For one day I tried a Weaver T36 on my 10/22 HB, in place of the old scope, to see if it would make a difference at 50yd. It really didn't, as every twitch (me) was magnified. I put the old (20+yr) Leupold 4x12 back on it and think I will stick to it for offhand practice.

I've found any magnification above 18 or 20X to provide rapidly diminishing returns. In fact, there is little to be gained at rimfire ranges with more than about 9X. The Leupold 3-9X Compact EFR (adjustable objective) is my favorite rimfire scope if I'm serious about 50-yard accuracy. For small game and plinking, the Leupold 6x Compact or 2-7 Rimfire are each about equally good.

A 36x is very useful for rimfire benchrest shooting... that's what I do with mine. Offhand? Not so much.

That's pretty much what I figured. I had not been able to get this rifle (old remade 10/22) to do any better with any ammunition. It would make one hole groups about .250" at 25 yds, but then would be rather inconsistent at 50 yds - grouped seldom under .750", many flyers. I was trying a different scope for kicks and grins to see if it was the old scope that had issues (it didn't, apparently). So this rifle will be for informal position shooting and the Cooper will get the T36 and be the bench gun.

Are you using any wind flags at the range?