A friend and I went shooting today and he shot his 10/22 carbine for the first time in a very long time (10 years or so). We quickly discovered that it shot 6 inches high at 25 yards and we didn't have any adjustment left in the factory sights to bring it down. I tried moving the sights up, down, back to the center. All shot way high.

any thoughts on what to do? He's open to replacing the sights with aftermarket and would prefer not to put a scope on it right now.

The sights on my old 10/22 always worked fine but if I were to pull the scope I would go with red/green fiber optics.Much easier to see/align than conventional open sights.

quote:

Originally posted by MThuntr:
A friend and I went shooting today and he shot his 10/22 carbine for the first time in a very long time (10 years or so). We quickly discovered that it shot 6 inches high at 25 yards and we didn't have any adjustment left in the factory sights to bring it down. I tried moving the sights up, down, back to the center. All shot way high.

any thoughts on what to do? He's open to replacing the sights with aftermarket and would prefer not to put a scope on it right now.

I haven't heard of 10-22's shooting high with factory sights before. That's a new one on me.
If anything, 10-22's have a problem with shooting low due to the barrel mounting system (barrel droop).
I'd put a scope on it and see how it shoots.

Try a different "New batch" of 22LRs which might fix it, with "New" being the operative word.

If that doesn't work, you could remove the barrel, clean around it real well and Re-Seat it, then try firing it again.

You should be able to Lower the "Opening" in the Rear Sight with a very small File. Just go slow. You always move the Rear Sight in the direction you want the Point-of-Impact to move.

Once the barrel is off, look through it and make sure someone didn't turn a Safe over on it during those 10 years.

Check the Muzzle Crown for a nick.

If you have a similar rifle, try that barrel on yours and see if it does the same thing.

If it has a "Termite Food" Stock, it could very possibly have WARPED during 10 years, creating Upward Pressure on the Barrel. Also try swapping Stocks if you have one similar.

Best of luck to you all.

AIM LOWER

Thanks for the info guys. This is the first I've seen of this before. I've heard of 10/22's shooting low. It's funny because I had to step up to about 15 yards before I could find where it was shooting. Then lowered the sight. I finally printed on paper. We tried 3 different types of cheap ammo (Federal bulk, CCI mini-mag, and some old Winchester Wildcats). All shot high.

I showed my friend the options for a sight in Midway's master catalog. He likes the Williams receiver peep with the fiber optic front sight. So it looks like I get to fix it .

quote:

Originally posted by MThuntr:
...my friend ... likes the Williams receiver peep with the fiber optic front sight. So it looks like I get to fix it .

Hey MThuntr, I'm a BIG fan of the Williams Sights. I have some on my rifles of various types.

Only problem is, if you can't get the normal Ruger Rear Sight low enough, I doubt the Peep Sight will go low enough. Williams does make other height Front Sights and if you use a Taller Front Sight, that works the same as a Lower Rear Sight.

Best of luck to you both.