Old vs New Ruger 10/22s

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TMann

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Got a question for you Ruger 10/22 fans out there: If you had the chance to buy a excellent condition older model 10/22 with the metal trigger guard, would you buy it instead of a new one? If the answer is yes, would you actually pay MORE for the older model than the new one?

One of our local gun shops has an older 10/22 with what appears to be a walnut "sporter" stock, plus an inexpensive Simmon scope. The gun looks pristine. The price is about $100 more than a new model with the carbine (metal barrel band) stock.

I love the feel of the walnut stock, and I have a thing for older all-metal guns. But still...if seems a bit much to pay that much of a premium.

Any thoughts?

TMann

Here's a pic of the sporter stock. This is not my photo:

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A really old one? Like 1970's? or a just-before-plastic old one?

I think the polymer was an improvement over the (circa 2000-'05) metal, since the coating is integral and there is less play between the receiver and trigger group. Also, the hammer, mag release, etc are better, IMHO.

BUT, I think the circa 1970's metal guns beat all...with a few modern Volquartsen, or similar, parts dropped in.

Personally, if i were to go with an unaltered factory offering wood& blue .22lr, i'd go with a CZ...which is close in price if you're paying $100 over reg. carbine price. And, for that price, if you want to build something up with a lot of aftermarkets, I'd probably go with a NoDak receiver and order ala-carte from there.
 
Since we are talking 10/22's, I doubt if I would pay more for a used one than I would a brand new one...I'd also do like the previous poster and skip the 10/22 and go with a CZ out-of-the box accuracy were of importance.
 
I'm a diehard blued steel and walnut man and that is WHY I don't put a premium on the older 10/22's. I agree that the polymer trigger housings were an improvement. It would be different if they used to be blued steel but they were not. The less painted aluminum the better. Were I wanting an all metal 10/22 with a good finish, I'd build one off a Nodak receiver, which has a hard anodized finish. No wait, I already did. ;)
 
If the used one is a sporter with a walnut stock (10/22 DSP), I would guess that it's the "Sporter" that you're paying the premium for, not the older aluminum parts. You need to compare it to the price of a current 10/22 DSP "Deluxe" model. Bud's currently has the DSP priced at $289. Personally, I prefer the less durable, painted aluminum over the plastic, so I might pay a premium for an older model in real nice condition.:D
 
The original basic 10/22s came with walnut stocks, blued steel and anodized aluminum receivers. In the late '70s early 80s the standard stocks were switched to birch. Sometime around 2005, Ruger switched to the plastic trigger guard assembly/barrel band and painted finish on both receiver and barrels. The last I heard they went back to an anodized receiver an matte finish barrel type finish.

Personally I wouldn't pay an extra $100 for a deluxe sporter even if it is the old vintage and has a walnut stock.

As a range officer at my local club and as an Appleseed instructor I see a lot 10/22s both old and new. The new ones work just as well as the old ones.

However, if I was looking for a 10/22 I would start looking at used ones in out of the way gunshops and pawn shops. Not because they are better but because you should be able to find used ones cheaper than a new one.
 
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Blued steel what?

Ruger switched to polymer trigger housings 3yrs ago, not in 2005.

Ruger has recently switched back to the teflon coated receivers and brush finished barrels. The blued models have not been anodized since 1968. The stainless models were clear anodized up until the switch to the wrinkle finish. Barrels on blued models have ALWAYS been blued, never painted. They were bead blasted for a short period, during which lots of people complained.

All deluxe sporters are walnut.
 
The new Polymer trigger guards are junk. On the one I got and one that a friends boy has, if you have the trigger assembly out and turn it on its side, the mag release pin falls right out. And to make matters worse, the trigger return plunger is much jerkier than on the metal guard models. I bought my first one in 1991, the last one in 2011.

As to the used deluxe sporter pictured, NO, I wouldn't pay a $100 premium over a new model. God knows what condition the scope is really in (It might be a $40 new scope) and he only knows what has been done inside.
 
The newest paint is better than old.

On my 2011 10/22, the paint is a lot more durable. It doesn't flake off when scratched.

On my 2007 10/22, the paint would flake off around scratches.

I'm going to have my 2007 10/22 refinished. The paint on it will not adhere worth a darn.

