North country gal

Oh, yeah, it definitely can. All it takes is a tap or bump on the scope when something is loose inside to send a flyer off the paper. Have had it happen even at 50 feet with a bad pistol scope. Forgot to mention, too, that you may be having some parallax issues, as well. if you're using a big game scope without an AO. If that Tasco is such a beast, take a bit of care to line up your eye directly behind the scope and keep the crosshairs in the center.

jake888

both our guns were stock aswell,his felt a littleheavier than mine but i never guessed it was 4lbs heavier,also the scope could suck that bad at 50yrds if its defective!

Darkangel

I'm hoping that I can make a custom target stock out of the factory ruger wood stock.. added a but pad, removed the part of the stock the barrel band slid over, and if I can work up the nerve, bed the action... Then re-finnish it all smexy..lol

jake888

that is a good fun project i reworked mine badly,but enjoyed the project,espeicially winning a comp,with the stock i reworked and my totally stock gun apart from an auto bolt release against guys using semi custom kidd guns!

jake888

heres a link to my stock project
10/22 carbine stock modification and refinish

Darkangel

oh, I actually forgot that I did that to both our rifles (auto bolt release mod). I think I'll have to wait for the bull barrel to float/bed the barrel..

Darkangel

I think it will boil down to these steps.. I have just rechecked all I can with the rifle, reciever, scope rails, rings, ect.. all seems good'n'tight.. so saterday, I'll get my wifey to shoot my rifle, and I'll shoot hers. Then I'll have a much better idea whats going on.

If the groups suck with her rifle, and she shoots well with mine, I suck. If the groups are good, me shooting hers; and suck with her shooting mine, then the scope is eff'd. I sure hope the scope is eff'd...lol (or I'll never live it down! hehe)

I think if it points to the scope sucking, we'll trade scopes and see to confirm...

ZommyGun

I would simply take the scope off yours and see what it does with iron sights...

From a bench rest at 50 yards or less there should be very little difference...

Yes it would be a big difference if you were at .6" groups trying to go to .3" groups...but at 50 yards from a rest 1.5" groups are not difficult for a good shot like yourself...you know it's not you...

I would stick with CCI mini-mags until you are satisfied that you have identified and solved the problem...it eliminates the cheap ammo variable...regardless of what the other gun does...

ZommyGun

NICE...

IMO...you should have added a cheek rest and did the body work on it to make it appear all as one piece...no one would ever know it was a factory stock...

Here is how I did my factory stock for the bull barrel...if you are going to get one later and want to free float your factory barrel now you might want to go ahead and do it for the bull barrel to start with...

Factory Sporter Stock modified for .920 barrel

jake888

it was my first attempt if i can come buy a second hand factory stock ill try make another,the trouble is lads sell them here want a 100es for them,its way t expensive for a factory ruger stock.

Darkangel

I am getting excited for my factory stock.. So far my customization of it is progressing very well. I'll post pics of it when I'm all done..

It had the rounded nook butt plate (black plastic). I removed that, cut the rear edge flat, added a limbsaver recoil pad (gives it a really soft comfortable shoulder weld ). I also removed the very front chunk of the stock where the barrel band slipped over. Soon it will be sanding, priming and painting!

Darkangel

Well folks, I dont know what to tell ya.. I took it out today to the range, and wow, what a diff. Haven't done anything to it, except refinnish (paint) the stock. It shot dead on accurate at 50 years for the most part (using bulk ammo, so not tack driving..lol). It was less windy today, I guess a slight cross wind made a much bigger diff at 50 yards than I would have thought.. I even managed to splatter 3 flys that happened onto the target board.. (VERY gratifying, let me tell ya!!!)

Twas all good, until I decided to shoot faster.. I found that as the barrel got warmer, it got pretty wild.. kinda all over the place (very much like last week, just not as bad). Is that its way of telling me it wants me to free float the barrel more?

