To be honest, as an army combat vet I really appreciated Tony's resume. Due to that and the fact that he seems to be a smaller shop, I went with KIDD, and I am absolutely glad I did. Not to say VQ is not as good, but the KIDD two-stage trigger seems to be the most highly regarded (and now I understand why). In addition, everyone seems to say his barrels are some of the most accurate on the market. My experience with my Supergrade so far is that I cannot get much more accurate until I improve my technique, and then I will be one diameter or less.

I have never fired a VQ, but I cannot say enough about the performance of my KIDD Supergrade and the customer service I received from them (Maripat is the best!). I would love to hear from those who have experience with both.
Marc

 

I appreciate the comments, but they seem to fall within the paradigm category. I actually have a KIDD trigger on my current 10/22, and I seriously doubt the Volquartsen could be better. However, the Volquartsen barrels have a match chamber with a .0002" concentric bore, which I doubt is any worse than the Kidd.

I guess what I am driving at is if they are both better than the shooter, is it just esthetics that separate them? If not, I want the one that makes me a better shot.

 

Does anyone here actually own a Volquartsen .22LR, or are they so bad that no one buys them?

I own a Volquartsen "Gray Ghost" 10/22. Bought it second-hand but unfired 2 years ago. It's a Ruger rifle customised by Volquartsen for, I believe, Davidson's (the distributor) about 10 years ago.

Don't know if that's "Volquartsen" enough for you. All the parts that matter are from VQ except the Ruger receiver. Stainless bull barrel, heavy laminated stock, beautiful trigger pull. The "Volquartsen" on the barrel is in script like a signature, not like the way they do them now.

I shoot silhouettes and am no longer young and it's just too much rifle for me to shoot well offhand, but it's a real tack driver.

I never heard anything about them being bad. Expensive, maybe.

 

To me it came down to what made me happy (supporting an army vet, aesthetics based on personal taste, convincing myself I am supporting a small business even though VQ is likely a small shop also).

The main point is that I doubt either is any more accurate than the other, and likely both are far more accurate than you or I.

You have to decide what is most important to you, excluding accuracy, since I don't believe you would ever see a difference between the two that would disappoint you. Can you measure five thousandths of an inch on a piece of paper with rough holes punched through it? I can't!

My KIDD is 100% reliable and extremely accurate and, in my opinion, looks better than a VQ; thus, I have the best 10/22 clone on the market. Your mileage may vary!

Marc

 

This probably won't help. I own a KIDD SuperGrade rifle. I selected KIDD because Tony is a veteran, as am I; their shop is about 30 minutes away; I wanted the best rifle I could afford; and, everyone at the range raved about his rifles. My Ruger Mark III is full of Volquartsen parts and they all work great. Both companies have wicked good customer service.
In addition, if you buy the complete rifle from Tony, he uses his receiver with the extended tang and beds it into your stock of choice.
I'm sure VQ makes an excellent rifle, but you cannot go wrong with a KIDD!

 

Kidd and Volquartsen are neck and neck. Kidd is definately less expensive. If you fallow my thread http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=429933 I will have a complete volquartsen by the end. The only reason I went with volquartsen is cause I liked the look of their stock and the snake fluted barrel. Otherwise I would have gone with kidd to save some $$$. by the time I'm done I will have $2000 worth of guns and parts into the project and I'll have a complete volquartsen and a stock ruger 10/22. I could have just bought a Volquartsen out right for $1514.00 but that wouldn't have been as much fun.

 

They both make fine guns. Kidd's is priced lower, and has a better trigger. If everything is equal, and I suspect it is with maybe aesthetic options favoring the VQ, I'll take the Kidd. Being a Texas company seals the deal.

 

For the many many years I drooled over getting my own custom 10/22 I never cared for the "look" of volquartsen products. That's not a knock on their quality, just an aesthetic observation.

 

I can't speak for the Volquartsen barrel or complete rifle, but I can speak to the difference in the triggers since I bought two Volquartsen TG2000 trigger groups in 1999 and then bought a Kidd trigger group.

I thought the Volquartsen triggers were great until I got my Kidd.
It was a quantum leap above the Volquartsens both of which had 3 lb pulls and were not adjustable.
I liked the Kidd so much that I bought a Kidd barrel, receiver, bolt, and charging handle so now I have a total Kidd 10-22.
Now when I shoot the conversions with the Volquartsen triggers, I think that the safety might be on until the trigger finally breaks.

The Kidd out shoots my previous 10-22 rebuilds by a considerable margin.
I would expect that a Volquartsen barrel would have been on a par with the Kidd, but in my experience, the trigger makes more difference than the barrel.

I will be buying another Kidd trigger group to replace one of the Volquartsens when I modify one of my builds for my grandson. The Kidd trigger is just that much better.

 

The Volquartsen Rifle was the KID of it's day, whose dusk began when Tony started manufacturing rifles last year. The VQ rifle was the ultimate in accuracy in a semiauto 22 rifle, and while I can't say no one could build a custom that could out shoot the VQ Rifle, it certainly was the benchmark in accuracy.

