I am in the process of getting one of the Ruger left hand 10/22s. It does not come with any sights. I am debating what to get. I do not have a lot of experience with what is the latest and greatest on the market. I will mostly be using it for plinking at paper targets and clay birds at 25 or 50 yards. But will occasionally shoot steel plates at 100 yards. Does any one have any ideas on what is available and which would be better? Thanks for any advice.

Honestly, a 3-9x 22 rimfire scope would do the trick. I have a red dot but if you're taking longer shots, you'll want a magnifying optic.

Tony.

Red dots are typically used for fast target acquisition as the dots will obscure small targets due to their size; this limits the size of target you will be able to engage. I would recommend a scope BUT…beware of the scope’s ability to parallax at the shortest distances you want to shoot. Some scopes will not parallax down to 25 yards while many will go down to 10-15 yards.

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Does any one have any ideas on what is available and which would be better?

Go with the scope. Go bigger than you think you'll need.

In 12 months you'll have $800 worth of Volquartsen gear in it and be trying stuff a .22 oughta not be trying anyway.

(Ask me how I know)

In all honesty, go with what works best for you. Are you honestly going to want to shoot it fast and short? If so, red dot. Or are you going to want to shoot it more precisely and slowly? If so, scope.

One thing that factors in for me is - unfortunately - eye sight. I don't require glasses to drive, but I do have astigmatism in my dominant eye, so red dots are more like red "stars" to me. With sub-optimal eyesight, a scope might be a better option.

Maybe some kind of 1-6 or 1-8 scope like a Strike Eagle?

benny6 has the best answer. get a 3-9 rimfire scope and you will be totally happy. I use the leupold one but I'm sure there are many others. I go 10/22 to picatinny and then picatinny rings to the scope.

I put a Vortex Crossfire 4-12x50 AO on one of mine. Parallax adjustable down to 10 yds. Lifetime warranty. Lots of fun. That said, I've come to prefer fixed power AO scopes for anything out to 100 yds. I have a couple of Hawke Vantage 4x32 AO's that I like. Or SWFA 10x42 SS AO that I like very, very much- Simply outstanding glass for the price point. I have 4 - 2 on a couple of Weihrauch air rifles, one on a Ruger Precision in 22LR, and one on a Ruger Ranch 7.62x39.

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Originally posted by bionic218:
One thing that factors in for me is - unfortunately - eye sight.

This is something that deserves more consideration than it often gets.

Minor vision defects that aren’t noticeable for normal activities or with a conventional scope sight can have a significant distorting effect on projected red dot reticles to the point that they are very imprecise. If you’re thinking of a red dot, I’d try before you buy.

And all that aside, red dot sights with their projected reticles are great for fast, close target acquisition, but based on how you described your intended use of the gun I’d still recommend a conventional scope. I have an old Leupold rimfire scope on my even older 77/22 and it works very well in drills that involve engaging and knocking down a line of bowling pins at speed. Generations of hunters have used conventional reticles to engage targets fast and accurately.

Make sure that the 10/22s you get aren't breeders! Mine are; I am now up to 8, all different from their siblings. 10/22s are enormous fun to customize, and there are a lot of after-market parts to enhance their look and function. All of mine are very accurate and have threaded barrels or are integrally suppressed. Three of them wear Riton Optics 1 Primal scopes. Both the 3-9X40 and 4-12X50 will let you aim small, miss small, and certainly up the fun quotient when it comes to shooting dime-sized washers at 50 yards. For around $250, these scopes perform above their price point, IMHO. While Red Dots are fun, magnified optics are where it's at for 10/22s.