10/22 accuracy in question

[Lightsped]

I have a 10/22 Target Tactical, and a CZ-452 Silhouette. The 10/22 has the factory short 16" bull barrel, while the CZ has the factory 22" barrel.

I have noticed a huge difference in accuracy at 75-100 yards. The CZ is much sharper. Is this normal? Is it because of the barrel length? Both guns have identical Mueller APV scopes on them.

 

[Art Eatman]

My 10/22 was very picky about ammo. I guess I tried a dozen different brands/styles before I got good groups. Numerous posts here have noted the same.

Odds are, it's not barrel length. I have an old Schutzen rifle that's over a hundred years old, with a 30" barrel. Lord knows how many rounds have gone through it. You'd get bored and quit before you'd shoot outside a quarter at 40 yards. Peep sights; I'm ancient, myownself and wear trifocals.

 

[Red Cent]

Lightsped, the 10-22 most always needs tweaking. What size are the groups at what distance?

 

[Lightsped]

I'd say the Ruger is making handsized groupings at 100 yards. The CZ is doing much better at the same distance. I have tried various ammo with same results for the Ruger....

 

[CraigC]

Barrel length alone has no bearing on accuracy. Generally speaking, a $400 boltgun will outshoot a $400 semi-auto just about every time so the CZ should be expected to shoot better. Ruger's Target models have a decent barrel on them but the chamber is lacking. If there is enough length, it could be setback and rechambered but it might already be too short to stay over the 16" legal limit. If you wanna cut your group size considerably, you'll need a good barrel. By good I don't mean a hundred dollar one but a Clark, KID, Shilen or Lilja. CZ's tend to be quite accurate so expect to spend twice as much on a 10/22 to be just as accurate.

That said, there's a lot that can go wrong with the .22LR at 100yds. I'd suggest doing all your serious testing and comparisons at 50yds.

 

[Karl Hungus]

My 10/22 was very picky about ammo.

Can't stress this enough.

I would expect the CZ to be inherently more accurate (especially out of the box), but you should be able to get better than hand-sized groups at 100 yds. My 10/22 has the stock 20" bull bbl and I can get 10 rounds in a tennis ball sized target pretty easily shooting CCI Green Tag.

 

[madcratebuilder]

I have a 10/22 Target Tactical

It probably has a sloppy chamber and excessive head space. Address those problems and it should tighten up.

 

[Dallas Jack]

I tried all sorts of standard ammo. The only match type ammo I used was Wolf M/T and it shoots great. My 10/22 started out life as a Target model. It's been heavily modded from stock but it has always shot Wolf very well. I guess I should try some Eley or Green Tag some day.

CZ's rimfires are known for shooting well. I'm not surprised that it outshoots your 10/22. All is not lost with your 10/22. A little work on the trigger and some target ammo should make a difference.
Dallas Jack

 

[benzy2]

There are a few problems the 10-22 faces from the start. First, being a factory semi-auto, reliability is a huge concern. As such, Ruger has decided to use a fairly loose chamber design. This way the feeding is great but accuracy does suffer. Also, as others have mentioned, the chamber is a bit long on the factory barrels. This again is to help feeding as well as to try to avoid out of battery instances. Unfortunately, this too hurts accuracy. I'm not sure what the target tactical comes with for a trigger but I can't imagine its very good. This is another area that is a bit of a problem for accuracy.

Now the CZ can use a tighter chamber as feeding is slower. They can use a shorter (normal) chamber as the user is driving the case into the chamber and you don't have to hope the bolt comes far enough forward. You know it will. The CZ trigger is much lighter than the Ruger triggers I have had from the factory. With a little home effort the CZ trigger becomes crisp and can be adjusted for weight down into the ounces range. This allows for easier accuracy than the 10-22.

The real issue is that you have to realize the differences allowed in a bolt rifle (especially those that aren't bottom dollar) compared to even a decent factory semi-auto. There are many semi-auto rifles that shoot pretty darn good from the factory. There are semi-auto rifles that shoot amazing with a bit of work. From the factory though, a $400 semi-auto has too many other issues that are being addressed that accuracy isn't always the primary concern. A $400 bolt rifle has much less to worry about in the reliability realm that more effort can be placed on accuracy.

 

[ms6852]

I get quarter to half dollar size 10 shot groups at a hundred. The problem is that the ruger has one take down screw. This is what I did to tweek mine. I loosened the takedown screw enough to where I could fit to business cards between the barrel and the stock. Using a wheeler tork screwdriver I would tighten a couple of inch/lbs. and shoot a group and would repeat the process several times. If I was not happy with the best group shot I would loosened the screw again and move the business cards up or down the shaft until I found what my rifle likes. The sweet spot for my ruger is about 7 inches from the take down screw and 11 inch/lbs tight on the take down screw.

 

[rangerruck]

make sure you have no bbl droop, and tighten up the bbl allen screws , to make sure you have even, good tension. Secondly, usually the worst prob on these is the trigger group; you have to improve the trigger on these, to get them to shoot better. Lastly, a bolt gun with a good rep for accuracy, like cz, will most assuredly have a tighter made chamber, to hold the ammo, ' still', before it is fired, and be in or near the same place every time, before the ammo goes off, as opposed to a semi auto rifle , with a more, shall we say, sloppily made chamber.

 

[Lightsped]

I guess I just figured that a brand new 10/22 would at least shoot decent groups at 100 yards. I have a small target that is about the size of a palm of a hand. I can usually hit this target consistantly at 70-80 yards, but once the target is moved back to 100 yards it gets quite difficult. Again, scope is a Mueller APV 4.5-14x40.

 

[rangerruck]

scope, if all tight and working right, is plenty good enough to do that job;
very decent scope.