Volquartsen Muzzle heavy target barrel for Ruger 10/22

The Volquartsen muzzle weighted target barrel

A few months ago I bought the Volquartsen muzzle weighted target barrel for a Ruger 10/22
Despite being quite pricy at NZ$500, this was very well worth the dollars spent.

No Im not being paid by anyone this is just my personal experience, the good & the bad will both be presented here.

If you want to take an out of the box Ruger 10 22 & turn it into an accurate rifle, you need to do these 2 things:

Firstly & most importantly, IMPROVE THE TRIGGER COMPONENTS!
I bought Volquartsen target sear etc & got a gunsmith to grind them in for a pristine release, & you know, it was awesome. In the past I had just put the parts in without a gun smith polishing them, & it makes a huge difference.
Have a read of my post on Ruger 10-22 triggers here for more details.

Then, add on this Volquartsen muzzle heavy target barrell.
What I love most about this barrel it can fit a standard channel ruger stock because its not thick all the way through, only toward the muzzle end.
You dont need to buy a .920 bull barrel compatible stock to fit it in.
Also, its only 16.5" long & 1.2 kg (around 3 Lbs) in weight compared to full size bull barrels of 20 inches that often are 2kg.

At this weight configuration, its very usable even when standing up as opposed to bipods or prone positions. Though I personally wish something even more lighter was available for more comfortable shooting in the standing position, this is a good start.

Fitting it in wasnt difficult, but its a lot tighter to put into your receiver V-block than a Ruger barrel. Volquartsen recommend applying a lubricant & then tapping it in with a mallet, but even then this needed some solid whacking before it was all the way in (ok I didnt mean to make it sound dodgy to some of you dirty minds out there haha)

But once in, the fit is snug & the accuracy is brilliant. It gave me the same 0.5" grouping that my bolt action CZ 452 does at 25 yards (around 23 metres)

Mine was a factory threaded version with a matching thread protector, but the complaint I had was that continuous firing would make the protector cover loose & had to be tightened often, a little bit annoying.

Also, the breech is tight, very tight. Certain types of ammo will jam. I had great results with Eley & Winchester T22 & was happy with the cheap CCI standard too. It will jam if the projectile is thick or the case rim is too thick.

Overall a nice addition to any Ruger 10-22 type semi auto rifle. Hard to get here in NZ though but keep a look out.

Last words, if you can spare NZD500 get this barrel, you will love it.
But if you cant, dont get a full weight bull barrel which is a tad cheaper, you wont enjoy it much. If you find the barrel too heavy, forget it.

The secret to shooting well is being comfortable. Ergonomics is far more important than people sometimes realise.