The Ruger 10/22
rifle has been on the market for about forty-eight years now,
and has proven to be an accurate, reliable, and affordable
semi-automatic rimfire rifle. It is wildly popular, with
millions of them having been produced already. I
have been to the Ruger factory in New Hampshire and watched
as the 10/22 is being assembled, and it is amazing to watch,
seeing one new rifle come off the line about every minute. I
have several 10/22 rifles, and they each
work perfectly and shoot accurately. Still, like many shooters,
I wanted a rifle that exactly suited my needs and wants, and set
out to assemble my own.
The aftermarket has many parts and
accessories that match the Ruger 10/22 platform. Accessory
barrels have been around for many years, and I have a couple of
the steel examples of those, but my favorites are the
lightweight aluminum/chrome moly steel barrels from Tactical
Solutions of Boise, Idaho.
Customized 10/22-style rifles are very
popular with competitive shooters, as they have come to find the
design to be the most dependable on the market. I don’t shoot
competitively, but I did want to have the best of the best when
it comes to a semi-auto 22 rifle, and for almost everything I
needed, I found that Tactical Solutions makes the best
receivers, barrels, stocks, and accessories that money can buy.
Starting with the Tactical Solutions X-Ring
receiver, assembling a custom 10/22-style rifle is very simple,
and can be easily done in little time by anyone who can turn a
bolt. The TacSol X-Ring receiver is CNC machined from a solid
billet of aluminum, and has an integral Picatinny scope rail.
The bolt is CNC machined from stainless steel, and has dual
recoil springs. The charging handle is large and easy to grasp,
even while wearing gloves.
Next up was the barrel. I have a couple of
the lightweight Tactical
Solutions barrels, but for this perfect rifle, I wanted to
use my Tactical Solutions Cascade suppressor. I love a
suppressed rifle, and the cascade does an excellent job of
muffling the sound from a rimfire rifle. To keep from ending up
with a twenty-two inch long barrel, which I did not want, I went
with the SBX barrel. The SBX is a very clever design. It is
basically a 12.5 inch barrel with an integral shroud for the
Cascade suppressor. This allows the use of a removable
suppressor, without having to register the rifle as a Short
Barreled Rifle (SBR) with the federal government, await their
approval, and pay the two hundred dollar government extortion
fee. The suppressor rides within the barrel extension shroud,
with just enough beyond the barrel to easily grasp.
I like using a suppressor, especially on a 22
rimfire rifle. The suppressor greatly attenuates the sound,
making the rifle much better for hunting squirrels, rabbits,
predators, and vermin. It is also handy for firing when needed,
without alarming the neighbors. Where I live, my neighbors are
not close, but still close enough to hear rifle fire. They know
that I shoot all the time, and think nothing of it, but many
folks live in more crowded areas, and using a suppressor is
being a good neighbor. The Cascade suppressor is very effective,
and very affordable.
With the barrel and receiver selected, next
up was the selection of a stock. I looked at everything on the
market, and once again turned to Tactical Solutions for the
stock. Being left-handed, I had already on hand another
thumbhole LH laminated stock that I had bought from Midway a few
years ago, but it was heavier than I wanted. TacSol had just
what I wanted with their laminated ambidextrous thumbhole
Vantage RS stock. When I started this project, I did not intend
for it to become a completely Tactical Solutions rifle, but it
was shaping up that way. It seems that with every component
selection, I kept coming back to TacSol, as I discovered their
products to be superior to everything else that I found
available. Anyway, I chose the Royal Forest (green laminated),
as it matched my green receiver and barrel nicely. The best
thing about the Vantage RS stock is the design. It is designed
for comfort and stability when shooting. The cheek piece is high
enough to get the shooter’s eye right behind the scope,
without lifting his head off of the stock. The forearm is flat
on the bottom for shooting from a rest, yet comfortably shaped
for offhand shooting as well. The stock wears a set of sling
swivel studs, as should any rifle stock intended for use as a
hunting rifle. The synthetic rubber butt pad is non-slip, and
comfortable as well. The stock has a metal through-bolt pillar
to securely and rigidly fasten the stock to the receiver.
My next component needed was the trigger
group. I looked at a few, and tried one aftermarket trigger
group, but it failed to reset the trigger each time, so I
settled upon the reliable and rugged Ruger 10/22 factory trigger
group. This houses the trigger, hammer, ejector, and related
parts, and works very well. I wanted a lighter trigger pull, as
the Ruger trigger comes in at around five and one-half pounds of
resistance, but until I can find a lighter trigger that is as
reliable as the Ruger trigger, I will stick with this one. If I
do find one that is suitable, I will update this review at that
time. I do know of one that looks very promising, and is in
development at this time, but I cannot release any information
on it yet.
For magazines, there are many good choices on
the market. If I was competing with this rifle, I would probably
select a Black Dog magazine,
but for my uses as a hunting rifle, I prefer the standard
ten-shot rotary Ruger magazine to all others. It fits flat with
the bottom of the receiver, and is as reliable as any mechanical
device can be.
