Ruger American vs 10/22

[5.56]

What are your thoughts on a Ruger American woodstock 22" barrel VS a standard 10/22 synthetic carbine 18.5"? I already own the 10/22 and I was looking at the American to accurize it and make it a small game/pest rifle for on my property. Is the American a better build than the 10/22 for accuracy or is great accuracy perfectly capable from my 10/22 with a few modifications? I want to turn one of them into an iron sights only rifle and was thinking about doing it with the 10/22 and putting a good piece of glass on the American.

The second argument is to just buy the American anyway because you can never have enough great rifles. The turners near me has one on sale for $330.00 + fees which seems to be far below average.

[roger1022]

If you have your sights set on one, get it! Not sure if you are close to RifleGear but they do have the wood stock version for about $350 + tax/fees. Another good thing to note is the American can use 10/22 mags.

[ExtremeX]

I have a 10/22 and a Ruger American... I personally enjoy the 10/22 a lot more. For some reason I just don't enjoy a bolt action .22 LR, and that's coming from someone who much prefers a bolt action to a semi auto rifle.

I don't know what you mean by accurize it, but personally I wouldn't spend a penny on the rifle beyond a scope , rings, base, and a trigger upgrade if needed.

What are you expectations from the platform / build?

I can achieve the results I want from just buying better ammo. Match ammo turned it into a completely different rifle, and its difficult to go back to bulk ammo. If I changed the stock, its only for ergonomics because its shoots better than I can.

Switching to match ammo turned my 10/22 into something really enjoy shooting. Putting a good optic on top of it made all the difference.

[Jeepergeo]

Every good American should have at least one bolt gun, and a Ruger American is pretty hard to beat for the price.

I'd say go for it and own them both. Both are pretty amazing guns for the money.
And you can take that $300 10/22 and literally spend 5 or 10 times the purchase price on aftermarket gizmos.....though I'd just go with a quality rail and scope.

[rogervzv]

Both are fine rifles. I own both and will always want to own both.

If you get a 10/22 you will want to add either (IMO) a Tech Sight iron sight, or an optic. A VQ or Kidd trigger group also significantly improves the rifle. I cannot abide the stock 10/22 sight and none of my 10/22s retain them.

The Ruger American Rimfire is a fine rifle. You will want an optic for it. The stock trigger is fine.

Both rifles can be very, very accurate. For varmints, it would seem as though semi-auto has its advantages.

Since the rifles use the same magazines, I would (and do) own both.

[Sutcliffe]

Both quality guns

The 10-22 has sold millions and been in production for 50 years.
The American rifle is an evolution of design that offers quite a bit of quality for their price point. Really cant go wrong with either.

[lowandslow]

OK, here is what I have done with my RAR in 22 LR:

1) Set trigger to about 3.25# pull.
2) Put on Weaver #12 scope bases. Loctite blue on screws and between the base and receiver.
3) Got some decent rings (I think either Burris or Leupold right now)
4) Got the Nikon 3-9 EFR scope, on sale now for $140 shipped.
5) Put a good sling on it.
6) Use the high comb on the stock. Excellent cheek weld.

This is very reasonably priced. With CCI, or Certain Federal it will hit any squirrel out to 75 yards without a problem. You can always put on better scopes (I am fond of Sightrons right now) however this is an amazing value for the $$$.

For my 10/22 I did the following:

1) Scope rail from Monstrum (UTG is good also). $10 on Amazon. Loctite blue on screws and between the base and receiver.
2) Decent set of rings.
3) Hogue stock. Removes the front barrel ring and gives many benefits of free floating without a lot of work.
4) Although you said iron sights, my 54 yr old eyes needed something more. Depending on my mood it wears a 1.5-5 Weaver Grand Slam or a 2-7 Nikon Rimfire. The 1.5 low end has a WIDE field of view and a huge eyebox. Totally fun.
5) A decent sling.
6) Extended magazine release.
7) And now the biggie - Brimstone Stage 2 trigger. It breaks a bit over 3#. Everything positive you hear about them is true and it runs circles around the BX.

