The Ruger 10/22 .22LR rifle is one of the most widely owned frequently customized rifle platforms there is. There are hundreds (thousands?) of 10/22 mods and upgrades available to make Ruger’s ultra-popular rimfire rifle just about anything you want it to be. In short, the aftermarket support for the incredibly popular rifle is ridiculously deep.
Do you want to spruce yours up, but don’t know where to start? Let’s get going with a few easy changes you can make to the stock rifle that will actually make immediate improvements. None of these changes require a huge amount of know-how or special tools…though you may want to use a gunsmith if you aren’t confident enough to change out sights or other components.
Ruger BX-Trigger drop-in trigger group
First on the list is better trigger than the stock version. While there are many drop-in trigger options out there (Timney and plenty of other companies make drop-in 10/22 triggers), an easy 10/22 upgrade can be had directly from Ruger themselves in their BX-Trigger.
The Ruger BX-Trigger is a drop-in trigger group, which you should easily be able to install yourself, especially since it’s made by the manufacturer. The 10/22 stock trigger isn’t atrocious, but can certain stand to be a bit crisper and a little lighter. That’s what the BX-Trigger does.
The Ruger BX-Trigger reduces the 10/22’s pull weight to 2.75 lbs. from the factory 6 lbs. pull weight.
At about $75 retail it will make a big difference, immediate in how your 10/22 shoots. Sure, there are arguably better trigger groups out there with lighter, sometimes adjustable triggers made with more premium parts, but how much money do you want to spend upgrading your $300 plinker?
Ruger BX-25 25-round magazines
Another upgrade you can make is the 10/22’s magazine. If you’ve shot your 10/22 rifle much at all, you know that the standard 10-round rotary mags seem to empty out way too fast.
Ruger’s BX-25 magazine – or a couple of them – takes your capacity up to 25 rounds. That means more time shooting and less loading and swapping out mags. They run about $28, but you can get a 2-pack for $45.
TRUGLO 10/22 Sight Set fiber optic sights
Another common lots of 10/22 owner make is to the stock sights. The iron sights Ruger includes are serviceable. Period. So if you aren’t going to mount an optic on your rimfire rifle, what’s a good sight set that doesn’t cost a ton, but will help you shoot more accurately?
If you want something that replaces the standard Ruger sights without any further alterations to the rifle . . .
One excellent, easy to install set comes from TRUGLO, which will set you back less than $40. Their 10/22 Sight Set is windage and elevation adjustable in the rear. For most plinking and small game hunting they’re ideal.
Tech Sights 10/22 Aperture Sight Sets
If you wanted to get a bit more serious about your iron sights accuracy, you’ll want to move your 10/22’s rear sight to the back receiver. It’s tapped to mount a scope, but can accept a rear sight if you aren’t planning to add an optic.
A couple of great options worth looking at are from Tech Sights.
These are AR-15 style sight sets with a rear aperture sight with a National Match front post. The TSR100 GI-Style sights – you can pick ’em up for about $74 – has dual flip-up apertures, one for short range and one for long range. The front sight adjusts for elevation and the rear sight can be adjustable for windage.
TechSight’s TSR200 sight set ditches the short-range aperture, but adds elevation adjustment to the rear sight. If you’ve ever used the typical iron sights on an AR-platform rifle, you’ll be right at home. The TSR200 set will run you about $10 more than the TSR100.
Moving your rear sight to the back of the receiver gets you about eight inches more sight radius which should improve your accuracy. You could, of course, always add a scope or red dot, but then you’re talking a more significant investment.
Magpul X-22 Hunter Stock
Another popular upgrade that a lot of 10/22 owners make is to swap out the standard stock. It’s an easy change you can make yourself with a screwdriver.
A great bang-for-your-buck 10/22 stock is the Magpul Hunter X-22, which is made for both standard and takedown models. The Hunter X-22 is molded polymer with easy drop-in installation.