To release the magazine, the standard Ruger
mag release work well, unless wearing gloves. When it is cold
outside, I wear gloves, so for a magazine release, I again chose
a Tactical Solutions product. The X-Ring magazine release is an
ingenious yet simple design, and is machined from billet
aluminum. The release is a lever which follows the contour of
the trigger guard, and releases the magazine into the hand or
drops it to the ground with a downward push on the lever.
Perfect.
After assembling all the required components,
the rifle bolted together in just a few minutes. The only part
that took a little time was fitting the barrel shank to the
receiver. The SBX barrel shank is left slightly oversize, so
that it can be perfectly fitted to any 10/22 style receiver.
After putting the rifle together, it was time
to choose a quality scope. I wanted enough magnification to
accurately place a bullet into a squirrel’s head in the
tallest hickory tree, yet to still make a close shot on a
varmint, so a variable was the obvious choice. I selected a 3.5
to 10 power Leupold, with a lighted reticle. The reticle has a
fine crosshair in the middle for precise work on small targets,
but a rheostat controls the illumination of the inner section of
crosshair, for use in low light conditions, or against a dark
background, such as when hunting beaver in the creek at dusk.
The Leupold has precise click adjustments, and very clear
optics. I mounted the scope atop the integral Picatinny rail
using lightweight Leupold Rifleman rings.
The rifle/scope package, complete with
magazine and suppressor, weighs in at only six and one-quarter
pounds, yet wears a .920 inch diameter bull barrel and a rigid
stock. It handles beautifully, and holds as steadily as I can
hold any rifle. It is as if the rifle was made to fit me
perfectly, which I suppose it was. For shooting this rifle, I
wanted to try a variety of ammunition. For game hunting duties,
I will probably stick with nothing but Winchester DynaPoint
ammunition, but still, I wanted to try other ammo as well, to
check for accuracy, velocity, and reliability. Also, the PMC and
Wolf target ammo is quieter than DynaPoint, and that could be an
advantage in certain situations. On the other end of the 22 Long
Rifle power spectrum, the hyper-velocity ammo, such as CCI
Stinger and Remington Yellow Jackets might be useful for vermin
control, so I wanted to shoot some of that as well.
I tested the custom 22 rifle with several
brands of 22 Long Rifle ammunition for velocity and function.
The results with each brand and type of ammunition are listed in
the chart below. HP is a lead hollowpoint bullet. Solid is a
lead roundnose bullet. Velocity readings were taken at an
elevation of 541 feet above sea level, with an air temperature
of 47 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity in the eighty-five
percent range. Velocities are listed in feet-per-second (FPS),
and were recorded ten feet from the muzzle of the rimfire rifle,
and were recorded with and without the Cascade can attached.
Bullet weights are listed in grains.
Ammunition |
Bullet Weight |
Velocity (with can) |
Velocity (without
can) |
Federal Bulk HP |
36 |
1183 |
1172 |
Winchester DynaPoint HP |
40 |
1077 |
1070 |
PMC Match Solid |
40 |
915 |
1002 |
Wolf Match Solid |
40 |
1029 |
1021 |
CCI Mini-Mag HP |
36 |
1208 |
1237 |
CCI Mini-Mag Solid |
40 |
1215 |
1209 |
CCI Velocitor HP |
40 |
1245 |
1224 |
Remington Yellow Jacket
HP |
33 |
1354 |
1362 |
Remington Hi-Speed
Solid |
40 |
1250 |
1259 |
American Eagle HP |
36 |
1157 |
1184 |
PMC Zapper HP |
38 |
1205 |
1205 |
Winchester XPert HP |
36 |
1187 |
1169 |
Hansen Solid |
40 |
1144 |
1089 |
Remington Bulk Solid |
37 |
1128 |
1116 |
As suspected, shooting with or without the
can attached made little difference in velocity, and no
difference was noted in accuracy between the two. The X-Ring
rifle performed flawlessly. My favorite ammunition for small
game hunting, the Winchester DynaPoint, turned out to be
extremely accurate in this rifle. It was also one of the
quietest loads tested with the suppressor attached. That ammo
from this rifle is just at the right speed to not break the
supersonic threshold, resulting in superb accuracy and low sound
signature. Perfect! Other ammunition tested for accuracy
performed very well also, but that DynaPoint is ideal in this
rifle.
There are many aftermarket parts available
for building up a 10/22 style semi-auto, but I have found
nothing else the equal to the Tactical Solutions components.
When I set out on this project, which has been ongoing for a
couple of years now, I did not intend to end up with only TacSol
components, but seeking out the best for my needs, I kept coming
back to them. Now, if I can find a better trigger, this rifle
will then indeed be the perfect semi-auto rimfire rifle. Nothing
wrong functionally with the Ruger trigger, except that the pull
is heavier than I like for precise bullet placement. I prefer a
trigger in the three-pound or slightly under range, and the
Ruger trigger comes in about twice that weight. Until I find a
trigger replacement, this X-Ring rifle suits me just fine, and
would serve as a competition rifle, plinking rifle, hunting
rifle, and is especially good when stealth is an advantage,
whether muffling the sound to prevent scaring game, or for
keeping noise from alerting neighbors.
Check out the extensive line of high quality
Tactical Solutions products online at www.tacticalsol.com.
To order quality rimfire ammunition online,
go to www.luckygunner.com.
Jeff Quinn