I'm going to build a 10/22 rifle for our local club Rimfire Steel Challenge and head to head fun shoots. Not sanctioned shoots.

I'm looking at Kidd, Volquartsen and Tac Sol?

For those of you that shoot rimfire matches what barrel do you use and why?

thanks!

If it's a fun shoot, I doubt you need a big money barrel. I put one of the barrels Browenlls sells on one of the kid's rifles and if all the bullets don't go in the same hole, it's not the barrel.

I've got one of the Ruger target versions and that barrel is outstanding. Dunno if the barrel is available separately.

Do get the Ruger target trigger. Much less fuss than reworking the standard one and way cheaper than the big name ones.

I would be looking at the Volquartsen carbon fiber tensioned barrel

They are extremely accurate and the reduced weight allows the rifle to maneuver better. . . . less mass to start moving and less mass to stop

The Tactical solutions stuff is pretty in all the colors and I use one on a MK-II

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"Acta non verba"

I've got a Kidd on mine and can recommend it. They have quite a few choices available and you should be able to find something that you like from them. The quality of their barrels is outstanding.

All the barrels mentioned are great for the 10-22. But, don't leave out Green Mountain barrels. Great barrels for the money. Definitely upgrade the stock 10-22 trigger in some way!

5 shot group with 16" GM .920 Fluted barrel

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

Fedderson bull or tapered, or a fluted Green Mountain sporter.

I also strongly urge you to check out the 10/22 section at RimfireCentral.com - Rimfire Community!

I'm over there too, same name.

Look at Clark Custom Guns 10/22 custom barrels , lots of different options , order exactly what you want and how you want it .

I have a 21.5" round target , fluted , blue steel on mine and quite happy with it ...tack driver and they modified my Walnut stock to fit it , $65 charge was worth it to me ... I'm not handy with stock making tools .
Might want to check out their stuff , lots of 10/22 goodies ...they are Five Star outfit in my book . Sweet trigger jobs too .
Clark Custom Guns | Established 1950 | Princeton Louisiana
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I built my 10/22 quite a few years ago, probably early to mid 90's. I put a Midway barrel (not sure who made it) into a Fagen stock, free floated the action and bedded the barrel. Re-cut the crown, and it would shoot Fiocchi 320 SM into 3/8" groups at 50 Meters. I did my own trigger job and got it to 2 lbs. I don't think yo have to spend big dollars to get a rifle that shoots, and using all drop in parts you really don't learn as much about your rifle as yo do by doing your own work.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

If the build will be for mainly Steel Challenge, I highly recommend Taccom's ULW barrel. It's actually a 5" barrel with an aluminum sleeve pinned and welded to make it 16". They come with a sporter chamber so a variety of ammo will work without reaming. You'll be hard pressed to find a lighter barrel on the market today.

I am going to offer a couple of additional choices to consider.

The first is to take your stock 10/22 and send it off to Connecticut Precision Chambering (CPC) for his complete accuracy package. Randy takes the stock rifle and extensively modifies the stock components, making it into an extremely accurate rifle with the stock appearance. If you check on Rimfire Central, you will see countless accolades as to the quality of his work. Years ago I had him shim the bolt on my customized (by me) 77/22. His work was perfect, with very quick turn around time. He has a well-earned stellar reputation.

The next option to consider is in the after market barrel department. Have you considered a muzzle weighted barrel (known across the pond as a running boar configuration)? This will give you a light enough barrel to be maneuverable with stabilizing weight at the muzzle. Years ago, after reading some road tests, I bought the Volquartsen version to install on the above mentioned 77/22. The road tests reported that the muzzle weighted VQ yielded the same grouping ability as a full length bull barrel, but with the advantages I cited above. That has been my experience. Unfortunately VQ discontinued the barrel a few years ago (to the great consternation of a number of Rimfire Central posters), so you probably would not be able to locate one. The last I checked Green Mountain was making one in this configuration. Green Mountain barrels are known for their grouping ability at reasonable prices.

One advantage to using the CPC package is the stock appearance. Assuming you have the skills, you will be driving a sleeper. You will fire match grade scores with what appears to be a stock rifle. Naturally your fellow shooters will have to attribute these scores to your ability since your rifle (as far as they know) is a stocker. The evil side of me loves sleepers.

Shaw makes pretty good stuff, including drop in replacements for 10/22. They used to be hard to get as Shaw was making barrels for M-4 manufacturers. I waited a long time for a 17 HMR barrel for a 77/22 (same barrel) several years back, but was very happy with it. Their website touts several sorts of competition 10/22 barrels.

Bought a 10/22 with all Volquartsen parts and a Midway Barrel and a Boyd stock. The barrel was heavy BUT very accurate. Since I got it cheap I added a Volquartsen aluminum tension barrel, a Tandemcross trigger and a different mag release. Nice light weight gun now for a walk the woods with, Larry

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+2 for Green Mountain. Excellent barrels for the money.

I use a Shaw on one of mine I did a few years back, really like it.

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Just received an email from Faxon and they are offering 10/22 barrels. Faxon is a very reputable manufacturer, IMO. It's worth a look.

I saved all the headaches and bought an off the shelf Thompson Center TC/R22 with Altamont barracuda stock and carbon fiber barrel. I put an inexpensive 3-12x Athlon scope on it and found cheap Walmart Federal 36 grain bulk ammo shot better than anything I found. Here’s what it does on a no wind day at 50 yards.

5 shot groups at 50yds.

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Another vote for Green Mountain. My buddy has one on his Ruger Precision Rimfire and his consistently shoots MOA at 200 yds... with Lapua ammo.

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213th FBINA

When I built a 10/22 for long range shooting, I went with a Clark barrel and customized trigger. The barrel is a heavyweight bull barrel.

However, for steel challenge and other steel matches, those are shot at fairly short distances, under 50 yards and usually under 25 yards. For that, the standard tapered factory barrel is fine.

So my advice would be to stay with the factory barrel for the time being and put your money into these three things:

1. Lightweight stock.
2. A good target trigger. Kidd makes a good one, as does Volquartsen. I would opt for the latter because I knew old man Tom back in the day and he was a good guy. His kids run the biz now.
3. A red dot sight with a dot size at least 6MOA. For speed shooting, you want a big dot so you can pick it up quickly as you move the gun around. As you know, with steel it doesn't matter where you hit it, only that you hit it and it goes "ding".

I built up a 10-22 for CMP Sporter Rimfire competition using a Shaw carbine profile barrel. This match requires a sporter weight rifle so all of my bull barrels were too heavy. The barrel was on sale at Midway for $100 and it has performed great. I can easily shoot moa groups with it.