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
#click here for previous articles
view the rest of the comments →
CheeBooga ago
Got one. Still like my Marlin model 60 better.
Rellik88 ago
That my first gun. I need another so bad.
CheeBooga ago
I see 'em in the local paper almost every week. I prefer the 70's or 80's ones, though.