The first time at the range after sighting in with CCI ammo, I am laying 10 round groups of max spread of a nickel. 7/10 pretty much made a small ragged hole the size of a dime. Off of a sled I would bet all 10 would be in the size of a dime with a few going through the same .30"-.35" hole.

All magazines have been lightly sanded with some 1600 grit paper. They fall right out when released.

The moral of the story is - the RAR is intrinsically accurate and has a great trigger to start with. The 10/22 needs minor tweaks to get varmint accurate. Of course you can spend a lot more money on the 10/22 to get that last few percent however it will hit small pests all day at 50+ yards. Both of these have been tested on a LOT of ground squirrels.

Jeepergeo is correct - get both! They help train on different styles of shooting and in their ways they serve different needs. I have a lot of rimfire rifles in both 22lr and 22 mag yet these are my go to guns when on the farms.

You can spend more money. I have some Browning and Savages rimfire rifles as well. But for pure value, reliability and ease of use, hard to beat the Ruger twins.

[DevNull Ogre]

Just another vote for what's already been written here. Both are great rifles. Both are fun to shoot. Both are accurate. Get both :-)

[RNE228]

The Ruger American is a nice rifle. My son has a newer Savage bolt action that is a tackdriver out of the box.

I would check out the used racks at the LGS too. I like the new rifles, but some of the oldies will outshoot the new rifles.

I shoot my Dad's Mossy 142 that he got in '50 a lot. Bolt action carbine with peep/aperture sights. That thing outshoots my 10/22 any day of the week.

Someone has already mentioned, try different ammo; bulk 22lr is not that great...

[RNE228]

I have Tech Sights on my 10/22 and really like them; it is set up with as an Appleseed rifle(Tech Sights, Extended mag release, GI sling, did trigger 25 years ago).

I am intrigued by the new Nodak aperture sights:

http://www.nodakspud.com/NDS-22.htm

Skinner has some interesting sights for the 10/22 and RAR too(as well as others...)

I found this link interesting for 10/22 aperture sight options:

http://wjowsa.com/1022-peep-sight-roundup/

to add either (IMO) a Tech Sight iron sight, or an optic. A VQ or Kidd trigger group also significantly improves the rifle. I cannot abide the stock 10/22 sight and none of my 10/22s retain them..

[jfdodge]

If you will be shooting a lot of varmints in rapid succession, I'd go with the 10/22 semi. Look into the ruger bx-22 drop in trigger, I just put one in one of my rifles and it is a huge improvement over the stock trigger. Attached is a 10 shot group with a out of one of my rifles, only thing changed on this one is I added the magpul x22 stock.

[zapatito92]

if you want a 22 caliber i would go with the 10/22
if you want the american i would choose a different caliber but thats just my opinion. either way both quality guns.

i have the arcangel conversion kit on my 10/22 and its an awesome little gun

[M1NM]

Rugers built within the last 5 years aren't on my radar. Too many quality issues. Poorly trained workers who are just assemblers not gun people. Painted parts instead of blued or anodized, plastic replacing metal parts. Ruger's got a great customer service section but it shouldn't be necessary for a new gun.

[RNE228]

Not really. The 10/22 is mediocre until you replace the trigger, the sights, the mag release, extractor.... the list could go on. I have one, I like it, but it is average at best out of the box.

either way both quality guns.

[momopi]

I prefer 10/22 takedown because it's easier to clean the barrel. Cost more, but less hassle and saves time.

For a bolt gun, due to the .22lr supply issues we had in recent years, I would suggest CZ 455 American combo with .22lr and .17hmr barrel set. You can also buy 22 mag barrel.

When .22lr was no where to be seen on the shelf at Walmart, they still had boxes of .17hmr.