The new paint might be an oven cure epoxy like Gunkote. Maybe it is Gunkote.

I like the polymer trigger housing. The trigger guard won't break or bend like the old aluminum one.
 
No experience with the 60' and 70's models, but I think the newer ones with the plastic trigger guard are a big improvement over the ones made during the 80's through the early 2000's. The platic is a big improvement over painted aluminum and the newer rifles I've shot have better triggers and have been more accurate.
 
New Ones are almost $300 now, I own 4 of them made across the last 20 years. I have built 3 of them into customs The fourth bought 2 years ago (last of the metal trigger guards) I wanted to keep looking stock, so when I tested the stock take off barrels I had for accuracy, the oldest barrel was more accurate by a bit than the more recently manufactured barrels. I put that barrel on my stock looking custom. If you like it, and it's in good condition I would not hestitate to pay $100 more than for a new one. I would however, try to negotiate the price down by offering $150 less than they are asking and waving cash in their face. Cash on the counter now often lowers the price of a used gun significantly.

I find it funny that the some folks telling you its not worth it have built custom 10/22's and could have spent $500-$1000 doing it plus the cost of the base 10/22 they started with.

BTW 10 years ago DICKS would run a special on 10/22s and they would sell new for $149, with the metal trigger guard housing and a blued barrel.
 
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jmr40 said:
No experience with the 60' and 70's models, but I think the newer ones with the plastic trigger guard are a big improvement over the ones made during the 80's through the early 2000's. The platic is a big improvement over painted aluminum and the newer rifles I've shot have better triggers and have been more accurate.
Click to expand...


Yup -- I can only base it on the two 10/22's that I own (an older S/S and newer polymer models), but the polymer one has a significantly better trigger.


.
 
I have one that I bought for my father Christmas 1965. He never liked it (although he appreciated the thought). He died in'75. In the time he had it, I doubt that he put more than two or three boxes of cartridges through it. I've had it since, with the box, all the paperwork and a little carbon of the hand-written sales slip like waitresses used to use in greasy spoons (Meltzer's Hardware, Garfield NJ -$54.50) I don't like the gun either, and it has pretty much stayed in the cabinet for these 40-odd years. That said, to compare his rifle with what they're producing these days is to see what's happened to the firearms industry over the course of time...
 
I'd pay more for the older ones, but only if (1) they're in VERY good condition, and (2) they have a walnut stock. Like the one in the OP's picture. ;) Yes, I think I'd pay $100.00 more for an older DSP, in that condition, than a NIB standard carbine. I don't know they're any better, but I just like the older guns.

I wouldn't buy a new one, but ONLY because I don't like the extended magazine release. It upsets the clean lines of a classic rifle. I never had any trouble with the old flush magazine release.

How were the 90's era Rugers?
Click to expand...

I've owned several of the 90's era, DSP 10/22's, and one lamanated stock carbine from that era now that I think of it. They were all good guns. Looked great too. I don't care too much for the standard carbine stock, but the checkered walnut DSP stocks, the DSP style hardwood stock, and the Manlincher stocks, I like.
 
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I have a '10 ruger and a '74. Both have barrels that are nothing to get excited about. I do like the anadized recoievers and barrel finish way better on the early rifles better than the spray paint job ruger use's on the newer models. I could care less on the trigger assembly used. metal or plastic nether is close to good. Drop a 10/22 and it hits on the aluminum reciever and the trigger guard will break into several pieces, the palctic will not break. For me a nice old model with walnut stock a new trigger assembly would be the best way to go.
 
CraigC,

I was referring to the barrel being blued steel and I should have said, "sometime after 2005 they switched to the plastic trigger assembly" because my 2005 rifle still had the metal one.

I have a two or three year old new take off barrel that has a black matte finish on it. Definitely different than blued steel. I thought it and some of the later stainless barrels had a baked on finish on them, the wrinkle finish you were referring to. The newest of my 4 10/22s was made in 2005, the other 3 were made in the 1990s, 1980s, and 1970s. All were bought used but were original.
 
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All the later model matte finished rifles I've handled have been matte blued. The only difference being the metal prep before bluing, or lack thereof. Not paint, as some folks claim.
 
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