Ruger 10/22 impulse buy: What did I just get myself into

A

American Eagle

New member
I should have known better than to walk into my gun shop/range to shoot my pistols, with a pocket full of cash. Despite having no intention to buy a rifle, I nevertheless made the comment to my dealer that it would be nice to have a companion .22LR rifle to go along with my Ruger MKIII pistol. He said..."Well, have you ever heard of the Ruger 10/22?" I told him no (which is the truth) and before I knew it, he handed one to me. One minute latter he was pulling out the paperwork and getting ready to perform the background check.

I am normally the kind of person who extensively researches every gun (or anything for that matter) before buying it. I am not an impulse buyer....but I blame Ruger for making such a nice looking little .22LR rifle that it triggered something in my brain, and caused me to shell out cash without researching this rifle. I won't be able to test it until the weekend, but should I be concerned? Does this rifle have a good reputation?:confused:

Here is the culprit in question:

1b55108d.jpg
 
they're great rifles. I hope you didn't pay more than $200 for it.

Find some high cap mags and tear it up!
 
I wouldn't call the 10/22 a culprit in any sense of the word! Great reputation as a starter rifle or just an all around great plinker. The first gun I got looks similar to yours, except it has a full mannlicher stock. In fact, I'm a little surprised that you haven't heard of this model. Enjoy it! :D
 
Ambishot, I have never heard of this model because frankly for a long time I didn't care much for the .22LR round. I initially bought my Ruger MKIII because the high price of ammo made me want something cheap to shoot.

However, the Ruger MKIII has really grown on me, and I have gained great appreciation for the .22LR, and thus the desire for a .22LR rifle. I didn't mean to buy one just yet, it just sort of happened. :D
 
Do a thread search for the 10/22. You'll see mostly positive reviews and very few negative ones.

Take the gun out a shoot the heck out of it. Have fun.
 
You probably just bought yourself an expensive habbit of constantly trying to squeak more and more accuracy out of your rifle.. First it's a new barrel, then trigger, then before you know it you've put as much into it as you any nice bolt action for hunting :)

They're great rifles. The 10/22 and Marlin 60 really rule the roost when it comes to semi-auto .22lr. Have fun!
 
I think there are more after market parts and accessories for the 10/22 than any other gun in existance. With that being said, I've seen many custom $1000 rifles that started as stock $200 10/22.
 
Last edited:
American Eagle

A 10-22 was my first rifle many years ago.
I now have three gun safes full and 6 are .22 LRs of different types.

A 10-22 is fun to shoot and are very reliable.
A factory 10-22 will probably need a bit of work on the trigger if you get as obsessed with accuracy as I have.

I have 'adjusted' and converted three 10-22s (one for my wife) and now have all of them shooting well.

You can put a much into one of them with new parts as your wallet will allow.
I have one that has sucked out $ 900 and sports a $ 400+ scope.
Of course it shoots much better than factory but whether is was worth the investment is a very personal thing.

My rebuilds are my most enjoyable rifles to shoot because they are so accurate and I know I made them that way.
 
If the AR platform is 'Barbie for Men' with everything you can interchange with it, the 10/22 is maybe the 'Legos for Men.' No doubt, it's a fine rifle right out of the box, and you don't really have to do anything but shoot it.

I have a 5-digit 10/22 made in 1966 and all that is original is the receiver and bolt/trigger, I swapped out the original stock because it split and the barrel because it had a very hard life before I got it (I gave a guy in the Army $75 for it because he needed beer money,) but still remains the same basic rifle I started with. I added a set of TechSights peep sights for it, a set of QD sling swivels and a GI cotton web sling.

Like some of the other posters mentioned, I have seen some pretty high-dollar 10/22's where the barrel alone costs more than the entire rifle did new! To each his own...

All said and done I think you made a good purchase. Find an ammo it likes and go shooting!

(...and, just for future reference, I leave my wallet at home when I go to the gun shop... ;) ...I'm a weak man.)
 
You can spend nothing on it (like my brother) or thousands (literally!) accurizing and hanging stuff on the gun. They can be little tack drivers if you put the cash and effort into, but its my understanding they're not too bad stock.

A 22 rimfire rifle is the most useful, fun, and economical firearm you can own - welcome to the club!
 
Will meet or exceed, your expectations !!!

Those compacts go for a bit more money than the std model around here.
Click to expand...
Good to see that you caught that and yes, they do go for more money. Just got a flyer from a local chain store and their Carbine model is going to $194.50. Even though I feel the older ones are better, you have made a fine choice. ..... ;)


Be Safe !!!
 
I'm glad that you warmed up to the caliber, then! The Ruger (?) MKII and III's are great shooters too! Cheap ammo and a great shooter equates to happiness, in my book.

I look forward to the range report.
 
This is the Ruger 10/22 RR, which after some online research I discovered tat it is apparently the same as the Carbine but without the band. This is not a compact one.

Ruger does not have the Ruger 10/22 RR on their website (that's odd,) but that is what I apparently ended up getting.:)
 
Last edited:
The ruger 10/22 is a reliable and sturdy rifle. As long as you didnt pay too much over 200 dollars for it you made a very good purchase being that you didnt even know what you were buying ;)
 
Oh, indeed it's there !!

Ruger does not have the Ruger 10/22 RR on their website (that's odd,) but that is what I apparently ended up getting.
Click to expand...
Whenever I see one that I cannot find, I look at the Distributor Exclusive area and it's there and current. .... ;)
I have a couple that you will only find in this area of the Ruger website ... :)

http://www.ruger.com/products/1022DE/specSheets/1159.html


This one is my current hunter with a Burris scope and I did a trigger job as well. .... ;)
http://www.ruger.com/products/1022DE/specSheets/1237.html


Be Safe !!!
 
Last edited:
They were a cataloged item a few years back--I'm looking at a 2006 catalog and the RR and CRR/Compact are pictured side by side.

The RR is also listed as having a 20'' barrel instead of the std carbine's 18.5'' barrel.

The CRR is shown as being new that year---I think the RR was first offered the previous year.

The one you have is probably NOS=new old stock.
 
Glad that you impulsively bought a "classic" among .22 carbines.
The other Great Classic in that calibre that comes to mind is the Marlin 39.

But the 10/22 has some sort of cult status aswell as a legendary customability (sic).

Bear in mind that is AFAIK the only .22 issued in quantities for military use.

Another good reason for having gotten it "impulsively" is that if you had performed a thorough research about it you would be still reading the first percentile of all the pages devoted to this toy.....

K.
 
Congratulations. Welcome to the club. Now you own the perfect rifle to take to an appleseed:D www.appleseedinfo.org

One piece of advice. Avoid the drop in trigger parts, take it to a gunsmith and spend the $75 on a trigger job. The drop in parts are light but not very crisp and have a spongy reset.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top