Author: RI Red

Dunno. What do you want to know? Lawyer, shooter, boater, aviator, etc.

Accurizing the Ruger 10-22, Part 4.

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This is actually more like Part 3 (b). I’m going to go over some incidental improvements that I’ve added to the rifle in the course of accurizing. First, the Ruger BX-Trigger:

Not expensive nor super top of the line, but it decreased trigger pull from 3.5 lbs to 2.5 lbs, a nice pull weight for accuracy. Also, notice the red pin. That is a neoprene-like substance that replaces the aluminum recoil stop in the back of the receiver. It is a more forgiving material that absorbs some of the recoil of the bolt flying back in the receiver. See installed below:

Next, haven’t you always been told to clean the barrel from the chamber to the muzzle and not the other way around? Starting at the muzzle can damage the crown and affect the gas pattern and bullet exit and thus, accuracy. So how do you do it on the Ruger without removing the barrel from the receiver? There is an answer in the form of a jig:

Above, reverse order because I am still a WordPress newb and/or impatient.

Other upgrades:

Did I mention that I want a new barrel? That will have to wait until Part 5.😢

Accurizing the Ruger 10-22. Part 3.

RI RedLeave a comment

Yes, she’s shooting pretty well, but unintended consequences rears its ugly head: the pillar raises the barrel a bit more up off of the fore-end, so the scope zero has now gone much higher. I’ll need at least a 30 MOA ramp to bring it down.

Well, 30 MOA didn’t cut it. Turns out I needed much more. So I grabbed the old 20 MOA ramp and commenced to filing. Comes in at about 45-50 MOA.

Now that’s a ramp! However . . . The forward mounting screw now sticks down into the receiver and binds the bolt enough to keep it from going into battery. Hmmmm. That’s what dremels are made for.
But now I have the MOAs to shoot at 300 yards with no hold-over.

Looks like this rifle likes CCI Standards for regular chow (although I know she like some brands of match-grade ammo for dessert). More on that later.

She sprays most other kinds. Looking at past data, CCI Standard groups have gone from an average of 1.71” at 50 yards to 0.682”. That’s down 0.489”, almost a full half inch and 1 MOA! Accurizing successful, so far.

But from a low of 0.373” and a high of 1.03”, both with a flyer, I’m still not completely happy. Almost time for a Part 4.

Have you ever wondered about how to make your Ruger 10-22 more accurate? Part 2.

RI RedLeave a comment

So how did she shoot after our first accurizing steps?
Terrible. All over the place. What gives?

As it turns out, torque on the action screw dramatically affects point of impact and group size. So, back to the range with my Wheeler Engineering FAT wrench.

10 inch pounds to 25 inch pounds, and group size from .466” to 1.421”, a huge difference, but with accuracy nodes at about 13 inch pounds and 20-23 inch pounds.
So far, so good. On to pillar bedding (which i probably should have done first).

The pillar is sort of the shape of a flattened mushroom with a hole through it.The top surface of the pillar should sit at or slightly above the wood where the receiver normally rests, and the bottom goes through the stock to a new escutcheon. The pillar and escutcheon are glassed in place to become a permanent part of the stock. The new action screw now pulls the receiver down flush to the pillar – metal to metal so no compression of the wood in the stock.

First, scary cutting with drill press, levels, etc. Then Forstner drill bit cut. It fits! Glass in place.

About 1/2” 5-shot groups at the nos. 7 and 6 with CCI Standard.

Yes, I’ll take it. But there’s more in Part3!

Have you ever wondered about how to make your Ruger 10-22 more accurate? Part 1.

RI RedLeave a comment

I did.

A while back I was disappointed that my trusty old Ruger 10-22’s groups were spreading out. I think I bought it around 2005, so it’s had a lot of rounds through it. But my Christensen Ranger and Ruger Precision Rimfire shoot 1 MOA or less, so I’m spoiled. But they are bolt-action and the 10-22 is semi-automatic, inherently less accurate. Still, 3-4 MOA (1.5”-2”) at 50 yards just won’t do.

So, 1. free-float the barrel; 2. Bed the receiver at the action screw and the rear of the receiver; 3. Bed in a support pillar and replace the flat head action screw with a hex head (easier to measure torque); and 4. Swap out the old factory trigger group.

One accuracy issue with the 10-22 comes from the fact that the receiver is only mounted in place with one action screw. The receiver sits on bare wood and the escutcheon at the base of the action screw hole is mounted in the wood of the under stock. According, there will always be some compression of the wood every time the action screw is tightened (like every time the rifle is disassembled for cleaning). By installing a pillar, the receiver and the escutcheon will be a metal to metal connection with much less compressibility.
So, let’s get started:

Sanding out the forearm to free-float the barrel.

Checking free-float with President George Washington.

Drilling holes to insure adhesion.

Taping the stock and blocking no-resin areas. A liberal coating of shoe polish on exposed metal works as a good release agent. Note also the black electrical tape winding to keep the barrel centered and off the fore-end when everything is clamped.

Glopping in the JB Weld.

Pressure applied overnight.

Initial results. Dremel clean-up to follow.


Free-floated barrel.

New trigger group.


But will she shoot?

Stay tuned for Part 2.