10/22s are great. I had a nice little stainless that was obviously too light and fun to shoot (except for the stock trigger), so I turned it into a heavy, squirrel-sniping beast. I've been trying to decide whether to build another smaller, lighter one or just get a Browning.
You want light? Look into a 10/22 with a Tactical Solutions barrel and a lightweight synthetic stock (like a Corelight). Extremely lightweight, even lighter than a stock 10/22 carbine. That's going to be my next 10/22 purchase...my dealer has one. I'm going to get one with a threaded barrel for later use as a nice suppressor host.
I've already got a Walmart Special 10/22 (full size stock and 22 inch SS barrel).
Get a Butler Creek magazine loader...it actually works quite well, and prevents sore thumbs. For high cap mags, Tactical Innovations mags are best (polymer and aluminum versions available, can be disassembled for cleaning). Next best are Butler Creek steel lips and hot lips mags, but they cannot be taken apart for cleaning. Avoid Ramline magazines, they are junk, as are the Promag drums...
Welcome to the 10/22 jungle, Ambulance Driver. It's a hell of a lot of fun. You should look into TechSIGHTs if you want irons, or maybe get a reddot scope for fun plinking. Have fun, and remember, you can do all of the work yourself without a problem. It's extremely easy. Get thee over to RimfireCentral.com for the poop on the 10/22.