Buy a 10/22 or a Savage Mk II??

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Looking to buy a .22LR for target practice/training for someone new to shooting, but wants to become competitive. Want to start out spending only a few hundred bucks. Looking for a heavy barrel, semi-auto, plan to put on a scope. 10 round mags a must. Don't want to buy something and replace stock, barrel, trigger, etc. Want to shoot straight out of box. Read hundreds of postings and have narrowed it down to either a Ruger 10/22 or a Savage Mk II. Peoples thoughts and recommendations. have heard the accu-trigger from savage is really nice and is very accurate. eats everything where as the 10/22 is more popular, can be a finicky eater and needs to be upgraded to shoot accurately. Does anyone have both rifles? Is Walmart a 'safe' place to buy?
Thanks
 
We picked our 10/22 up at Walmart because they are exclusively the store that sells the version with the longest barrel (different stores have their own version sold exclusively to them). My vote would be for a 10/22 because it is more compatible with anything you would like to put on it later down the road. Also I would recommend firelapping it, it certainly made the difference in accuracy for mine and it's pretty easy to do.
 
I sold my 10/22 once I bought the Savage BTVSS. For -400$ I do not see how it can be beat. You will need a scope though if you go with that model. Depends on how important semi-auto is to you. The BTVSS comes with a 5 round mag but the 10 round mags fit.
 
Looking to buy a .22LR for target practice/training for someone new to shooting, but wants to become competitive. Want to start out spending only a few hundred bucks. Looking for a heavy barrel, semi-auto, plan to put on a scope. 10 round mags a must. Don't want to buy something and replace stock, barrel, trigger, etc. Want to shoot straight out of box. Read hundreds of postings and have narrowed it down to either a Ruger 10/22 or a Savage Mk II. Peoples thoughts and recommendations. have heard the accu-trigger from savage is really nice and is very accurate. eats everything where as the 10/22 is more popular, can be a finicky eater and needs to be upgraded to shoot accurately. Does anyone have both rifles? Is Walmart a 'safe' place to buy?
Thanks

Well, Mallard, by your definitions in the first three sentences, both rifles are out. The Mark II is a bolt action rifle with a 5 round magazine that lists for $575. The AccuTrigger is awesome, light-years ahead of the Ruger. The Ruger, out of the box, is a $200 rifle that IS capable of decent accuracy, but most people realize great gains in the accuracy by adding in a bull barrel and modifying that G-d-awful stock trigger.

If you're a new shooter, I'd say get the Ruger, do any mods that you want to it, and practice, practice, practice. You'll still spend less than you will on the Savage, and by the time you're capable of telling the difference, accuracy-wise, you'll have saved up enough to get the Savage. There's NOTHING wrong with having more than one rifle! [smile]
 
My kids got me the Savage MK II BTVS (Bolt action, thumbhole stock, heavy varmint barrel, stainless) as a birthday gift. I'm hoping for a Harris Bipod for Father's Day.[wink] I too was considering a semi like the 10/22 but decided to go with the bolt action. The cost, new, for the MK II BTVS was $375. It came with a 5 round stainless mag and the Picatinny mounts installed. The barrell is free floating for accuracy and it has the adjustable Accu-Trigger. You gotta buy scope rings and a scope. 10 round mags are available.

I got a Hawke Varmint II 6-24X44 scope with an adjustable objective lens (can see the 22 holes at 100) and some Burris high rings with the plastic inserts. Right now I'm still working on my shooting and trying to figure out if it likes the CCI SV ammo or the Wolf MT best. Good groups, on target, of 1/2" at 50 yards. It's been a bit windy to stretch it out to 100 when I've been to the range. I'm very happy with the rifle. The 10 round mag only seems to load 9 rounds though.

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From a benchrest, with mini-mags, my 10/22 shoots under 1 MOA. When I can shoot it that well without the crutch, I'll start looking into heavy barrels, etc.
The Accu-trigger is nice, but you can improve the trigger on a 10/22 great deal with some of the $300 you'll save over the Savage. As for ammo, semi-auto's are basically always going to be more finicky than bolts, but I've never had any issues with Federal bulk, CCI, or Winchester Super X in my 10/22. How cheap do you need the ammo to be?
 
Awesome Responses - Many Thanks
People seem to prefer the 10/22 as long as you make changes to it. Looking for something out of the box as I don't have lots of experience with replacements etc. $ is not that much of a issue (meaning I'd can afford $200 more on a good rifle, but no $700) I did find a Savage (model 64 FSS) in semi-auto, but it doesn't have the accu-trigger nor a heavy barrel. I want a semi-auto as I have an old H&R 865 bolt action. The old H&R is a slow shooter as there's no ejector and doesn't feed that great, but the most accurate 22LR I've ever shot. Never thought I would go with Stainless, but the picture above might be enough to change my opinion - looks beautiful. Have heard that savage is one of the only manufacturers that still makes their own barrels verses contracting out to the lowest bidder. Ruger should read some of these posts. Why would you want to buy something and have to change all of the most important components before using?
 
