Ruger 10/22 project gun

David LaPell

Private
Minuteman
Feb 6, 2021
5
14
Adirondack Mountains
The first .22 rifle I ever owned was a Ruger 10/22 I bought brand new in 1995, I had it for awhile, shot some squirrels with it, I even shot a few beavers with it at my grandfather's pond during the summer when trapping them would have been too much effort and their hides were worthless. There was something about the 10/22 I never really liked, so I sold it. I bought another one a few years back when the takedown version came out. I had the same problem though, something about it didn't fit, so I traded it off. I gave it one more shot, I got a really good deal on a 10/22 carbine, but the same issues presented themselves and I bet less than a couple hundred rounds came out of that 10/22 before I sold it.
So when I was trying to decide between a Ruger American rimfire or a 10/22 I decided to really do some research this time and sat down to see what I disliked about the 10/22. The first thing I decided was that the stock needed to go, along with the barrel. I wanted a comfortable stock that would let me snug up to the gun, but also something I can hunt with, not a strict target stock, so I went with the Hogue stock. On to the barrel, I think one of the issues to me with the 10/22 is that the gun is really just too darn light, so while I could have gone with a carbon fiber barrel, I decided to go with the Shaw 16.5 inch heavier barrel, which to me offers just the right amount of weight to the gun without making it too heavy. As far as the scope, where I live, a 200 yard shot is a rarity with the heavy brush and forests so a lot of magnification isn't necessary. The scope isn't the most expensive, it fit right into my budget, the Simmons Whitetail 4x. The scope does a nice job for the money, especially on the Ruger. I've added a few other things not in the photo, an Isle manufacturing extended mag release, a JWH extended charging handle which helps get a better grip and a Caldwell bi-pod. On the way and hopefully here today, a BX trigger to replace the awful factory trigger. Overall I don't have a heck of a lot of money into this gun, which is what I wanted, a custom gun without the hefty price tag. I resold the factory barrel on Ebay and that paid for half the cost towards the BX trigger. I am well under a thousand dollars on a gun that now feels right to me, and my wife has fallen in love with it too.

aNmlBLX.jpg
 
10/22 is not a “percision” rifle IMO. Prepare to give your child’s first semester tuition to KIDD if you want a 10/22 with satisfactory (my satisfactory) percision. I have a half dozen, and only the kids shoot them. The full KIDD is the only one I’ll ever pull out, and it likes TenX, like the bolt .22s.

I’m into a Savage in an LSS-22 for about a grand (minus suppressor), and I’m happy (not Vudoo happy) shooting that. The bullets mostly go where the crosshairs lie. 10/22 is too frustrating for me even at the pinnacle of percision.

The last one I bought was a takedown (for SHTF, lol), and that one has been on loan to a friend for more than a year now. Can’t say I miss it or I’d have asked for it back by now. That one sucks the most of all. It’s a fucking musket.
 
So I’m going to hijack this for Vudoo and a rethink on dong a bolt gun.

Last Feb I was thinking of building a 22 on a 10/22 platform thinking that a Vudoo bolt was too much at $2k+/-. But, by the time I tits-upped the specs on the 10/22 with Kidd, Proof, a new Bravo stock and all bells and whistles I got within a couple hundred of the Vudoo.

So I bought the Vudoo barreled action, an X-ray chassis and a stack of centerX and haven’t looked back. Maybe the best decision of 2020.

Now, a decent used 10/22 has a place to be sure but if you really want to take advantage of the platforms modularity, do the math because the really good stuff adds up.
 
Having built a few, I like where you've gone, pretty nice looking, and should fit the ticket for a decent shooter without breaking the bank.
 
I built a 10/22 last year. Had fun with it but it did get somewhat costly. Here's the list of parts:

-Brownells receiver (Kidd bolt, guide rod and spring, charging handle, bolt buffer, receiver pins and v-block)
-.920 straight fluted barrel from Shaw Barrels
-Brimstone tier 1 single stage flat trigger
-Magpul Hunter stock (Recently changed to KRG Bravo and it was such a great upgrade)

It shot pretty damn good and favored the Eley ammo the most and it surprisingly shot federal automatch extremely good as well. Here's how the Eley shot. The automatch wasn't far behind for performance.
 

