I had made the decision to pick up a new 10/22 after the holidays and, well, you can probably guess how that went. I looked high and low for about two months before catching a small shipment at Keene's Depot down in Bardstown, KY. It seemed to be one of those deals where they changed the website's status to "in stock" and all the rifles were sold out in something like six minutes. Somewhere in that time, I managed to get my name attached to one of them and locked it in at $239. As their website instructs, I gave them a few days to get it moved from the warehouse to the store and drove down to pick it up. This is the model I was after, the base model Carbine with a synthetic stock:
Opening the box when I got back home soon revealed how Ruger has managed to keep the prices of this little rifle so low. My first 10/22 from around 1985 cost about $150, if I remember correctly. It's not all that surprising, considering how many formerly metal parts are now plastic and it appears the rifles are assembled by hobos. Cycling the bolt for the first time actually scared me, as I thought the action had been contaminated with sand! It seemed to function, but just. I would guess the trigger pull at around 8-10lbs. Similar to my Kel-Tec P3AT, only muddier, gritter, and with no clear stacking. An absolute mess, in other words. Also noticed was a lack of sling studs. I was, however, overjoyed to find they had finally adopted a proper magazine release that works splendidly!
I completely disassembled the rifle and went to work. I found the barrel band and stock to fit the barrel snugly. As a result of the 10/22's unique barrel attachment, I've always improved their accuracy by seeking consistent tension along the full length of the action and barrel. The synthetic stock should be a real winner in this department.
In the trigger group, the hammer and sear surfaces were ground, stoned, and polished to lighten the pull and remove some of the excessive engagement demanded by Ruger's attorneys. I clipped 2.5 coils from the mainspring, polished all the contact surfaces, and reassembled the trigger group. Good enough for a service rifle, at least for now.
The bolt group is where the hobos really shined! The bolt itself appeared to have been made primarily on a chop saw. It was covered in tool marks, had burrs and sharp edges at numerous points, and generally looked like some of the cheaper items found at Harbor Freight. The bolt got a good stoning and general deburring followed by a light polish. The charging handle proved to be where the bulk of my grittiness was coming from. I doused it in heavy oil and began sliding the charging handle up and down the spring guide. Not making a great deal of headway, I washed the assembly in hot, soapy water and let it dry. I then dabbed some Simichrome polish on the guide rod and went back to working the charging handle. That removed the bluing and smoothed things up in a hurry. Another hot water wash and coating with light oil seemed to do the trick. Cycling the action dry had only left a few minor bright spots inside the receiver itself, so I gave those areas a bit of attention and called it finished. Once reassembled, this new rifle was a whole lot closer to the 10/22's of my youth. At least, I had great confidence it would cycle smoothly. I also installed a set of swivel studs (machine screw front, wood screw rear) and the install seemed to go just fine.
I had a little free time this afternoon so went for a walk in the woods. While it felt more like three, Ruger claims the Carbine weighs five pounds even. It was a beautiful day made even better by this 25 yard offhand group produced by the first ten rounds ever fired through it. Ammo was the ultra-rare CCI Mini Mag solids:
Even considering how much work the rifle needed to get to the point of serviceability (in my opinion), it's still a great deal. Even if you don't feel up to the task of doing the work, it doesn't take a lot of time to finish one out. I spent about 90 minutes at the kitchen table on this one and am entirely pleased with the outcome. Now, if I could just find some reasonably priced .22LR...
Opening the box when I got back home soon revealed how Ruger has managed to keep the prices of this little rifle so low. My first 10/22 from around 1985 cost about $150, if I remember correctly. It's not all that surprising, considering how many formerly metal parts are now plastic and it appears the rifles are assembled by hobos. Cycling the bolt for the first time actually scared me, as I thought the action had been contaminated with sand! It seemed to function, but just. I would guess the trigger pull at around 8-10lbs. Similar to my Kel-Tec P3AT, only muddier, gritter, and with no clear stacking. An absolute mess, in other words. Also noticed was a lack of sling studs. I was, however, overjoyed to find they had finally adopted a proper magazine release that works splendidly!
I completely disassembled the rifle and went to work. I found the barrel band and stock to fit the barrel snugly. As a result of the 10/22's unique barrel attachment, I've always improved their accuracy by seeking consistent tension along the full length of the action and barrel. The synthetic stock should be a real winner in this department.
In the trigger group, the hammer and sear surfaces were ground, stoned, and polished to lighten the pull and remove some of the excessive engagement demanded by Ruger's attorneys. I clipped 2.5 coils from the mainspring, polished all the contact surfaces, and reassembled the trigger group. Good enough for a service rifle, at least for now.
The bolt group is where the hobos really shined! The bolt itself appeared to have been made primarily on a chop saw. It was covered in tool marks, had burrs and sharp edges at numerous points, and generally looked like some of the cheaper items found at Harbor Freight. The bolt got a good stoning and general deburring followed by a light polish. The charging handle proved to be where the bulk of my grittiness was coming from. I doused it in heavy oil and began sliding the charging handle up and down the spring guide. Not making a great deal of headway, I washed the assembly in hot, soapy water and let it dry. I then dabbed some Simichrome polish on the guide rod and went back to working the charging handle. That removed the bluing and smoothed things up in a hurry. Another hot water wash and coating with light oil seemed to do the trick. Cycling the action dry had only left a few minor bright spots inside the receiver itself, so I gave those areas a bit of attention and called it finished. Once reassembled, this new rifle was a whole lot closer to the 10/22's of my youth. At least, I had great confidence it would cycle smoothly. I also installed a set of swivel studs (machine screw front, wood screw rear) and the install seemed to go just fine.
I had a little free time this afternoon so went for a walk in the woods. While it felt more like three, Ruger claims the Carbine weighs five pounds even. It was a beautiful day made even better by this 25 yard offhand group produced by the first ten rounds ever fired through it. Ammo was the ultra-rare CCI Mini Mag solids:
Even considering how much work the rifle needed to get to the point of serviceability (in my opinion), it's still a great deal. Even if you don't feel up to the task of doing the work, it doesn't take a lot of time to finish one out. I spent about 90 minutes at the kitchen table on this one and am entirely pleased with the outcome. Now, if I could just find some reasonably priced .22LR...
, here you go:
