The Ruger 10/22 (.22lr)
I have been knocking .22’s as little more than bb guns for
years. I for one don’t get the appeal. People say it’s great for training, but I
would like to train to compensate for recoil and noise as well as hitting the
target. One day I was ranting as I sometimes do, and my best friend (someone
who I have known since first grade) simply said, “have you ever owned one?” I
replied “well, no” then he said “don’t knock it until you tried it.” As hard as
I tried to fight it he was right, to form a real opinion, I needed some real
experience, so I started looking at what .22 to get. I decided upon the same
.22 everyone seems to get a Ruger 10-22, I got the heavy barrel target model,
then set to make it mine. I have always liked the HK g36 battle rifle, and
because they are not importable for one reason or another (in a 30 round mag
variant you can of course get the ten round emasculated model) I opted for the
archangel nomad stock. I love that stock it has cubby holes to put stuff (ammo
for me) and a top rail. The stock is extremely well made and attaches to the
receiver on the main bolt as well as the scope mount screws, it is built like a
tank the stock is very secure both folded and not. It looked the part when I
used the included mag. It is however not made for the target model, but
modifying it was not that difficult. After all the work I mounted a cheap tasco
scope and hit the range. The gun SUCKED! It is not all that accurate, it was
not at all reliable (people love to make excuses for their .22’s not working.
“it doesn’t like the ammo, the primer’s don’t like cold, or wet, the mag just
needs to be downloaded by 5 to work properly.” On and on…) in the end, I gave
it my all, in the effort to build a .22
that I would like, and I still think .22’s are dumb. Now does that mean I want
to get shot by one, no, but if someone was in a position over me to the point
that I had to “pick my switch” it would be a .22.
THE GOOD:
The archangel nomad
is a great stock, now can you make one for the m1a?
THE BAD:
I never found a mag
that would shoot all the way through without a jam or 6, I tried the hot lips,
the factory 10 round rotary, the archangel, and the bx25. None of them worked well
enough to trust my life to.(not that I would to a .22)
It was not all the accurate (2”-3” groups).
The trigger is crap, but you can always replace it, timney
makes one that costs more than the gun…
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Ruger .22 is a fine gun if you want a basic .22 rifle,
but I am not a fan. I would take a .17hmr savage over any .22, but now I know
that for sure. The .22lr round is not
for me.
