My Custom 10/22 Build

With the very little use that my Norinco JW-15 and Crosman 2250b were getting. I decided to sell them both to fund a new Ruger 10/22 project.

My dad owns one and I think every firearms user should own a 10/22. Even if it is just for plinking. Sure there are more accurate out-of-the-box semi-auto options, like a Marlin Model 795. But in terms of customizability, you cannot go past a Ruger 10/22 making it ideal for a project.

Ruger 10/22 Project Build

Since I was going to be modifying a Ruger 10/22 I wanted the cheapest Stainless Steel model I could find. I was going to wait for the Guncity Father’s Day sale to come up to grab a cheap stock Ruger 10/22 Stainless.

Ruger 10/22 Receiver, Bolt and Trigger

But with the launch of 55Six (note they have since closed their door and no longer offer any of these products). I ended up getting a Brownells BRN-22 Stripped Railed Receiver, the Ruger 10/22 Receiver Parts Kit and the Ruger 10/22 BX trigger. This has turned the project into a complete build. The only parts that are stock Ruger are the bolt and magazine. The Ruger BX-Trigger is a nice upgrade on the stock trigger for the money.

Ruger 10/22 Barrel

To have a functioning rifle I need a barrel. As with everything I have thought very hard about which barrel to fit.

The guys at 55Six have import permits for quite a few aftermarket supplies of 10/22 gear. These include Kidd Innovative Design, Feddersen and Tactical Solutions. Reading heaps of reviews and forum posts it appears that you cannot go past either the Kidd or TacSol.

I narrowed my search down to the Tactical Solutions X-Ring™ .22LR Threaded Barrel, the Kidd Ultra Lightweight Fluted Barrel, and the Ranger Carbon Tension Barrel.

The appeal about all these barrels is the relatively short length, the very low weight and that they are threaded ready for a suppressor.

I leant towards the Kidd Ultra Lightweight but 55Six had issues getting a price from Kidd. They did have a shipment of Tactical Solutions barrels arriving.

Making the Decision

Looking at the Ranger and TacSol barrels, it is a hard choice. I liked the idea of the short barrel on the Ranger. Reading up and talking to a few guys having only a 12″ barrel shouldn’t affect the velocity and accuracy of the 10/22.

25m 3 show group through the Ranger barrel. This shows 0.66 MOA — A 25 metre three shot group from the Gun City website.

50m 3 show group through the Ranger barrel. This shows 0.60 MOA — A 50 metre three shot group from the Gun City website.

The 3 shot groups that are shown on the Guncity website for these barrels and above these show the MOA to be around 0.66 (0.2 mil). In my opinion that is very good. My main concern is the lack of reviews around.

I ended up choosing the Ranger barrel. It is available now I like how short the actual barrel is and can put on a different suppressor to keep that length down. Talking with Evan he did this post of a 22 that he put over the chronograph as he shortened the barrel. The drop in velocity was minimal and no loss in accuracy that he could see.

Gun City sold me with the following sales pitch from Chloe.

Suppressor

The DPT .22lr suppressor

I am going to borrow a mate’s DPT 22lr suppressor to test and compare with the one fitted to the Ranger barrel.

The reason I am also looking at using the DPT is that they are modular. If running sub-sonic loads you can use one baffle for a total length of 72 mm and a weight of 48 grams. Even when using the full suppressor for super-sonic loads the total length is only 106 mm and weighs 70 grams. Can even add more modules to use in a .17 HMR or .22 MAG.

Ruger 10/22 Must-Haves

The modified bolt lock compared to the stock bolt lock. This allows the bolt to be released by just pulling it back. — The aftermarket bolt lock (lower left) compared to the stock bolt lock.

My must-have upgrades are a bolt buffer to help reduce any noise. The auto bolt release makes releasing the bolt more simple with just a quick pull.

With some modification to the original bolt lock mechanism, an auto bolt release can be made. I went with an aftermarket one so if I need to I can easily roll back. Since Gun City did not have any in stock I found a store on allgoods.co.nz (which no longer exists) that had them for a reasonable price. He also had the Kidd Bolt Buffer which is a stainless steel pin covered in a polymer.

Ruger 10/22 Stock

Magpul Hunter X-22 10/22 stock in Flat Dark Earth. This is great for a ruger 10/22 project — Magpul Hunter X-22 10/22 stock in Flat Dark Earth

After a lot of research, I decided on a Magpul Hunter X-22 stock.

A great thing about this stock is being able to easily change the length of pull and add check risers for using a scope. Using the M-LOK system it will be easy to add accessories, like a bipod and sling

I am very impressed with this stock, it is a major upgrade on the factory stock. It feels nicely balanced and with the cheek risers that will add to the Ruger 10/22 feeling how it should. The stock is available in a range of colours but I like the Flat Dark Earth (FDE).

Check out this epic ad from Magpul

Optics

MOA, Mil-Dot and BDC retiles — MOA (left), Mil-Dot (centre), BDC (right)

I am still looking at what optics to get for this build. I have read lots of reviews like these ones from Pew Pew Tactical and ScopesReviews. This gave me the following set of requirements, multi-zoom, adjustable parallax (AO) and a Mil-Dot reticle.

One option is the BSA TMD 4-14 x44, I like how it uses the Front Focal Plane (FFP) and it ticked all the other boxes. Being FFP will make it easier for me to calculate distances and holdovers throughout the magnification ranges.

I have ordered the BSA scope and once it has arrived from China I will do a post on reviewing it once on 10/22.

The Build

Building a 10/22 from pieces was so straightforward forward I had it completed in about 20 minutes. The gallery below shows the process of building it. The hardest part was making sure the extractor lined up with the barrel.

The Ranger barrel slid in firmly and did not have any movement in the Brownell receiver.

The receiver ready for the bolt and trigger — The receiver is ready for the bolt and trigger to be installed.

The barrel into the receiver with the v-block installed — The Ranger barrel into the Brownells BRN-22 receiver with the V-block

The complete barrel and receiver — The barrel and receiver installed ready for the trigger

The Ruger bolt installed into the barreled receiver showing the head space on the back of the barrel — The Ruger bolt installed into the barreled receiver.

The 10/22 lock and barrel installed — The trigger and bolt installed into barreled reciever.

Final weight without the scope is 2.2 kg (4.8 pounds) — The final weight of the rifle less the scope is 2.2 kg (4.8 pounds) this rifle feels very light.

The 10/22 finished with the Brownells BRN-22 receiver, Ruger bolt, Ruger Bx Trigger, Ranger Carbon barrel and FDE Magpul Hunter X-22 stock — The completed 10/22 build minus a scope

The finished 10/22 build with the BSA scope attached and without the suppressor/ — I am very happy with how this 10/22 is looking just a couple of little things to go like a bi-pod and sling. I hope it shoots as well as it looks.

The complete 10/22 with BSA scope weighing 2.9 kg. — The complete rfile weighing 2.9kg with the BSA scope.

The final step for my Ruger 10/22 Project is to get some optics on it and get out to the range and see how it shoots.

It is very nice to hold with the full-size stock it feels like a proper rifle, and it is very light. The BX trigger breaks cleaning for the price point and is definitely an improvement over the factory stock trigger. I cannot wait to get out there and put it through its paces.

Let me know what you think of it.

Cheers for reading
Parriehunter