Ravenman wrote:Did you notice a real accuracy improvement after the removal of the barrel band? Any other modifications that you would suggest?
Theoretically one of the advantages of the Ruger 96's one-piece stock is that on the rimfire versions, the same bedding and free-floating things you can do with a bolt-action (or the 10/22), can be done to improve accuracy.
The Barrel Band: First, fire the gun without the barrel band. If accuracy improves greatly, the band may be the only thing needing fixed (
or just left off the gun - if you need a front sling stud, just mount it on the stock). Fixing the barrel band in this case means just using a dowel and sandpaper to open up the upper part (
the part that goes around the barrel itself) enough to clear the barrel.
Free Floating: If it isn't just the band, you may need to float the barrel, or bed the action. You can see if a dollar-bill will slide between the barrel and stock (it probably won't), and if it does, you don't need to float the barrel. If it won't, you may still not need to float the barrel, if the pressure is uniform and relatively light. Taking some plastic like a credit-card in thickness or so, make a hole in it to put the stock bolt through, and mount the action in the gun with that 'shim' lifting up the front of the action just a bit. The idea is to lift the barrel free of the stock-channel, but have the action relatively snugly pulled into the stock. If the gun shoots well, then opening up the stock barrel-channel is another dowel-and-sandpaper chore that takes awhile, but is easy to do. Most folks seem to feel that having the rearmost three inches or so of barrel in good contact with the stock IS good, though, so don't widen the channel back there.
Glass Bedding: Like the 10/22, although the gun is inherently capable of pretty good or even great accuracy, that wide square receiver often can slide a bit left and right, so glass-bedding is potentially very helpful. It isn't hard to do, and there are many on-line instructions for doing it on the 10/22 which would basically be the same. Again, a bit of a 'test' can be done with shims made up of flexible but not-too-soft plastic wrapped around the rear of the receiver, to see what potential benefit you might realize.
Ammunition: I get different results with ALL my rimfire guns, depending on the ammunition. I've not shot .17 HMR enough to see a difference, I guess, but definitely in the .22 WMR and .22 LR there is a difference between brands and loads. Usually (
not always) the 'target' stuff performs best, but one other thing that you can do in the .22 LR versions is use Paco Kelly's Acu'Rzr to advantage. In fact, you can use it more aggressively with the 77/22 and 96/22 than with the 10/22, since 'feeding' is less of a problem. I've not used his tool for the .22 WMR, though.
I like the compactness of the 96 in .22 Mag vs. even the 77/22 bolt action in .22 LR:
![Image](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa132/AJMD429/Leverguns%20etc/7a125255.jpg)