My Franken 10/22

[alamo5000]

http://i1320.photobucket.com/albums/u538/Alamo_5000/IMGP0446_zpsl7dlrtnl.jpg

This is my nearly finished franken 10/22. Someone had an old 10/22 with no sights and a rusted up barrel that someone took a hammer to the crown of the barrel and I turned it into this. It was pretty much sitting unused and neglected for who knows how long.

We will start tip to tail and a few impressions along the way.

The barrel is a KSA 16" heavy threaded bull barrel. I used a tactical solutions V-block. It didn't seem like it had barrel droop but I used it anyway just to prevent anything in the future.

The trigger is the stock Ruger trigger and the reciever is a stock 10/22 reciever, as is the bolt and everything else. I did take off the crappy rusty rear sight (it didn't have a front post anyway) and put a piece of rail to mount an optic.

I did make a misstep though. I tried a Hogue stock, and I have to say that it pretty much sucked. The entire front of the Hogue stock was warped off to one side and had some serious wobble to it. Once you got it on the gun it was pushing over and riding hard on the side of the barrel. Basically I have had mixed success with certain Hogue products. End of story I returned the stock. It was completely unacceptable.

On the flip side I can't say enough good things about the Magpul stock. Man, that thing is fan frickin tastic. It really does make the whole rifle feel great.

The barrel is heavy as hell but I can live with it. If I was doing it again I might choose a lightweight barrel but the one I got works great. This is my first 10/22 since I was a kid so it's a bit of trial and error. Later on once I get my money in gear I will build a high end Kidd build with a way better trigger in it.

I shot it at 50 yards with no optics just using a led sled and I did a 10 shot group about the size of a golf ball. Once I get optics on it I think it will be a whole lot better. One thing for sure is it runs perfectly. I put 50 rounds through it and not even a hint of a hiccup.

Now a couple of questions... any idea what kind of mags I should try? I understand there are a few different types but I have no idea which ones are good and which ones suck. All I have now is 1x 10 round mag.

The second question is what are a few recommendations for an optic?

[alamo5000]

For a suppressor until I can get a dedicated .22 can I am going to be using my Revolution 9. I bought a fixed mount, a fixed barrel spacer, and a .22 end cap for it but none of those have gotten here yet. I will probably do a review and impressions of that suppressor for .22 LR use later on. I already have some thoughts but I will save it until I can do more comprehensive testing with a variety of ammo.

For the gun itself so far as you see in the picture I have maybe $250 bucks into it and so far with really rough testing it seems like a straight shooter.

[BoilerUp]

For mags, I haven't tried much besides the factory 10 rounders and the ubiquitous 25 round mags. I prefer the factor 10 round mags for shooting for groups from the bench.

For glass, I run a Vortex Diamondback HP 2-8x32 and I think it makes for a fine rimfire scope due to the side parallax adjustment (since I'm typically shooting 50 yards and under). I got mine on sale for under $170. I did have to get a cantilevered pic rail (LaRue) to get the proper eye relief.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MmV53KP/0/XL/i-MmV53KP-XL.jpg

[alamo5000]

A few more thoughts... I am undecided yet as to what I will do for my high end build but I am finding 10/22 builds to be almost as interesting as AR builds. Once you get into it's awesome.

For me I am huge on triggers. The plain old Ruger trigger works fine but it's heavy and not anywhere near the best. The Volquartsen trigger is a substantial improvement over the Ruger, but for me the minute you pull a Kidd trigger... OMG. It's just on a whole new level.

Barrels while you do have a lot of choices and it is like anything else... (you get what you pay for) but with 10/22 builds I am learning quickly you have to take the whole picture into account. Which that brings me to my last bit of commentary for now... there are 10,000 variations of stocks out there. That is going to make all the difference in the world. I think in just a night of playing with this one as I have it, I want to focus on balance of the gun. IE Select a stock and barrel combination that won't be too nose heavy or butt heavy either... how to get there... I don't know yet.