The VQ filled the same niche for the buyer whose goal was accuracy as does the KID, which is why there is an RFC Volquartsen Forum.

There should be a KID Forum now. Neither the KID Rifle, the VQ Rifle or the Magnum Research rightfully belong in any 10/22 Forum, including the "Ultimate 10/22". All three are Production Rifles, not custom, not modified, not Superstock and certainly not Ruger.

 

The Volquartsen Rifle was the KID of it's day, whose dusk began when Tony started manufacturing rifles last year. The VQ rifle was the ultimate in accuracy in a semiauto 22 rifle, and while I can't say no one could build a custom that could out shoot the VQ Rifle, it certainly was the benchmark in accuracy.

The VQ filled the same niche for the buyer whose goal was accuracy as does the KID, which is why there is an RFC Volquartsen Forum.

There should be a KID Forum now. Neither the KID Rifle, the VQ Rifle or the Magnum Research rightfully belong in any 10/22 Forum, including the "Ultimate 10/22". All three are Production Rifles, not custom, not modified, not Superstock and certainly not Ruger.

:yeahthat: I agree, Paul.:t

 

I purchased a VQ barrelled action about 10 years ago (.22LR). I didn't get a complete rifle because I shoot lefty and had a particular stock that I wanted to use. It's a beautiful rifle that shoots like a dream -stainless barrel threaded into a stainless receiver. At the time, I was concerned about the long term effect of the weight of the bull barrel on an aluminum receiver, and there weren't many options for a SS receiver. It turns out I was probably more concerned than I should have been. (I don't believe that KID was making barrelled actions at that time.)

I don't regret the purchase, but if I were to make a similar purchase today I would probably go with a KID, as the KID trigger group is superior (I added a 2 stage KID to my VQ action). Both companies have very good support and are great to do business with - you won't go wrong with either one.

Good luck!

 

Kidd vs VQ

I bought a used Volquartsen this past Fall and have been amazed at how well it shoots and it easily has the best semi-auto trigger I've ever yanked. I have no idea what the actual weight is but it must be around 2 pounds or maybe lighter - I love the little rascal. It has the ltwt recvr and ltwt composite bbl with compensator,

I do, however, have a problem. I gave my 2 grandson's their first .22 rifles a few years ago (Anschutz bolt-action sporter's) and they'd rather shoot my VQ so the pressures on to find 2 more - one will be Kidd with a single-stage trigger for sure as I don't care for 2-stage triggers's except on competiton guns which these won't be -- they'll be fun guns.
The other will probably be a combination of other's (unless I can find another deal on a VQ) just to see what I can come up with.

 

The Volquartsen stainless steel receiver seems to be real nice. If Kidd had an option to get a 7075 T6 receiver, then the stainless steel receiver from Volquartsen wouldn't be an advantage.
I'm thinking of a machined stainless steel receiver with Kidd internals.

 

Similar quality but Kidd products don't carry the price premium of the Volquartsen stuff so I go with Kidd for my 10/22 parts.

 

The pricing difference is interesting. The Volquartsen complete rifle can be made more expensive than the Kidd very easily, but comparable outfitting isn't very much different. The biggest reason is that Kidd adds the 11% tax to the price, whereas Volquartsen has it built into the price.

I compared the Kidd to a VQ as closely as I could comparing the Kidd supergrade to the VQ standard as they both had threaded barrel/receivers. I also used single-stage triggers on both, which made the Kidd $50 cheaper than with the two-stage. The differences I couldn't eliminate were as follows:

Kidd
18" Match barrel w/no fluting
Rear Tang included
Aluminum receiver
Trailblazer stock (it looked the closest to the VQ sporter stock)

Volquartsen
18.5" match barrel w/no fluting
no rear tang available
SS receiver
VQ sporter stock

The Kidd price w/tax added was $1286.50, and the VQ price was $1288. That kind of falls into the half dozen of one, six of the other category. Maybe it really does just come down to aesthetics.

I kind of wish I hadn't done that because I thought the Kidd was lot cheaper.

 

You should be aware that the Trailblazer looks similar and that is where it stops. I own both. The quality is night and day. Fit, feel, construction, you name it.

I had to do so many mods in order to get it remotely close to the VQ.
If I had it to do over, I would have purchased a VQ for my .22.
The trailblazer sits in a box with the other mistakes.

 

I'm building two rifles with mostly Kidd components, after months of research.
Varmint Extreme in Oregon sells many versions of VQ custom builds, including most with barrels threaded into the receivers. A friend of mine recently bought one and it is very nice, but hasn't been range tested enough for a decent report. Since I'm building my own, I chose Kidd. Tony's trigger sets are light years tighter and more adjustable than anything VQ makes, IMHO.
DrG

 

I have a complete VQ custom 10/22.
As expected it is more accurate than most but not as accurate as I would like.
Not sure if my expectations are valid, but I am possibly looking to obtain a KIDD rifle to compare the too.
Anyone want to contribute to the KIDD fund and mail me some money?? I will surely let you in on the results.

