Building a 10/22

[DMW1116]

With my recent apparent success at building a M4 style upper (provided it keeps working like it did today), I thought I might try to put a 10/22 together. Is it fairly straight forward? There are several parts to get, such as barrel, receiver, bolt, trigger, & stock. I haven't disassembled my factory 10/22 yet, but I imagine there are many pins and screws that will have to be sourced, just like all the roll pins, detents, springs, O-rings, and other such bits for an AR. This was also started by the recent uptick in 10/22 threads and people's success with them.

My current 10/22 is in it's final form, except a possible trigger upgrade. When I get to point I need one, I'll have to add a scope, but for now it sports Tech Sights. I say that to say I don't want to start tinkering with the factory 10/22 I already have. A home built one would probably be a target type with a heavy barrel and scope.

 

[InTheSwamp]

I would look at Volquartsen.
Disassembly is straightforward. Plenty of YouTube videos about it.

 

[LocoGringo]

MUCH easier than an AR-15. I built a 10/22 without a single factory part. It's actually easy to do. I will admit I just went with a fully assembled trigger assembly rather than sourcing all of the pins, springs and parts.

I would recommend disassembling what you have before you try building one from scratch. Also, think about what you want out of this rifle and how it will be used most. You can go superlight and fast handling, heavy and accurate or somewhere inbetween.

 

[InTheSwamp]

You can go superlight and fast handling, heavy and accurate or somewhere inbetween.

Yep! It can also be affordable or super-expensive

 

[dh1633pm]

Working on one now. Carbon Fiber Barrel, Volquartsen trigger, and just figuring out what kind of stock I want. I finished it when I get back from Northern Virginia in two weeks. Thinking about the AT-1 stock.

 

[CraigC]

I've done quite a few of both. It's simpler and easier to do a 10/22. Everything revolves around the barrel. Decide what purpose it's going to serve and tailor your barrel to that purpose. Steel bull barrels are heavy, very heavy. If this is a walkabout rifle, you don't want a steel bull barrel. On the other extreme, most lightweight barrels are too light to shoot accurately offhand, in my opinion.

Accuracy is wholly dependent on the barrel. Cheap barrels, as in $100 or less, are a waste of money. If you want accuracy that is measurably better than the factory carbine, you want to spend money on the barrel. Good barrels being at $200 and go up from there.

Everything else can be upgraded over time.

 

[Spats McGee]

I am also working on a 10/22 build. As they say in retail: "Good, fast, or cheap. Pick two." For mine, I have chosen cheap and good, so I'm sure my build is going to take forever. I haven't actually changed anything on my rifle, so I'm not in a position to give you advice. Good luck and I hope it turns out well!

 

[Skylerbone]

I always try to keep people here rather than steering to another site, but John Picher has penned a good number of tips on modifying the 10/22 from stock. I realize that is not your stated purpose but those posts provide a wealth of insight as to inadequacies, giving you a heads up on what to know. Mr Picher also happens to be a member here.

 

[Bartojc]

I undertook building a 10/22 a year ago. I have never built an AR or a 10/22 but generally thought of myself as somewhat "handy". Building a 10/22 is failry easy, and today with online advice and recommendations can make it seem simple. Lots of choices depending on what you are looking to do. You'll learn on your first and build another with your new found knowledge and experiance

I highly recommend building a 10/22 if it is something you think you are interested in, but caution you that it will likely be cheaper to buy the rifle you want. For me, my goal was to build a 10/22 without any original 10/22 parts. I failed as I wanted it to be a budget build and ended up sourcing a Ruger receiver from S&P as my only stock Ruger part.

-Jeff

 

[doubleh]

I have built 2 over the years. The 10/22 is a very simple design and easy to work on unless you are a complete mechanical klutz. The most challenging thing is changing barrels as some can be very tight or loose in the receiver. I don't know if the 10/22 or AR has a larger assortment of aftermarket parts available but it's huge in either case. Neither of mine gave me any problem. All that is still Ruger is the receiver and bolt and I trued the bolt faces and head spaced them. I will note that no accuracy improvement was accomplished with either. One is heavy and made for bench shooting. I made and installed a rear hold down tang. Again accuracy remained the same. The other is a very light weight off hand gun. Accuracy off the bench is slightly less than with the heavy one as I expected. I have built 3 stocks for the heavy one. The last is made from bamboo and it will remain. Only 2 for the other and it is made from several glued up layers of a 1/2" plywood that I can no longer find. I have enjoyed the builds and most likely haven't spent any more money that a golf or photography bug would spend. There is a certain satisfaction in taking a gun you don't like and turning it into something you do.

 

[Gary W. Strange]

I just finished building a 10/22, I started on in 2019. Put it to the side because of back and neck surgery. I used a Tactical Innovations Elite 22S receiver, coated stainless steel, Revelation stock, Pike Arms bolt, and mag release, got a CMC trigger on the way, and a 20” threaded KSA barrel. Shot it some at 50 years a few weeks ago. It really likes CCI green tag. The 5 shot group is CCI Green Tag and the bottom picture with two groups, top is CCI standard velocity and bottom is Green Tag. It will shot CCI standard velocity ok but it throws a flyer in about every group. I am going to get some Eley, Laupa, SK and some other good ammo, to see if it will group tighter. The only thing Ruger in this build is the magazine. Very happy with it so far. It is very satisfying to have a rifle, you built from parts to shoot well. If you use good parts, you will end up with a nice rifle.