In all areas of technology, certain designs rise to the top, dominate and become so popular, they become the industry-wide standard as soon as their patent protections expire. In few categories is that process more evident than firearms, with models from the Remington Model 700 to the AR-15 becoming the de-facto pattern in their respective categories.
When it comes to a semi-automatic .22 LR rifle, that benchmark is the Ruger 10/22, a design of which more than 10 million have been produced over the last 60 years, dominating every field from plinking to competition. In the course of those decades, aspects of the 10/22, from its magazine to its barrel design, have been adopted by other manufacturers. Competition is a good thing and in response, Ruger has announced updates to keep its factory 10/22 on the top of the pile.
Many of Ruger’s updates have already been introduced for specific 10/22 models, but these elements are now becoming standard across the board. The first of these is the BX-Trigger, originally introduced a decade ago as a drop-in upgrade for 10/22 rifles and Charger pistols. Tuned like a competition trigger, it has a pull weight between 2.5 and 3 lbs., with a crisp break, minimal overtravel, and a positive reset, and is contained within a new polymer housing.
A match-type bolt lock has been added, which allows a bolt that has been manually locked to the rear to be released with a simple pull-and-release of the charging handle, for one-handed operation. The rifle’s receiver now has a cleaning port in the rear, which allows for the barrel to be cleaned from the chamber end with a cleaning rod.
Standard models of the 10/22 will use a newly designed polymer stock, that has textured panels in the pistol grip and fore-end areas, integrated QD sling swivel mounts, and M-Lok slots in the 6 o’clock position on the fore-end to facilitate the mounting of accessories. A relief is molded into the stock to facilitate removing the magazine.
The rest of the features remain classic 10/22, including an alloy receiver and cold hammer-forged barrel held in place by a V-block system, a crossbolt safety, and a detachable 10-round rotary box magazine. All rifles are drilled and tapped for optics and come with a scope base adapter.
Standard model 10/22s will be available in six configurations. The rifle will be available with either blued or stainless steel barrels with a matching receiver finish with either a 16.4-inch barrel with its muzzle threaded 1/2x28 TPI or an unthreaded 18.5-inch barrel. The rifle will also be offered with a factory-mounted Viridian EON 3-9X 40 mm scope, with a blued finish and either barrel length.
The new models have the following MSRPs:
- Blued, 16.4-inch threaded barrel: $329
- Blued, 18.5-inch barrel: $299
- Stainless, 16.4-inch threaded barrel: $369
- Stainless, 18.5-inch barrel: $339
- Blued, 16.4-inch threaded barrel, factory-mounted scope: $399
- Blued, 18.5-inch barrel, factory-mounted scope: $369
For more information, see the company’s website.
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