10/22 stock target model upgrades

[Shooter2012]

Hello, I'm new to the place and have just been introduced to the sport!

First time out I was treated to using a CZ with a 6-24 scope.

That's all great but now I have to start my shopping list, for the next little while I will be using a 6-24 scope which is being lent to me, a ruger 10/22 target which I already have.

I need match grade ammo but I may just use CCI for the first match once I get the gun sighted in.

The gun is my major question. It shoots welll, I already know that. But are there any little upgrades to get me closer to what the bolt guns are preforming at?

I will upgrade in the future but I have to start small and work up on my budget.

Also what is the best for cheapest ammo. I see some people saying CCI blazer are there any others?

Thanks

[boats]

Welcome to the sport. Here is some advice from an old but not a great competitor. I have seen a lot of shots go down range.

My rule is not to shoot cheap ammo, considering all the other cost involved with shooting a match it's a small part of the total. Still when starting out you need some trigger time and probably don't want to spend what a lot of us spend for .22 ammo.

Matches at our club I see all sorts of ammo problems with the real cheap stuff. Best of the relatively inexpensive in my opinion is Winchester Super X Standard Velocity, It's about 33 dollars a brick (500) at our local gun shop. You can buy cheaper and may do well with less expensive. Jams and misfires cost points though. Accurate is important but it's got to function before accurate comes into play. I have had to go to High Speed for Cowboy Silhouette Rams, in order to knock down the heavy targets, and settled on Super X High Speed. It works pretty good in my Marlin 39A. I use the Standard when working with new shooters in my Hunter Class Rifle. Keep a brick or two of each on hand. Your gun if it will shoot it, use standard velocity though, less wind sensitivity than HS. Some autos won't cycle standard. If so it's a disadvantage and smoothing things up to work with SV is worth doing. Often lubing the action will make the difference. Whatever you use make the practice shots count don't machine gun them out there. Save that way not on the cheapest stuff.

On upgrades to your 10/22 or any Silhouette rifle. Most important thing is to have the scope well mounted and a good table of sights for the various distances. I don't know what kind of knobs that scope has but something readable is worth spending for. Aftermarket knobs are available. Label pasted to the scope with correct settings pays dividends and cost little. At the beginner or even advanced stages lot to be gained in targets by not making mistakes, and easiest one to make is sight settings. Loading block or some way to make sure you load the correct amount of rounds too. Magazine rifle it’s real important to have enough magazines to shoot your relay without re-loading. That's 2 or 3 depending on 40 or 60 shot match.

Beyond these small items trigger pull makes the gun far as I am concerned. 10/22's have all sorts of aftermarket accessories, Might be a good trigger out there for little cost. As they come from the factory they can use improvement

Have fun and keep us posted on your progress

Boats

[Dee]

Hi and welcome to the game. Boats already gave you a lot to chew on but I just wanted to say not to spend to heavily on the 10/22 trying to make it something it simply will never be. You will end up spending a lot of money either way

Really though I shoot the CCI SV and shot the Blazers in my CZ back years ago for practice. Some rifles shoot them better than others of course. If you only shoot at the range on match day you can afford to shoot the better ammo all the time. If you plan to shoot at home almost daily you better have a free ammo sponsor supplying you or be shooting the cheaper stuff and save the better stuff for matches.

The only thing I might consider doing to a 10/22 for this game would be a bolt block to keep the bolt from opening until you operate it manually. This would give you a closed bolt for one, no cases in your neighbors ear for another and it would force you to slow down and take your time and you won't have cycling issues using SV ammo.

I started out using my Remington 597 "stove pipe" special with a 3x9 Tasco and a dime to dial it. Then I got a CZ452 Sil and 6-24x Bushnell. Then I got a custom 1712 and then a 54.18. See where this is headed? All I am saying is try the game and if you enjoy it with a stock mostly 10/22 for awhile as you save money for something nicer don't invest much in the rifle you are shooting now as it will probably shoot better than you at this point anyway

Most of all just go to some matches and shoot and see if you think the challenge is for you before you buy anything.


Dee

[boats]

Agree with Dee I would not be putting a lot into a 10/22 They can shoot but have to be much modified, might as well put the cash into something else.

If you have one though it will shoot you into AA class, just don't expect it to do more than it's designed to do. First real upgrade I would make is a scope, that can be put on another rifle later.

Boats

[ShooterP14]

I have a 10-22 that I have put about $1000 into and my CZ 452 shoots better. Incidently, I am looking to sell the Fajion (sp?) stock, Kidd trigger, and Butler Creek bbl.

[jneihouse]

Not hating on anyone's 10-22, or pretending to be a high end gun snob, just sharing some facts from an equipment survey from a recent major west coast match that draws a considerable number of very talented, experienced shooters, spotters, coaches and riflesmiths, both locally and from as far away as Florida....

In Standard Rifle 70 folks filled out the survey...of the 70 guns 54 were Anschutz, 1 was a cooper, 3 were CZ's, 3 were Kimbers, 5 were Remingtons and 4 were Sakos.

In Hunter Rifle 76 folks filled out the survey and of those 56 were Anschutz, 1 Cooper, 5 CZs, 5 Kimbers, 5 Remingtons, and 4 Sakos.

Prove anything? Nope, other than this is what folks were shooting....and a lot of, if not most of these folks have been around the sport a good while, are not "me tooers" and have seen the wheel attempted to be re-invented more than a few times...Does this mean there is not room for innovation and improvement? No, but the room is growing smaller the longer the sport exists.

Just my 2 cents worth FWIW, YMMV
Kitty

[Shooter2012]

I realize that a 10/22 is not a competition gun. I am simply using it to practice with and was wondering if any one knew some tricks to help me a bit.

I am not planning on dumping a 1000$ into this gun. Within a year I would like to have a CZ to play with but for now a friend will let me borrow his at the range.

Thanks everyone who has commented so far, I've done a bit of reading but still will be doing more.

[boats]

It's true Anschutz owns the class. Big matches that's all you see. However at the club level, My club 16 regular shooters, only 2 or 3 Anschutz on the line, and they don't always win. Can't say I ever recall any kind of Ruger winning a match though. Some of the older Remingtons are very good shooting rifles. CZ's for sure are the best way to go entry level.

Main thing is to get out and shoot with what you have, plenty of time to upgrade. One of the better places to buy a Silhouette rifle is at a Match. Always somebody trading around or up.

Boats

[Shooter2012]

Main thing is to get out and shoot with what you have, plenty of time to upgrade.

Boats

Exactly my plans, when I get some time and cash to got shopping, I will come home one day with a CZ. meanwhile I will work with what I have.

[AddictedToSB]

I used a 10/22 until early this year. Other than the obvious of getting a good scope, I think the most important improvement to make is the trigger. BUT, I'm actually glad I used the "bad" trigger for my first year or so. Getting steady enough and developing enough follow thru to deal with a 6+ lb creepy trigger has helped me in the long run.

[Jerry G]

I got into AAA Hunter Class with a 10/22. The only mod I did was to put in a light firing pin to speed it up, add weight in the stock, and work the trigger. It didn't like most ammo but seemed to love Eley black box and on a good day it would shoot a 5 shot group of 1 1/4 minute.

A semi-auto is hard to learn to shoot because the heavy bolt moves when you shoot. It also required a lot of cleaning so it would function on the low power target ammo.

[ywltzucanrknrl]

I do shoot a 10-22 and I like it. It's not as easy to shoot as my Anschutz or Walther---they are more foregiving and easier. Follow through is very important with a 10-22---if you get agressive on the trigger and snapping shots they don't work well.
I think what Dee and Boats said have some real merit---some issues I've had with my 10-22 are "stovepiping" and not getting into a "routine" and flipping hot rounds on my neighbor. My 10-22 shoots Wolf and some Eley very well but stovepipes with it---really casues problems when shooting a string. I'm curious about Dee's suggestion for a bolt block, I've never heard of one or how they work. In my way of thinking a bolt block would take care of the stovepipes, and also help me with more of a routine like I have with my bolt rifles---plus I wouldn't be flinging hot rounds at my neighbor. And what Boats said is important---make sure you have enough magazines.
As far as how accurate 10-22 are, my will stay in the small part of a ram at 100 meters with Blazer and quite a bit better with Wolf---so I figure it's not the accuracy that holds me back with it---in fact I've shot just as good of scores with it as with my bolt guns.
What I would recommend is shooting the heck out of it in good practice sessions---developing a routine with it and really concentrating on the trigger and follow through, plus other shooting fundamentals----practice is more of a key than equipment--I would not worry about upgrades, just shoot it---I learned that the hard way and if your 10-22 will stay inside of the critters---well..... And a Kidd trigger is a great improvment---at least in the way the trigger breaks---although they say they are quite a bit quicker in lock time--I'm not convinced the lock time is much improved, but I would wait and just shoot it the way it is.
I'm not a great shooter and in a typical year I only get in a few club matches and maybe a registered match or two but I've found if I practice with the 10-22 and get used to the trigger and make extra efforts at follow through I shoot it nearly as well as any of my 22's. FWIW I have shot Master class scores with it.
We have trouble with participation around here and we have talked about having 10-22 silhouette days as everyone seems to have one---we have to yet to do that---maybe this year.
I would encourage you to use it---and good luck.

Jon Carlisle
Cody, Wyoming

[boats]

Our club all but closed down due to county use permit problems few years ago. Started our Silhouette program back up and now have to take pre-regestraitons for the 16 small bore slots avalable. Just bought more targets and added 4 positons due to demand.

Couple of things I do. Announce the match week before by email and give match results out quick as possable few days longest. Other thing is to accept about any kind of rifle that fits the rule. And some that don't, first time anyway. Guy has some kind of Assult rifle looking .22 tell him to bring it. He will soon figure out what works and what won't. Serious competitors will invest and move on up in classifaction. Some are happy to fight it out in AA Hunter Class. One of our guys just went Master, could not have been prouder if I had shot the scores my self. He started with a CZ, moved to a 64 MS year ago. I sold all my smallbore Silhouette gear some time ago, in favor of Schuetzen rifles. Find another 54 MS might start shooting the match again to give him some competiton.

Bring it and shoot it best way to figure it out.

Boats

[Shooter2012]

I got the scope I wad given on my gun and I'm very impressed with the fit and feel of it. It is heavy but not unbearable.

All I need now is some ammo to sight it in with and practice with. I'll try to post a pic if I can figure it out.

I have a little under 2 weeks before I get to shoot with the group Im going with so if I do good I'll post scores... If I don't do good I won't. Practice time!

[saikatana]

Great advise so far on not sinking a lot of money into a 10/22 Ruger that could wind up costing more then a CZ or close to an Anschutz.
For simple CHEAP up grades for the 10/22 go to:
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/
this is probably the most info on the 10/22 on line with sections on stocks, actions and how to go wild and spend big money on Ultimate 10/22's
Enjoy and good luck
Saikatana