A little 10/22 upgrade

[ACLakey]

I have had this rifle for over 20 years and finally got around to doing something with it.

I took a quick picture between snow flurries(typical spring break weather)

Hogue Ghillie tan stock
Volquartsen hammer and bolt release
Green Mountain 18: barrel
Bolt buffer
Mag release extender

I am heading to the range in the morning to see how she shoots.

 

[JD338]

That looks great! Nice makeover for sure.
Let us know how she shoots.

JD338

 

[BK]

Nice! I keep thinking I want to get another 10/22 and build it up, but then I start thinking I should get the target model, then I start thinking about a 77/22. I really don't need another .., but then I don't need three .270s, either.

 

[DrMike]

Those 10/22s can be addictive, and the accessories never quit forcing themselves on the shooter. Good looking rifle.

 

[Larry in SD]

Nice looking 10/22. Yep they are addicting. I swear they reproduce in the dark around my house.

Larry

 

[ACLakey]

Ya, I have a 77/22 that shoots amazingly well. I have killed tens of thousands of squirrels with it and always used the 10/22 as a backup and or loaner...now I can play with this for a while.

 

[billbam]

Nice setup. You may have to try different brands of ammo to set what shoots the best. Some shoot better than others.

I had this built around 1990 when the 10-22's were starting to be built up for some rifle shooting. Hart barrel, Lawson Stock, Burris 6x18 scope.
Bottom one the stock rifle with bull barrel and B & L 3x9.
These are great for the kids to shoot and have a blast.

 

[Woodycreek]

The 10/22 is just a fun rifle and thats why i have two. Now looking at getting the Ruger SR-22.

 

[ScreaminEagle]

How easy are the barrels to change on those? I know on a bolt gun you gotta set the correct headspace. Can you just buy an aftermarket barrel and throw it on? Also I've read about different barrels some threaded the others take a pin. Can someone explain this?

Also nice looking gun ya got there!

 

[ACLakey]

The barrel is easy to change and can be done by you. On the front of the action there is a V-Block held in by two machine screws. Remove them and the barrel slides out. Your new barrel may fit tight so you might need a rubber mallet or to clean up the barrel with emery paper for a good fit. Mine slid in by hand with a little work. On the rimfire 22 the rim sets the head space so nothing special is required when putting a new tube on. The 10/22 has one screw that holds the action in the stock and the two that hold the barrel in place, other than that everything else is held in place by pins which make it very easy to work on.

I went to the range and with my favorite bulk squirrel ammo from Winchester I consistently shot .5" at 50 yards and just over 1" at 100 between snow fluries. I usually shoot at 6x but found that at 10x the point of my reticle is dead on at 100...nice to know. I am sure it will do better with different ammo but there is no doubt it is minute-of -quirrel.

The hammer kit is great, there is a little takeup in the trigger and it breaks just under 3lb. The bolt release was a waste of money. After comparing it to the facotry one you can modify it with a Dremel in a few min and save yourself some money.

I did find that the factory charging handle was small and difficult to get a hold of with my big fingers. I will be adding a larger one soon. The rifle fed better than 90% and out of the 200 or so rounds I shot I had two miss feeds...not bad considering I was using five different magazines. The extended magazine release is very nice and worked well. Four of my five magazines drop right out but one has always been difficult.

Overall I am very pleased with this build and am really looking forward to the weather picking up to put it to use.

 

[ScreaminEagle]

Thanks! It doesn't sound like that would be too hard. I got confused when some of the barrels were listed as threaded. I guess they mean threaded at the business end for a comp. I have a stock 10/22 that I was wanting to put a bull barrel on.

 

[Larry in SD]

ACLakey, on your magazines have you retensioned the rotor springs? I find that unless I retension the springs in my magazines I will get FTF's once in a while. In regards to the magazine that doesn't drop free, have you checked the screw tension (the screw that goes through the center of the rotor and keeps the magazine halves together)? I had one of mine work loose and it stuck out a little bit far. I had a hard time getting that particular magazine out of my 10/22's until I discovered the problem. I tightened up the screw snug and the problem went away.

Screamineagle, yes changing the barrel on a 10/22 is as simple as ACLakey stated. In going from a Standard Carbine Taperred Barrel to a Bull Barrel, unless you are upgrading your stock at the same time the barrel channel on your stock will have to be opened up to accept the bull barrel. That isn't a huge problem. I just found about a 8" piece of PVC Pipe the same diameter as the barrel, wrapped sandpaper around it and opened up the barrel channel.

Over at Rimfire Central there is a section called Tips and Tricks under the 10/22 section. There are lots of threads there to walk you through all sorts of modifications the owner / shooter can do to their 10/22's. As ACLakey stated the AutoBolt Modification is very easy to do and there is a tutorial at RFC on it including photos. There are also tutorials on doing Trigger Jobs, Chamfering the rear of the bolt face for smoother cycling as well as lots of other fixes.

I have custom built about a half dozen 10/22's for myself and others, and have done trigger jobs on at least that many more. On my last build I opted for a better trigger job than I thought I could achieve so I sent my trigger group off to TT Shooter for one of Todd's Precision Trigger Jobs. Todd not only polishes everything super smooth, he also uses a Torsion Trigger Return Spring instead of the Coil Trigger Return Spring and Plunger for a smoother trigger action without any coil spring stacking. Ih the hole in the Trigger Housing that the original Trigger Spring and Plunger set in Todd taps that hole and uses it for an overtravel stop. The other thing Todd does is drills and taps two holes in the trigger housing to lock the hammer pivot pin to the trigger housing with set screws so it can not turn, eliminating one point of movement. My trigger ended up super crisp and smooth at 1 3/4 pounds and doesn't feel like it belongs on a 10/22.

ACLakey, have you tried any Wolf Match Target in your new 10/22 build? My newest 10/22 with it's 20" Stainless-Fluted Green Mountain Bull Barrel absolutely loves Wolf Match Target and makes me look like a good shot.

Larry

 

[ACLakey]

Larry, thanks for the reply and info. I have not shot anything out of it so far other than bulk Winchester ammo. I am going to the squirrel fields tomorrow for some target practice. If I get serious about the accuracy of this thing than I will try the Wolf...as it sits it is as accurate as I need for squirrels.

 

[Larry in SD]

I do not use the Wolf Match Target for any hunting, but ratehr dig it out when I want to shoot itty bitty groups on paper. For hunting I still rely on my Walmart Hollow Points. To tell the truth the gophers don't know the difference.

Larry

 

[FOTIS]

Love upgrading the 10/22's!