[KeithC.]

I sold my 10/22 after getting really frustrated with its poor accuracy. My 10” Mark 2 Target easily outshot it. So my question is, what’s a reasonable level of accuracy for a 10/22 Sporter? And what’s the return on investment accuracy wise as you move up the 10/22 price chain within Ruger? Do custom parts actually help? Bench rest at 50 yards it struggled to stay inside of 2 1/2 inches. I don’t know what normal looks like.

 

[KeithC.]

I havent shot factory 10/22 in very long time but trigger job and kidd ultra light weight barrel and hogue stock mine shoots great at 50 yds and not breaking the bank shhots cci standard velocity very well. View attachment 360189

That looks very nice and is about where I want to be. Actually, it looks about the best that my CZ American could do.

 

[KeithC.]

They can be quite amazing with the right components and trigger monkey. Whatta Hobby!


View attachment 360231 View attachment 360232 View attachment 360233 View attachment 360234 View attachment 360236 View attachment 360238 View attachment 360239

Holy Cow! When my 10/22 costs more than my car I’d say I’ve got a problem.

 

[KeithC.]

Stock Sporter with Kidd trigger drop in kit($95). Aluminum tape bedded the receiver and a strip of bike tire tube under the barrel, 1” from the end of forearm. Torqued the takedown screw to 12lbs which worked best in my particular rifle. My groups shrunk nearly in half just from the bedding, tire tube and torquing.

Scope power at 50yds can make a big difference.

Yes, after market parts can make a difference. Aftermarket trigger and barrel will make the biggest differences.
I don’t consider a stock 10/22 to be a 50yd precision rifle. Have a CZ 457 for that.

25yds, ten shot group, scope at 9x. CCI STD VEL.
Last shot went low. Should have stopped at 9.😁
View attachment 360244

That’s perfect! Mine was very sensitive to temperature and humidity, did your work improve consistency? Yes the trigger is the worst I’ve ever experienced.

 

[KeithC.]

Just to answer your original question (for a change), in my admittedly limited experience with stock 10/22s, I'd say you could expect groups of 1.5-1.75" at 50 yards with mill-run, plinking/hunting grade .22LR ammo. Now you can play around with various factors (barrel band or not, floating or pressure-bedding the barrel, testing all kinds of ammo, and so forth) and if your factory barrel has a good chamber, you might be able to get down around an even inch--maybe just over, maybe just under. If you have a loose chamber, you can diddle with stuff from now till doomsday and you're not gonna get much better. That's just the way it is.

And a better trigger won't have much if any affect on accuracy from a solid benchrest, though it WILL of course make the gun easier to shoot--i.e., "practical accuracy"--from any field position.

Thank you. This will help me from wasting my time in the future. Just seemed odd that this particular 10/22 was exceptionally poor accuracy wise and the Mark 2 Target was an exceptionally accurate sample, all from the same company. Be nice to know all this in advance.

 

[KeithC.]

My results upgrading. A short read
Ruger 10/22 Step by Step | Rimfire Central Firearm Forum

Thanks! What’s a pinned bolt?

 

[KeithC.]

How many flavors of ammunition did you try? Rimfires can be fussy. With ammunition they liked, I've owned/shot four, stock 10/22s that would do under a half inch at 50 yards.

I went to an Atlanta gun show and bought some of everything I could find. While there were brief improvements there was never any consistency. The 10” KMK Mark 2 Target was always consistent, just slightly behind my CZ American with better ammo. The lack of consistency was the final straw.