If there is one gun manufacturer that I associate with the word quality, it would have to be Ruger. That being said, they have finally outdone themselves and introduced a takedown 10/22.
I must confess, it actually came out a good while ago, 2012 to be precise but I had finally gotten around to just this year getting my hands on one and seeing what one can really do.
It’s almost a bit of a full circle sort of situation because Ruger first released their version of a 10/22 autoloader way back in 1964. It was the first gun my father shot, and to be perfectly honest the first gun that I shot.
However, for a million different reasons in between the release of the Ruger 10/22 Takedown I simply hadn’t been able to get my hands on one until about three weeks ago and I have to say with no hyperbole I was more excited for this gun than just about any other gun I have purchased over the years.
I’ve always like the takedown .22’s. It probably comes from my grandfather owning a Winchester Model 1890 pump .22, and if I was really good when I visited I would get to squeeze off a few rounds before my parents collected me at the end of the weekend. I own four takedown .22’s at the moment not counting the Ruger. I’m happy as a hog in slop to add this Ruger Takedown 10/22 to my arsenal. I’m pretty sure you wold be too.
So let’s get right into it and talk about features. The Ruger 10/22 Takedown features an absolutely stunning two-piece black synthetic stock, a flip up adjustable rear sight (loved this especially), gold-bead front sight; an 18.5 inch stainless steel barrel, and a silver aluminum-alloy received that’s drilled to accommodate a Weaver-style scope mount base, which is included by the way.
One thing that I liked immediately is that the barrel/fore-end assembly is easily separated from the receiver/buttstock subassembly by pushing a level underneath the barrel, twisting, and pulling them apart. It’s easier than opening a pack of batteries.
When assembled, a friction fit lockup holds everything in place. That being said, the first time that you put everything together you might need to make a minor adjustment or two but after that it should be smooth sailing.
The first time assembly is actually pretty simple. Remove the magazine, lock the bolt open, make sure the gun itself is unloaded, loosen the takedown adjustment ring, insert the barrel assembly and turn it until it locks, then tighten the adjustment ring, turning it counterclockwise as far as you can.
It’s actually pretty similar yo the Browning Model SA-22 and anyone who has ever used that particular setup should have no problem with this one as well.
Before firing the Ruger 10/22 Takedown for the first time, it is a good idea to dry-cycle the action a couple of times just to make sure that the barrel assembly is seated properly. This will provide the best accuracy according to what the company says and is accomplished by making sure that the gun is not loaded, pointing in a safe direction, pulling the bolt handle all the way back while holding the bolt lock up, releasing the handle, and allowing the action to propel itself forward.
Now that I’ve gotten the basics of assembly out of the way, I have to say that there is way more to this thing than just a cool configuration. Like every other 10/22 I have ever gotten my hands on, this one performs very well.
Thinking like with other takedown 10/22’s I have gotten my hands on over the years that a compact optic would be the way to go, I mounted a simple 1x red-dot optic for my initial shooting session with the Ruger 10/22 Takedown.
Now, I admit that a more accurate test for this gun would have been to install a BSA 6-24X 44mm Platinum riflescope with fine crosshairs and 1/8-MOA dot reticle and variable parallax adjustment; but given that it is over a foot long and weighs a pound and a half, I thought that it would defeat the purpose of the whole idea of a compact takedown.
So my choice being my choice, I took aim at fifty yards and fired ten different .22 Long Range loads. My best average grouping at fifty yards was with Blazer .22 LR High Velocity ammo.
On the day that I did my shooting, I happened to pick one that was a little bit windy but not enough to blow me off my feet. The wind that day was around six miles per hour with gusts of around eleven miles per hour.
After I finished my shooting for accuracy session I decided to have a little bit of fun. What I did was that I took one single round and put it into the rotary magazine. I fired the round and then proceeded to take the 10/22 apart. I then put it back together, loaded another round into the magazine, and fired it just to see exactly how repeatable the system is. I did that for five rounds, making sure of course that the Ruger 10/22 Takedown was not loaded when I broke it down and reassembled it.
The results were pretty darn good, with those five rounds making up a grouping that was pretty close to my strictly for accuracy session. In my opinion I would say that it was a pretty good indicator of how repeatable the thing actually is.
The takedown .22 idea has been around for ages so it’s not exactly like someone was reinventing the wheel here. That being said, it is a good quality gun and it is definitely going to be pleasing to a good number of outdoorsmen. I would think that if my grandfather was still with us that he would be taking this gun out to shoot every chance he could get.
You can find a Ruger 10/22 Takedown for around five hundred dollars at most firearms retailers and it is a gun that will definitely take care of you as long as you take care of it.