Why the Ruger 10/22 is the Best First Rifle (3+1 Reasons)

[xounlistedxox]

I’m a longtime 22 lover. That said, the box mag Ruger never interested me. Yes, they are affordable and fun to shoot. To me, they are meh. I prefer the tube feds or the old butt fed REM nylon 66. If I really go for accuracy, it’s bolt 22s. I have an old Mossberg M44 US that has mind blowing accuracy. Almost as good as some match guns( ok , some).To me, the Ruger is the Glock of 22 rifles.. That said, I love their 22 pistols.

Where we camp, there's a 12" steel plate setup at 275 yards. With my 16" bull barrel & bulk pack ammo I can hit that 75% of the time shooting off a bag, that's more than enough accuracy for me from my 10/22!

[stormvet]

My only 10/22 isn’t really a Ruger it’s an improved upon version by Radical Firearms, I have a crap load 25, 15 and 10 round mags. All the really good newer versions with the steel feed lips, I can shoot cheap bulk ammo for close to 200 rounds before I have to reload my mags. The Radical never misses a beat and with the heavy barrel is very accurate. The 10/22 whatever version you got, is great for new or old shooters. All day fun on the cheap what’s not to like.

[Ora Serrata]

To the person who complained about stovepipes and squibs - I agree with the other response above, most likely the ammo choice. Also be sure the gun and magazine are clean and lubed.

squib from a .22, really? I’ve been shooting for 45 years have personally owned almost 200 guns, am an instructor, and RSO and have only ever had 1 squib in my life: from a .308 reload (not my reload BTW).

Another tip, best $15 I ever spent was on a Volquartason 10/22 bolt release. An absolute must for Appleseed and makes life a lot easier IMO. Very easy to install.

[stormvet]

I’ve never had a squib round in 22lr, I have had a few underpowered rounds. You can feel the difference but the bullets all exited the barrel, the only squib I’ve ever had was from my handloading powder puff rounds in .38, went a little too lite on the powder.

[TrappedinCalifornia]

The concept of "best" is highly subjective. There are good reasons to 'start' with a 10/22. There are good reasons to 'start' with something else, be it rimfire or centerfire. (The first rifle I actually owned was a 30-30 and my experience shooting was somewhat limited prior to that.)

Things like customization come later in a shooter's experience... usually. Not everyone has the finances to 'customize' to themselves or a specific individual. Thus, off the rack holds special significance to shooters. Off the rack 10/22's aren't 'bad,' but they aren't necessarily 'good' either. It all depends on the individual. Let's just say that, as an example, my Grandparents never owned a Ruger, let alone a 10/22. All of their firearms were stock models. However, I wouldn't have wanted to shoot against them in competition, especially my Grandmother, who my Grandfather would (reluctantly sometimes) acknowledge was a better shot and he qualified Expert in the Navy, with a loose sight. 🙄

Being affordable to shoot is, in many respects, a bygone concept. In the days when you could pick up a box of 50 for a quarter, max, I'd have agreed. Today, while .22LR is still more affordable than 30-06 or 44 magnum, it isn't exactly 'cheap' and it depends on where your priorities lie. I know individuals who'll blow through a whole case in a single shooting session and I know individuals who shoot as if that's all the ammo they'll be able to own in a lifetime. Most of them are decent shots, regardless of their level of practice.

Having low recoil and being easy to learn on applies to virtually any .22LR. However, there are those who feel the 10/22 is 'cramped' in terms of fit. There are those who yell that the sights aren't good for them. There are those... Well, you get the idea.

I can't argue over reliability. Let's just say that my Great Uncle ended up with a 10/22 for squirrel hunting in his last years. It was never cleaned. It sat out on the back porch, even in -25 degree F weather, with the ammunition. He wasn't as good a shot with it as he claimed in that he had glaucoma, but we didn't argue with him. When I inherited it, let's just say the rusty barrel needed replacement and it took some effort to clean out the receiver. Yet, it always worked.

I've owned a number of 10/22's over the years and still own a couple. I've owned other types of .22LR firearms and still have some. I would agree that a .22LR is likely the better choice for teaching someone the fundamentals of shooting, especially the young. But, when it comes to 'the best' brand/model, I leave that up to the individual.

[k1dude]

The reason I think a bolt action is better as a first rifle is due to the simplicity of operation and the inherent accuracy/precision. There's nothing more frustrating to a beginner than doing everything right, but the bullet doesn't hit the bullseye. That's the problem with semi-autos. The accuracy/precision of a semi-auto usually isn't as good as a bolt-action. I'm talking about off-the-shelf affordable rifles, not tricked-out, custom, or specialty guns.

With a good bolt action rifle, the beginner will know if the inaccuracy was due to him/her rather than the rifle/ammo, and can correct the mistake on their next attempt. With a semi-auto, you often don't know if it was you or the gun/ammo, so you don't know if you need to correct something you did wrong.

I was very lucky to have learned to shoot with a supremely accurate/precise Nylon 66. I'll freely admit I was very lucky to have such an accurate/precise inexpensive semi-auto. But it was easy to tell when I did something wrong. I always knew it was me and not the gun/ammo. It was so accurate/precise, I could shoot empty 22 cases off a wall at 25 yards every single time. Most semi-autos can't do that, but most bolt-actions can.

My brother's first rifle was a Winchester 290 and that thing sucked. His gun wasn't accurate/precise at all, and he hated going shooting because I was hitting everything I aimed at and he couldn't. It wasn't him, it was his rifle. I traded with him on occasion and couldn't hit squat with his rifle and he would shoot just fine with mine. He lost all interest in shooting because of that rifle. He was so discouraged he never wanted to shoot again. To this day he still has no interest in shooting because of his bad experiences with his first rifle.

That's why I think it's so important to have a very accurate/precise first rifle. That usually means a bolt-action.

[splithoof]

Right now, the CZ .22LR bolt rifles are superior to the 10/22, IMO.
Ruger could go a long ways by simply using the better trigger they sell for it as an accessory. Ive tried to tell them that, but their ears are so plugged up with dog crap they apparently fail to get the message. The stock trigger is so bad, no wonder new shooters have problems with it. It really is junk.

[stormvet]

You can get a Ruger rimfire with good triggers.

This Ruger comes with a very good trigger.


This Ruger comes with a great trigger.