hammer-with-bushings-ruger-10-22

The VQ hammer hooks are safely cut at a different angle that drops the trigger pull to about 2.75lbs, pretty clean and crisp even on metal trigger housings. However, if you buy a Kidd trigger it and place it in a plastic Ruger trigger housing. WOW! http://www.coolguyguns.com/Ruger-1022-trigger-job-kit_p_95.html

I don't know what the rules might be at Appleseed Shoots. You may want to verify what the minimum trigger pull is.

An alternative sight would be get a .570 tall front sight and then a Williams aperture rear that fits on the receiver. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/527477/williams-wgrs-ru22-guide-receiver-peep-sight-set-ruger-10-22-with-front-sight-570m-1-16-gold-bead-aluminum-black

Replace the stock Williams aperture sight (peep) with a Merit Adjustable Iris peep sight. The Merit unit allows to you to open or close down the sight picture so that you can go faster in low light or more accurate in good light. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/639658/merit-3-adjustable-target-aperture-11-16-diameter-long-shank-11-32-long-10-32-thread-fits-marbles-sights-black

[vaiger]

The appleseed event is a lot of fun. I took my boys (ages 10 and 12) and we had a blast. The day we went it was 106 degrees and I never heard one complaint from them. I expected it to be an iron sight event, but when I went, the mix of iron sights and scopes was probably 50/50. On a stock 10/22, the auto bolt release, extended mag release, tech sights, a GI sling and two spare mags would have you setup for appleseed. If it is your first event, make sure you take a shooting mat, carpet remnant or something like that becuase you will spend alot of time on the ground.

It was kind of funny when I went. I have had my 10/22 for 20 years with never a hiccup. They started the day with a shooting drill to get a baseline of skill levels and my extractor broke on my third shot. One of the instructors loaned me his 10/22 to use for the rest of the day. Great guys running the Appleseed events.

[Oh Shoot]

... 10/22 with a Volquartsen target hammer, auto bolt release, ejector, an ATI stock, ...

You mean extractor.

The stock 10/22 extractor is really subpar spec wise from the get go. There are guides online showing how to make it more reliable by filing angle back, but simpler to just put in the Volquartsen one, best $10 you can spend on a 10/22, it's made at proper angle and with better hardened steel also. Actually, along with however you choose to lighten trigger pull, best thing you can do for one period.

I've become convinced that most all 10/22 failures to feed, failures to eject, jams, stovepipes, etc are due to inconsistent extractor issue -- same with, "my 10/22 doesn't like x brand of ammo." Extractor issues can mimic all kinds of problems you'd think were due to something else.

It's not really "extraction" per se, as the round will come out fine with no extractor at all in there, but its most important function is to securely hold the spent shell at the perfect angle until kicked out by the ejector, and the stock one might or might not do that, either from the gitgo or after wearing over time.

- OS

Edited October 5, 2012 by OhShoot

[kmostell]

Thanks for all the great advice and input guys. I really appreciate it.....will be very helpful getting me setup right for the shoot. Looking to try the November shoot in Manchester ...if anybody is going to be there or is interested, let me know. Always nice to meet felow members!

[Will H]

You mean extractor.

Yep. That's what I meant. LOL

[kmostell]

Hey guys,

As a follow up question, I went ahead and purchased the Rem 597 at a great price from Bud's online..is it possible to install the VQ hammer and extractor on the Rem as easily as the Ruger? And the Tech sights as well?

Thanks again!

[TrickyNicky]

Check out some YouTube videos on the subject. While I can't say for sure it's as easy it doesn't look hard. The whole trigger group drops right off the receiver with the removal of one pin and it looks pretty straight forward in there. The bolt comes out with the removal of the two rails it runs on and IIRC the extractor is held in with one pin and tensioned with a small spring.

If your thinking about replacing parts right off the bat I would recommend getting a beefier charging handle. I haven't had any problems with mine, but it is the one thing that seems like it could be better out of the box.

<edit> you have to remove the charging handle to remove the bolt anyway, once the two rails are out I'm pretty sure it just yanks out of the bolt.

[DaveTN]

Hey guys,

As a follow up question, I went ahead and purchased the Rem 597 at a great price from Bud's online..is it possible to install the VQ hammer and extractor on the Rem as easily as the Ruger? And the Tech sights as well?

Thanks again!

This guy as done a bunch of videos on the 597, might want to check them out.

[kmostell]

Thanks again, as always. Hopefully I can figure it out...