It has a pistol grip with textured panels for an easy grip, and is adjustable for length-of-pull with a shim kit that comes with the X-22 stock. There’s also a cheek riser kit that can come in handy if you’ve mounted an optic on your rifle.
The X-22 stock works with all Ruger 10/22 magazines so that isn’t a problem. The forend also includes M-LOK slots on the sides and the bottom, so you can add any M-LOK compatible accessory (like a bipod) you might want.
The adjustable Magpul X-22 stock is lightweight, at just over 2 lbs. It lets you sub out the factory wood or polymer stock on your 10/22 with a lightweight, higher-tech rifle stock for not a lot of money: Magpul asks about $130.
Or…if you wanted to go a little crazy . . .
M1 Carbine Stock for 10/22
You can go the classic route by adding something like an M1 Carbine-style stock to your rimfire rifle. A few companies have started producing M1-inspired stocks (with the covered handguard) for Ruger 10/22 actions. Heck, Ruger even makes a couple of M1-inspired models so if you wanted to enjoy a little bit of an anachronism without having to find .30 Carbine ammo…why not?
E. Arthur Brown’s M1 Carbine 10/22 Tribute stock goes for the very reasonable price of $119. It’s made of beech rather than walnut, but it looks the part.
A smart feature they include is two different handguards, one for use with standard Ruger sights and a second in case you install a rear sight on the receiver (as pictured above). They even make a dummy “stick magazine” cover – it attaches to the standard 10-round magazine – to complete the effect.
It may be kitschy, but — again — the Ruger 10/22 is a gun that’s made for having fun. Some folks compete with them and some hunt with them, of course, but most of us shoot our Ruger 10/22 rifles for sheer pleasure of it and this M1 dress-up kit is darn cool.
These are just a handful of ideas for 10/22 upgrades that can get you a bit better function and add some flair to your rifle. They barely scratch the surface of what’s available out there. Have you customized your 10/22? Sound off in the comments.
#1. get the takedown model.
tsbhoa, #1. Buy the earliest model you can. My first 10/22 had a walnut stock and a decent trigger for a $110 22 auto. Ten years later it was stained birch and a terrible trigger. The only accessory on mine was a Leupold 2.5X compact. It was minute of squirrel head out to 50 yards. Wish I still had it today. I like a nice .22 LR. Rifle and handgun. I think the ideal handgun battery should contain as many nice .22 LR firearms as you can afford.
In fact my son, John, located a “4.5 Colt Woodsman Match Target. 98% yesterday. Box/papers. It will be in my hands before sundown. Next, is a El Paso Saddlery rig for it. Small game will tremble in November.
𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 $200 𝒕𝒐 $300 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒒𝒘𝒆03 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.
𝑨𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆__________𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒉𝟭.𝒄𝒐𝒎
yessirs, that giant pile of rimfire is not going to deplete itself. my kids got a charger takedown, i’ll find a rifle. the ithaca x5 and mossberg 152k do well. ruger mkii 6 7/ 8″ gov’t bull barrel stainless, single six w/ mag, bearcat.
still lookin’ for a woodsman (dad’s suggestion), high standard.
congrats on that match target. totes jelly.
#2 Make sure it’s the Magpul edition Backpacker Takedown threaded for a suppressor.
#3 Win the lottery then buy a John Norell Registered full auto 10/22 trigger pack & bolt assembly. A customer let me test fire one 15 years ago that was being transferred through our shop.
#4 Buy 5 cases of CCI Mini-Mags
Trigger and sights look like solid bets. For much of the rest need new laws or a new state of residence.
The Ruger 10/11 rifle is perhaps America’s favorite .22 auto rifle because it was affordable and it worked and kept on working. I once had a local Hill Jack bring me one to clean because he said it stopped working. At first I did not believe him but he had shot the gun for 10 years without cleaning it and the burnt power looked like a bucket of sand was poured into the action. After a laborious complete detailed strip down and cleaning it was working like new again, a testament to Rugers engineering genius.
