Featured Gun: The Ruger 10/22

Today October 22nd, is known as Ruger Day (10/22). So I thought it fitting to post the story of Ruger's little carbine today...of all days.


Timeless.... is the best word to describe the Ruger 10/22 rifle. The look and feel of the gun have not changed in more than 50 years and 7 million units manufactured. Bill Ruger would be pleased that his little carbine was mechanically far enough ahead of its time, yet had a classic look that would remain in favor, and is as popular now as it was when introduced.

Outside of the AR-15, the 10/22 has got to be the most modifiable weapon ever made. The list of aftermarket products is longer than a Catholic wedding.
It is the gun that everyone owns or can own, meaning that it is affordable and easy to use. If it were to have been made in Germany it would have certainly been called the "Volksgewehr".

Before getting to the story of the 10/22 I should probably mention that the Ruger rimfire was not the first gun to where than moniker. The FN/Browning pistol of 1910 was redesigned in 1922 to target law enforcement and military clients. The gun was officially known as the model of 1922 and unofficially as the 1910/22 or 10/22.

The John Browning designed FN 10/22 pistol

The story of the 10/22 carbine starts with Bill Ruger and Harry Sefried. After finishing a beautiful and powerful carbine in .44 Magnum, they figured it needed a little brother. See my blog post the the .44 Carbine here.

The Ruger 44 Carbine

Work began in the late 1950's, Bill envisioned a .22 rimfire version of the 44 Carbine, which was in  turn inspired by the M1 Carbine. They wanted something light, easy to handle and affordable. A Ruger employee named Doug McClenahan was added to the design team to map out the rifle.
Ruger wanted a gun that was so well designed that it seemed simple, but more important it had to be affordable to produce. Just as with all his guns Ruger would tirelessly work to find the best and most economical way to produce the gun.

The basis of the new rifle was the magazine feed system. Ruger was enamored with the Savage 99 rotary magazine and the team set about to design a detachable box magazine based on its method of operation. What they came up with was near genius, it was (is)  simple and more importantly, it was reliable.

After experimenting with aluminum and sheet steel parts, they settled on a plastic body with one removable end and only 7 parts.
A prototype and production unit below.

 photos courtesy of Ruger Talk Forum

One thing that Bill Ruger insisted on was a good looking rifle with smooth lines, the ten round BX1 magazine was designed to fit flush against the bottom of the stock.

photo courtesy of Gun Carrier.

The receivers were made of cast aluminum using Ruger's re-discovered lost wax/investment casting method.  

The aluminum receivers were anodized black until 1976 when a new teflon coating replaced it. Later on a power coated finish became standard. The stainless guns originally had a clear coat over the bare aluminum, later they were also powder coated in silver.

The trigger assembly is also a work of simplistic art. Originally made of aluminum they are now made of plastic, two pins anchor the trigger assembly in the receiver.

photo courtesy of Dr. Frankenruger

The bolts, also investment cast, are made of alloy steel, the castings below need very little machining. Once the machining is finished the bolts are hardened to reduce wear.

photo courtesy of Gunblast

The firing pin floats in a groove on top of the bolt, a roll pin and an oblong hole limits it's travel

The stocks were originally made from American Walnut, the SE Overton Company of Michigan was contracted to make the stocks. Overton had some experience in this area as they made roughly 2 million stocks for the M1 Carbine during WWII.
Ruger sent the receivers and trigger guards below to Overton for them to check clearances.


photo courtesy of Ruger Owners and Collectors Society

After 1971 Ruger began producing the stocks in house. When walnut prices rose beyond what the 10/22 price point could contain, the factory switched  to birch stocks in 1980, in 2008 they used maple for a short time before settling on beech wood

picture courtesy of Gun Parts Corp

During the design stage Ruger produced three working prototypes including this one designated X1

photos courtesy of Ruger Talk Forum

The original front sight had a white plastic insert, it was changed to a brass insert on the production models

The magazine well and take-down screw on X1

Comparison of X1 (top) and production model (bottom)

The folding rear sight was originally made by Lyman, sometime around 1975 Ruger began getting them from William Renal, a former employee of Lyman. The Renal produced sights have an "R" stamped into them.

