Fashion or Function

Built for speed rather than looks, although it does look pretty good! This is my Ruger 10/22 ‘Race Rifle’ or at least that is what I like to call it! No bells or whistles, just what I consider the bare minimum to make it about right. The full length is just 32” and with a barrel of just over 300mm 12.4” to obviously keep it UK legal.

DRAGUNOV-STYLEEE

First of all is ATI’s Dragunov-style stock for the Ruger (10/22® Fiberforce Stock), this thing is all polymer construction, very tough yet super lightweight. It is ambidextrous, which is great, as I’m a lefty and it comes to the shoulder very quickly, so is ideal for speed shooting where you need quick reaction time and a gun that points dead easily. The pistol grip is smooth with no texturizing, yet is still very grippy. This could be improved I guess if I wanted to put some grip tape in some prime locations to aid traction, but I’ve kept it how it is for now….

The 10/22 barrelled/action drops into the stock easily and attaches with the take down nut that is already on the Ruger. Once fitted, there is just a hand guard that clips on to the front of the forend, which basically covers up the barrel. ATI even include a rectangular cut-out on top if you decide to keep the rear sight on.

COOL RUNNING

The front of the forend is ventilated at the front. which gives the stock a real nice look but I decided to go one better and get some thin metal gauze and cut some strips out of it and fit it inside to just finish it off a little. To aid grip up front, I decided to add some skateboard grip tape! No, I’m not a skater before you ask! But the stuff is ideal for places on a gun where you need some serious adhesion! Just cut out your desired shape/length peel off the back and stick it on! I must have three or four guns in my armoury that have some skate grip tape stuck on them somewhere!

To make life easier and quicker for reloading, I added an extended aluminium magazine release catch from Power Customs. A nice and cheap upgrade for under £20 that is easy to install and will make changing mags dead quick and less fiddly. Let’s face it, that standard, flush-fit plate is not ideal for a practical or actionorientated rifle such as this! As for the guts of the rifle, nothing too fancy, I’m actually still running the stock trigger, which for me is fine. What I have changed is the standard extractor for a Volquartson titanium sharp claw one, again a cheap mod for under £20.

HOLD IT!

Now for any Ruger 10/22 owner, I would make this your first job as far as upgrading goes. The auto bolt release! You can either buy one or grab a metal file and take ten minutes to turn the standard one into this game changer! Rather than explain how to do it in detail, just put ‘Ruger 10/22 Auto Bolt Release’ in YouTube and see how to do it, it’s a very simple job that basically makes your rifle super quick to chamber the first round from an open bolt. The factory 10/22 bolt catch can be fiddly to release the bolt when it has been left in the open position, you have to grab the bolt handle and press the catch between the Magazine release and the trigger guard simultaneously and then release the bolt, with the auto bolt release all you have to do is pull back on the bolt handle and then let it go; brilliant!

Talking of bolt handles, the one I fitted is from Power Custom and again, makes a real difference to your reloading speed. Loads more comfortable than the standard and overly small Ruger design and good to use even when wearing gloves. It’s very easy to install too, as it just replaces the original with no modification required. They are around the £35 mark on Brownell’s website.

DOT ON TOP

As this rifle is one that I really only use for close range speed shooting, my choice of red dot sight is not too extravagant either as far as cost goes! It’s a Hawke Red-Dot 30 3 MOA (They are around the £60 mark) and is perfect for what I need. I fitted one of Ruger’s Picatinny-style rails to the top of the receiver to be able to drop on the Hawke, yet again, easy and cheap to do.

So with all of this done, you have a pointable, handy and quick to shoot little rifle that is ideal for fast fire disciplines. Now as the whole idea of this build is basically to keep things nice and lightweight and to a bare minimum, depending on what style of shooting that you are taking part in, I would recommend just using Ruger’s 10 round mags rather than putting 25-rounders in and adding loads of weight! 10 round mags would be ideal for disciplines such as ‘V’ Drill or speed steel shooting but obviously if you are doing Mini Rifle then you will need 25 round mags. I really am a strong believer in keeping things nice and lightweight! The main pic of my rifle however shows Ruger’s latest design, the BX 25x2, which is a bit different. Essentially it’s two of their BX 25 (25-round) mags in a single moulding so you can empty one, remove the clip and flip it round to slap in the second faster than grabbing a spare from a pouch. Not essential but I expect they have an appeal!

POLISHING IT OFF

To make the Ruger 10/22 run smoother, you can even go to the extremes of purchasing highly polished bolts and even polishing the inside of the receiver to really cut down on friction and make the action super smooth. I know a few people that have done this. Whether or not it makes any difference when it comes to timings remains to be seen! Will I do it to mine? Probably not, but what I will do eventually is upgrade the trigger from the standard one to maybe a KIDD or something like that.

So there you have it, a bog standard Ruger 1022 with a few inexpensive parts added to make shooting a little quicker and easier when under the stress of the shot timer! I got most of my gear from Brownells UK; www.brownells.co.uk but most gun shops will carry similar stock Safe shooting! – Rack.

PRICES:
Titanium Sharp Claw Extractor - £11.50
Power Custom Competition bolt handle - £35.50
Ruger enhanced mag release - £6.50
ATI Dragunov style stock - £76
ATI products are distributed in the UK by Viking Arms Ltd: www.vikingarms.com
Hawke Red Dot 30 red dot sight, £65; www.hawkeoptics.com