 

Volqi

I made the giant step and got myself a Volqi .. I was concerned initially on the price vs. value.

Kidd was what everybody talked about and I even priced one .. price ended up being the same as the Volqi on a similar set up.

I never shot a kidd myself ... so a comparison may not be fair. I've been shooting Annies for many years and I have been spoiled from their consintency, simplicity, quality and accuracy.

This Volquartsen look good and to my very pleasant surprise shoots good too. After two trips to the range, I am feeling better and better about the purchase.

The pic is from day 2 at the range - less than 200 rounds with her so far, but she did good. A few groups in the red, a couple one holes BUT for what ever reason I get a flyer on #5 shot each time [1/2 inch off POA]

this is the better looking of the groups:

5 shot group, Wolf match Extra, 14x power. The circle is 1 inch diameter. Shot in low wind, rainy & cold day in NY at 50 yards

this is the set up

I am pleased with the Volqi .. quality in the built is there - stock weight and feel is great, quality in the parts is there .. the barrel .. a short and very light one .. but seems to be doing well .. trigger .. well .. early to judge .. not as good as the annie [or maybe it is - it is a matter of getting used to it, like anything else]

 

I wanted to bump this up to 2017. I have a Volquartsen being built. I won't see it until the fall. I was going to give it to my 2nd grandson. I gave the first grandson a 2014 Browning SA-22 Grade VI because it was the 100th anniversary of JMB's SA-22 and was the year that my first grandson was born.

I didn't know about Kidd when I ordered the Volquartsen even though I live pretty close to Seguin. I have been watching some of the .22 matches on the Long Range Shooters of Utah YouTube channel and there were these semi-auto rifles actually doing better than some Anschutz and CZ's. Turns out they were Kidds. Of course, the shooters had a lot to do with the results but it showed that a good shooter could get excellent results with the semi-autos.

Fast forward and I'm think about also getting a Kidd for my grandson and keeping the Volquartsen.

I would love to hear some opinions about these two fine 22s especially how the 2017 models compare.

 

I recently bought a Kidd Supergrade. It is the new generation with the longer barrel extension and quick detachable barrel mounting system. I owned a Volquartsen also. I'm hesitant to make this comparison, because my Volquartsen experience is dated, before he was making his own receivers and bolts, so, full disclosure. It was a quality build, and it shot well. The Kidd shoots better, and, as previously mentioned, Tony's trigger is the current state of that art. The new barrel mounting system allows quick and easy removal, either for switching barrels, or cleaning (I find that very handy, much easier to remove and clean the barrel separately than accessing through the rear hole, but you have that option.). I expect the current rifles would compare very closely in performance, with the deciding factor likely to be the individual barrel. The trigger and barrel mounting system of the Kidd, and the tang mounting point, gives makes it the choice for me. One potential disadvantage, the new receiver is considerably longer to accommodate the longer barrel shank, and with the rear tang, bedding in a stock will require some additional mill work.

 

Thanks and very interesting info. I see Tony is still selling the classic supergrade that is threaded into the receiver. Any thoughts on the accuracy difference between the classic supergrade and the new supergrade?

 

I have no experience with the threaded receiver Supergrade. But I cannot believe it can be more accurate than my new generation version. With one lot of 10-X, it shoots 50 yard, 5-shot groups that average about .3". I was skeptical, but I believe the longer barrel shank more than offsets anything given up by using locking screws rather than threads. I have had mine completely disassembled several times, including removal of the scope, using Leupold QRW rings, and the POI did not change, which says a lot for the precision of the machining. And the greatly increased ease of maintenance is great, as well as changing barrels if that is in your plans.

 

Thanks for the answers!

 

Both are impressive and will make everyone who purchases happy. I buy both, like to support VQ because they are from Iowa. 90m from my childhood home. Great work ethic in Iowa, know that's a fact. If you ever want a 22 pistol for steel challenge VQ beats out Kidd..... ?

 

Does Kidd even make anything for pistols?

 

They make 10 & 12" barrels for Charger type pistols

 

No they don't, just a little joke.

 

Lots of good information here so thanks! I don't think I could go wrong with either of these rifle makers. Both will shoot better than I can although maybe they will help me shoot a little better because I can definitely stop blaming it on the gun.

 

I will be able to provide some insight in about a week. My Volquartsen arrived today - three months earlier than I expected. I also ordered a Kidd new style Supergrade match rifle today and was told it will be here probably next week or in two weeks at the latest.

I can't wait to take them to the range and put them through their paces.

The Volquartsen is a thumb hole laminate target stock with a snake fluted bull barrel and forward blow compensator. The Kidd will be about the same except no fluting on the bull barrel and a Magpul x22 stock. Ought to be very interesting and a lot of fun to see how they compare.

 

Does the Kidd have a compensator?