I once saw a Ruger Salesman stand on a 10/22 magazine with no damage to the feed lips at all. Now try this with modern day plasticky magazines.
Ruger 10/22’s originally had some very heavy trigger pulls of 8Lb’s plus but there are many after market triggers and Ruger now makes a target trigger for it. None are really necessary to spend your money on if you are mechanically inclined as one can easily reduce the trigger pull to about a safe 3 1/2 lb pull which is plenty light for plinking. One can reduce it further if one has gunsmithing experience as I have reduced them to 2lbs. This is not a job for the home hammer and chisel mechanic.
The Mannlicher stocked Ruger always fascinated me and I was also lucky enough to pick up the deluxe model of the Canadian Centennial (there were two models of them). It had better than the usual Ruger Bluing and a nicely figured walnut stock with a medallion in it. I knew the fellow that had it for years and when he got bored with it I took it off his hands.
Ruger has changed the trigger guard some years ago from anodized aluminum to plasticky and I have mixed emotions about this. I am a great loather of all things plasticky but admit I did see a test where they dropped a steel ball on both types of trigger guards and the aluminum guard shattered while the plasticky one was unharmed.
Ruger Barrels are now better than ever because in the past few people knew that for decades and decades old man Ruger was too cheap and stingy to buy his own barrel making equipment and sub-contracted out to the lowest bargain basement barrel suppliers and that is why you often saw one Ruger shoot great and the next 10 shoot like something a drunken Neanderthal might have made in his cave. Its one of the major reasons I never bought any of their high power bolt guns along with their very bad trigger pulls. All that has chanced now and for the better.
I do admit some of the older Rugers did have really nice walnut stocks both on their rimfire rifles and center fired rifles.
Ruger has also from time to time brought back some of the older nostalgic calibers. They at one time made them in .220 Swift one of my favorite all time varmint cartridges and I can make it shoot as well as the newer short magnum cartridges if reasonable velocities are hand loaded. Few people know that .220 Swift ammo from some of the major U.S. Arms makers was actually loaded way down to between 3,650 fps and no more than 3750 fps to achieve pin point accuracy. Believe me a ground hog will not know the difference went hit with he lower velocity ammo. Even today a load of 37 1/2 grains of 4064 powder is still a classic load for the Swift at about 3,750 fps.
I think the come back of the 7×57 Mauser in the Ruger M77 also was due to Ruger chambering their rifles for it as well as their single shot No. 1 Rifle. Remington later jumped on the bandwagon bringing back nostalgic calibers like the 6×55 Swedish Mauser that proved to be a runaway success seller for Remington.
Fk the 6.5 mm modern day invented inferior 6.5mm calibers as far as hunting is concerned. The modern day 6.5mm calibers were merely an attempt to reinvent the wheel as back in the day the amount of European and Asian 6.5 calibers were duplicates. I might add, how many people today ever heard of the 6.5 Manhurina Mauser or the 6.5 mm Portuguese Mauser or the legendary 6.5mm Mannlicher carried all over the world by some of the most famous of now long forgotten hunters like , Philip Hope Percival, Agnes Herbert and the discoverer of the lost dinosaur grave yard Roy Chapman Andrews. All of their books are an adventure into the now long dead hand of the past never to be relived by mortal man on a now doomed and dying planet.
In closing its a shame Alexander Sturm never lived long enough to see his investment flourish.
And I forgot to add the Browning SA-22 take down .22 is still being made and one of the gun buying all time favorites as long as you are not too cheap and stingy to spend the money.
Cool story, bro. Hilljack. Troglodyte slave. Naked ape. Do you hate all people equally or only the ones your fascist masters command you to.
What would you know? You’ve never been small game hunting in your life. You may have seen a single shot .22 LR in some summer camp. You may remember the one. Your parents dumped there for two weeks every summer to get away from your sniviling, snotty, whing ass. Anyway, everyone saw you shy away from it.
