Your Opinion on the More Accurate .22LR Rifle for Club-sponsored Rimfire Challenge (was Competition) Contest?

A Ruger 10/22 is hard to beat as the baseline for a very accurate and shootable .22 semiauto rifle. You can get aftermarket trigger assemblies and barrels and stocks and they'll shoot really nice... but what is that telling you? (You need to update a lot of parts, and end up only keeping the receiver.)

Have you considered a bolt-action rifle? Out of the box you get a very accurate, and you can get trigger kits for under $100 so that they're easier to shoot well. Or, you can pay a bit more and buy something a little nicer. The CZ 452/455/457 rifles are almost always VERY accurate with the factory barrels but the triggers need a little help. Tikka also makes a good bolt-action rifle. And then there are the Savage bolt actions that generally shoot very well.

The Appleseed competition isn't about choosing the best rifle, it's about taking a suitable rifle that you already own, learning how to use it effectively, and then demonstrating that capability. In short buy what YOU want. If I were to go to this competition I'd likely take something with a scope and factory sling swivels, most likely my Remington 541-S or Kimber 82. Just for the fun of it.

Max, I know its overload of information and overload of questions, but ObiJohnKenobe (funny name), had good info. I'd say, shoot what you have, see what type of competition they run, see what other folks are using and consider if that is the type of competition you really want to pursue. That is, Appleseed VS NRL22 VS Steel Challenge VS Benchrest, etc are all very different animals & serious competitors would have very different setups in the different disciplines. I'm a "10/22" guy, but for different types of shooting, the 10/22s would be VERY different. For some types of shooting the 10/22 is fantastic, for others, you start at a disadvantage and after you dig a money pit, you end up with a high end bolt action rifle. Bang for your buck - CZ or Tika go a long way. For the tinkerer, there is great enjoyment in a 10/22. For high end bolts, its Anschutz, (spelling?), Cooper, Voodoo. But if you are spending $3500 on that type of rifle, then you have to buy a real nice scope & if you also do that, then why run even midgrade ammo.... It is possible to spend the fun out of it. I say run what you have & figure out what you would like to pursue. Who knows, maybe you will be just fine with trying to better your last outing while shooting $6 a box ammo. Have fun. Welcome to Rimfire Central & dont hesitate to ask or share.

I double-checked. It's called Rimfire Challenge (I'll try to change the post title to be clearer); it's sponsored by the (fairly) local gun club. I perused the rules and they don't seem strict on aftermarket mods, like triggers.

The Rimfire Challenge is offered quarterly. They don't require a competition training class, but the earliest I could get is April 2023 to be able to shoot in the club-sponsored USPSA and IDPA matches. If they seem responsive to my prior questions about okay pistols and rifles, I'll ask them for recommendations and what people commonly shoot at the Rimfire Challenge Matches.

If so, would the Ruger BX trigger upgrade suffice, or would I get much more benefit from the more expensive, aftermarket trigger brands?

I own a 10/22 and a S&W M&P 15/22, so the only extra cost would be any upgrades.

I'm left-eyed and left-handed; I tried a bolt action in an LGS and hated the manual of arms.

For 2023, the closest Appleseed is 400 miles away, flying there would actually take as long as driving, given going to and from the two airports involved.

Is there a brand, model, grain, and speed of .22LR ammo that you'd recommend for pistol (likely a GSG 1911 or Glock 17/.22LR conversion if they allow it) and either a 10/22 or M&P 15/22?

