About Me: A certified yet non-professional gunsmith learning the trade through trail and inspiration

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Ruger 10/22 Facts for 2022

This is my 7th year bring you both well known and obscure facts about our favorite .22 rifle. Follow the links below for more 10/22 facts

2021


The currently supplied factory Beech wood stocks weigh approx. 1/2 ounce MORE than the Walnut stocks they replaced

A Ruger 10/22 was used in the very first episode of the apocalyptic TV show The Walking Dead


The first 10/22 International model was serial number 46077 in 1966





In December of 1984 the list price for a 10/22 carbine was $152.00

In 2020 the Spanish gun maker Bergara began producing a clone of the 10/22 called the "BXR". The rifles are built in Bergara's North American facility in Lawrenceville, GA.

photos courtesy of Bergara





The website Gunbacker.com stated that the 10/22 is "a perfect rifle for beginners and experts"

In January of 2020 Ruger and Talo announced another new special edition, this one the Great White Shark edition




Later that year, they introduced two more special editions, one for the Wolf

And one for the Large Mouth Bass



Gunandshooter.com had this to say about the 10/22 "....unarguably the most prolific of self loading rimfire rifles..." 

The 2017 Ruger catalog featured 100 different 10/22 models broken into 7 groups

The early 10/22 trigger assemblies featured the logo of Ruger's Pine Tree Casting division.




In November of 2020, The Rimfire Report, rated the Ruger 10/22 as the most overrated rimfire gun......keep in mind, this was in 2020, year one of the new Clown World. 

In 1980, around the same time that the 10/22's aluminum butt plate was swapped for the plastic (Celcon) ones, the stock's fore end also was changed. The early ones (bottom stock) were swept back, the newer ones (top stock) were more rounded. Note the barrel band and trigger housing remained aluminum until 2008.

photo courtesy of Know Your Ruger 10/22 by William Workman


Doug McClenahan, one of the men who helped design the 10/22, went on to start Charter Arms Company.

In 2007 Ruger produced the 5 millionth 10/22, 29 years after its introduction, that same year they began sponsoring the USA Olympic Shooting Team

The 3rd generation of 10/22 synthetic stocks come with cast in sling swivel eyes







In 1967 you could order factory hand checkering on your 10/22 stock for just $10 extra

The original trigger assembly on a 10/22 had 27 parts, that was reduced to 25 when Ruger integrated the hammer bushings as part of the hammer casting.

In 2021 Ruger introduced a left handed version of the 10/22 Competition model




Gun Writer Dave Workman has called the 10/22 "a classic in every sense".

The 10/22 takedown uses two take down screws, one in the traditional location to secure the receiver assembly to the stock, the other to hold the barrel and forend together. Both are interchangeable with the standard 10/22 take-down screw (#12 in the diagram below)




On Ruger's website they urge gun buyers to "not settle for an imitation, make it an original"...alluding to the large amount of manufacturers making copies of the 10/22


The Ruger 10/22 M1 Carbine Tribute rifle is model number 21102



The Ruger 10/22 was featured in the 2012 video game Infestation: Survivor Stories as the "Kruger .22 Rifle"



Sometime in early 2021 Davidsons began offering a special edition Charger with a leopard print stock



Bart Skelton (writing for the Shooting Times) described the 10/22 as "one of the finest rimfire rifles ever conceived."

A customized 10/22 was used in the competitive shooting show Top Shot, season 3 episode 7.

10/22 Weights & Measures







1 comment:

  1. sigh.....as much as admire Ruger designs (I would give my eye teeth for No. 1 International in 6.5x55), I have not drank the Kool-Aid for the 10/22. I thought the T/C clone was nice but we won't see that again. I'm a tube feed junkie so my favs are now commanding collector prices....which burns my hide....
    BTW, nice post on collecting on the cheap last month.

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