As mentioned the front sight has a brass insert 

The barrels were 18.5" in length and designed to be easy to remove and replace via two screws and a V-Block

photo courtesy of My Gun Culture

The butt plate was a semi crescent as you would expect to find on a classic carbine. These were also aluminum in the beginning, they are now made of a plastic called Celcon, which is supplied by General Electric. The switch to plastic occurred in 1976.

 
The barrel band was identical (except dimensionally smaller) to the one on the .44 Carbine, also reminiscent of the M1 Carbine. As with the trigger housing and butt plate, they were originally made of aluminum and later switched to plastic.

The 10/22 was introduced to gun writers via mail and personal visits to the Ruger Factory during the spring of 1964. 

In a letter to gun writer Jack O'Conner dated March 25th, 1964 Ruger wrote: “I have just received this proof of our new catalogue page and rush it to you herewith, because I hope you are going to be somewhat intrigued by our efforts to make a .22 rifle which avoids all the usual banalities—I am also sending this folder to other publications today and this represents our first release of information concerning this. I really think we have been successful in this and from a technical point of view, the new 10/22 is one of the best things we have done. We are planning to show the gun at the N.R.A. Show, but will not announce it in our advertising until June. We will rush-rush a sample as soon as possible, but at the moment have only three pilot guns which we are still tuning. Production guns are very near at hand, we should begin shipments early in May, but I hope to get a sample to [you soon].”

The rifle was unveiled to the public at the 1964 NRA Meetings (typically held in May) and in June of '64 Ruger began running advertisements in gun and outdoor magazines.

One of  the early ads for the 10/22

Here is the very first Ruger 10/22 to come off the assembly line, serial number 1.

When the 10/22 was introduced there were plenty of .22 autoloading rifles on the market. The Remington Nylon 66 held a good market position as did the Marlin model 60. Winchester had a couple of auto-loading models including the model 290. 

Ruger set the 10/22's introductory price right in between the Marlin model 60 ($53.95) and the Remington Nylon 66 ($54.95) at $54.50.

The first 3 rifles off the production line stayed in Southport, the following 200 or so rifles were sold or given away to employees, friends, relatives and gun industry professionals.

Dealers who signed up were shipped these banners announcing the arrival of the 10/22, the first few hundred 10/22s were shipped with a 9 inch x 27 inch version of this banner, a highly sought collectible today.

The original owner's manuals were in black and white

The rifle was reviewed in the "Dope Bag" column of the American Rifleman Magazine's September 1964 issue, where it received positive remarks, referring to the rifle as "neat, compact and functionally reliable"

Specs:
Action: Semi-automatic, blow back
Caliber: .22 Long Rifle only
Overall Length: 37"
Length of Pull: 13.5"
Weight: 5-5.25 lbs (depending on stock material)
Barrel Length: 18.5"
Sight Radius: 15"
Rifling: 6 grooves, 1 turn in 16", Right Hand Twist
Magazine: detachable box, 10 round capacity
Material: Aluminum Receiver, Alloy Steel Bolt & Barrel, Plastic Trigger Housing, Barrel Band and Butt Plate, Beech wood stock (currently)

A cut-away 10/22

Another early ad for the 10/22 touted it as the perfect companion to the .44 Carbine. 

This time line represents the major changes and some early models, it would be next to impossible to chronicle all of the 10/22 models offered over the years, so I didn't bother, I just included the main ones.

Timeline:

