Seeking GREAT shooter, where too now?

[Darrell Davis]

Hello folks,

Bare with me as I ask for a re-hash of, what just may be, an old subject for some of you.

I am almost back to square one, hope to dump the tc "classic" soon as I can find someone to take the thing off my hands. could be as early as this weekend IF, I have a chance to get to a local gun show. You may have read my thought about this un-classic firearm in posts under a couple of different headings. I DON'T LIKE IT ANY BETTER NOW THEN BEFORE IT WENT TO THE FACTORY. IT JAMMED AGAIN!!!!!! ON ITS FIRST CYCLE AFTER IT CAME BACK FROM TC.

The "NEW" subject at hand is just what/where are the best after market items for bring a 77/22 to the "real shooter" level. I have yet to get/shoot this piece of wood & steel, so maybe I'll be lucky and not need the information I am asking for. Can always hope.

Why not buy a Kimber, Cooper. CZ etc.? The answers very, from not enough bucks to I don't like the total package.  I would love to have a Cooper or possibly a Kimber but they fall in the not enough bucks area.

Why a Ruger? Well, I like them and the company. I had a 77/22 that was a good looker and I blew it by letting it go. It was a good place to start and I caught a bad case of dumb.

The clip? Oh yes, the clip. That is one reason I really like the Ruger and one reason I don't like the CZ. I like the ten shot clip and I like the fact that the Ruger clip doesn't hang below the stock line.  PLUS, unlike the TC clips, they WORK!

So---------, should I find said 77/22 and send it off to Clark Custom along with the $400 plus a bit, that they need to make it a shooter or can I REALLY FIND the after market parts which will do the job without putting me into the Kimber/Cooper price level. If I could afford one of those, I live with the 5 shot clip and like it!

No problem on this end with glassing/bedding/floating/basic mechanical, but I don't want to go through 2 or 3 barrels etc. before I find (stumble onto) the quality I want.

I read on the forums, here and elsewhere, about quality barrels cut so tight that they engrave the bullet when it is chambered and then shoot groups of sub 1/2" at fifty yds.  

I guess the folk I'd like to hear from are the ones who have been there and done that -- AND  -- arrived at the end result I am seeking, SUPER SHOOTER AT A REASONABLE TOTAL COST.

Keep em coming! :wink:

[Jack Gilbert]

Well, I had this great old Ranger .22 which fired from the open bolt but after punching a hole in the garage with it I decided that it was too risky and unloaded it for the same price I paid for it, namely $25. Too bad I still don't have it--you'd be welcome to it.

Hey, I loaned my old Ranger bolt action to Big Bob and it was a great shooter. Maybe just hunt around some--how's about checking GunsAmerica .com for some listings?

Jack

[Darrell Davis]

Hey there Wild Jack,

Guess I figured it would cost me a bit more then $25, but IT IS clear you have been there. I'm just not sure where "there" is in your case.  

Keep em coming! :wink:

[TravisM.]

Why not get the ruger, shoot it and if it shoots the way you want it too, keep it the way it is. Remember the law of diminishing returns. Once you get to a certain point (regardless of what youre doing, shooting, hotrodding a car, whatever), the improvements you get are smaller and they cost more.

[MI VHNTR]

Take a look here for some rimfire info.
http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php
There's a place called Connecticut Precision that does wonders with the 77/22 and 10/22. The prices seem pretty reasonable too. You can find the link on Rimfire Central. MI VHNTR

[Darrell Davis]

Hey there Travis M & MI VHNTR.

Thanks for the come backs!

As per you comment Travis, shoot it first is what I expect to do, but it does seem I will be very lucky if I get one of the real shooters. I hope so, but time will tell. I just know that I have already sent a nice little rifle (77/22) down the road when it didn't shoot up to my standards. Don't want to make the same mistake again.

As for your info MI VHNTR, thanks and I will check out the suggested link.

I have been to Rimfire Central a number of times. Haven't signed up there as I find just Graybeard to be more then I can really keep up with.
However, I have done a good bit of reading there and will be back as soon as I sign off here.

Thanks again.

Keep em coming! :wink:

[GBO MGMT]

There are certainly plenty of after market parts for both the Ruger 10/22 and 77/22. I have no experience with them so really can't say from experience what is best. But Volquartsen is a name you can trust. They make a trigger group as well as the individual parts depending on the level you want to go with it. That should get the trigger to where you want it OK. They also make barrels. Not cheap but real good. That would be the route I'd recommend I guess.

If you could locate a good used Remington 541-T you'd have it all in one package with nothing needed. Trigger is adjustable down to about one pound and I've yet to see one that won't do 1/2" at 50 yards with several different brands of ammo.

GB

[Lawdog]

Darrell,

I too prefer the Ruger rotary magazine.  Th only one I ever had a problem with Ruger went out of there way to replace, even gave me a coupon for a free box(50) of ammo.  Below are two places I go to get parts for my Rugers, both 77/22 and 10/22.  On Target Guns (http://www.ontargetguns.com/77-22.html) carries the parts I use in my actions and Green Mountain is where I buy the barrels I use(http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/catalog.aspx?catID=RugerTargetBarrels) in my Rugers.  Both places give great service and I highly recommend them to all.  Lawdog

[Darrell Davis]

Hey there Bill & Lawdog,

You guy are giving me just what I am looking for. The tip about the Rem.541T is also one I will keep in mind and check into at the up coming spring shows.