Shame your Caravan of Death will execute anyone found in possession of a 10/22. Will children who denounce their parents as gun owners be recruited into the Caravan?
“…Mannlicher stocked Ruger always fascinated me…”
so does your navel lint.
Costs way more than I care to spend for a 10/22 stock but, IMO, still would be cool to have none the less: Samson Manufacturing B-TM folding stock.
https://www.samson-mfg.com/b-tm-folding-stock-for-the-ruger-1022.html
Sweet, thanks for the link.
It costs so much because it is a copy of the old metal Mini-14 folding stock from years back.
https://www.samson-mfg.com/a-tm-folding-stock-for-the-ruger-mini-14-copy.html
I regret to this day selling my old Mini-14 folder. but with Ruger having greatly improved the Mini-14’s accuracy a few years back with manufacturing optimizations, and I still having a sizable pile of my stainless mags for it, I just might have to spend a little of my crash survival money on a new one, and put that Samson reproduction stock on it.
Thanks again! 🙂
I’m always happy to (inadvertently?) help people. Especially when it comes to…more unique things in life. I know quite well of the original Mini-14 folding stock. The saying goes, “Old enough to know better but too young to care.” So yes, I understand the cost that Samson is charging. I’m just not willing to spend that amount for it right now.
In all seriousness though, if you do get an A-TM folding stock and put it on a Mini-14, you should write up your thoughts & experiences on it for an article here on TTAG.
(Insert cheesy 80’s TV show theme song here…)
+1 choate folder for ithaca 37ds.
The last 3 digits of the serial number were 223, I kid you not.
But it consistently dinged the shoulder on the brass it was ejecting. Does that ruin the brass for reloading?
I put a scope on my 10-22. But I felt that it ruined the feel and balance of what is a really compact and easy carrying rifle. So I removed the scope and put a set of those Tech Sights on instead.
I’m happy with the results.
My eyes aren’t quite as good as they used to be, even after cataract surgery, so I’m finding the Primary Arms .22 cal scope a Godsend on the 10/22 Tactical Takedown I now have.
I have a 10/22 Tactical Takedown question for the Chimps of TTAG –
I bought the Tactical Takedown because it came threaded, with a flash hider as a thread protector, apparently.
I can’t un-thread the flash protector from the threaded barrel, is there a proper technique to do it without damage to the barrel?
Try placing the flash hider in some boiling water and then try to remove it.
good call, thread locker.
handy pipe strap wrench, that. lives in what i like to call the scissor drawer, although with these three it’s inhabited by shears as often as not. opens every jar of horse radish known.
Heat, I’ll try that later tonight with the kettle, thanks!
I really want to avoid marring it, if at all possible. Thanks both for the advice…
I’ve been working on my 10/22 builds now, the question I have is there any sort of peep sight that uses the standard sight mounts? I don’t have a standard receiver so I’m trying to do something.
Also, I’m going to get the mag release that’s extended for the kid so he can mag change a bit easier.
I added sling mounts as well, we’re going to do an Appleseed shoot.
lastly, these aren’t a bad build in 3D print. I use Ivan’s plans and am working on a second one now. It looks really good, I just need a tap to thread the holes and to subsequently install the barrel. A hint on these is you can heat the barrel up and put it in to the plastic since it’s a bit undersized. My first one isn’t even using the barrel securing and it’s held up with 500+ rounds and no signs of stopping now.
By “standard sight mounts” do you mean the barrel dovetail?
If so, go look at Skinner Sights, they make one for the takedown that also works on the standard configuration 10/22. I have one on a takedown and am fairly fond of it.
If you mean the receiver screws, while Skinner makes one for that too, the Tech Sights options mentioned are hard to beat.
