I've had a 10/22 since the early 90s, but I never really considered it anything but a critter-gitter.
For the past 30 years or so, my rifle was propped behind the back door to be handy for pest control--and that's about it. It may have been fired 100 rounds in 2 decades, and other than the initial zeroing, every single shot was at a coyote, raccoon, skunk, or opossum. It got used so little that I gave my old rifle to my gf's son.
I got interested in precision rimfire with my B14R and realized that I needed some instruction in the fundamentals, so I signed up for an Appleseed. Everyone seems to recommend the 10/22, and to be honest, I kinda missed my old trusty .22 so I bought another for a backup at the Appleseed. It turns out that the B14R is NOT a good choice for the clinic--too heavy and the big glass is awkward at 25 yards without the bipod.
The second day, I switched to my old 10/22......and IMMEDIATELY scored Rifleman, cleaned the Redcoat/shingle and shot 3 more qualifying AFQTs--only missed Distinguished by 8 points. That's when the lightbulb came on for me and my 10/22 got put back into rotation. New barrel, new stock, new optic, new trigger--it can almost keep up with the B14R now and it's still light enough for practical shooting.
To be honest, I don't think any of my centerfires have been touched in over a year, but the B14R and the 10/22 both get shot almost daily.....I'm going through 4 to 5 bricks/month, and the practice shows.
My 10/22 was a capable and reliable rifle. Now it's a capable and reliable rifle that's accurate and fun to shoot!
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