Keep em coming! :wink:

[zanegrey]

Hello--Have you takn a look at the Russian Biathalon basic Rifle? Mine is very acurate 1/4 inch groups at 50 yards are common, and when the groups open to a half inch I figure it was my fault. It is ugly, toggle bolt, blond stock, horrible checkering and a very short dstance between the scope rings.
On the other hand it has fed 100% has a nice trigger out of the box a crown cut so deep that you could not damage it with a hammer and shoots better than most rifles that cost 3 to 4 times as much. I paid $260 for mine but have seen them cheaper. Mine loves CCI sv at 50 but shoots the target ammo better at 100. Good luck on your project.
Zane

[brigsby]

Just had a quick question for anyone out there.  Has anyone taken a .17 hmr barrel and put it in a 77/22 mag action.  I have the nice 77/22 mag with the stainless barrel and laminated stock.  I am really wanting to get a barrell to change it to a .17 hmr.  All I have heard about this cal is that it is sweet.  I am looking at the carbon fiber barrels  because I really don't want to get to heavy with it.  Anybody had any luck with these?  Thanks, Brandon

[Graybeard]

Brandon, if you want your question to get the attention it deserves you need to post it as a new topic not here at the bottom of a dying topic.

GB

[Big Tex]

I've got a rifle coming from Briley that I think is what you're looking for. They take a Ruger 10/22mag, throw away the barrel and stock, slick up the action, add a Walther .17 barrel and a new stock. The test groups at 50 yds have the .17 holes touch. You can get a 77/.17 too. $850. in a plain rubber stock, more for laminated wood. Buy a couple of extra mags, you can pop off 30 rounds pretty quick for $6. I should get it in a couple more weeks.

[thecowboyace]

Darrel, I saw an ad from SOG a few months back and I picked up a Romanian training rifle for $59.  On a lark, I sent off for one, took it shooting and it will, even with the odd ball sights on it, will stay up with my son's 10/22.  I ordered 5 of them in November to sell 4 and get me one for free.  My smith is putting a Precision aperture/peep sight (competition sights) on it.  When I sold these I told the guys that bought them for their sons, I would buy them back at 80% of what they paid if they couldn't shoot 1" groups at 50yds.  None have come back as of yet and I don't look for them to.  Of the 5 I had one as a handpicked for $10 extra and it was worth it!  No scrapes, gouges, couple of stain blemish probably from getting either oil/copper fouling liquid on it.  I don't believe that I would sell either one that I have for $100, probably for $150 but........ they are, for the money, the best you can buy anywhere.

[SteelEye]

You can pick one up for under $300, float the barrel yourself and get Brooky's trigger job for $15 (or so) and you will have a real shooter for less then $400.  It is a very popular rifle and some claim sub MOA at 100 yards with cheap ammo.  Go to rimfirecentral and you will see numerous posts on how to make this a tack driver.

I have one and replaced it with a Cooper, only because the Cooper was a lefty.

Of course, if you want to end up spending over $1000, which you will, on the 10/22, be my guest.  Everyone I know that owns one of these has spent far beyond that amount.  Yes, they love their rifles and they enjoy the customization but it becomes addictive.

I'm lazy.  Just give me a few boxes of ammo and let me loose on the range.  I don't even clean my rifle excepr for a few passes of a snake.

[theoldman]

Darrell, I have but two things to say about this subject, C  Z

[Badnews Bob]

I am new here so I am reading old post Maybe you should look again at a CZ. I have a Ultra Lux model with the extra long barrel, I have done nothing to this rifle but clean it and it will put all 10 rounds ( yes I have two ten round clips for it) in a 1/4" inch at 50 yards. Its sweet.

[lilabner]

Too bad you don't like clip mags. I just got the CZ American - haven't shot it yet because they don't have good triggers so it is getting a trigger job. The 50 meter target that came with it has a group with .289 inch extreme spread. That makes it a shooter. Matter of fact, that puts it in a class with my daughter in law's dad's Anschutz, and they cost big bucks. Far as I can tell, after the trigger job is done this CZ will be ready to roll.

[Darrell Davis]

Well folks, I think I have found it!

Thanks also to all who took time to share their thoughts with me.

Got out this afternoon at a friends where we could shoot from under the shelter of his deck. Most everywhere else the snow is a bit deep around here. Anyway, it was worth the effort.

I started this subject after a very bad experience with a tc "classic" which was everything BUT classic. Also started a thread about Coopers and rec'd less input then I had hoped. I have however, heard nothing negative about any of the current production Coopers.

Well then, just what have I found worth talking about?

Answer, a Clark Custom/Ruger 77/22.

Happened to find this rifle while trying to find a Cooper dealer. While talking to the dealer he mentioned he had a NEW Clark/Ruger which had been traded in after a fellow ordered it from Clark and then decided it was to heavy for what he wanted to use it for. Anyway, it sat on the dealer's rack for the better part of a year and he wanted to move it along enough that over a period of a few weeks the price got "right."

Will get a new thread started at some later date after I have had time to do more testing, but at this point just let me say the rifle is everything the tc wasn't. The trigger is sweet, crisp with NO over travel or creep!  The clips are easy to load and don't jam!!! And it does shoot very well!!!!

Tried one 10 shot group at almost 100ft (not yds.) with Fed. Gold Medal. This group went just a touch over 1/4" while CCI Blazer shot almost as well at the same distance.

When Spring gets a bit closer and the snow a lot thinner here in I-deee-ho, I will ring the Cruger out with 15 - 20 different loads or so and find just which load hits the sweet spot. Anyway, Chuck and I put enough different loads on the paper to get well cooled and very impressed before we called it quits and headed in doors.

Keep em coming! :wink: