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CO2 Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle: Part 5

Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle: Part 5

by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle
Ruger 10/22.

This report covers:

  • Mounting the dot sight
  • The R47 sight
  • Can you see the front sight through the dot sight?
  • Sight-in
  • The test
  • First group
  • RWS Superdome
  • Crosman Premier Light
  • Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
  • Ten-shot group
  • Discussion
  • Summary

Today I will test the Ruger 10/22 at 25 yards. I’m doing this so the rifle can go back to Umarex, because they are apparently waiting for it. Other writers, I suppose.

Mounting the dot sight

As I mentioned in Part 2, Umarex sent an Axeon R47 dot sight to test on the Ruger, and today I will mount it and sight it in, then test the rifle at 25 yards. To mount any aftermarket sight to a 10/22 you have to first install Weaver bases. I showed you the factory-drilled holes for those bases in Part 2. I took a new package of two-piece Weaver bases and screwed them to the top of the receiver. That took 5 minutes.

Ruger 10/22 Weaver bases
The Weaver bases screwed directly to the 10/22 receiver.

Ruger 10/22 R47 sight
The Aexon R47 holographic dot sight was attached to the Ruger.

The R47 sight

The Aexon R47 dot sight is a holographic sight that offers a choice of 4 different reticles and 7 levels of light intensity. It adjusts via Allen screws (booooo — I would rather have controls that don’t require tools), but they have the same 3mm heads as the scope base. At least one tool does it all!

The reticles are very bright, so I used the lowest illumination for the greatest precision. I used a plain dot that is best suited to a bullseye.

Can you see the front sight through the dot sight?

No. The R47 is so much higher than the standard rear sight that it looks over the front sight altogether. You don’t need to remove anything when using this dot sight with the 10/22.

Sight-in

I sighted-in at 12 feet, then 10 meters, using RWS Supermag pellets. After three shots I was on target, and back at 25 yards it took 2 more shots to refine the zero. I wasn’t worried about an exact zero as I am testing the rifle with 4 different pellets. Group size is important — not the score. When I finished the shots were hitting the bull. I will add that the dot sight is so high that my head had to be higher on the stock to see it in line with the target.

The test

I shot 5-shot groups with each pellet and decided to use the best one to shoot a 10-shot group at the end. I shot from 25 yards with the rifle rested directly on a sandbag. I cocked the bolt before every shot to get the trigger as smooth and light as possible.

First group

The Supermags did well at 10 meters with open sights, so I hoped they would do well at 25 yards with the dot sight. Five pellets grouped in 1.406-inches in a horizontal group.

Ruger 10/22 Supermag group
Five RWS Supermag wadcutter pellets grouped in 1.406-inches at 25 yards.

RWS Superdome

The next pellet I tried was the RWS Superdome. It gave me a strange vertical group of 4 that measured 0.968-inches between centers, with pellet number 5 opening the group to 2.221-inches between centers. I have no idea which of the shots that one stray pellet really was, because I was shooting with an unmagnified dot. I held perfectly for all shots and did not call a pull.

Ruger 10/22 Superdome group
Five RWS Superdomes went into 2.221-inches at 25 yards, with 4 in 0.968-inches.

Crosman Premier Light

Next up were five Crosman Premier Light domes. They grouped in 1.074-inches. That was the smallest group of the test.

Ruger 10/22 Premier Light group
Five Crosman Premier Lights went into 1.074-inches at 25 yards.

Sig Match Ballistic Alloy

The final pellet I tested was the Sig Match Ballistic Alloy wadcutter. It did so well at 10 meters that I thought it would also do well at 25 yards. But not this time. Five pellets grouped in a vertical 1.751-inches at 25 yards.

Ruger 10/22 Sig Match group
Five Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets went into a 1.751-inch group at 25 yards.

Ten-shot group

I said I would shoot a 10-shot group with the most accurate pellet and that looks like the Crosman Premier Light. So I loaded a final magazine and proceeded to shoot. Ten shots went into 1.755-inches between centers, with 9 in just 1.343-inches.

Ruger 10/22 Premier Light 10 group
The 10/22 put ten Crosman Premier Lights into a 1.755-inch group at 25 yards. Nine of the pellets are in 1.343-inches.

Discussion

I expected better accuracy at 25 yards, based on the results from 10 meters. All the shots were good on my end today, so the pellets went where they wanted to go. I note a dramatic flier with Superdomes and again with the 10-shot group of Premiers. Is there one chamber in the mag that doesn’t align with the breech that well? The pellets are being blown out of the magazine and into the breech with each shot; any small misalignment would be magnified.

Would the rifle shoot any better with a scope? Probably. But I doubt if it would improve by that much. And, on a rifle this small and light you would want to mount a lightweight scope to match it. In my mind that’s something like a Bug Buster. The groups might improve by a quarter-inch or so, but I wouldn’t expect much more.

Summary

This Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle is the real deal. It’s very reminiscent of the firearm, and it performs well. Power is right where we expect it to be for a .177 CO2 repeater. The trigger is heavy in double action, but manageable when the bolt is cocked.

If you like the Ruger 10/22 firearm this may be an air rifle for you.

41 thoughts on “Ruger 10/22 Air Rifle: Part 5”

    • Edw
      Me too with the TR5.

      I been shooting it some more after the 3/8″ spacer I put in front of the spring. That really woke my gun up. I’m having good luck with out the artillery as well as with the artillery hold. Only thing I’m seeing different between the two holds with my TR5 is the group shifts to the left with the artillery hold. But still same size groups.

      So far so good.

  1. I owned an original 10/22 air rifle a number of years back, as well as the firearm version, and loved them both. I wanted one of these new ones as soon as I saw blog 2 BUT, what on earth were they thinking in making the mag pellets come into battery with the trigger pull? Why oh why couldn’t they have siphoned some of the CO2 to work the mag? What a beautiful gun, but this is a deal breaker, unless I’m missing something. AM I missing something here, Tom?

  2. And while I’m on the subject, what was their thinking in making the rear sight incapable of windage adjustments? I do not feel like I should have to add an additional sight to make it work right.

    • RidgeRunner,

      Your eyes are being tricked. The red dot is gripping about 1/2″ on the front and rear adapters each. Wouldn’t work if it were a sprionger but since this is CO2 so it can work that way. A one piece adapter would allow better contact though.

      Siraniko

    • RidgeRunner,

      I thought you were correct until I read Siraniko’s reply. I relooked at the photo and zoomed in more closely.

      B.B.’s lighting is reflecting off the walls/shining from left to right in the photo. Thus, casting a shadow onto the Weaver base.

      On second thought, I now think that RidgeRunner is correct!

      Notice where the Weaver base is lined up with the lettering on the rifle, RUGER 10/22 AIR RIFLE. The top photo shows the edge of the base lined up the leading edge of the R in “AIR”. In the second photo the Axeon R47’s

      • BB,

        I tried editing this one moments after posting and it would not let me edit it, no keyboard popped up on my iPadAir2.

        I then refreshed the blog and there was no post.

        Then started a new comment with the corrections and posted it.

        Refreshed the blog and the blog showed just one comment, the second posting.

        1-2 hours later and now it shows both comments.

        Not sure what happened. “Ghosts in the Machine”?

        I have not had problems with editing from my iPad in the past.

        John

    • RidgeRunner,

      I thought you were correct until I read Siraniko’s reply. I re-looked at the photo and zoomed in more closely.

      B.B.’s lighting is reflecting off the walls/shining from left to right in the photo. Thus, casting a slight shadow onto the Weaver base.

      On second look, I now think that RidgeRunner is correct!

      Notice where the Weaver base is lined up with the lettering on the rifle, “RUGER 10/22 AIR RIFLE”. The top photo shows the edge of the base lined up with the leading edge of the “R” in “AIR”. In the second photo the Axeon R47’s rearend ends at the same place, at the leading edge of the “R” in “AIR””.

      B.B. Will need to clarify as this could be quite the optical illusion.

      John

  3. I suppose it did well enough at 10m that it could fill the role of bug buster at say 7m or whatever range you can make pinpoint offhand insect shots at. I also would prefer not having to deal with the Co2 for a dedicated bug buster setup. Boy do i hope the TR5 as good or little better in accuracy as that trigger and stock are very important and for accuracy i can find a way to deal with the magazine.

    For me its also a price point issue otherwise i could just scope a Daisy 753 its just that closing in on $400 for a bug buster / target plinker and with no magazine or clip it becomes more target and out of bug buster territory and yes i was ticked Daisy discontinued the magazine models. I have never quite been sure if those counted as clips or magazines?

    From what i have seen in your testing and i tend to classify everything relative to hunting it seems to me it possesses every quality needed for a 10m open sight rodent gun like it was purpose built and at a reasonable cost.

  4. BB,

    “Is it just these old, tired, bespectacled eyes or is the dot sight not clamped to the rear sight?”

    I guess I should have said “…clamped to the rear mount?” It must have something to do with this old, tired, feeble mind also.

    Well, is it?

  5. BB,

    I didn’t read anything in this report about the further look you said you would take into drifting the rear sight. I think that in your photos the front sight appears driftable as well. Is it?

    Half

    • Half,

      Yeah, I was so rushed to get this test done that I forgot to drift the rear sight. I just looked at it (the rear) closer. The base of the part that would move is cut round (scalloped) to fit around the circumference of the barrel so, NO, it does not drift!

