Ruger 10-22 barrel band

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cowboy77

cowboy77

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I just bought one of these and installed the Ruger trigger to get it down to around 2.6 lbs. It is shooting great sub moa groups at 50 yards and with a 4x12x40 Nikon on it I can pretty much dial up or use spot on with CCI mini mags out to a 150 yard quarter sized target if the wind isn't blowing. I have been looking at the Magtech stocks and notice no front barrel band is needed. I was wondering if the lack of the band would help with accuracy. I noticed the first time I took it apart for a thorough cleaning the groups opened up some and I used a Wheeler Fat wrench and kept going in increments up to 24 inch pounds and everything came back into place again. I can't help but think the barrel band would have some effect on the Harmonics of the barrel. Only a critter gitter so it doesn't have to be sub moa but I like them that way.
 
I bought an old 5-digit 10/22 from a buddy who needed beer money many years ago. It was abused... but boy howdy it could shoot. It was a few years before I realized... it didn't have the front barrel band. I bought a new stock for it, and added the barrel band... and accuracy went down. I took the barrel band off... and it's back to normal. It wouldn't take much to try...
 
Another thing to try is to put a small card stock square between the stock and barrel at the band area if you need to use the band. Plain card stock like an index card. Many will respond favorably but if yours does not you are not out much.
 
This one was horrible, another '67 model (prev post was a SPC from '67).
Overton stock was NEVER done correctly. Wood touched one side hard, and the tip had huge pressure........the barrel band
was a bear to get on/off. I sanded the offended areas (bbl channel at tip and one side) and accuracy was much improved.
Poor thing was a turd for 40 plus years........boy they don't make em like they used to LOL!

View attachment 825303
 
I had a DSP that shot well, but would change POI.
Also had a '72 standard that did well, w barrel band left on.
Current 10/22s are an '85 w GM bbl in target stock, and a '71 SP.
No barrel bands.

On my old '67 standard..............the inlet was messed up. Band off or on didn't matter.
But after I fixed the problem, it shot well, band off or on, and the barrel band was a breeze to remove/put screw in.

Just sayin' if you barrel band off makes a difference...........it might be due to the band, or the inlet.
Need to see what really is going on.

The Overtons were hollow under the rest of the bbl channel.......so not much needed removed to make it right.
But the one I had was jacked, and had been from the get go.

Prev owner proly shot junk ammo, had a beater Tasco on it........and couldn't tell. Either that or he figured a Mountain Dew and he had a kinda sorta shotgun.
 
Amazing how I had to buy a match barrel, stock and ammo, to get sub MOA .

Internet rumor? the sporters might have had better headspace and moved to that model.
I dunno.
My SPC had the crap shot out of it by orig owner and it did .75" at 50 yards w Blazer at 6X. I thought that pretty darn good.
Did check headspace and it wasn't horrible, can't remember exact value though.
It was only slightly better than the standard I got.
Dunno if that difference mattered or if it was something else.
 
Got my 10/22 in '78 and it's been a tack driver since the first time out of the box. Have swapped out the factory stock with a Butler Creek folding model many times and it's still as accurate as can be. Always tightened the barrel band so it's securely in place but never over tightened it. Added a scope shortly after I got it because I knew the accuracy potential was there beyond what I could do with the iron sights.

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A bunch of people will probably be able to tell you what makes their 10/22 shoot better, but I doubt anyone will be able to tell you what will make yours shoot better.
If you go over to rimfire central you will find many threads about how to optimize 10/22s for accuracy. There does not seem to be any magical formula that works for all 10/22s.

Some have found that removing the barrel band from their 10/22 carbine stocks improved accuracy and some found that it made it worse. Some have gotten improved accuracy from a completely free-floated barrel and others have not. Some have found joy by adding a small barrel support like a piece of bicycle inner tube at the front end of their stock, but others have not. And there are all types of recommendations for how tight to torque the take-down screw and a lot of differing opinions regarding the best techniques and the value of bedding the receiver in the stock.

I have not found any significant difference in accuracy of my wood stock carbine 10/22 with the barrel band on or off. My recommendation is that if your rifle is shooting well now, don't change anything.
 
It has been my experience that the models that do not come with a barrel band tend to be more accurate. And the one I customized with an aftermarket barrel with no barrel band is the most accurate I've owned. I don't see any way possible that having the barrel band could improve accuracy. Removing it alone might not help, but it won't hurt. I wouldn't buy an aftermarket barrel that used the band.

There is no such thing as a 4X14X40 scope. They make a 4-14X40. There is a difference, and it does matter.
 
jmr40 said:
It has been my experience that the models that do not come with a barrel band tend to be more accurate. And the one I customized with an aftermarket barrel with no barrel band is the most accurate I've owned. I don't see any way possible that having the barrel band could improve accuracy. Removing it alone might not help, but it won't hurt. I wouldn't buy an aftermarket barrel that used the band.

There is no such thing as a 4X14X40 scope. They make a 4-14X40. There is a difference, and it does matter
Click to expand...

^^^THIS^^^
 
jmr40 said:
It has been my experience that the models that do not come with a barrel band tend to be more accurate. And the one I customized with an aftermarket barrel with no barrel band is the most accurate I've owned. I don't see any way possible that having the barrel band could improve accuracy. Removing it alone might not help, but it won't hurt. I wouldn't buy an aftermarket barrel that used the band.

There is no such thing as a 4X14X40 scope. They make a 4-14X40. There is a difference, and it does matter.
Click to expand...


I’m pretty sure you knew what I meant by scope. Actually it’s a 4-12x40 so a typo on my part. The stocks are relatively inexpensive so worth a shot. I do like the extra length of pull with the Magtech.
 
I tried Federal match, Wolf, Winchester extreme and the CCI stingers are holding their own in the accuracy dept. Federal match ran a close second and Wolf behind it. The Winchester Xtreme looked more like a shotgun pattern. Just this rifle I presume since my Marlin model 60 keeps up with the Ruger using the Federal but hates the CCI. I’m beginning to think the Torque on the takedown screw has more to do with it than the ammunition.
 
I built a few 10/22s for some school shooting clubs back in the late '80 early '90s.
First thing I asked was if I could remove the barrel band. Those that said no ended up bringing theirs back to have it done. All shot better without it.
 
I fooled with mine going from 10 inch pounds up until I hit a sweet spot. Anything over started opening groups back up again.
 
I have a 30 year old 10-22 "deluxe model" (back when they only made 2 models) with no barrel band. it is the only one I have ever owned or fired. Do the other models need the bands to keep them together?
 
FL-NC said:
Do the other models need the bands to keep them together?
Click to expand...

Nope.

The 10/22 only has one action screw which leaves it vulnerable to movement. I believe the band is Ruger’s attempt to provide a second point of contact (unfortunately at a point that can hinder accuracy).
 
If you have a stock that uses a barrel band and find that the rifle shoots better with the band off, if you don't want to modify the stock and feel that the rifle looks funny without the band it is very easy to relieve the inside on the upper part of the band so that it does not contact the barrel whatsoever.
 
I meant to buy a Magtech stock for it over the weekend but never made it to the gun store. I like the extra length of pull on it.
 
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