RUGER 10/22: From Factory To Fantasy

Today's great drop-in accessories mean you don't need to be a gunsmith to turn your rimfire into a high-performance shooter.

Take a poll and you'd probably discover that the second most commonly customized firearm in the country is the humble little Ruger 10/22. First on the customizing list would surely be the 1911 Government Model and all its various clones, but using the Brownells catalog as a reference, it seems that parts for the Ruger just keep appearing. A couple of well-known gunsmiths specialize in Rugers and there are lots of easy do-it-yourself projects.

While I doubt that Bill Ruger intended it to be so, the gun is easy to work on and lends itself to customizing work. Two screws hold the barrel in place and high quality match barrels are readily available. There are some features that can be dramatically improved on the Ruger's basic design. The factory magazine release can be a pain to engage and the bolt latch is positively malevolent. Both are easily improved with aftermarket parts. Changing a few parts can similarly work miracles with the trigger.

Over the years a number of customized 10/22s have come and gone and without exception they have been great fun to shoot, but two are particularly worthy of note. The first is from Volquartsen Custom and has become one of my favorite test beds for .22 ammo. Wearing a Weaver 6x18 scope, it is both accurate and unfailingly reliable.

The second is a Briley customized stainless steel rifle that is housed in a stunning maple stock from Fajen. It also wears a Weaver scope. It is slightly less accurate than the Volquartsen, but is so gorgeous that that doesn't matter at all.

In all my years of shooting, however, I have never fired a stock 10/22. I routinely send them off for customizing without even firing a shot.

My ignorance has caused a couple of embarrassing moments when, in the midst of bragging about the accuracy of custom rifles, I have been asked how they compared to a standard gun. It was a question I couldn't answer.

Back To The Basic Gun

So, to rectify this situation I bought a brand new 10/22. The stock rifle has a very lawyerly 5 1/2 lb. trigger. Would a trigger job alone improve accuracy? My guess was that it would.

A plan was in order. The first phase would be to test the as-issued gun. The only modification was to mount a Weaver 6x24 target scope. Obviously you need some substantial magnification to measure true accuracy without having to worry about sight alignment errors.

One of the most difficult parts of the project was deciding how to limit the ammo used. There are scores of .22 Long Rifle loads on the market and it would be simply impossible to try them all. My experience has been that the custom guns show a strong preference for match or, at least, standard velocity ammo. For that reason three standard velocity and three match loads were used throughout.

The plan was really pretty simple. The rifle would be tested for accuracy at 50 yards by firing five, five-shot groups from the bench. The first test would be performed on the unmodified rifle.

Then, using drop-in parts from Brownells, the trigger would be improved as much as possible without resorting to any gunsmithing. Parts would be replaced but not modified. The gun would be shot again with the same ammo. The final testing phase would include changing the barrel and stock.

While studying how to proceed, I discovered a kit from Butler Creek that contains all the necessary components including a carbon fiber "Featherweight" 17" barrel, a molded stock with steel bedding pillars built in and a clever integral bipod. Glass bedding is not required and makes the whole job much easier.

Making A Great Gun

When received, the 5 1/2 lb. trigger wasn't bad but there was some creep and it was obviously heavy. Modifications to the trigger group included the installation of a Power Custom Competition Trigger Kit, a Volquartsen Custom Automatic Bolt release and an Alfaro Enterprise extended magazine release.

It is important to know that with one tiny exception these are drop-in parts. The Power Custom sear and hammer are "prepped" together at the factory and require no work other than installation.

While the Ruger trigger mechanism isn't the least bit complicated, someone who has never taken one apart should proceed with care. It is best to really study the relationship of the parts before removing any pins.

To install the Power kit you have to just about gut the trigger guard assembly. There's a little "bolt stop spring," which has to be installed just right so paying attention to details is very important. The only other really tricky part of the process is assembling the sear, sear spring, hammer and disconnector. This is one of those jobs where a little gunsmithing is involved. The parts have to be assembled as a unit and then installed in the trigger housing.

The trickery is a little thing called a slave pin that is used to assemble the parts and then pushed out when the full length pin is installed. Fortunately, a slave pin is included in the kit.