Ruger 10/22T Advice wanted!

[dmftoy1]

Ok, I just got the itch and put the money down on a Ruger 10/22T (pick it up on Monday ) and I was looking for some good advice. I've got an old Weaver 4x scope that I'm going to mount on it for now, but I'm looking for advice on what's a good scope for this gun. It's intended usage will be 100yards or less, primarily for target shooting and plinking.

Also, what's a good cleaning rod for this gun? Do I need a bore guide? How often do people typically clean these? I clean my handguns after every session, and my centerfire rifles after every session, but I don't know how often people are cleaning rimfires.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

 

[JBP]

I'm not as fussy with my rimfire scopes as I am with my centerfire since they don't get the recoil abuse. I put a rebuilt Tasco World Class on mine over 6 years ago and I don't recall every adjusting it since I sighted it in. I clean all my firearms after every session but if you check other posts here and over at rimfirecentral.com you will find those that don't clean until accuracy is affected and some clean after as few as 50 rounds.

 

[Omega_7]

I just bought a NIB SS 10/22 at a gunshow

Great little plinker, trainer and small game gun. I did not want the laminated stock and I had a spare birch stock so I got a good deal sans stock. I already have a blued 10/22 with Choate folder and a bunch of pre ban Butler Creek 25 rounders. It has not burped once in several hundred rapid fire rounds. I use CCI Stingers or CCI mini mags.
Here's what I did for a scope.. a red dot Tasco make which was $19 from CDNN !

I got rid of the silly airgun mount and used a drop-in replacement Volquartsen Weaver mount. I sell Volquartsen stuff so I know about it's quality. Here's the mount, installed

 

[Omega_7]

Here's the scope, mounted

It's about a 3 MOA dot * and would be fine for any .22lr shooting range/use

 

[Omega_7]

And here is the Volquartsen cleaning kit I recommend

It is a coated steel cable that you can put thru the chamber end and draw thru without damaging your muzzle. Usually just the patches and Hoppes will do the trick. But you can attach a brush as well. For most use the plastic brushes work, but if I am going to put the gun away for a while in the safe, it gets a few passes with a bronze brush. I use 5-30 Royal Purple synthetic motor oil for lube and rust protection.

Eventually I will trick this 10/22 out with a Volquartsen trigger group and the poly recoil buffers, and if the AWB sunsets, a folder stock.

 

[dmftoy1]

Thanks guys!

So with a snake type cleaner you don't have to worry about the rifling wearing down unevenly from it dragging? doesn't the cable coating get cut up?

Regards,
Dave

 

[Omega_7]

The cable is heavily coated with modern rubber

There's no way the rubber is going to get worn out anytime soon. The only part that's metal is the brass patch holder, which is way softer than barrel steel and will rarely if at all make barrel contact anyway due to the patches. Actually for most uses quality paper towels make fine patches. For this type of patch holder it's best to use the pre-packaged fiber types. But if all that bothers you and you wanna use paper towel patches, just use a cheap plastic patch holder, like the Outers types.

You are gonna love your 10/22. I am looking for them at every show and plan eventually to build a basement .22 gallery using a lighted culvert pipe tunnel, so we can practice or train ourselves and others at any time. I will install a motorized target return

 

[SDC]

If you're REALLY worried about crown wear from cleaning, you can do what I've done with my 10/22; mount the barrelled receiver in a lathe, then use the tail stock/dead center to drill a 1/4" hole in the rear of the receiver. You have to take the bolt out to use the hole for cleaning, but it works and the hole is covered by the stock when the rifle is assembled. HTH.

 

[Omega_7]

That's why I recommend the above Volquartsen kit

You do not need to modify the gun at all. About the only use I have for a cleaning rod for my .22s is if a bullet were to be stuck in the barrel, which has never happened to me.

 

[OneShot]

Have you checked out www.rimfirecentral.com

I have two tricked out CF barreled 10/22's and that site has helped me out quite a bit. They also list all kinds of aftermaeket suppliers for 10/22's--Oneshot

 

[dmftoy1]

Thanks guys!

Regards,
Dave

 

[SC_shooter]

For cleaning, I recommend a piece of weed eater line. Or a PatchWorm.

If you want to know about 10/22's, I'd suggest going to rimfirecentral.com.

Paul

 

[Gewehr98]

Another school of thought...

As discussed on www.rimfirecentral.com :

You have a 10/22T - that's the target version, which means you bought that model looking for tight groups, right?

Something a few heavy-barrel FrankenRuger nuts like myself and a few others have been doing is chamber cleaning the guns, but skipping the bore cleaning. The idea is that rimfire ammo leaves a coating of bullet lube all the way down the bore. Rimfire rounds aren't moving fast enough to lead a bore, nor do they really leave much powder fouling. So to maintain accuracy, leave the bore alone, you want the residual lube to remain. However, even the better grades of match rimfire ammo, like Eley, Lapua, and RWS, leave a lot of lube and blowback residue at the very forward end of the 10/22 chamber, it's the nature of a blowback-operated autoloader as opposed to a bolt-action Anschutz match rifle. Over time, this deposit will prevent the rounds from chambering all the way, causing misfires or just a "click".

Easy fix. Use your favorite solvent, in my case, Ed's Red, and a Q-Tip, go in from the breech end, and swab just the chamber, using clean Q-Tips until one comes out white. Then clean the burn pattern at the muzzle's barrel crown, making sure to stay out of the bore itself. Voila'! These groups were done with lube-fouled bores just last Friday:




The gun was a sister to this one:

 

[dmftoy1]

LOL - that's really cool! Thanks!

I might just try that. I figure if the accuracy every does degrade then do a full bore cleaning.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Mal H]

On your quest for a scope dmftoy1, I did the same as JBP. I put a Tasco World Class 6-24 X 40 AO on my 10/22T - it was on sale at Midway as I recall. I didn't want to spend a mint on the scope since this was just going to be a fun gun, not going for any trophies. As it turned out, that scope has been flawless and has never failed to keep zero. Of course being on a heavy 22, that's not a hard task for a scope. I would highly recommend an adjustable objective. Unlike on a hunting rifle, you're most likely going to find yourself shooting at fairly close distances. The AO really comes in handy at those times.

 

[BamBam-31]

Ditto Gewher 98 and Mal H. Only thing I'd add is to upgrade the trigger a bit. I swapped out VQ parts for my trigger, and it made a world of difference.

Good luck. You're gonna really enjoy that rifle. For some reason, .22lr's have been my favorite weapons to shoot of late. Prolly my wallet talking....

 

[dmftoy1]

I've been looking at doing the VQ hammer. From what I'm reading that will reduce the pull to just a little below 3lbs which is probably perfect for me. I figure I'll run at least a brick through it before doing anything though to get a feel for it. I've never had a heavy barrel before, all my previous experience with the 10/22 was with the standard carbine about 20 years ago. (and iron sights).

Have a good one,
Dave