The Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle has
been with us for over forty years now, and Ruger has sold over
five million of the handy little carbines. Chambered for the
most popular cartridge in the world; the .22 Long Rifle, the
10/22 is one of those guns that everyone should own, and I
recommend them often to those who are looking for a great,
reliable, and accurate twenty-two for plinking, hunting,
or target shooting. The 10/22 was first introduced in 1964 as an
understudy to the .44 Magnum Deerstalker carbine. It was about
the same size and feel, and was indeed a great way to practice
using ammunition that was much cheaper to shoot and easier on
the shoulder. Using a unique rotary ten-shot detachable magazine
and a very secure dovetail wedge block to rigidly attach the
barrel to the die-cast aluminum receiver, the little 10/22
proved to be the most reliable twenty-two auto ever produced.
Today, they can be found everywhere, and are still available for
a very reasonable price. There is almost a cult following for
the little rimfire carbine, and the aftermarket is flush with
accessories for customizing it. Whether left box-stock, or
customized with aftermarket barrels, triggers, stocks and
everything else, the little Ruger carbine is the mainstay of the
twenty-two auto rifle world.
Now, after all this time and millions of rifles
later, Ruger has taken the 10/22 and made it into a pistol! When
I first heard of this back in mid November of this year, my
first thought was "Why?", but upon opening the box at
the hardware store, my next thought was "Cool!" The
store owner started in with "Jeff, if you decide not to
keep this one….." and I interrupted him with "Forget
it Andy,. If this thing shoots, I’m keeping it!" This was
about three weeks ago as I type this. I have been sworn to
secrecy until now, and Ruger has done a good job of keeping this
new pistol quiet. After shooting this new pistol, I found myself
wondering why Ruger didn’t do this years ago. It is an
extremely fun little gun to shoot. Reliability, after running
many different types of .22 Long Rifle ammo through the Charger,
has proven to be as expected, a very Ruger-like perfect. Using
the factory ten shot magazine and also an old Ramline
twenty-five round mag, the gun functions just like the dozens of
10/22 rifles that I have known over the last three decades,
which is one-hundred percent. Sometimes I have found a bad
cartridge or two, but never have I had a 10/22 malfunction on me
that was the fault of the rifle. So far, the .22 Charger is just
as reliable. The extended magazine release works very well with
both standard and high capacity magazines. I have shot a lot of
ammo through the Charger, but have not cleaned it, even after
firing a lot of imported relatively dirty ammo. The Charger
keeps on working. To anyone who owns a 10/22 rifle, this will be
no news to them. The Charger is basically a 10/22 rifle action
with a ten inch barrel and a pistol silhouette style stock. The
stock is made of laminated wood, and should prove to be very
durable. The feel of the stock is very comfortable to hold,
whether using the supplied bipod or not. The bipod is a Harris
type. I am not sure if it is made by Harris or not, but if it is
not, it is identical to the Harris, which has proven itself on
rifles in the field for many years. The legs on the bipod deploy
from their folded position quickly and lock into place under
spring pressure. The legs are easily and quickly adjusted by
pulling them out to their fully extended position, or by locking
them at any point between by rotating the locking wheel. The
bipod attaches to the Charger stock without tools. It is held in
position by the swivel stud. Shooting the Charger using
the bipod proved to be a very steady position, and a lot of fun.
The bipod would be ideal when hunting vermin or small game over
an open field. The bipod can be quickly and easily removed for
taking the Charger to the woods in pursuit of a few squirrels.
Shooting groups for accuracy, I found the bipod to be nearly as
steady as a bench rest. The barrel, trigger guard, and
receiver have a nice black matte finish, and looks good with the
gray laminated stock.
