I've owned a bunch of 22 rifles over the years. Had a dozen of them at one time.
These days, I'm down to just one, a Ruger 10/22, from Wal-Mart, AKA "The Wally-World Special." It has a 22" stainless steel barrel, and a DSP style birch stock. It has the heft of a "big rifle."
You can modify them if you want to until the only thing original is the Serial Number (actually you can build one and not use any Ruger Parts, but that's a different story), but I've never wanted to do that. This one has had a trigger job, and it mounts a 4X Bushnell "blister pack" scope, and a $5.00 nylon sling from Wal-Mart. It is a squirrel killing machine.
I don't think Wal-Mart sells it anymore, but it's available through another distributor through most gun stores.