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

Monday, March 1, 2021

Ruger 10/22 Facts for 2021

I suppose you thought we ran out of new facts to share with you regarding our favorite rimfire rifle? Guess again..

Here we are now in our 6th year of providing info on the history, upgrades and customizations for our favorite .22 rifle.

For reference, here are links to my previous pages of Ruger 10/22 facts:
2020



Patent drawings for the BX1 10 round rotary magazine, click on the pictures for a larger version.






In 1987 the plastic butt plate on the Deluxe Sporter was replaced with a soft rubber recoil pad




The early 10/22s had a slanted front sight, the newer ones are much more square



The rear sights were originally made by Lyman  




In 1975 Ruger switched from the Lyman rear sight to one made by William Renal. Renal was a former employee of Lyman. They had an R stamped into the side.


Another way to tell them apart is the Lyman's had a white triangle, the Renal's a white diamond.



In 1978 the warning label was added, then some time later the address was switched from Southport, CT to Newport, NH. This change happened years after production of the 10/22 moved to Newport.

There was another variation in which the abbreviation "Inc. was not stamped on the barrel, but these are uncommon.




The Ruger 10/22 Magnum had a steel receiver and a tungsten bolt.

When the 10/22 was introduced in 1964, a buyer could opt for an extra magazine for $4, a two pack was also available for $7



There have been many guns who used the 10/22's BX magazine including:

  • Ruger American Rimfire
  • Intratec Tec 22
  • USFA Zip Gun
  • Excell Arms X22
  • Winchester Wildcat
  • AMT 25/22 Lightning
  • Magnum Research MLR22AT
  • Thompson/Center T/CR22
  • POF-USA Rebel 22
  • Rock Island Armory RIA22
  • Bergara BXR

In 2004 Ruger introduced a factory "Race Rifle" featuring a laminated thumbhole stock, Talo was the distributor of the 700 +/- rifles



Approximately 100,000 10/22s were produced in 1976, receiving the roll stamp: "Made in the 200th Year of American Liberty".




The first Finger Groove Sporter 10/22 made was serial # 43908 in 1966




Last year, to commemorate the most important vote in our country's history, Ruger released the Vote 2020 edition





According to the website secondunited.com, it takes $2.04 worth of plastic to make a 10/22 receiver on a 3D printer.




After Trump was elected the folks at Heroes and Patriots LLC put together this custom 10/22 rifle. They started with the checkered walnut sporter rifle, had the metal plated with 24k gold, then engraved the stock




Only 50 rifles were made, one for each state



They come in this nice crushed velvet lined case



Guns.com says that every gun owner should own a 10/22

In 1988 Faber Brothers Inc (FBI) made a special order of Laminated Sporter models in green on black, 1500 of them, then another order in Coffee (brown on black). Two years later a laminated model became a standard catalog item.

The 10/22 compact models barrel and receiver measure 21.5" long (without the stock)

The 10/22 semi-crescent butt plate was inspired by the Winchester model of 1866 and the calvary carbines that came before it




In March of 2020 Ruger announced a partnership with Viridian and a 10/22 model (model 31141) that came equipped with a Viridian Eon 3-9 x 40mm Scope as well as a Ruger branded hard case.




A stripped factory 10/22 receiver weighs 21.3 ounces

The one-Millionth 10/22 was produced in 1978, two years later Marlin produced their two-millionth model 60


In May of 2020 Ruger began offering the Charger with a Go Wild Camo stock and bronze Cerakote finish on the metal parts




It took the Harry Sefried & the Ruger Engineers eighteen months to develop the BX1 magazine

BX1 prototype, next to a production unit




William Workman wrote a very good guide on collecting the 10/22,  however the book was published in 1986 and only covers models and variations up to the mid 80's




Recently Ruger began offering the Sporter stock in Maple, this means that the 10/22 collector can own a 10/22 Sporter with a Maple, Walnut and Birch wood stocks. Barrels in 18.5 or 22 inch and in blued or stainless....



In 1996 Ruger introduced an "All Weather" model 10/22 featuring a stainless steel barrel and a synthetic stock. It had a recessed panel in the butt stock, due to difficulties in casting plastic with a hollow butt stock.
These became known as the "boat paddle" or "skeleton" stocks. 





The original proposed color was a med-dark gray, it was turned down in favor of the jet black

photo courtesy of Rugerforum.com


The "boat paddle" design was only used for a few years, exact production numbers are not known, but people believe them to be somewhat rare. Ruger replaced the "boat paddle" stocks with a new style seen below.
These current production plastic stocks weigh 11 ounces less than the standard Beech wood stocks.





Ruger introduced the take-down 10/22 model on March 28th, 2012, 48 years and 3 days after Bill Ruger first told gun writers about the 10/22 in 1964.



The first advertisement for the Finger Groove Sporter and International models was the centerfold of the February 1966 edition of American Rifleman




The currently supplied beech wood stocks, weigh 1/2 ounce more than that walnut stocks they replaced.

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