[ED. NOTE: I would like to welcome back
my brother, my friend, and my business partner, Jeff Quinn,
after almost a month's absence due to a serious illness. Jeff is
continuing his recovery and improving steadily, and I am happy
to see him back in the saddle doing what he loves. I trust that
you, his readers and his friends, will join me in offering your
prayers and well-wishes for Jeff as he continues down the road
to recovery.
- Boge
Quinn]
In just a few months, Ruger will be
celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Ruger
10/22 carbine. The 10/22 was originally introduced as an
excellent understudy to Ruger’s 44 Magnum carbine back in
1964, but has become one of the most popular sporting rifles
ever designed. Ruger does not disclose exact production numbers
for their firearms, but having watched the 10/22 manufacturing
cell at the New Hampshire factory, I have noted that a finished
10/22 rifle hits the rack with amazing frequency, ready to ship
through the distribution channels to a new owner.
Almost two years ago, Ruger sent to market one
of the most significant additions to the 10/22 line in the form
of the 10/22 TD. The “TD” is the designation for the
“Take-Down” version of the popular little carbine, and the
TD has proven to be well-received by shooters, for good reason.
The little carbine takes down into two components, which fit
easily into a nicely-padded storage bag for easy transport.
The latest version of the popular 10/22
Take-Down rifle is shown here. This rifle is a
limited-production carbine produced exclusively by Ruger for
distribution through Davidson’s, Inc.; a nationwide
distributor of Ruger firearms, as well as other brands of
weapons. The Davidson’s version of the 10/22 TD features
stainless steel, polymer, and aluminum construction, with a
black synthetic stock. The most-notable feature of this version
of the 10/22 TD is that it wears a Mini-14 style flash
suppressor at the muzzle. The flash suppressor is attached to a
sixteen and five-eighths inch barrel, instead of the normal
eighteen and one-half inch barrel that is installed on the
standard 10/22 TD carbine. This results in an overall length on
the version with the flash suppressor that is one-quarter inch
shorter than the standard version.
What I really like about the Davidson’s
exclusive 10/22 TD is that the flash suppressor is threaded on,
and can be removed for the installation of a sound suppressor.
A sound suppressor, or silencer as some prefer, is very
handy to have when it is beneficial to the shooter to fire the
weapon without making a lot of noise. While a 22 Long Rifle
cartridge fired from a carbine is not excessively loud, it can
be heard from a great distance away, and there are times and
places where it is best to not be heard when shooting, such as
when having to dispatch a pest or predator without disturbing
the neighbors, or even when hunting small game. In many places,
hunting with a sound suppressor is legal, and allows the hunter
to shoot small game without running off every other squirrel in
the woods. Same thing with hunting vermin and predators. The low
report from a suppressed 22 rimfire does not disturb other
potential targets.
The K10/22-TDT weighs in at 4.7 pounds on my
scale, without a magazine. The overall length measures just
36.75 inches, including the attached flash suppressor. The
little carbine handles very well, and is easy to shoot. It wears
an excellent set of Williams fiber-optic sights, with the rear
being adjustable for windage and elevation correction. This
version of the 10/22 comes supplied with one BX-25
magazine, but will also use the standard ten-round rotary
Ruger magazine, or any other quality magazine that is compatible
with the 10/22. Firing the 10/22 take-down, accuracy proved to
be excellent, as expected. The key to getting consistent
accuracy with these take-down carbines is to set the adjustment
ring, which controls the tension between the two halves, as
tight as will work reliably. What I do is to adjust the ring
tighter until the two halves will not lock together, then loosen
the adjustment one click. This gives a consistent lockup, and
good accuracy. Reliability was also very good with most
ammunition tested. For some reason, this carbine did not like
Winchester DynaPoint, nor RWS target ammo, but most everything
else worked very well. Attaching a Tactical
Solutions Cascade sound suppressor drastically lowered the
sound signature of the rifle, as expected. However, adding a can
to the muzzle of any blowback weapon increases backpressure, and
for that reason, I do not recommend the use of Aguila Subsonic
ammo with this rifle. The backpressure is increased with the
can, and the action is opening up too quickly, allowing some
fire and a lot of powder residue to exit out the ejection port.
As noted above, accuracy was excellent, on par with the accuracy
reported in my earlier review of the 10/22 Take-Down, so I did
not duplicate that information here. I could detect no accuracy
difference with or without the can attached, but the sound
suppressor does change the point-of-impact.
One brand of ammunition that has performed
exceptionally well from many different weapons is the new
Remington 36 grain hollowpoint Golden Bullet. For several years,
I did not recommend this brand of ammo, as it had too many
failures, but Remington has revamped their rimfire manufacturing
line, and this bulk-pack Golden Bullet ammunition is some of the
best on the market. I have fired several thousand of them, with
absolutely no failures of any kind. It is clean, powerful, and
functions perfectly.
This new version of the 10/22, the
K10/22-TDT, is an excellent carbine for hunting, plinking,
informal target work, a camp rifle, or as a survival tool. It is
lightweight, handy, reliable, and with a good sound suppressor,
very quiet. It holds twenty-five rounds of 22 Long Rifle
ammunition in its magazine, and the excellent padded case will
accommodate the rifle, scope, sound suppressor, and a few extra
magazines, all in a very compact and portable package. Like all
Ruger 10/22 carbines, this rifle comes with a scope base,
instruction manual, and a padlock for security.
Check with your local Ruger dealer for the
K10/22-TDT,or you can order it online by clicking on the Gun
Genie at www.galleryofguns.com
It is item number 11125. Doing so will allow gun
dealers in your area to bid for your business. You will receive,
within a few seconds, prices from dealers in your area, and you
can pay for the rifle online, and pick it up at a local gun shop
in just a couple of days.
This version of the Ruger 10/22 is one of the
best and handiest available. The 10/22 is built in a wide
variety of configurations, and has a nearly fifty-year track
record of being an excellent rifle at a great price. Ruger has
the best customer service in the industry, and buying from
Gallery of Guns also gives the purchaser Davidson’s additional
product warranty which states that if a gun is defective, they
will replace it.
Check out this and other Ruger products
online at www.ruger.com.
To order quality 22 Long Rifle ammunition, go
to www.midsouthshooters.com
and www.luckygunner.com.
Good
22 rimfire ammo is hard to find online now. It seems that those
sellers with good prices stay sold out, and only those with
excessive prices have any in stock, but shop around, and good
ammo can still be found without
getting robbed.
Jeff Quinn
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