The Ruger 10/22 is made for the economy minded masses who want a reliable plinker. It does that well. It is not competitive against rifles 4x the price that use the same basic design.

 

It is not competitive against rifles 4x the price that use the same basic design.

Unless, of course, the old guy with the fancy, super expensive rifle has the shakes. Spending more money doesn't magically make anyone a better shooter.

 

I just bought another 22lr auto loader for the simple fact that to get the most out of nice 22lr bolt gun, you have to spend darn near centerfire money on ammo. Even then, QC isn't always consistent with rimfire ammo. I already have an accurate centerfire bolt gun that I reload for, and I can challenge myself to greater distances. With 22 ammo, you get what they give you, no matter how much it costs. As far as I'm concerned, if you want the most accuracy available, a centerfire bolt gun and reloading/tayloring the rounds for that rifle is the way to go. When it comes to the difference between a 10/22 and an expensive 22lr bolt gun, I'll take 90% of the accuracy in the semi auto and not have to buy match ammo.

All of that said, that's nothing more than one person's opinion and I've lived long enough to know two things as an absolute truth. I've been wrong before and I don't know what I don't know.

 

Might be a reason why Anschütz makes bolt actions and not semi autos....

 

Love my CZ's that shoot a racked hole. With accuracy like that I don't need a quick follow up shot.

I will admit to owning a M&P 22 both rifle and pistol which are just range toys. Use them for practice to save money on 556. Fun to move around to different shooting positions and ping steel. Private range with berms and targets in 180 degrees. They both shoot nice but are not even close to the CZ.

 

Unless, of course, the old guy with the fancy, super expensive rifle has the shakes. Spending more money doesn't magically make anyone a better shooter.

I know several old guys with the shakes that somehow smoke everyone out there with some old beat to heck rifle the their grandad owned , lol.

I got the shakes too, and I get by. But I can tell you I shoot better with more expensive rifles That's my story , I'm sticking to it.

...and the shooter with the cheap rifle and steady hand will still do better. I see it all the time at the range, these old guys with their expensive guns, thinking they're going to waltz in and show everyone up, and it looks like they've been using a shotgun on their targets. Meanwhile someone else with the cheap firearm two tables over is punching out the bullseye.

What's the beef with shakey old guys with nice guns? The ones I know including myself don't know how to waltz and could give a rip about anyone else's target or rifle. That said, I do enjoy finer rifles and I do tend to shoot better with them. I do have one budget rifle that can come very very close.

To the OP, my Kidd 10/22 heavy barrel will shoot with some very nice shooting bolt guns. The 10 /22 does throw a flier more often. If you are patient enough to sort through magazines , the fliers can be greatly reduced . The ammo DOES MATTER on that rifle.

 

There are plenty of semiautos that will outshoot plenty of bolt guns. Being semiauto doesn't make a rifle inherently inaccurate, and being a bolt action alone does not bestow tack driver status. I've also had a couple of stock 10/22s that shot lights out, specifically my very first 10/22 I bought in High School in 1975. It just had a really good factory barrel.

These broad generalizations about semiauto versus bolt are just not true; there are always plenty of exceptions. I had an Anschutz 1712 that shot mediocre groups with all types and brands of ammunition I tried, and I have owned and shot many customized 10/22s that shot exceedingly well. And a custom 10/22 is not the only accurate semiauto, either. I have a re-barreled Browning SA that shoots lights out, and a dead stock Unique X-51 that will also clean up and take names. If you plan to shoot competitive rimfire benchrest, a bolt gun is most likely your only choice (and not an off-the-shelf bolt action), given the tight chambers that are usually not compatible with semiautos, but, short of that lofty sport, tuned semiautos can often compete with even tuned bolt guns.

 

Most antique economy grade single shot 1940s-50s bolt rifles will hit perform any semi auto 22 rifle for pure accuracy with, the right ammo.
There is a reason ARA and such have a whole separate class just for semi auto rifles to compete.

 

In my opinion the Marlin 795 is a more accurate rifle out of the box. The magazines are more reliable as well.

Not as much available to customize them however.

If you are building a 10-22 from scratch without Ruger parts or buying one of the high end Ruger clones you can do better.

 

Always funny when custom rifles are compared to average production rifles...

 

Funny? I see plenty of commentary here about stock semiauto vs stock bolt guns.

 

I think I'll just sit here and watch the opinions express themselves

 

Back in the 90's I was a staff member at Sears Roebuck & Co. (remember them?)
Well a bunch of us employees got together and came up with a 22 rifle tournament set at 50 yds. We would be shooting pop cans filled with water and in the off hand position. We had about 20 show up that day and that really surpized me.
All types of sights were acceptable as was choice of ammo.
There was everything there from bolt action to single shots and semi autos.
Thankfully no one showed up with an Anschutz!
So it turns out the Auto Center manager won with his pump action Winchester model 61 hands down with a weaver scope missing just one can after 5 rounds of 5 cans each.
So everyone afterwards was curious about his scope and ammo choice and how he beat us all.
His answer was "see those cans down there? They are customer complaints." LOL
I reckon determination is the ultimate last key to successful shooting. I found this pic online to show what he had.

