guns come in all sizes

and thats good because you can find all sizes of people too

and targets lol

sometimes you wanna take some tiny people out to shoot tiny targets

the most popular tiny round is definitely the .22lr

this is the ruger 10/22

it is light and simple enough for taking a kid shooting for the first time

but sized right for an adult to have fun too

accurate enough for a hunter or competitor

and more than reliable enough for everybody

so how do you get all this in one rifle

well lets find out

so bill ruger was a guy who designed guns

during wwii he designed a prototype machinegun for the military

and after wwii he reverse engineered the japanese nambu pistol and chambered it in .22lr

it was called the ruger standard

it was really really good and was a big hit

it went through several variants and even got adopted by a lot of military units

then ruger branched out into rifles with the model 44

it was a semiauto gas operated rifle chambered in .44mag and held four rounds in a tubular magazine

it was pretty good for hunting but the lead bullets used by .44mag rounds would clog the gas port pretty quickly so it wasnt the most reliable

ruger wanted to do better

for his next rifle he decided to make a .22lr

he simplified the operating system by making it a blowback action

made it light but kept the sizing appropriate for adults

gave it a nice barrel with good accuracy

took the rotary magazines from guns like the savage 99 and mannlicher schoenauer and made them detachable but also flush mounting

and did a bunch of design work so he could cast as many parts as possible

one of the big things ruger did for firearms was greatly advance the state of casting

this enabled ruger to sell the rifle for a very reasonable price but still give it quality and durability

this .22 rifle was no junky toy for kids

and people loved it

the rifle was first released in 1964

it came with an 18 inch barrel and the same m1 inspired look as the model 44

other variants had shorter barrels

stainless steel

polymer stocks

even that mannlicher stock ruger liked lol

millions upon millions have been sold in many configurations

overall the construction is very simple

bolt and recoil spring

fire control group

stock

receiver

and barrel

the barrel attaches via a screw and clamp

so simple anybody can swap barrels without needing a gunsmith

this modularity has helped create a huge aftermarket

in fact literally every part is available from multiple manufacturers

its widely said you can build an entire 10/22 with zero ruger parts

there are other rifles like the marlin 60 that may have sold more than the ruger

but none can match the customization options

thats something the 10/22 has over its competitors

proof of how great a design it has

my personal favorite is the takedown version with magpul stock

just look at this thing

fuck yeah

lets field strip it

remove magazine by pushing the lever foreward and pulling magazine out

clear chamber by pulling on charging handle

pull takedown lever forward and rotate halves of gun in opposite direction

pull barrel off

remove stock screw

place safety halfway between safe and fire and push in on trigger guard to pop it up through the receiver

remove three pins

pull down trigger guard

pull bolt back and out of receiver

the weapon is now field stripped

very few parts as you can see

simplicity is good

the difference between the takedown and regular rifles is the regular rifles have a barrel band up front and the barrel comes off by loosening the screw holding on a locking wedge but is otherwise identical

pretty easy to see why something so simple would be popular

and if its cheap and reliable too you get yourself something that is still going strong 50 years and counting

now if youll excuse me i need to clean my gun lol

pew pew

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