10/22 question

[Beretta-fan]

I have a Ruger 10/22 deluxe sporter. My wife bought it new for me back in 2003. I shot it a little bit with the open sights but not on paper. I'd say it had about 100 rounds through it before I stored it in my safe.
About a month ago I got on a .22 kick and decided to pick up a scope and start using this little gun a lot more. I mounted the scope and put the gun on the sand bags to line it up. (the scope is a new Nikon 2-7x32) Well to spite my best efforts I could only manage 2 inch groups at 40 yds. I figured it must be the ammo or the 100 lb factory trigger.
Well since then I have tried 6 differnt brands of ammo of various weights and speeds and replaced the stock trigger hammer with a volquartsen which dropped it from 9.5 lbs down to 2.5 lbs. The best I can do is a 1.8 inch 5 shot group from a sight vise at 40 yds. This just doesn't sound normal to me. After google searches bringing up raving reviews about how accurate these rifles are out of the box I am very disappointed. I have examined the barrel thoroughly for damage, thought maybe it got smacked against another gun in the safe but it looks good. I put the same scope over on my Marlin model 60 and I get .70 inch 5 shot groups at the same yardage.
Is this normal?? I am tempted to get a green mountain barrel and toss the stock one in the creek.

 

[philipfleek]

I bought one about 20 years ago, i hated that gun. only had it about three weeks and gave it to a cousin.
I could not shoot it well at all. Bought a cheap Marlin and that thing was a tack driver and still is.

 

[Beretta-fan]

Well I feel better now. I thought I was the only one. I just used one type of ammo on the Marlin and it dusted the Ruger that I tinkered with for weeks. I can't part with it just because my wife got it for me...I know it shouldn't matter but it does to me.... So I guess I will be purchasing a new barrel and I will go from there.

 

[hoytman]

i have two and at 50 yards i can make bullets touch maybe i just got 2 good ones

 

[Beretta-fan]

hoytman, that's the kind of accuracy I read about when I googled the 10/22. That's why I think I might have a bad one. It is a beautiful little gun, such a waste. philipfleek's post is really the only other negative post I've read about them. I'm glad he put it out there cause I thought I had Ruger's only lemon. It came with two magazines and neither of those are much good either. They feed 7 or 8 rounds and then I have to take them out and give it a good slap so the remaining rounds will pop up.
I am not by any means bashing Ruger. I like their products for the most part. I just wanted to see if anyone else had problems with theirs or maybe had this happen and had an easy fix.
I am gonna sand out a little of the stock to free float the barrel and see if that helps.

 

[keith meador]

I have had several over the years, and never had a bad one. I bought one back in Sempt and changed the barrel and stock. The factory barrel shot almost as well as the Tactical Solutions replacement.

Try to clean it very well, and give it another try. Lead/copper fouling may be the culprit to your woes.

 

[Brutus Hedgeapple]

I've had 2. One I got back in probably '88. It was a great little shooter. Had it sighted in at 50yds on thumb tacks. Gave it to my bro several years ago and regretted it.
I just got another two years ago. It's every bit the shooter as the first one but I think the quality, mainly fit and finish, are not as good.

If I lose this one, my daughter would kill me

 

[Drew07]

Ive had 2 of the targets, big ol bull barrel, neither shot very great, had a stainless, traded for a blued, both shot like crap. Ill never go away from a bolt action

 

[surfshark46]

Bought my 10/22 new in 97, that gun has claimed many bushytails all with head shots and shoots less than 1" groups consistently, yours is the 1st I have ever heard of not shooting well, if it was purchased new I would give Ruger a call and see what they think.

 

[Beretta-fan]

Thanks guys for all the input. I gave it a thorough cleaning tonight and sanded a very small amount out of the stock barrel groove, just enough to slide a dollar bill between the barrel and stock. Gonna give it another try tomorrow if the weather drys out a little. I don't have much faith in it being any better to be honest. I did get a good dose of copper out of the barrel after I let a little solvent sit in the bore.
I will post again tomorrow evening with the results. I've been looking at some barrels just in case. Anybody have experience with the Green Mountain barrels?

 

[Palegroe]

I only have one and have never shoot it so I can't say personaly how one shoots but I have always heard both extremes. I have a buddy that has a tactical solutions 10/22 he spents about $800 bucks on and it shoots like crap he sent it back and they decided there was something wrong with the barrel and gave him a new one. The one I have I bought for my daughter and is still in the box in the gun safe. I guess we will find out in about 5-8 years.

 

[300winmag]

I've had 2. One I got back in probably '88. It was a great little shooter. Had it sighted in at 50yds on thumb tacks. Gave it to my bro several years ago and regretted it.
I just got another two years ago. It's every bit the shooter as the first one but I think the quality, mainly fit and finish, are not as good.

If I lose this one, my daughter would kill me

I agree 100%. My dad has a late 60's early 70's model and it has a solid cherry stock that is awsome. Mine is a 90's model and the wood is cheap. Still a good gun though.

 

[JDMiller]

I've had one for a long time.....been a tack driver since day one and never have put a scope on it...which have been thinking real hard about doing lately.

If I had any reasonable advice..and has been mentioned.... clean it.

A lot of guns are shipped with a tremendous amount of cosmolene(sp) in the bore. So if you did'nt clean it...and just shot it....its not going to be good.

Combined with copper / lead fouling your accuracy will suffer greatly.

Use a really good bore solvent & brush....scrub the heck out of & see if that helps.

 

[Beretta-fan]

I gave it a good cleaning and sanded a few thousandths out of the stock (barrel channel). I Shot it today and measured the results. There was really no appreciable difference.
I did notice when I tore the gun down for the cleaning that the barrel to receiver fit is not as tight as I would have expected. When I took the v-block off the barrel just fell right out. During reassembly when I put the barrel back in there is some play there. Not much but I can wiggle the barrel a small amount (without the v-block tightened down). I would have expected a tighter fit. Now once I tighten it down I can't feel any movement. Does this sound like a problem or am I just looking at this too hard?

 

[LakeBarkleyBob]

Check out rimfirecentral.com and you will either get ALL the answers you desire or be so confused it won't matter.