      The front post seems to move in its dovetail, but it is aluminum and I don’t want to break it before sending it back — so that’s another no. These sights don’t drift.

      B.B.

  6. BB
    To mount a scope and such on my Savage 93 rimfire it uses those type of mounts too.

    And the gun looks to be feral can worthy. Which is ok. Don’t think anyone is going to be hunting with this gun anyway. I see it more as a action shooter.

  7. BB,

    That’s not bad accuracy when you consider the pellet gun shoots similar size groups at 25 yards as typical real 10/22s do at 50 yards.

    You might have gotten slighter smaller groups with a better dot sight though. The Aexon R47 looks to be a rebadged generic Chinese model being sold at a jacked-up price. A quick online search shows it retaiing for 3 times the price of an identical CVLife model I have. The reticle is an 8 MOA amorphous blob which doesn’t lend itself to fine aiming. Having said that I did manage to shoot a couple of 5 shot sub one inch ctc groups at 25 yards with it on a Hatsan 1000s a few years back, which was the best accuracy I have gotten from any of the 5 Hatsan springers that have passed through my hands. The recoil shook the sight apart after a hundred shots or so. I managed to put it back together, but have only used it on rimfires for a bit of plinking since.

    I heartily recommend the SIg Sauer Romeo 5 red dot sight though. It is solidly constructed and the 2 MOA dot is just the ticket for aiming small.

    Happy Easter to you and everyone else here on the blog.

      • GF1,

        I use an 8 MOA red dot on my Baikal MP61 and get single hole 5 shot groups with it at 10m. Recently got a 2 MOA Sig Romeo5 red dot for my Savage Mark II. Am looking forward to mounting it on the MP61 to see if I can shrink the group size.

        • Bob
          I think you will be happy with that choice.

          I just put my trusty old Tasco red dot on my TR5 over the weekend. Definitely like it better than the Optima scope I had on it. I’ll put it this way I was surprised how much better the gun groups now.

            • BB
              Wasn’t going to say till you test your TR5 with the dot sight.

              But since you asked.

              The best I shot was a 1-1/2″ group with the red dot at 20 yards over the weekend. And most groups are averaging 1-3/4 inches at 20 yards. And that was with the Daisy wadcutters.

              At 10 yards I did several .300″ groups and again with the Daisy wadcutters.

              The problem with the scope was the parallax. I could see the reticle move when I moved my head. I didn’t think it was causing a problem but apparently it was.

                • BB
                  Hope so. But remember I got stuff done to mine. Even a different barrel.

                  But I think you should get closet to that. And I found that when I’m bench resting if I hold the gun in my hand like I’m off hand shooting and rest my hand on a 2×4 just so it steady’s me has been giving my best groups. And no bag. And not a artillery hold. But holding the gun with my hand cupped under with fingers gripping on one side and thumb on the other. And that’s with my fore hand resting up against the front of the trigger guard.

                  Hope that helps. Let me know if you try that hold also when you bench rest it next time out.

  8. B.B.,
    I think the 1″ group with Premier Lights is pretty good for a small carbine like this. Those were my go to pellets when I shot Field Target and my old HW97 would shoot much smaller groups, but that’s hardly a fair comparison. I think the accuracy is good for a fast-action plinker, which is what I assume they were going for with this gun, so I’d say they met their goal.
    On a barely-related note, the way this CO2 gun performed with pellets of differing weights shows that every gun is a law unto itself, and we should really (as you do) test a variety of pellets in each new airgun we get. But I was reading over a bunch of your past reports, about CO2 and pneumatic guns, in general, doing better with heavier pellets and springers usually working better with the lighter weight pellets. When I originally tested my .22 HW30S for accuracy, the H&N FTT at 14.66 grains gave the best accuracy. However, I got some new .22 JSB RS 13.43 grain pellets from PyramydAir for my lower-powered Crosman 130. So based on what you said, I thought I’d try them in the HW30. I’m only shooting them inside, so I can’t comment on accuracy; and the velocity increase was modest, up from 450 fps with the H&Ns to 475 with the JSBs. However, the real shocker was the change in firing behavior. While one would usually not think of an R7/HW30 rifle as “harsh,” the difference with these lighter pellets is night and day; it’s so much smoother that it’s like shooting two different rifles!
    Even after all I’ve read, it’s amazing to see what a mere 9% increase in pellet weight can do to change the firing characteristics of a light spring-powered gun.
    *shrugs*
    I guess I’ll have to order a pellet sampler from PA, and do a lot more testing with an eye toward smoothness as well as accuracy.
    Thanks again for all the info you give us,
    dave

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