Ruger 10/22 Takedown

[versifier]

My buddy came home with one of these last month and we have been putting it through its paces. I have to say I am more than a little impressed by its accuracy compared to most 10/22's. With decent ammo it will keep 10 shots in 1.5" @ 50yds rested. With its favorite (CCI Green Tag) it will keep them in 1". I have an older one in a walnut stock that will do that, but as you know, most of them are doing well to stay in 3-4" at that range, hence the popularity of aftermarket barrels for them. With scope installed, it does not lose zero when the barrel is removed and then remounted. Neither of us has any use for those cheap plastic POS light-pipe sights, but new conventional ones are on the way for when he decides on what hunting ammo it does best with. The barrel is threaded so his can works on it, too. He is very happy with the rifle.

This one came in the neat little backpack with both the regular 10rd mag and the 25rd banana mag. I hate the banana mags for offhand shooting or hunting (even way before Ruger finally came out with decent reliable ones) - they destroy the excellent handling of the little carbines, but with a bipod they are fine for plinking, and unlike their aftermarket predecessors which we had to endure for thirty years of frustration, the Ruger mags feed and function flawlessly.

[Mike in tx]

My grandson, who works for Ruger, got rid of his take down. He traded it for a Mossberg shotgun.

[versifier]

What didn't he like about it? Or was it bird season and he needed a shotgun ASAP?

[Clayt]

He's 20. Bigger boom appeals to him.
I'm collecting 3 1/2 mags for him!

[versifier]

These days you gotta keep firing as long as the artillery still works.

I am preferring much milder stuff these days but I was 20 once too.

Our thing was partridge and to get in close with the dog and not need anything more than a 20ga, .410 if you were really good.

He sounds like a duck and goose hunter (only thing worth the abuse of shooting a 3.5", maybe). Never been one for waterfowling after a season of it, after that raised ducks and geese and ate them and their eggs and knew what went into fattening them up. I never know where a migrating bird has been, what it has eaten, what it's been exposed to.

Partridge doesn't migrate, lives off the land like the deer and moose and turkey. Healthy land, healthy birds, fun to hunt for dog and man.

But at 20 I was pounding away at the ducks and geese too. I hate cold wet feet and I hate a cold wet ass and as much as I love my dogs I hate a cold wet bird dog in my lap when I have cold wet feet and a cold wet ass already. One season of it was enough, long before there was arthritis.

Give me a nice easy partridge hunt on a nice dry sunny fall day with the dog. We'll stay in by the woodstove on those nasty cold rain down the back of your neck waterfowling kind of days. Pneumonia. Maybe the weather's not as nasty for it down that way as it is up here. Still, no bird sweeter and tastier than a partridge, not nowhere not nohow.

One of those takedowns with a can on it and subsonic ammo in the north woods and you could get all the partridge you ever want unspooked.

[Clayt]

Subsonic 22s are fun. I've wacked quite a few garden raiders over the years with them.

I came to the conclusion quickly that I have no reason to fire 3 1/2" 12 ga ever again!
I grow less fond of some of the 3" magnum super high velocity recoil shoulder mashers. (Remington makes some OMG loads)
In TX, I use 2 3/4" non magnum steel and kicked ass in the short game. Few long shots over the "tanks". (that's a man made pond to us northern boys)

[versifier]

If I can't kill a bird with a 20ga, I take photos. The dog doesn't care as long as she gets to come along. I do not need to get thrown all around by hard kicking rifles and shotguns any more.

[Mike in tx]

Well, my grandson shows his grandfather in him. He just bought a Ruger match in 357. Going to be a great summer. He is getting his casting equipment together and says he will be handloading and casting for the 357. Good Boy LOL Can you tell that I am excited?

[Mike in tx]

Cash got rid of the shotgun and now is the proud owner of a Remington Nylon 66 not Apache. The boy is trading like he changes underwear. Now about his present girlfriend.

[versifier]

As long as she changes hers too, it's OK by me.

I had a Nylon66 years ago, sold it when I got my first 10/22. The Remington was a bit more accurate on paper only with its favorite ammo, but the Ruger was and is a superior and balanced hunting rifle, especially after I fitted it with peep sights and a good sling. 40 years later the N66 is long gone (still in use by its current owner who talks a lot more than he shoots), but I still have and shoot my 10/22 fairly often. I hated loading the Remington through the buttstock and much prefer Ruger's rotary mags, even if they don't hold the 15rounds the N66 does. Especially in the field. And if you aren't careful, once it gets a bit worn, the mag follower can (and will!!!!) fall out of the N66 while carrying it in the woods. Back then you could still get a new one to replace one you lost. Today?

We just finished sighting in my friend's takedown. Removing and then reinstalling both barrel and scope, no change in zero. It is more than accurate enough for squirrels at 100yds. POI shifts with ammo changes as expected, and it doesn't like any of the hypervel .22's, but the dozen kinds of regular and subsonic we've tried all stay in 2" @ 100yds. This one is a keeper. It really likes RWS match and CCI green tag, and does just fine with plain old Federal HP's.