Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch Stock 22 LR Rifle 18.5 in. 10+1 Satin Black – Superbly Reliable Classic

Description

The Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch is the plain one, and the plain one is the one most people should buy. Satin black alloy steel barrel at eighteen and a half inches, a birch hardwood stock, the rotary ten-round magazine that sits flush with the belly of the rifle, and a receiver that comes drilled and tapped so a scope goes on without a gunsmith.

It has been in production since 1964 and something over seven million have been built. Nothing in the catalogue has a deeper aftermarket or a better-understood reputation.

Part number 32009, UPC 736676320097. Deep stock here.

What the Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch is

• .22 LR semi-automatic, 10+1 with the standard BX-1 rotary magazine
• 18.50-inch satin black alloy steel barrel
• Birch hardwood fixed stock
• Receiver drilled and tapped for a scope base
• Adjustable rear sight and a gold bead front
• Cross-bolt safety in the trigger guard
• Right or left handed use – the safety reverses and the ejection is low

The rotary magazine, and why it matters

• The Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch feeds from the BX-1 rotary magazine, which that sits flush with the stock. There is nothing protruding to catch on a truck seat, a fence or a pack
• Rotary feed puts each round into the chamber at the same angle every time, which is why the 10/22 has a reputation for eating ammunition other .22 semi-autos choke on
• Flush fit also means the rifle lies flat and balances properly across a knee or a rest
• Ten and twenty-five round magazines are available everywhere and cost very little
• It is the single most-copied magazine design in rimfire, which tells you what the industry thinks of it

Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 32009
• UPC: 736676320097
• Calibre: .22 Long Rifle
• Capacity: 10+1, BX-1 rotary magazine
• Barrel: 18.50 inches, satin black alloy steel
• Stock: birch hardwood, fixed
• Receiver: drilled and tapped for scope mounting
• Sights: adjustable rear, gold bead front
• Action: semi-automatic, blowback

What to do with it first

Two things with a new Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch. Put a scope on it, because the receiver is already drilled and tapped and the iron sights are the weakest part of the rifle – a 2-7×32 rimfire scope with rings included costs very little and transforms what the rifle will do at fifty and a hundred yards. And fit sling swivels, because a .22 you can carry properly is a .22 you will actually take with you – the Ruger-specific swivel set is the simple answer.

Ammunition, honestly

.22 LR is fussier about brand than any centrefire cartridge. Every rifle has loads it likes and loads it does not, and a semi-automatic will sometimes fail to cycle with weak standard-velocity ammunition. Buy two or three different brands, see what your rifle prefers, then buy that one in bulk. A 1500-round jug of 40-grain copper-plated is the sensible way to buy it once you know.

Copper-plated or waxed lead both work. Plated is cleaner and cycles semi-autos slightly more reliably; unplated lead is cheaper and shoots just as accurately. .22 LR specifications are published by SAAMI.

Other rimfires we carry

If you want the same rifle with a threaded muzzle there is the threaded-barrel 10/22. For something that folds into a backpack, the Smith & Wesson M&P FPC in .22 LR takes twenty rounds and hinges in half.

Why the Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch earns its place

• The cheapest way there is to put a lot of rounds downrange and get better at shooting
• An aftermarket so large you can rebuild the entire rifle a part at a time if you ever want to
• Birch and steel, which is easier to live with and easier to repair than polymer
• The Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch is drilled and tapped from the factory, so scoping it is a ten-minute job
• Deep stock, so there is no wait

Buy this as a first rifle, as a rifle for teaching someone else, as a pest and small game gun, or simply as the thing you take out when you want to shoot without thinking about the cost. It is not a precision rifle and it is not pretending to be – group sizes out of a standard 10/22 are perfectly adequate for everything it is used for and no better than that.

The honest limitations: the factory trigger is heavy and the iron sights are basic. Both are cheap to improve and neither stops the rifle doing its job on the day you buy it.

The Ruger 10/22 Carbine Birch has outlasted almost everything it was ever sold alongside, and there is a reason for that. MAG5 Firearms ships long guns to your FFL.