Hey Andrew, have you considered using a rail that mounts to the barrel and cantilevers back over the reciever, since you’d have to drill and tap something anyway? (it eliminates worrying about play between the barrel and reciever). Also, you can make an extended mag release with a 1/4-20 tap/ drill and a commonly available thumbscrew for about a buck and a half using the factory release as the base. Don’t know what you are using for your trigger setup, but I’ve used power custom hammer/sear kits in numerous builds, they go for under 50 bucks if you catch them on sale, and I like them best out of sub- $250 options. Have fun with your addiction.
I actually have zero intention of drilling/tapping much considering I Found out that PVC glue seems to work awesome for bonding the ABS together so I’m just going to glue the 3D print rail to the top of the receiver if anything.
The problem becomes having a set of irons that use the rail and are low enough to not stick your head an inch above the stock comb.
I probably need to make or look for something that’s not a standard AR height sight.
Another tweak that helps for Appleseed events is the auto bolt release modification. You can buy a new part, or you can file down the stock one. Pretty simple process, and a big improvement to the rifle.
I can attest to the value of the BX trigger. Much better for not much more money.
If you’re looking for a classic style they still make the RSI ‘mannlicher’ stock, although I’m not sure if you can buy the stock alone. I bought my stainless RSI in ’96. A couple of years ago I picked up a matching 77 Hawkeye in .260. Next up is a no.1 RSI stainless.
what caliber? or should i know from rsi?
The Charger Takedown I bought I think came with the BX-25. It’s gold-colored, and looks exactly like this one :
https://ruger.com/products/22Charger/specSheets/4932.html
It’s light-years nicer-feeling and lighter than the one that came with the 10/22 Tactical Takedown.
If that’s the BX-25, I’m buying one for the Tactical Takedown I have set up wit bipod and scope on see-through rings I can co-witness with the iron sights…
RSI is Rugerspeak for Ruger-Something-International. All of their full length stock ‘Mannlicher’ style rifles are RSIs. The RSI I bought in ’96 is a 10/22. The Hawkeye RSI is a .260 Rem. If I had my pick I’d like a no.1 RSI in .308, however these are rather hard to find and therefore tend to be pricey. My .260 Hawkeye was one of only 250 built and if you want one in that particular caliber you can either wait a year or two for one to pop up on GunBroker and pay whatever it’s owner wants or wait 30 or 40 years for Ruger to make another lot of 250 of that rifle in that caliber. This is one thing I truly appreciate about SR&Co., they keep the collectables coming.
thanks. always liked mannlicher stocks.
i’ve some belted .375 that need a no.1 to feed.
I’ve been recently thinking about building a 10/22 from scratch. I was looking at that BX trigger on the Ruger website earlier this morning. A fluted 18 inch stainless threaded barrel would be nice. A walnut stock with receiver that has an integrated rail is the direction I’d like to go. I’m just not sure yet if I want a red dot or a scope.
Right now is the time to do it, before the hammer drops on ‘ghost guns’.
There’s an 80 percent lower available for the 10/22.
On the scope, I have a red dot my Charger Takedown, and a Primary arms optical on the other other one. Each has their pros-and-cons. For plinking, I’m liking the red dot. Further out, i like glass…
The 80% lower thing isn’t really my thing. Wood makes many guns look and feel more natural to me. Like an extension of life. Authentic stag grips give a certain aesthetic that is a bit more pleasing for the same reason. Nothing quite like a firearm of iron and wood. Although aluminum and titanium make for good materials too.
I agree, red dots for sure with short distances.
Never got around to buying a 10/22. I’ve shot several and consider them to be a fine plinker and small game rifle. I do have what seems to be a fairly rare Iver Johnson 22 carbine that looks just like an M1 carbine. That I bought to match my other M1’s.
BX-25 mags are a nice upgrade for certain uses. The Butler Creek knockoffs are trash.
The rest is just bling or gimmicky nonsense.
I had some RamLine 20 and 30 round magazines for mine (pre 1990s buyback). They were double stack and much shorter than the usual single stack magazines. I wish I kept them for the Precision Rimfire I bought a few years ago.
