Free float vs bedded barrels?

[scout185]

I'm talking small caliber. My 10/22 is a great gun out of the box but I've heard several people talking and some say it's a must to free float the barrel others say bedding it is better. Honestly for a .22 does it really make a difference?

[hunter63]

I doesn't to me....unless I was going match shooting, and spend the money for a trigger job and all the rest....and it wouldn't be on a 10/22.
The only rifle that I ever had bedded was a custom Mauser 98 with custom everything including a Obermeyer .225 Win barrel....worth maybe $2k
10/22...No

You can put a turbo on a Taurus...but it still a Taurus.

What are you gonna use it for?..plinking or squirrels?....when you can find ammo or..... even harder ...Good ammo?

Too many interweb master key board shooters that blow all sorts of smoke....and even posting targets....I don't believe that either unless I'm standing there.

Save your money, look for ammo and go out and shoot it............

[scout185]

I'm just using it for squirrels and small game and back yard competition shooting with family and friends. I didn't think it would really make a difference for me but I thought I'd ask. Thanks for the reply.

[hunter63]

Lots of guys get really nuts with all the "recommended" up grades.....and most don't need it.
Then there are the guys that just want to build a "ultimate" 10/22 w/all the bells and whistles for the sake of doing it.

Up to you.

[sjj]

revised......

[scout185]

The only foreseeable mod I know for sure I'm going to make is painting it lol. I'm not a fan of the woodland camo stock and stainless everything else. Also the plastic feels cheap and I'm not a fan so I may put a wood stock on it at some point just to give it a more robust feel. I'm perfectly happy with the performance of it as it is I just wanted to set my wondering mind to ease. Thanks guys.

[hunter63]

scout186...did ya see this?

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...6-10-22-4-sale

[kyratshooter]

Now, all that being said, I must state that it is a matter of relativity, especially on a 10/22.

The 10/22 is one of the most badly engineered rifles ever designed as far as accuracy goes. Sorry all you Ruger lovers, but that is the sad truth.

The average 10/22 will shoot bulk pack ammo into 3 inches at 25 yards. (No kidding most are that bad) Some will do better but not much better. All those times you thought you were aiming dead on and missed the shot, well you were right. And all those "tack driving" 10/22 shooters are the luckiest $@^& you ever met. Most .22 rifles are no where near as accurate as everyone thinks they are.

Improvement of that performance comes in increments stepping up with better ammo and better trigger giving the big jumps. Good ammo a good trigger and setting back the barrel and cutting a target chamber is the "big jump" and will usually take the 3" group down to 1/2"@25yds.

At this point you need to consider buying that 24power scope to get accurate measurement of your improvements steps.

Your second consideration is to check the prices on a nice CZ. In the end it will be cheaper and take less time to accomplish the same thing.

After that you are improving headspace, polishing internal parts and tweaking small things to get consistent ignition and better accuracy in little bitty steps. You do these things one step at a time with a lot of shooting and very exact measurements. Each step helps until you have the group down around 1/4"@25 yards. The average guy is not going to get much better accuracy than that

Bedding is part of that last group of activities and should be the first of them, since the others are very technical and expensive. On some 10/22 rifles bedding makes a big improvement, others do not respond well.

The 10/22 action flops around inside the stock like a gravel in a tin can. No need worrying about bedding the barrel if the action is not solid in the stock. You only have one screw holding that rig together and it is at the front of the receiver. For the action to slide into the stock the unit has to be oversized to start with, so flop is built into the design.

On some 10/22 rifles barrel bedding makes a big improvement, others do not respond well. That is due to the stock and the barrel themselves. Some carbine barrels want a bit of pressure out at the fore end tip. Others shoot best when free floated. But it is a small improvement that one can not recognize if some of the big improvements have not been accomplished.

I have found that my 10/22 shoots best with the action bedded fully and the barrel bedded for the first three inches, then free floated. But that is just true for MY rifle and will not apply to all.

The best and cheapest improvements are the good trigger and good ammo. Guess which is the most difficult to obtain these days?

[natertot]

I agree with Kyrat, the 10/22 is horrible for today's standards.

The thing that really got the 10/22 on the map was before it came out in 1964, there was not a reliable magazine fed .22 rifle. There were tube fed designs that were really great, but not a magazine fed. Ruger accomplished this with the 10/22. It also struck popularity because it was similar in cosmetic design and feel to many of the milsurps at the time and was fairly cheap compared to other .22 autos at the time.

Fast forward 50 years and you have the same design, plus cheapened manufacturing process which equals an outdated design with cheap parts. They maintain popularity because back in the 60's they were great. Dad enjoyed it, got one for the son, who grew up and got one for his son cause that's what his dad got him and he knows nothing else. Add in the fact that the after market has come up with add-ons to make it more comparable to modern .22 autos and you got people "building custom" 10/22 with $500 or more invested in them.

This is why I am a big fan of the Remington 597's. They come with a crappy scope outta the box and that should be upgraded immediately. It's still $30 less than a 10/22 and has the following features that are all aftermarket add-ons with the 10/22: Bolt hold open, mag release with trigger finger so you can be reaching for a new mag while dropping the spent one, free float barrel, and comes standard with a target barrel which is an upgrade model on the 10/22. I'm able to get 1" groups at 50yds with bulk cheap ammo. If I use the CCI Stingers, I can consistently snipe my clothes pins at 50yds.

I have owned both 597's and 10/22's as well as other .22 auto's. Needless to say, the 597's stick around my place whereas the other's tend not too. Just my experience. Also, check out "Rimfire Central" forums. They do have good info on the 10/22, but tend to pretty much agree with what I have said.