Oh my, what a good question.
As a survivor of the 1022 upgrade slippery slope, having spent several $thousands on five 10/22s, I feel qualified to respond.
First, shoot the hell out of your stock rifle. Get comfortable with it and objectively consider its good and bad points. You are likely to find that you are not enamored with the trigger so that is a good place to start. Ruger sells a drop in upgrade that some like. You can get your stock trigger cleaned up for a reasonable price. I have had good luck with Brimstone Gunsmithing. Their tier two upgrade gives you a nice trigger for about $75. At the other end of the spectrum are the Kidd triggers (look at coolguyguns.com). For $200you can get a single stage incredible trigger with an adjustable break. And for $350 a two-stage trigger that can be set to break at less than one pound. I run four of the single stage and one two stage kidd triggers. I have not heard glowing reviews of the Timney triggers but have no personal experience with them.
You also probably want to fix the bolt lock back so you can slingshot the bolt like any other rationally designed semi.
From there, the sky is the limit. Personally, I love the Kidd products but they are expensive. Think about what you will use your rifle for - small game, target, plinking, etc. as you know you can change most everything and your options are wide. Bull barrels are great but they are heavy if you are going to tote the rifle around all day. There are a number of lightweight barrel options out there. I have heard complaints about the Whistle Pig barrels but I have no experience with them. Once again, the Kidds are nice but hard to install. I have two heavy Kidd’s two lightweight Kidd’s and a nice Feddersen tapered barrel. The latter are nice and pretty reasonable. Some love the Green Mountain barrels but I cannot comment on them. If you have a trust fund, consider a Lilja barrel.
Here are a couple cheap upgrades:
1. As I mentioned, fix the bolt hold back. You can do this with judicious use of a file (I am sure there are on line directions for this) or buy a new plate for about $10 here
http://www.coolguyguns.com/KIDD-Auto-Bo ... _p_36.html
2. Replace the bolt buffer. You can go with one of the plastic ones or buy a kidd buffer for about $6. I like the latter since they will not break unexpectedly. Here
http://www.coolguyguns.com/KIDD-22LR-Bo ... _p_12.html
3. I replace the receiver pins with the Kidd pins that are more secure and stable. Here
http://www.coolguyguns.com/KIDD-Threade ... _p_53.html
4. Polish the inside of your receiver with a scotch brite and A mild solvent. Hoppes #9 works okay. Smooth it out but don’t remove any material. Work it until the bolt moves as smooth as the proverbial baby’s bottom.
5. If you are having extraction problems, replace the extractor blade with a kidd or Volquartsen extractor.
http://www.coolguyguns.com/KIDD-Extractor_p_14.html
6. Think about getting a torque wrench. Torque the v-block bolts to 20 pounds. Experiment with the torque on the action bolt. Mine shoot best at about 15 inch-pounds.
7. If your recoil rod and spring are not smooth, you can polish them with some difficulty or you spend $30 and go with this kit.
http://www.coolguyguns.com/KIDD-Bolt-Ha ... _p_34.html . It makes it a little harder to install your bolt but you can get the hang of it.
Also, you might look at the 1022 forums at rimfirecentral.com. Lots of good info there and not a lot of aggravation.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk