I Take that Back...

Well, contrary to the previous post and all the time I spent looking at Marlins, I bought a 10/22.

I think the main thing that did it was the aftermarket support. I figure the rifle is ubiquitous for a reason. I don't think I'll be replacing the stock and buying new receivers that cost more than the gun itself ($180 - very lightly used from my local gun store/range), but I wanted to ensure that I had options going forward for perhaps more sensible modifications. That, and with the 10/22 I have tons of options for extended magazines (including Ruger's own BX-25, one of which I bought along with the gun) and with the Marlin there was effectively none. I just couldn't get over that.

Wood over synthetic - this was also something that took a while for me to get comfortable with. I planned on synthetic. A few weeks ago, at Cabela's, I came very close to buying a 10/22 with a black synthetic stock, a slightly longer barrel, and fiber optic sights for $230. It was the last day of the sale and I figured I'd be able to find a similar deal elsewhere; no luck. My local gun store said they'd order it and match Cabela's sale price, but turns out it's a discontinued model. Throughout all of this I was going to Bass Pro and other stores, asking the guys behind the counter if they preferred wood or synthetic - everyone said wood. Synthetic is cool and all, but I think wood is a timeless look that also adds some needed heft to the rifle, and I'm confident it will last so I can give it to my grandson or granddaughter.

So now I have a 10/22 in great condition but completely bone-stock. What am I going to do with it?

Internal Modifications

At first I thought this was a weakness of the 10/22 - the fact that all over the internet are people who will rattle off a laundry list of mods that YOU MUST DO AS SOON AS YOU TAKE IT OUT OF THE BOX. Even though I haven't shot it yet, I'm sure that this is just typical internet hivemind hyperbole; however, I am finding out just from handling the gun that some of these mods, while not essential, are easy enough and provide enough of a boost in usability and enjoyment that I will be doing them pretty soon.

The first is the auto bolt release. At present, the way you lock and unlock the bolt is sort of weird. To lock the bolt open, you pull back and hold the bolt, and then with your other hand press in a little metal piece on the trigger guard. To release, you hold back on the bolt again and press the little metal piece upward. It's hard to describe and weird to execute. Even when you get it, which in fairness happens pretty quickly, you still have to juggle the thing around when you want to release the bolt - I think that having to do such a complex maneuver to perform a standard function is kind of irritating.

Enter the auto bolt release modification. There's a metal plate in the trigger assembly that governs the bolt's behavior, and when a certain hole in this plate is made wider the action of the bolt is made infinitely easier. Once this mod is complete the operator need only pull the locked bolt back a fraction of an inch, and then the bolt will move forward and place the round in battery. To the best of my knowledge you will still need to press the metal piece in to lock it back, but that is far more forgivable. So to perform this modification, you can dremel out the hole on your own (I am not confident in my ability to do this) or buy a replacement plate (much easier). No gunsmithing required - all that is needed is to open up the trigger assembly and take a bunch of things out to expose the plate.

I have less of a problem with the mag release - it's on the underside of the gun and it's a lever you push forward. Not nearly as awkward as releasing the bolt. But companies make extended, thicker, and other replacement mag release levers, and installing it is even easier than the auto bolt release mod, so why not?

External

I think it would be really fun to throw a scope on my 10/22. Maybe a cheap red dot sight instead. For this I will need a rail and scope rings, if I'm mounting a scope.

10/22s don't come with rails already installed. Had I bought one new in the box there'd be a Ruger factory rail packaged with it, but I bought the gun and the gun alone so I need to decide what rail is right for me. Much more research is needed here - there are a couple different kinds of mounts, for one thing. I can get a "low profile" rail that will allow me to still use the factory iron sights if I take the scope off.

Once I figure that out I have the even more difficult task of settling on an optic. Cheap knockoff red dots might not be of super high quality, but I can get them for $40 or so. Scopes come in fixed zoom or variable; many recommend a fixed 4x scope for a rimfire rifle, as it is well-suited for the kinds of distances at which I will be engaging targets. Scopes range wildly in price, from a $40 Wal Mart special to something many times the cost of the rifle and undoubtedly more optic than I need. Research is needed here too.

I could, of course, forego the optic and buy a set of Tech Sights, which I mentioned in the previous post about 22 rifles and which come highly recommended. These would replace the irons and foreclose the possibility of mounting a scope, since the rear ring sight is mounted in two of the holes in the receiver. This is a situation where I would have to make the decision of irons vs. scope; even though you can still unscrew something mounted in with blue loctite (the non-permanent threadlocker of choice for mounting stuff on a gun), I wouldn't want to keep adding and removing things like that.

Worth mentioning as I bring this to a close is that I have made one tiny modification to the 10/22 so far; I bought some bright orange nail polish from Wal Mart and put a couple of dots on the gold dot on the factory front sight to make it more visible. Everyone starts small!

I'll be taking this out for the first time on Saturday morning at an outdoor range in MO; my range report will detail the performance and operation of the gun. Stay tuned.