Right now the barrel is just laying in the channel in the factory wood stock. The barrel band is gone, as well as the front bit the barrel band slid over. Is there a way to keep some semblance of accuracy if I should decide to warm 'er back up shooting more down the road?

I would like to "bed" the action, and float the barrel, but havent worked up the nerve yet...

North country gal

Glad to hear that your 10/22 is behaving more like a 10/22 should, giving you good, practical accuracy.

Barrel heating is always going to do strange things to groups and usually bad things. Free floating the stock, though, is not going to significantly reduce barrel heating. The source of the problem is not the way the gun is bedded, but the carbine barrel, itself. That light, tapered barrel gets you great handling, but it's about the worst kind of barrel to fight the heating issue. It will heat up quick, so either slow down and let it cool, now and then, or just accept some group spread as it warms up.

You can, of course, go to a heavy barrel. A heavy barrel takes longer to heat up. It's one of the reasons you see a bull barrel on target rifles. Of course, it also means a new stock or inletting your current stock, not to mention more expense to get the new barrel and stock. Your carbine is no longer a carbine, too, as to the way it handles.

Myself, I leave my 10/22 carbines pretty much as is, other than some trigger work, if needed, and just enjoy them for the great handling little rifles they are. I have other rifles for chasing down that last tenth of an inch in group size. We all love our 10/22s and it is always tempting to mod them, but at some point it is simply more practical to just buy another rifle that is designed the way we want it, right out of the box, rather than keep modding our 10/22. Easy for me to say, of course, because I have other rifles and what you do with your rifle is really none of my business. I am pleased to hear, though, that you are making progress with your 10/22.

Darkangel

I really like that term.. "Practical accuracy".. That’s a great way to describe what you get with, as example, bulk ammo etc..lol

I do however have a question... (well, 2 actually) What is considered a normal amount of spread at, for example, 50 yards? With a cool barrel, my point of impact is mostly exactly where the cross hairs lie on my follow through. (meaning if I pulled the shot, or whatever, the hole is exactly where the cross hairs come to rest during my follow through). So if I do my part, I can get a pretty nice grouping of 1"-1.5" at 50 yards, not counting flyers..

When it gets hot, they tend to spread a fair amount, I saw some 3+ inch groups after it heated up.. Another way to put it, is it went from mild target accuracy, to loose hunting accuracy. Depending on the critter you were hunting, and if it was more than 50 yards out, I think you'd be hard pressed..

And the second question is, what would generally be considered a .22 rifle designed for "chasing down that last tenth of an inch in group size" right out of the box?

North country gal

I think good practical accuracy at 50 yards for a 10/22 carbine is about an inch to an inch and a a half, maybe a touch more with typical bulk ammo, maybe a touch less. That's certainly more than good enough for, say, squirrel hunting or rabbit hunting (I've shot a truck load of both with a 10/22), plinking and so on, where your barrel is not heating up much. It's a reasonable expectation, given the typical 10/22 trigger and short, tapered carbine barrel. Sure, an occasional out of the box carbine might do better and some maybe a little worse, but when you get past all the forum talk, nothing wrong with this kind of accuracy at all. I think some folks get a little carried away at what to expect from the out of the box carbine version of a 10/22.

My Savage MKII accutrigger is a bolt gun and not much different in price than a 10/22, overall, depending on what versions you are comparing. I bought it specifically to "chase down that last tenth of an inch in accuracy", based on it's reputation and I have not been disappointed. I've never known one of these guns, mine or anyone else's, to shoot less than an inch at 50 yards - even the cheapest version at about $150 - and most, like my Classic will get you down under half inch and sometimes even to that magic three-tenths of an inch. Marlin bolt 22s can do much the same. That's amazing accuracy for the dollar. Of course, you're giving up a bit of that 10/22 fun factor by shooting a bolt and you don't get to do all the mods that can be done with a 10/22, but if you want accuracy, right out of the box, a bolt gun makes more sense to me.

From what you describe on this last outing, I'd say your 10/22 carbine is doing just fine.