Ruger 10-22 question

[R-H]

Good day to all, I just picked up 2 Ruger 10-22s, one wood stock the other synthetic. I plan to set them up for Appleseed shoots, picked up a BX1 trigger for one, sending the other trigger group to Brimstone gunsmiths for their phaze 3 trigger work, have the usgi slings, ect.
My question is on the barrel bands or the removal of, I have read it make the rifle more accurate to have the barrels free floating, but it seems that when using a sling especially on the synthetic, it flexes the stock, pulling away from the barrel. Would this cause more of an accuracy problem then leaving the bands on?
Thanks for any information
RH

[hardlyworking]

If the stock is truly "free floated" by removing the barrel band it shouldn't matter at all what is happening with the sling/stock as the front sight is now independent of the stock.

If you are getting these fully set up as LTRs (liberty training rifles) you might consider a click-adjustable rear sight like Tech-Sights as it will make sight radius that much longer than the barrel mounted rear blade, and will be MUCH easier to repeatably adjust with the detent/click windage and/or elevation.

And since you mention Appleseed highly recommended now that 22LR supplies seem to be normalized, avoid the bulk-packaged ammo (300+) in favor of 50/100 round boxes with high quality control. It is really nice to not have to worry about FTFs when shooting for score and you can get into the bubble.

[R-H]

Thanks for the reply, looking at the front factory synthetic stock mount it is on the very tip of the stock, when I put tension on the sling it pulls down on the stock, if I added a mount futher back, closer to where my hand rest that may eliminate some of the flex.

Thanks again
RH

[ojisan]

Barrel band off is usual.
Double check the barrel channel for any uneven spots that might push on the barrel.
Even contact is OK, some shoot better with a little upward pressure right at the front of the stock's barrel channel.
Free float or contact, we want the barrel and stock to settle down into the same relationship after each shot.

You may find that the original synthetic stocks are to flexy for use with a sling, especially if the barrel band is off.
Again it is about consistency, same hold, same sling tension every time, which can be hard to do if the stock itself twists and moves.

[Mutant]

Seem it would make sense to shoot them. Shoot with the bands on. Shoot with the bands off. Then decide. Try with sling on and off. All the rest of this is pure speculation.

[jeremiah12]

When I first purchased a set of 10/22s for my son and I, it was back in 2013 when they were hard to come by. I happened to be doing a PPT at a LGS when they were putting out a pair of 10/22s they had just received. I bought both.

After shooting for a couple of years we learned the synthetic stocks they came with just flexed too much and it was very obvious when shooting at 100 yards.

I replaced both with wood laminate thumbhole stocks because we wanted something different. This automatically free-floated the barrel because they were short stocks where the front ended just slightly ahead of where the barrel joined the receiver. The barrel had no contact with the stock.

The accuracy improved because there was no more stock flexing. We both felt there was still a lot of inconsistency. Because of the shortage of .22 ammo the only ammo I could get was higher quality target ammo.

The consistency problem mostly occurred after cleaning when we disassembled and reassembled the rifles. Both rifles had to be sighted in again as the POI changed, sometimes by as much as a couple of inches in any direction.

I ended up buying adjustable v-blocks from Tactical Innovations:

I adjusted the set screw so it just contacted the barrel and gave it a 1/8 turn past that.

It fixed the problem. I have never calculated the MOA at 100 yards but 9 out of 10 rounds I can hit a half inch diameter dots that we use for targets. Before the adjustable v-block it was closer to 5 out of 10 hits. With the synthetic stocks it was 2 out of 10 hits.

I suggest you shoot the rifle in stock configuration for a while then decide. Try it with both a barrel band and without.

Just as an aside, one time I was having a lot of problems with accuracy, I was hitting all over with no grouping patterns. This happened over 3 range trips. I was starting to think it was my optics. When I went to clean my rifle, I discovered I had installed the adjustable v-block upside down so the set screw was not supporting the barrel. I flipped it around and the problem was solved. That told me the adjustable v-block worked as I had originally expected it would.

[RawHP]

Good day to all, I just picked up 2 Ruger 10-22s, one wood stock the other synthetic. I plan to set them up for Appleseed shoots, picked up a BX1 trigger for one, sending the other trigger group to Brimstone gunsmiths for their phaze 3 trigger work, have the usgi slings, ect.
My question is on the barrel bands or the removal of, I have read it make the rifle more accurate to have the barrels free floating, but it seems that when using a sling especially on the synthetic, it flexes the stock, pulling away from the barrel. Would this cause more of an accuracy problem then leaving the bands on?
Thanks for any information
RH

Generally on 10/22s, bull barrels shoot better free floated, and sporter barrels shoot better with a pressure point (which is partly why Ruger engineered it with a pressure point at the fore end tip). I've found this to be the case for mine.

I shot my Feddersen factory contour barrel floated, and with a pressure point in a Ruger sporter stock, before moving it to the carbine stock. It shot OK floated, and really well with a pressure point at the tip, in the sporter stock, but even better in the carbine stock, with the barrel band clamped down TIGHT. Well enough that it seems very close to my floated bull barrel (I'll know once I shoot it on a calmer day).

I think you may find that you'll have better results adjusting/fine tuning the take down screw torque, than removing the band and floating.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9036273&postcount=3

The SuperStock section of the Rimfire Central site has a lot of good info on optimizing the accuracy on sporter barrel 10/22s.

[R-H]

Again thanks to all, alot of good information, will start taking them to the range and trying out different things, and see what ammo they like best at 25m.
Thanks
RH

[hermosabeach]

The fun of shooting is learning to shoot up to the accuracy of the rifle....

You need to get out and shoot the rifles with a little log book

From sandbags, what can the rifle shoot? 1/2" at 50 yards???

Now the question becomes if you can shoot 1/2"'prone but the group moves 4" left when you sling up, how do you fix the stock to eliminate the torque on the barrel..... less pressure on the sling or a new stock or 2 steel rods and epoxy....


Lots of choices

Shoot it first and see how it works before you make too many changes