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A KIDD or Joe Chacon custom are the only 10/22 platforms I would want.
I have a Chacon and it shoots very well for its intended purpose.
Actually pretty close to a Vudoo at times.
 

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The first .22 rifle I ever owned was a Ruger 10/22 I bought brand new in 1995, I had it for awhile, shot some squirrels with it, I even shot a few beavers with it at my grandfather's pond during the summer when trapping them would have been too much effort and their hides were worthless. There was something about the 10/22 I never really liked, so I sold it. I bought another one a few years back when the takedown version came out. I had the same problem though, something about it didn't fit, so I traded it off. I gave it one more shot, I got a really good deal on a 10/22 carbine, but the same issues presented themselves and I bet less than a couple hundred rounds came out of that 10/22 before I sold it.
So when I was trying to decide between a Ruger American rimfire or a 10/22 I decided to really do some research this time and sat down to see what I disliked about the 10/22. The first thing I decided was that the stock needed to go, along with the barrel. I wanted a comfortable stock that would let me snug up to the gun, but also something I can hunt with, not a strict target stock, so I went with the Hogue stock. On to the barrel, I think one of the issues to me with the 10/22 is that the gun is really just too darn light, so while I could have gone with a carbon fiber barrel, I decided to go with the Shaw 16.5 inch heavier barrel, which to me offers just the right amount of weight to the gun without making it too heavy. As far as the scope, where I live, a 200 yard shot is a rarity with the heavy brush and forests so a lot of magnification isn't necessary. The scope isn't the most expensive, it fit right into my budget, the Simmons Whitetail 4x. The scope does a nice job for the money, especially on the Ruger. I've added a few other things not in the photo, an Isle manufacturing extended mag release, a JWH extended charging handle which helps get a better grip and a Caldwell bi-pod. On the way and hopefully here today, a BX trigger to replace the awful factory trigger. Overall I don't have a heck of a lot of money into this gun, which is what I wanted, a custom gun without the hefty price tag. I resold the factory barrel on Ebay and that paid for half the cost towards the BX trigger. I am well under a thousand dollars on a gun that now feels right to me, and my wife has fallen in love with it too.

aNmlBLX.jpg
You did a great job on that 10/22.
 
I been building and playing with the 10/22 since 1980 and now I own a couple of Kidd SG light weight rifles in Hogue stocks and love them.
 
10/22 is not a “percision” rifle IMO. Prepare to give your child’s first semester tuition to KIDD if you want a 10/22 with satisfactory (my satisfactory) percision. I have a half dozen, and only the kids shoot them. The full KIDD is the only one I’ll ever pull out, and it likes TenX, like the bolt .22s.

I’m into a Savage in an LSS-22 for about a grand (minus suppressor), and I’m happy (not Vudoo happy) shooting that. The bullets mostly go where the crosshairs lie. 10/22 is too frustrating for me even at the pinnacle of percision.

The last one I bought was a takedown (for SHTF, lol), and that one has been on loan to a friend for more than a year now. Can’t say I miss it or I’d have asked for it back by now. That one sucks the most of all. It’s a fucking musket.

You haven't seen a tuition bill in a long time. A kidd is much, much cheaper.
 
I've owned a couple of them and like the OP they just never worked for me. I started looking at all of the modifications and the prices on the parts and the loss in resale turned me away from it. Then I found bolt action rifles and never went back.
 
I decided to see what I could do with some of the 10/22 pieces and parts laying around the shop. So here we go. Stock receiver and bolt from a mid 70's gun, Adams and Bennett (E.R. Shaw) 16.5 inch barrel. 1/14 twist. It's threaded so a 00,LLC suppressor also. I have no idea what generation the trigger came out of. I opened up a standard stock to clear the .920 barrel and reshaped the fore end. 0 MOA base, EGW 1" rings and the Weaver T-10 that's been on half the project rifles I built since the mid 80's. I'll try it out tomorrow.

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