“The rest is just bling or gimmicky nonsense.”
The trigger on this one :
https://ruger.com/products/22Charger/specSheets/4932.html
It’s a serious improvement over the stock one in feel and weight. If that’s the BX-trigger, you want one…
You’re talking to someone who owns half a dozen Mosin Nagants and still hasn’t found a gun he thinks needs a trigger job. Ever. Never seen one.
IMHO, guns that haven’t been damaged don’t need trigger jobs. Shooters need more practice shooting.
99% of this stuff is a gimmick for people trying to buy skill instead of build it. The exception being race guns for serious competition where adding such upgrades to an already high level of skill is the difference between winning or losing at high levels of competition.
The rest is like telling someone that they’ll be better at jiu jitsu if they change their gi. They don’t need a better gi, they need more mat time. Most shooters don’t need a better trigger, they need more trigger time.
I’ve seen way, way, way too many people from 18-70 with tricked out guns that they can’t shoot for shit.
Totally agree.
Gizmos will not make you a better shooter.
My first rifle was a savage .22lr single shot bolt action with a bent front sight.
No one ‘taught’ me how to shoot, other than the required hunter safety course.
I could hit grouse and ducks on the fly.
Today at over 70 I can still hit what I aim at.
Washington State considers this an “assault weapon”, so you have to jump through all the hoops to buy this rifle. What a crock!
I inherited an earlier model with the push-in mag release, so that got swapped for the protruding lever style. BX25 mags are loads of fun, too. Mine also wears a flash hider I thought was kewl for some reason. The Tech Sites are my best upgrade! I love ’em.
“iron sights Ruger includes are serviceable”
NO they are crap. Get some Tech Sights
Stainless and synth stock Ruger
Worked over trigger
Dedicated .22lr scope
Barrel band is Ruger’s mini picatinny for a bipod (Wish it was metal, not plastic)
A quick release bolt stop and extended mag release, BX 25 mags.
And a must have, a poly bolt stop pin.
Zeroed at 100 yards with cci ammo.
– replaced the metal bolt stop with nylon
– polished the firing pin
– polished the rounded edge of the bolt
– polished the bolt slide points
– filled the stock with expanding foam
– mounted a scope
– bought a BX-25
Except for the foam (good idea!)
Done all that too.
Love my 10/22’s.
…yeah, the foam quiets the “plasticky-toy” sound nicely.
Glad to have been some help! *8)
For either regular, takedown, or charger:
1) Tactical Solutions SBX barrel (11″ barrel with permanently affixed 1.1″ shroud) — not needed for charger if barrel already threaded
2) .22 suppressor (fits in shroud)
3) Franklin BFSIII binary triggers
4) Black Dog Machine 50 round drum magazines
An integrally suppressed barrel could be substituted for 1 & 2.
Lots of comments here, all good. I own three 10/22s. One was the ‘Man’s best friend’ commerative. I liked the stock but the trigger was… So, it got a BX trigger. It’s also equipped with a NIKON 4-12 prostaff scope and it’s a joy. The two others are more involved. I found that the M-1 style barrel band does cause poor accuracy ON MY 10/22s. I replaced the stock on both with Boyd’s thumb hole laminated stocks. replaced the barrels with .92″ diameter barrels. One has a steel barrel and OPEN aperture sights. I had to have a gunsmith add the front sight (Lyman 17A). The other, it’s near twin, has a carbon fiber barrel and also the NIKON 4-12 Prostaff scope. I use the aperture sights for teaching and then move students to the scoped lighter weight rifle. All three shoot as well as my 77/22 and my Anchutz 164.
K ON COMMENTS
THANKS FOR INFOR ALWAYS ON 10/22
YEAH WITH POOR EYE SIGHT AND NEED GLASSES , CAN’T SEE OPEN SIGHTS ON RUGER 10/22 .
Would it be too much trouble for Ruger to just put the BX trigger on stock and add $40 to the price?
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