Did we met at Appleseed last week? I stayed late on Sunday as I almost, but didn't get my patch. Thanks to all for the weekend, what a great experience!
 
Did we met at Appleseed last week? I stayed late on Sunday as I almost, but didn't get my patch. Thanks to all for the weekend, what a great experience!

If you were at Pelham, and borrowed a black 10/22, that was my rifle. We'll get you to rifleman at your next Appleseed, I think.
 
If you were at Pelham, and borrowed a black 10/22, that was my rifle. We'll get you to rifleman at your next Appleseed, I think.

That was me, want to get something to practice with and be familiar with. If $$ was not an issue, Savage or 10/22? I know you love the 10/22, but have heard so many good things about the Savage. Comparing the bits I like and using the MSRP, the Savage is much cheaper! The K-10/22-T verses the 64 FSS. Although having trouble comparing apples to apples... looking for semi-auto (as I already have a bolt), bull barrel and preferably stainless and wood, but blued and syn would be ok
 
10/22. It's a decent shooter from the factory, so don't be put off by everyone saying it NEEDS x y z. My father has one in factory config that he shoots with a red dot scope, he can shoot out the center of the target at 50 yards. People have a tendency to want to wring out every bit of accuracy possible, so they often upgrade the rifle. I would say, get the trigger job, but it will still shoot pretty well without it.
 
That was me, want to get something to practice with and be familiar with. If $$ was not an issue, Savage or 10/22? I know you love the 10/22, but have heard so many good things about the Savage. Comparing the bits I like and using the MSRP, the Savage is much cheaper! The K-10/22-T verses the 64 FSS. Although having trouble comparing apples to apples... looking for semi-auto (as I already have a bolt), bull barrel and preferably stainless and wood, but blued and syn would be ok

The one you shot had the "horrible" stock trigger. It had a replacement mag release, but the new stock ones are fine. The biggest thing to do to a 10/22 is to fix the bolt release, which is the work of five minutes with a Dremel, how-to videos and pictures are all over the internet.

Are you planning to put a scope on it? Most 10/22s that come with bull barrels don't come with iron sights, and while it's fairly easy to mount Tech Sights on them, that's the not the same as "Out of the box." (As far as I know, you can't put Tech Sights on the Savage at all, however). If you have the budget, and don't mind doing a little handiwork, building exactly the rifle you want out of a 10/22 is much easier, thanks to the abundance of aftermarket parts. I haven't heard anything bad about the Savage though, so if you don't want to do any work, and plan on using the stock sights, I think that's where you're going to wind up.

FYI, that Savage model does not have an Accutrigger, and the barrel isn't particularly heavy on it, so even against a non-heavy barreled Ruger, your out of the box accuracy will probably be about the same either way.
 
Mallard - I suggest the 10/22 because:
out of the box you're good to go
after market parts mean the sky is the limit
you can build over time
by the time you're done building you'll have 2 or 3 rifles

good luck - see you at another Apleseed
 
If you instst on a semi. I'd opt for the 10/22. If for no other reason than the sheer amount of after market options.
But, Given the options, I'd opt for the Savage bolt action as well, or possibly the CZ..
 
Well, guess I won't have to ask the question then since someone else just did. I was just looking @ rifles and chatting with the guys @ the gun shop... they all suggested I go the AR route and while I agree on many of the things they said, I just can't see a reason to spend a grand on a .22 or .223... SO with that said, I was gonna start researching the Savage & Ruger .22s.
 
The AR is the next step - get your skills with the 22LR first then move on

If you intend to get an AR, take a look at the S&W 15/22 and the others like it. Yes, it's bit more than your listed budget but it will make the transition easier.

I recently bought a 22LR bolt for my AR and it makes shooting so much easier

Good luck
 
Well, guess I won't have to ask the question then since someone else just did. I was just looking @ rifles and chatting with the guys @ the gun shop... they all suggested I go the AR route and while I agree on many of the things they said, I just can't see a reason to spend a grand on a .22 or .223... SO with that said, I was gonna start researching the Savage & Ruger .22s.

If you really like the AR route but don't want to spend a grand and only need .22lr, the M&P 15-22 appears to be an excellent option, for a much more reasonable 4-5 hundred.

Of course, 10/22s are even cheaper, and you can get almost all of the ergonomic advantages of the AR platform onto a 10/22 fairly easily.
 
On a related note:
The one thing I have not been able to find is a LRBHO (last-round-bolt-hold-open) solution for 10/22s. Does anyone know if this is doable?
 