If anyone is thinking about building a 10/22 the soup that you put together with the trifecta (barrel, trigger, and stock) is an endless quest. While it depends on what kind of shooting you want to do with it, I am learning just how important stock design really is.

While I really like the Magpul stock and hated the Hogue... there are so many other designs out there for all kinds of purposes. While it's not totally tactical ninja or hardcore weaponry it is very instructive about the fundamentals about how to 'fit a gun' to a person and a particular activity or style of shooting.

With AR's is a little more easy because a pistol grip... there are a few variations but it is what it is....but this notion of designing or choosing a good stock for the purpose intended is pretty neat and a skill just like old school gun fitters and makers from way back when.

Long story short I could see myself building more than one of these... and I could see myself crossing over the knowledge into other areas. If I learn how to select the 'right' 10/22 stock what's to say that same theory can't carry over to a Remington 700 or a 300WM or whatever?

I'm learning a lot... and I love it. Education is one hell of a drug. :)

[alamo5000]

For mags, I haven't tried much besides the factory 10 rounders and the ubiquitous 25 round mags. I prefer the factor 10 round mags for shooting for groups from the bench.

For glass, I run a Vortex Diamondback HP 2-8x32 and I think it makes for a fine rimfire scope due to the side parallax adjustment (since I'm typically shooting 50 yards and under). I got mine on sale for under $170. I did have to get a cantilevered pic rail (LaRue) to get the proper eye relief.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MmV53KP/0/XL/i-MmV53KP-XL.jpg

I am up in the air on the scope... honestly I haven't shopped a lot for the options yet but I am thinking $150ish or less would be about right for this kind of gun.

I looked around on Vortex' site and there were a couple things that were interesting...but with rimfire I am looking for that middle ground. I don't need rings and a scope that can withstand a .338 blast but I also don't want to go so cheap that I end up with crap that I don't like and end up replacing..

[alamo5000]

For mags, I haven't tried much besides the factory 10 rounders and the ubiquitous 25 round mags. I prefer the factor 10 round mags for shooting for groups from the bench.

I am going to have to do some homework to see which kinds of mags I want to go for. This is really a trial and error gun. I might get a few more 10 rounders...but I also might get me some banana mags too....I vaguely recall reading about some mags that work better than others so hopefully anyone who knows more will chime in. Even a 'I've never had a problem after 2000 rounds' would be good...this whole thing is a trial and error project.

[DeviantLogic]

I am going to have to do some homework to see which kinds of mags I want to go for. This is really a trial and error gun. I might get a few more 10 rounders...but I also might get me some banana mags too....I vaguely recall reading about some mags that work better than others so hopefully anyone who knows more will chime in. Even a 'I've never had a problem after 2000 rounds' would be good...this whole thing is a trial and error project.

It's hard to go wrong with the factory Ruger mags. I have a few, very old, ram-line 50 rounders that still work fine, but I've heard of others having issues with them.

[BoilerUp]

The first mod I made to my mid-80's factory 10/22 is the new-ish Ruger BRX trigger pack. I thought a thousand dollar 10/22 was silly, so I found the BRX for $60, I think, and thought that would be a good value. I'm pretty please with it, given the price. Then I added the LaRue mount and Vortex on Warne QD rings. Recently I added the Victory Company Titan stock. Next up will be the Kidd Ultralight barrel. Maybe I want a thousand dollar 10/22 after all....

[Pyzik]

A co-worker and I were just discussing tricking out 10/22s on Friday. I've been wanting to do mine for a while, just keep putting dollars other places.

Looks good.

[alamo5000]

A co-worker and I were just discussing tricking out 10/22s on Friday. I've been wanting to do mine for a while, just keep putting dollars other places.

Looks good.

Thank you!

Triggers, barrels, and stocks are where it's at brother.

The trigger is pretty much a done deal for me. Single stage or two stage there is no one that can hold a candle to Kidd.

For my next tricked out job this one has taught me a lot. I need to figure out how to achieve front to back balance even with a suppressor at least that's my goal.

Stocks are where to put the effort IMO. That makes a world of difference in the finished product.