Ruger’s Third Custom Shop Entry — 10/22 Competition Rifle
Ruger Rifle
Ruger Rilfe
Ruger recently announced yet another incarnation of its famous (dare we say “legendary”?) 10/22 rifle, and this one is definitely a keeper because it’s a Competition Rifle with features a real competitor will appreciate.
My affection for the 10/22 is well documented. With my own standard edition 10/22 topped by a Bushnell scope, I’ve managed to shoot the heads off wooden kitchen matches from a sandbag rest at 25 yards. And that’s with a plain old sporting barrel.
Now comes this Competition Rifle and it will take a lot of self-control to not head for the nearest gun store with wallet in hand. I use my .22 for shooting the heads off stupid fool hens on occasion in the central Cascades during the hunting season, and I’m already doing some mental figuring about how much more I can wring out of a .22-caliber Long Rifle cartridge with this new entry.
The 10/22 Competition Rifle has a hard-coat anodized CNC-machined and heat-treated receiver made from 6061-T6511 aluminum. It’s got an integral, optics-ready 30 MOA Picatinny rail on top so it’s ready for any scope or other sight option.
Now here’s something that might just be the best thing since sliced bread: Ruger designed this rifle’s receiver with a rear cleaning port, so a shooter can actually clean this from the rear, thus pushing out any powder residue or other debris from the breech to the muzzle so it doesn’t get into the action. Is that clever or what?
Ruger Rifle
Ruger Rifle
The action features Ruger’s BX-Trigger, which breaks crisply and has a smooth take-up. I just happen to have installed one of these in my own 10/22, and can swear by it. One thing more, the magazine release is an extended lever rather than the pushbutton release found on older models, and it’s one of the best ideas Ruger ever had for the 10/22 platform.
Ruger’s match bolt handle is oversized for easy charging, and its match bolt release speeds up the process by pulling rearward and the releasing it to chamber a round.
The free-floating bull barrel is fluted and threaded for a muzzlebrake or some other accessory with a ½”-28 thread pattern. Measuring 16 1/8″, the barrel is stainless steel and features an enhanced chamber, which, according to Ruger, “has proven to increase accuracy and precision while not compromising reliable feeding and extraction.”
The stock is an eye-catcher. It is a natural brown laminate with a fully adjustable synthetic cheekpiece, so this rifle will fit just about everybody with about 30 seconds worth of adjustment. It’s got sling swivel studs fore and aft.
It ships in a hard case with a detachable 10-round rotary magazine, cleaning cloth and decal.
There is not a safe paper target, tin can, ping pong ball or fat cottontail on the landscape with the Custom Shop 10/22 Competition Rifle around. Of that I am confident!
For more info: www.ruger.com, Ph: (336) 949-5200
