Here's 50 rounds of CCI subsonic. I really need to rezero that sight. Anyway, all eight brands of subsonic ammo I have now function flawlessly, except for the ones with "weird" bullet noses. Even the RWS that gave 100% failure-to-feed the first time out.
I simply cannot see why Ruger owners whine about making subsonic ammo work. It's a no-brainer. Buy $300 worth of aftermarket parts, spend 40 hours hand-fitting each part to each other with a diamond-bearing lubricant as a hone, and you're done. Just add a little bit of skill, and a lot of patience, and you have a really nice, accurate, reliable handgun capable of working well with a suppressor.
It's either a labor of love, or you have to be completely crazy, since you'd have to value your time at $50/hour, minimum.
And, it looks like Ruger is requesting another labor of love out of me. At top is 50 rounds of ordinary Winchester .22. No big deal, except I didn't consider this exceptional from a scoped "target rifle" at 25 yards.
I know it's that "target trigger" designed by their lawyers. But with no feedback that the trigger is working, that 5lb, 10oz pull doesn't surprise you when it goes off, it just about scares you. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, .... (is there a round in the chamber? did something break internally?), BANG! just doesn't cut it for me, even for a plinker.
My M-faux with the GI trigger was tuned for the standard length of first-stage takeup, but with all the grit and stiffness gone. You know the mechanism is working, and the takeup is slick and effortless. Then you feel the trigger resist, and know that you are three pounds away from a crisp, clean, drama-free break. A great system for an amateur, perfectly acceptable for an expert, however.
A lot of Ruger 10/22 owners must have much the same kind of opinions, because there are tons of replacement internal parts including springs and shims. For me, shims are a red light warning me away from that approach.
Fortunately, 100% factory-tuned complete target replacement trigger modules are available, and, surprisingly, cost less than buying every single blasted individual part and doing it yourself. The Volquartsen trigger is on order, and that should be the only accuracy item I still need. Then just a good varmint scope (sales come by all the time), and the type of target barrel I really want, which will probably cost more than the original rifle. That last step can wait until I get a real can in my hands.
Oh, and that stick-on orange target was ten rounds of Remington subsonic. I was so aggravated by then, I didn't feel like sticking around at the range. The good news, it handled every round without trouble, even if not as accurately as I would have liked for one of Ruger's "premium plinkers".
Next project includes finishing the rest of the accuracy (trigger) work on the 10/22, and then using it to test subsonic ammo, again. Also, testing accuracy with the "Paco tools" that Squantos mentioned. Having a rifle that has gone through my wringer gives me confidence that I have eliminated a lot of hidden variables, and the test results will be more conclusive.