1964: March, gun writers are sent catalog proofs of the new 10/22, in June, Ruger begins print advertising the new rifle
1966: International and Sporter models introduced
1967: Canadian Centennial model produced 
1969: 3-digit prefix added to the serial number, International model dropped from catalog
1970: Production of the 10/22 moves to Newport, NH
1971: Ruger begins producing the 10/22 stocks in house, raises price on 10/22 by $2, The Sporter model is dropped from the catalog
1976: The U.S. Bi-Centennial is recognized with special roll stamps, the receivers get a teflon coating in lieu of anodizing
1978: The warning label is added to the barrel
1980: The stock material is switched from walnut to birch, butt plate now made of plastic
1984: AMT begins selling a copy of the 10/22 called the "25/22 Lightning"
1986: The stainless steel 10/22 with laminated stocks is introduced
1987: Chief AJ sets world record with the 10/22
1988: Intratec introduces the TEC-22 pistol which uses 10/22 magazines
1994: International model re-introduced
1996: Synthetic stock model introduced
1998: 10/22 Magnum model introduced
2002: Bill Ruger passes away at the age of 86
2003: International model removed from catalog
2004: The 10/22 40th Anniversary model is produced, the 10/17 model listed in catalogs
2005: the 10/22 Compact model is introduced, the 5 millionth 10/22 is produced
2006: 10/22 Magnum discontinued
 2007: Charger 10/22 pistol is introduced, Ruger begins sponsoring the USA Shooting Team
2008: Trigger housings switched to plastic, extended mag release added, stock material switched to maple, Ruger Rimfire Challenge is started, finish on the receivers changed to a rough texture.
2009: Field & Stream lists the 10/22 as one of the 50 Best Guns Ever Made
2011: BX-25 Magazine introduced  
2012: August, Ruger 10/22 profiled on Midway USA's Gun Stories TV Show, The 10/22 Take-Down model in introduced; Magnum Research introduces a 10/22 copy called the MLR22AT
2013: Contest held for 50th Anniversary design, Charger pistol dropped from catalog
2014: Charger pistol is re-introduced, Ruger sues Armscor for their 10/22 copy, BX Trigger is introduced.
2015: 50th Anniversary model introduced, 4 digit prefix added to serial number
2016: M1 Carbine Tribute model introduced
2017: Silent SR 10/22 take-down barrel introduced.
2018: Thompson/Center Arms introduces a 10/22 copy called the T/CR22; Ruger introduces the Custom Shop built 10/22 Competition Rifle

Copies:

In 1984 Arcadia Machine & Tool (AMT) began producing an identical copy of the 10/22 called the "25/22 Lightning". There are varying reports as to why AMT only produced the gun for 10 years or so. Some say it took that long for the lawsuit to progress, other say that the lawsuit resulted in royalties that AMT no longer wanted to pay so the ceased production. The name came from the 25 round magazine produced by Butler Creek, who also produced the synthetic folding stock for AMT.

Some time around 1997 Olympic Arms produced 200 rifles and an unknown number of pistols that were a copy of the 10/22. As with the AMT units above, the receivers were made from Stainless Steel. Ruger sent letters threatening a lawsuit and settlement was reached in which Olympic would pay royalties for each one built. The gun didn't have an official name except "X-Ring Action" which was stamped on some of the receivers (a name now used by Tactical Solutions). The pistol pictured below was taken by me, I owned this pistol for a short time.

In 2012, Magnum Research (owned by Kahr Arms) began marketing a 10/22 copy called the MLR22AT. They have since increased the options to the model including a .22 Magnum version

In 2014 Filipino arms maker Armscor began producing an exact copy of the 10/22 called the M22, a lawsuit filed in May of that year ended production

Earlier this year Thompson/Center Arms (owned by Smith & Wesson) introduced a 10/22 copy called the T/CR22. It has some different features such as a last shot hold open and a MagPul stock.

In 2004 Ruger held a contest for a customer to design the 10/22 50th Anniversary model. The winner was a man from Michigan who is a Project Appleseed instructor.

This year Ruger introduced their Custom Shop and one of the first models to spring from the new endeavor is a 10/22 Competition Rifle, featuring many modifications commonly done to improve the functionality and reliability of the carbine.

William Batterman Ruger passed away at the age of 86 on July 6th, 2002. He left behind a legacy in this little rifle that has continued. 
His company has not rested on their laurels. The Ruger 10/22 comes in more configurations than Bill could have imagined. The 2017 catalog had 100 different models broken into 7 groups.
In 2011, the company Bill Ruger founded, introduced a factory built 25 round magazine for the 10/22.
This was in contrast to of one of Bill's most infamous quotes: "no honest man needs more than 10 rounds in any gun".

Bill had forgotten the principal that drove his business.....giving the customer what they want. A high capacity magazine for a .22 rifle has nothing to do with needs, it is about desires. 
Strum, Ruger and Company is again giving the customers what they desire.

References
Ruger Talk Forum
Ruger Owners and Collectors Society
Ruger Forum.NET
Shooting Times 
Daily Caller 
Ruger Forum.COM
American Rifleman 

Wilson, R.L., (2007), Ruger & His Guns, New York, NY: Chartwell Books, Inc.  

Lee, Jerry, (2014), The Standard Catalog of Ruger Firearms, Iola, WI: Gun Digest Books.