New Project Rifle

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So I will be starting on a new project rifle. I've been taking care of my oldest son's Ruger 10-22 .22 caliber Rimfire Target model for several years, waiting for him to finish school and move into his own place away from the ex. It's a nice rifle, with a nice bull barrel and custom BX trigger upgrade that I put in for him.

So, I believe a well-shooting .22 rimfire is a must have for everyone's arsenal and that will leave a hole in mine. Not to mention that I have a really nice suppressor waiting to get out of tax stamp jail hold and have been wanting one with a threaded barrel anyway.

I've been on the fence a long time trying to decide if I would buy a pre-built custom model, partially built one, or start with a base model and go from scratch. My brother recently got one that came with a nice stock, threaded target barrel, and BX trigger upgrade pre-installed for a nice price.

So, as luck would have it, while shopping at the Local Gun Stores (LGS) for some .22 Ammo for my other son's upcoming BDay, I just happened to run across a basic model at a really good price and couldn't pass it up. Looks like I'll be building from scratch.

Here is the basic model that I'll be starting with.
ruger1022plain.jpg
Pic courtesy of Ruger.com website.

I'll be adding a custom Match grade barrel. A Volquartsen Carbon Fiber THM Tension Barrel (threaded). It comes with a compensator, but that is really just to protect the threads until I can put the suppressor on. I doubt I'll shoot it much un-suppressed once I get it there!
Volqs1022barrel3.jpg
Pic courtesy of MidwayUSA.com website.

Next will be a custom Volquartsen Trigger assembly, extended mag release, bolt release, and custom stock.
The stock will be a target model Boyd's AT One with thumbhole. I prefer the laminated wood look over some of the others. These come in all kinds of wild colors, but my taste a little more old-school and basic.
BoydsATOneNutmeg.jpg
Pic courtesy of Boydsgunstocks.com web site.

I should have all the parts in the next few weeks and look forward to posting the final result. My goal is to take this semi-auto average plinker from shooting 3 inch groups, to shooting under quarter inch groups at 50 yards, and then see what it can do at 100 yards and farther.



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(Edited)

This is going to be a nice shooter and I'l looking forward to seeing the finished product. One thing I know you for is building up interesting and functional firearms and I think this will be no exception. Every self-respecting prepper has a .22 and this pone is going to be one any would love to own I think, including myself.

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I certainly plan for this to be my "dream .22" I debated quite a bit on choosing this vs. a fancy bolt action. I generally prefer bolt actions, but these Ruger 10-22's are just so reliable and fun to shoot it was hard not to pick. With the higher end barrel, I'm hoping it will still bring me the accuracy I'm looking for, along with the faster followup capability.

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Another rifle we can't have here (semi-auto), but I'll live vicariously through yours. Bolt guns are far more accurate usually but with your mods I think you'll get the 10-22 tuned up nicely. You know what you're doing.

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Maybe you should have bought 2 so to compare the original stock model to the rebuilt... Just a thought..😊

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lol, It's hard enough for me to justify the one purchase, let alone find another deal like I did for this one. I got it for about half the current market rate is, so I just couldn't pass it up. I will do a little pre-mod and post-mod testing for comparison.

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Interesting Build!

"half the going price" so I think you mean "normal price" right??
Last I knew, the wood stock 10/22 was just around $230 and poly a bit less,
I think I saw them for $199 for a while.

I never had a 10/22 but I do have a Marlin 795, which for $150 beats the heck out of a
stock 10/22 at around $70 more. Assuming you are saying 3" group at 50 yards. But
then again, making a target competition rifle, the Ruger has that awesome aftermarket
support. One cannot even get the competition parts for a Marlin, at any price. But for
me, it was just fine. I was shooting dime sized groups with a $10 tasco at 25 yds w/o
even trying. That was sitting and resting on my knee. The gun has much more in it,
that I will be able to get for a long time. 25+ round magazines are dirt cheap too, and
there is a bull-pup stock for it that is quite compact and reasonable!! Badger, and I
think they make it for the 10/22 as well, but that is not a target stock.

I like the laminates too, great look!

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Actually "going price" has increased to almost double that now. I was happy to find this one for just under 2 Benjamin's. I got all the upgrade parts in this week and put together, all except the Boyd's stock that I'm still waiting for.

Those Marlin's are fine plinkers and decent small game hunters, but I'm looking for a bit more this time. This Ruger holds groups about a quarter (with federal ammo) at 30 yards right out of the box, but then really starts to open up at 50 yards. I just shot some "pre-mod" groups out of it yesterday.

I'm looking for a semi-auto that can shoot as well or better than most bolt-actions and hold at least a quarter group if not a dime group at 50 yards, and hold a quarter or less than inch group at 100 yards and take squirrel zone at 200 yards (under 2 inches).

I'll be posting the before / after, and the parts list in an upcoming post. Hopefully the post-mod groups will hold true to my expectations! I think I've got over a grand in upgrades and scope to put on her, so crossing my fingers for good results.

Stock should be here in another week or maybe two. Stay tuned!

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Very Nice!!!
Ummm, I know you are aware that the AMMO is a big reason all these are less consistent, because you mentioned using Federal... the "benchmark" around here is the CCI standard velocity, 1080 FPS is the velocity (iirc). Then you could "step up" to the ELEY and that is the stuff most of the bench shooters around here use. That's some high dollar feed, between $5 and $8 for most and higher for some. But that is your 1 moa stuff........................
I said all that to say this: Get a rim thickness gauge! Then you can sort your cheap ammo and get ELEY Quality groups. It seems the rim gap inside the case varies in size, and that is where the primer is deposited. So a thick rim will have more primer, and ignite more powder faster and produce a bit more pressure and velocity than a thinner rim, even if the powder charges are identical, so they claim. That is the poor man's way to get more consistent rimfire performance 😹 I need one too, I am glad you made me think of this again!
Following for more details, I'd love to see this from the ground up!

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Yes, so true. But .22 ammo is so hard to find these days! I have to admit I normally won't spend the money on high dollar stuff for Rimfire. My favorite and general go-to is the CCI Mini-Mag Hollowpoints. Mainly because I still occasionally hunt/varmit and like the HP and extra power. Plus, it seems to function well in both my pistols and rifles. My other .22 seems to also really like the even hotter Velocitors though. These gained an inch or so elevation at 50 yards with a 25 yard zero, and I'm thinking will be even better at 100 yards and for varmit if they can hold reasonable precision. I may become a convert to those on the rifles, they don't seem to have the length and feeding issues that Stingers do on some semi-autos.

I did just get a score on the Mini-Mags and also a couple bricks of the CCI Sub-Sonic. Still not finding the CCI standards in any quantity but would love to compare them.

I've got the new build all finished, just waiting for the custom stock to be delivered (shipping next week). Stay tuned for a detailed before/during/after pics, target comparisons, and scope-cam video of the new build.
K

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Yep! FOLLOWED

I don't worry about ammo availability, I have near 30,000 22's in many flavors,
and I'm not one of those douchebag re-sellers, I just saved them up over the years.
Right now I am letting all the people that NEED 9mm and 22 buy it. I will still pick up
any 10mm I have the opportunity to get, if it is good stuff and not just 40 in a long case 😹

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