i have an AMT small game hunter 2, an exact clone of the ruger 10-22 but made in all stainless, it came with a 24" heavy barrel. i have a ruger barrel also that i sometimes run on it. i tested 6 different types of cheapo walmart available ammo in both barrels. the ruger barrel grouped about 3" or worse with all of it at 50yds. the factory AMT barrel grouped noticeably better with all of it. federal auto-match was the worst at about a 4+" group, both types of winchester grouped about 2-1/2", federal lightning was about 4+", fed bulk pack about 2" and remington golden bullet about 1.5". but just to see in a "good" rifle, i shot all the same ammo in my remington 513T matchmaster. it shot almost all 1 hole groups at 15yds.
the amt i shot 10 shot groups from sandbags at 50yds with a 6x leupold scope, the remington matchmaster was sandbags at 15yds with iron sights. i would have shot the matchmaster at 50yds, but the bullseye was smaller than the front sight bead even at 15yds.
so, the question is, will an aftermarket barrel for a 10-22 shoot the cheap ammo well, or will it require good ammo for it to shoot well?
the amt i shot 10 shot groups from sandbags at 50yds with a 6x leupold scope, the remington matchmaster was sandbags at 15yds with iron sights. i would have shot the matchmaster at 50yds, but the bullseye was smaller than the front sight bead even at 15yds.
so, the question is, will an aftermarket barrel for a 10-22 shoot the cheap ammo well, or will it require good ammo for it to shoot well?