As for a drop in trigger, you will see improvement with the BX but, I will propose 2 alternatives. On the cheap end is a Volquartsen hammer kit. Sometimes available on ebay or their website clearance section for as little as $20. There will be take-up in the trigger but this alone will drop the pull to around 2.5 lb or so (there are other easy & free things to help the trigger). 2nd choice, for around $120 (?) you could get a Kidd drop in trigger upgrade kit. No take-up. 2 lb single stage pull. Its nice and again, there are a couple things you can do for free.
Working on a 10/22 (even the trigger), is very doable if you use the information on this site and do a few internet searches. Some of the free things for the trigger are smoothing the pivot of the hammer strut and rounding off the "square" edges of the plunger behind the trigger itself.
You asked about ammo. BIG RABBIT HOLE... but, for the average unmodified Handgun, most are more reliable with non-subsonic rounds. Mine do well with CCI 40 grain Blazer in the 50 rd boxes or Eley Force. You need enough " umpth" to cycle the bolt fully/reliably. Handgun versions of a 22 are dirtier than rifles & if not cleaned can fail to cycle. Its really not possible for us to tell you what will shoot best in your gun. It seems like 2 consecutive serial number 22lr guns may well hate the ammo that the other likes. You have to test & a different lot of the same ammo may well behave differently. The good news is shooting steel is a bigger target.

My wife and I compete in Rimfire Challenge. We practice at least weekly, and attend a monthly match, plus state and national matches annually.

I am also an Appleseed fan (got my Rifleman after a few tries), we've both done their Pistol Clinic as well, and I do a little Precision Rimfire on my own.

To be honest, the ideal equipment for these events, for example, are rather different!

Yes, you could use the same rifle at all three ... and if you can only have one, that may be what you need to do. But ideal, it's not.

Rimfire Challenge is rifle-and-pistol, by the way, and you'll need five magazines for each. Accuracy and grouping isn't a primary goal, once you realize that the targets are large! But reliability IS a big deal. Your firearm cannot have misfeeds and so forth at rimfire challenge events if you want to have fun and be at all competitive. You'll also use a lot more ammo in rimfire challenge than in other disciplines.

Appleseed, you'll want two magazines (loads of 8 and 2) and a spare. Appleseed teaches you solid riflery skills, including correct use of a sling and the ability to shoot from standing, seated, and prone, with both fast and slow fire, and with mag changes. The rifle itself only needs to be 4MOA or so accuracy. Project Appleseed events are a lot more about the indian than about the arrow, to use the expression. And you leave with a deeper sense of what that part of our national heritage is really about, and what part of it is you, too. The only competition is versus yourself.

Hope some of these comments are relevant and helpful.

Max170 said:

I double-checked. It's called Rimfire Challenge (I'll try to change the post title to be clearer); it's sponsored by the (fairly) local gun club. I perused the rules and they don't seem strict on aftermarket mods, like triggers.

The Rimfire Challenge is offered quarterly. They don't require a competition training class, but the earliest I could get is April 2023 to be able to shoot in the club-sponsored USPSA and IDPA matches. If they seem responsive to my prior questions about okay pistols and rifles, I'll ask them for recommendations and what people commonly shoot at the Rimfire Challenge Matches.

If so, would the Ruger BX trigger upgrade suffice, or would I get much more benefit from the more expensive, aftermarket trigger brands?

I own a 10/22 and a S&W M&P 15/22, so the only extra cost would be any upgrades.

I'm left-eyed and left-handed; I tried a bolt action in an LGS and hated the manual of arms.

For 2023, the closest Appleseed is 400 miles away, flying there would actually take as long as driving, given going to and from the two airports involved.

Is there a brand, model, grain, and speed of .22LR ammo that you'd recommend for pistol (likely a GSG 1911 or Glock 17/.22LR conversion if they allow it) and either a 10/22 or M&P 15/22?

Click to expand...

Oaky Max now we're getting somewhere.

I'm a match Director at our local club for Rimfire Challenge, I also shoot Steel Challenge at three other clubs. Rimfire Challenge and Steel Challenge are very similar but are different games. Steel Challenge is by far more popular.

With Rimfire Challenge the competitor shoots both a rifle and a pistol.

IMO the less they weigh the faster one can go.

Ammo, round nose NO JHP's. my rifles cycle CCI mini mags very reliable, for pistol i like CCI SV. any malfunction will cost you time and possibly the match.

Shoot whatever your guns will run. some rimfire guns just won't feed JHP's and that leads to a malfunction.

here are a few of mine