Of course, 10/22s are even cheaper, and you can get almost all of the ergonomic advantages of the AR platform onto a 10/22 fairly easily.

Not really - if you're looking for a trainer for your AR platform, the Ruger doesn't have anywhere close to the same manual of arms. If you're looking for a .22 to use as cheap practice instead of using your AR, get something like the 15-22 (which is the best of the lot of AR-style .22s, from what I hear) or get a .22 dedicated upper. You use the same stock, trigger mechanism, and controls as your main rifle, which is a huge advantage.

On a related note:
The one thing I have not been able to find is a LRBHO (last-round-bolt-hold-open) solution for 10/22s. Does anyone know if this is doable?

One does exist, but you need to have special magazines for it and can't use the factory mags any more.
 
I have both the Savage MK II BTVS and a 10/22 with trigger trigger work. The Mk II if far more accurate IMO.

The Mk II shoots hole on hole at 25 yards all day long and I really have to struggle to produce the same groups with my 10/22. However, if you can't put at least 4-5 out of 10 shots into a 1 inch square at 25 yards while prone, you're probably not going to see any difference between the two. In that case I would opt for the 10/22 because its a semi and you won't need to shift your shooting position as much between shots. Also I find that the Mk II 10 round magazines hit your support arm and that bothers the crap out of me....shooting appleseed AQT's is better done with 10 round mags IMO.
 
Not really - if you're looking for a trainer for your AR platform, the Ruger doesn't have anywhere close to the same manual of arms. If you're looking for a .22 to use as cheap practice instead of using your AR, get something like the 15-22 (which is the best of the lot of AR-style .22s, from what I hear) or get a .22 dedicated upper. You use the same stock, trigger mechanism, and controls as your main rifle, which is a huge advantage.

I just meant that, if you're just looking for a .22 rifle, and like the AR ergonomics, there a couple of 10/22 stocks that will let you use the same stocks and pistol grips. Different manual of arms, but if you're not training for the AR, that may not matter to you.

One does exist, but you need to have special magazines for it and can't use the factory mags any more.

Bugger that then. It's not that important, and if you're giving up on the abundance of 10/22 mags of all varieties anyway, the 15-22 has an LRBHO that works perfectly.

If you're looking for an AR trainer, I would definitely consider the 15-22 route. The M&P 15-22s I've seen at Appleseeds have been way more reliable, especially in bad weather. Plus, they're cheaper than most .22lr uppers.
 
Some of the comments are along the lines of: at your level of experience (or inexperience) you won't see a difference. That's probably true and I'll speak for myself,this will be my first rifle. The question is, if the OP or I go with the less accurate of the 2 are we going to want to upgrade really soon afterwards?

And OP I"m really sorry if I've latched on and I can start a seperate thread on this if you want, but I'd like to see the "cheaper" AR .22 or .223 included in the comparisions.
 
WRT Accuracy - what is your goal? To punch a single hole with 10 rounds at 100 yds? To hit a 2" square at 50 yards with 10 rounds?

a bull barrel target gun like the 10/22T will go about $400+ and shoot dime sized groups all day - a standard model can do a quarter or prolly a 50c piece.

I can't comment on the accuracy of the Savages or AR types but the 22LR is inherently accurate due to the barrel/bore ratio - what the AR type brings you is an AR feel & mechanics.

Training vs competition - what type of training, what type of competition?

If you want to learn the fundamental skills any rifle will work for you - even a single shot bolt gun. Once you determine what type shooting you want to do, the rifle will follow.
 
I just meant that, if you're just looking for a .22 rifle, and like the AR ergonomics, there a couple of 10/22 stocks that will let you use the same stocks and pistol grips. Different manual of arms, but if you're not training for the AR, that may not matter to you.

Precisely my point - yes, you can have the nice pistol grip stock, but the mag release, etc, is different.

The M&P 15-22s I've seen at Appleseeds have been way more reliable, especially in bad weather.

Much as I like the 10/22 rotary mag, it's design is not very tolerant of mud at all. The 15-22's mag is very open and won't let crud build up inside, from what I've seen.
 
If you're close to Quincy, The Sportsman's Den has a very nice, lightly used Thompson Center that looks like it might be an R-55 (http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/rimfireR55Benchmark.php) with a scope and 2 10 round mags for - I believe - $350. Unfortunately I didn't see it there until after I showed to pick up a different .22lr rifle he had ordered for me.
 
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I think I made my decision! Going to price out a K-10/22-T and a Savage in .223! I can use the 10/22 for practice, Appleseed and high volume of ammo, and the .223 for longer distance/accuracy! Keep the conversations going as several people seem to be benefiting!
CMP
 
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