 

Yes the determination of the shooter is key to busting the target and their old record and possibly other people's.

 

Hands down this one is better than that one. All day long 24/7/365

 

Is my (modified) 10/22 (with excellent ammo) as accurate (precise) as my 40XB or full custom BR rigs (with excellent ammo)? No. Does it win matches? Against a host of bolt guns including CZ's, Rim-X's and Vudoo's? Yes.
As to the OP's actual questions (which were NOT the tired theme of bolt vs. semi precision), 10/22's would likely be easier to get optimum precision from a semi platform merely due to the plethora of quality aftermarket parts availability. Take a stock 10/22, bed the action, float a KIDD SS Match barrel, fit a KIDD two stage trigger and go hunt some $3500 Vudoo's. If you are limited to factory rifles, I'd again go with a 10/22 due to the choice of higher end, target/varmint models, some of which are excellent shooters (with excellent ammo). As for (excellent) ammo, precision is where you find it . . . . but better usually = $$$$$!

 

My most accurate .22 semi auto is the Browning SA-22 with iron sights and it shoots cheap HV ammo just as well, sometimes better, than the higher priced SV ammo. My vintage 1960s 10/22 is a good shooter but not nearly as accurate with iron sights. Neither one is meant to be shot off a bench rest.

 

It depends on how “accuracy” is defined.
Shooting bunnies in the field, or speed runs on steel, or silhouettes off a bench at various known distances, or making tiny ragged holes in paper at one distance…all are different. A semi gun can be “as good” in some situations, and maybe even be “better” to use.
But does that make it “more accurate”? In the mathematical sense of comparing group sizes, USUALLY, the answer would be no. But there will be exceptions.

And in the end, it makes no real difference, as long as you are hitting your target in the way you want to.

 

Semis generally have slower lock times and more movement during the firing sequence. This makes them harder to shoot well offhand.
It's easy to build an accurate semi now but you don't seem them at the silhouette range for that reason even though they have more than enough mechanical accuracy for the game.

 

Accuracy is very important. Some of my Bolt Actions are more accurate than some of my Semi-Autos. Some of my Semis are more accurate than some of my Bolts!

As to which I would rather have in my hands at the moment depends on what I'm shooting at. The Bolt is great for a one shot kill on a single critter and can be great on multiple critters. But if I am shooting multiple fast critters, I'll take my Marlin 7000, 60 or even Ruger 10/22 over Bolt or Lever.

 

"you don't seem them at the silhouette range" << semi's
Ahhh, wrong.
I have two 10/22's that are more than accurate enough for Silhouette shooting (one KIDD and one Volq barrelled). One I shoot regularly in NRA Silhouette. When I miss, it's me, not the rifle. Lock time is simply not an issue, nor is movement of the bolt. My other 10/22 is more accurate, and is my PRS/Tactical Benchrest rifle, just too heavy for Silhouette. Not a lot of semi's in Silhouette compared to more traditional Annies and lever guns, but they are used and can be very accurate.

 

Two of our members were unable to maintain civility when replying to each other in this thread so their ability to take part in the conversation has been removed.

Let us speak to the subject gentlemen and not resort to personal attack. Something that is expressly forbidden by our rules.

LtCrunch

 

I know just a little about shakey hands as I have been dealing with them for over 20 years. They certainly affect your accuracy when shooting. In fact they affect anything you do with your hands. I used to be a fairly decent artist with a pencil but now I can barely scribble my name with quite a few mg. of primidone in me. I made two attempts to draw a floral tooling pattern for a holster this year and threw both in the trash can. An attempt to trace one from an Al Stolman pattern book suffered the same fate.

What does that have to do with the difference between the accuracy of two different types of rifle actions? Nothing except you will not have the success with either that you did before your hands started to shake.

A 10/22 can be modified to where it will hang very close to a really accurate bolt action but you will have as much or more money in the 10/22 as you will the bolt action. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and now have 2 highly modified 10/22's that I can no longer shoot very well. I don't regret building them as I enjoyed that just as much as shooting them and I have learned to live with the fact that age has robbed me of many of my skills and it does the same to each of us by one means or another.

My advice is that if you want a really accurate 22 rifle to just pony up the money and buy an Anshutz.

 

.... A 10/22 can be modified to where it will hang very close to a really accurate bolt action but you will have as much or more money in the 10/22 as you will the bolt action. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and now have 2 highly modified 10/22's that I can no longer shoot very well.....

Excellent comment on the often mentioned illusion that high quality bolt action (Anschütz, Weihrauch, etc.) cost sssoooooo much more compared to a well built semi auto.