The "Kidd" trigger for Ruger 10/22

[Bubafat]

http://www.coolguyguns.com/

I picked up one of these adjustable triggers a few years ago and will NEVER go back to a stock trigger.  The difference is day and night.  A good trigger won't take a terrible shot to a good shot, but along with finding an ammunition your gun likes it can take a good shot to an EXCELLENT shooter.  The Kidd trigger FAR exceeds any trigger job I've seen on a 10/22 (I even shot a "Clark" customized gun).

The one main downside is the price.  They cost as much as the gun itself.  Then again, there are many who say you should spend as much on glass (scope) as you do a gun....what good is good glass going to do you if you have a crap trigger. 

[Bradbn4]

Oh yes, a good trigger is real important on any firearm.  Kidd does provide a very good quality product.  I picked up their bolt for my Ruger 10/22, very good quality workmanship.

I went with the more stock version from Clark built from all metal parts.  The Kidd might be better, but that Clark trigger with the Kidd bolt setup seemed hard to beat at the price I paid.

If you ignore prices - you could easily spend well over 1K on your own Ruger 10/22.  It will be a tack driver past 100 yards.

200+ trigger
200+ receiver
200+ barrel
100+ bolt
100+ stock
100+ optics
100 + misc parts to finish up the build

[Bubafat]

Very true...there comes a point at which you exceed the limitations of the round itself.  A 22 is great, but it's ballistics prevent it from being a great round past 100 yards or so.

I've probably dropped ~1k on my 10/22 over the years and I don't even have very expensive glass on it nor an aftermarket barrel or stock:
Gun-ruger 10/22T $350
Kid 2 stage trigger $290
Simmons Whitetail Classic 6.5-20x scope $120
Kid Extractor $11
Kid bolt buffer $6
Total: ~$800 after tax

What did I get for that cash?  I can hit a dime every time at 100 yards on a calm day.  Ammo of choice: CCI green tags.  It shoots great with the more expensive eley match or target ammo, but not significantly better than the less expensive green tags.

BTW...I'm not knocking Clark guns.  They do awesome work.  After rereading my post it did sound like i was putting them down, which was not my intention.

[Bradbn4]

You were not knocking Clark - you just said Kidd was better - and you could be very right on that statement.  Kidd also has some good customer service when I had an issue with an aftermarket receiver from another company.  They ID the problem - verified by the manufacture to get the issue resolved.

I did not start out with a real Ruger 10/22 when I started. The only part I have from Clark is their all metal trigger that had been tuned.  Hard to believe the difference between stock Ruger 10/22 trigger and what the custom folks can produced.

Today at the gun show I saw a nice synthetic Ruger 10/22 stock  + barrel for all of 35 dollars.  They looked almost brand new, and you know what they did - upgraded their hardware.  I also saw about 10 converted Ruger 10/22 into Fajen style stocks, after market ultra light weight barrels. 

Good choice on the scope, I picked up my  Simmons Whitetail classic for a single shot rifle.  Not the best glass out there but very good for the price paid.


I did not do my Ruger 10/22 build up to get a track driver, I did it because I always wanted to assemble / build my own rifle.  I have no fear about stripping that rascal down to the smallest parts possible.

At one point I was thinking about building my own version in 17 HMR / 17 Mach 2.  After all the reports I have read, I have decided not to every use the 17 Mach 2 due to cost / performance.  You can get better results with a 22 Mag.

The 17 HMR is interesting - ammo cost is on par with the 22 Mag - but I have read reports that it is not recommended for semi-automatics.  I think Magnum research use to sell firearms on one of those rounds.  Currently they are recommending you send back back the firearm to get the action reworked and chambered in 22 mag.


Brad

[Bubafat]

It was talked several years ago that ruger was going to make a 17HMR, they even had it listed on their website for a while but it never made it to market.  I don't recall why, but it's a shame.

[Bradbn4]

From reading on other forums  - Ruger had reliability issues, and from what I had seen, cycling issues and possible head case separations problems dealing with semi-auto setup.

Bolt action hardware seems to work ok, but even those have disappeared off the market.

Here is the interesting tidbit from one of the folks that designed a Ruger 10/22 style semi-auto rifle based on those rounds.

It has come to our attention that certain lots of 17HMR and 17Mach2 ammunition may exhibit performance problems. These problems could result in damage to your rifle and may be capable of causing injuries to shooters or bystanders.

As a result, we strongly advise immediate discontinued use of rifles chambered in both 17HMR and 17Mach2 calibers due to these ammunition performance problems. Although performance of ammunition is outside the control of Magnum Research, we take safety concerns seriously.

http://www.magnumresearch.com/whats_new.asp

[Bubafat]

I declare shinanegans! Sounds like they didn't build their graphite barrels capable of tolerating the high pressures from HMR and HM2 ammo. 

Instead of admitting the problem they:
1. blame the ammo and tell you they'll replace the barrel for free
2. switch out your barrel to WMR and destroy the incriminating evidence
3. then a couple months later when they've reengineered their barrel to withstand the pressures notify you that the ammo is all of a sudden OK now and to ship your rifle back to them so they can put the HMR/HM2 barrel back on.

[Bradbn4]

Sounds like a thought - but all of the other manufactures that produce 17 mach 2 have left the business.  Many of the custom barrel manufactures also have exited the market over the last few years.  And Magnum Research was sold to Karr so I don't think it is a marketing thing.

The 17 HMR rounds are not doing as bad as the 17 Mach 2 - but but I would not be a bit surprised if both rounds vanish from the market place within 5 years.

Some of posts on rim fire center also echo issues with the ammo - head case / bulges.

But back to the topic - I think we both agree that a good trigger one of the corner stones for getting the most out of any rifle - tack driver or not.

[Bubafat]

I think that is mainly due to the lack of demand for the Mach 2.  It's kind of like the frail brother to the HMR.  I just don't think there was room in the market for two similarly sized 17 caliber rounds.  I hope the HMR doesn't meet a similar fate as I think it does fill a niche for the midrange varmint hunter who doesn't want to spend big bucks on centerfire rounds but wants to be able to reach out and touch something at 100-200 yards.