The ten inch barrel on the Charger seems to be
about the idea length for the pistol. The muzzle has a recessed
crown, and the barrel is of a medium-heavy profile, measuring
.920 inch at the receiver and tapering to .664 inch at the
muzzle. Testing for velocity loss from the shorter barrel
compared to a longer one, I fired over my PACT
chronograph the same ammunition from both the Charger and a
10/22 with a sixteen inch Tactical
Solutions lightweight bull barrel. As an example, high
velocity Federal hollowpoint ammo averaged 1203
feet-per-second (fps) from the sixteen inch barrel, but still
averaged 1163.9 fps from the ten inch Charger barrel. Not bad at
all. Target grade standard velocity ammo lost even less
velocity. The trigger pull on the test pistol measured just
under four pounds. The .22 Charger weighs in at 3 lbs.,
9.6 ounces empty. Adding the bipod and a Leupold scope
brought the total weight up to 5 lbs., 1.3 ounces ready to go.
The Charger comes with a scope base already
attached to the receiver. The scope base will accept both
tip-off rimfire rings, or any ring that is compatible with a Weaver
base. I used Leupold Rifleman rings to attach a Leupold
2.5 to 8 power VX-III pistol scope. In the video, I screwed up
and stated that the scope is a 2 to 8.5 power, but it was
awfully cold outside, and I didn’t want to re-shoot the video.
I get nervous on camera. Anyway, the power is adjustable
infinitely between 2.5 and eight magnification. When I saw the
new Ruger Charger, that variable Leupold was the only scope that
I considered, as it offers a lot of versatility, using the lower
power for woods hunting, and the higher settings for long range
varmint work and plinking small targets. The optical clarity of
the Leupold is excellent. For me, it was the only choice. It
focuses perfectly at close range for plinking at small vermin,
and offers the power needed to precisely place shots at 100
yards and beyond even on the smallest critters. I always sight
in my .22 Long Rifle chambered rifles at fifty yards, and did
the same with the new Charger pistol. Accuracy was very good at
fifty yards, with groups measuring between seven-eighths of an
inch and one and three-quarters of an inch. At twenty-five
yards, the shots are just a little high, and they are just a few
inches low at one hundred yards using the fifty yard zero. Some
might like to sight in at seventy-five or even one hundred
yards, depending upon the terrain, but I like mine at fifty, as
that is where I do most of my work with a .22 Long Rifle. If the
distance goes much beyond one hundred, I reach for a .22 Magnum
or a centerfire. Plinking small rocks and such at my one hundred
yard berm was a lot of fun with the Charger, and hits were easy
to make using the excellent bipod for support.
With most firearms that come in for review, I
pass it around a bit to other shooters to get their opinions.
However, promising to keep the Charger hidden until December
17th, I had to keep this one to myself. My wife did catch me
playing with the pistol, and stated ; "That’s the coolest
thing I’ve ever seen!" That means a lot coming from her,
as she is not really into guns, and has become pretty jaded over
the past twenty-eight years, seeing a lot of firearms come
through here. In fact, for our tenth wedding anniversary,
I gave her a brand new Ruger 10/22 rifle. It was our 10th, and
we were married on the 22nd, so it seemed like a natural choice
to me. She has never fired it. After watching me shoot the
Charger, she liked it. She wants to shoot this one.
With the superb pedigree of the famous Ruger
10/22 rifle behind it, I think that the .22 Charger will find a
lot of owners. It is a great little plinker, and would just be
perfect for shooting the game of rimfire silhouette, or any
other animated target game. As a hunting pistol, it should
prove to be very successful, as it handles like the good single
shot and bolt action pistols on the market, but with the
reliable ten-shot semi-auto action of the 10/22 rifle.
Like all Ruger firearms, the .22 Charger is
American made, affordable, and backed by Ruger’s famous
Service Policy. Check out the full line of Ruger products
here.
For the location of a Ruger dealer near you,
click on the DEALER FINDER button at www.lipseys.com.
You can see the entire line of high quality
Leupold optics online at www.leupold.com.
With the new Charger pistol, Ruger has taken a
classic design, created a whole new animal. Like I told my
friend Andy at the hardware store, if it shoots, I‘m keeping
it. Well, it shoots, and I‘m keeping it.. I can’t recommend
any gun higher than that. Come to think of it, my wife and
I have our 29th anniversary next week, and I have to buy her
something! Wonder if I could get another?
Jeff Quinn
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