Based on the sales of every aftermarket manufacturer we spoke with, dealers have a big opportunity for sales if they jump into the 10/22 aftermarket. The original Ruger 10/22 rifle hit dealer shelves in 1964, delivering good plinking 1-inch, 50-yard accuracy all in a compact package heavily influenced by WWII M1 carbines. Approximately seven million have been sold.
The platform has evolved, with an advanced parts aftermarket format that can shrink those 50-yard groups to a jaw-dropping sub-⅛-inch and hold sub-MOA beyond 200 yards. Even Ruger has $800+ Custom Shop offerings that tout sub-1/2-inch 50-yard accuracy. Aftermarket precision 10/22 parts feature the most cutting-edge CAD/CAM designs, materials, manufacturing and injection molding typically only found in the highest tier of precision rifles. In some cases, companies well known for premier centerfire and AR rifle components are now also making 10/22 parts, including Timney, Proof, MDT, KRG, VSeven, Midwest Industries and Woox, while other manufacturers offer specialty custom options that take the humble 10/22 beyond anything initially imagined by Ruger. This accuracy potential has led to upgraded 10/22 platforms competing heavily in NRL22, NRL22X, Rimfire Steel Challenge and many other events.
Looking to cash in on the 10/22 craze? Read on.
Complete Rifles vs Parts
Just like the AR market, customers buy complete upgraded platforms or build their own. Notably, a small percentage of parts may require fitting, but that is the allure of the DIY market. According to Volquartsen CEO Scott Volquartsen, “We wanted to offer a better 10/22-compatible platform from the ground up with tighter tolerances, our own barrel, trigger, bolt, receiver, chassis and part designs. We make or design everything except the magazine and chassis. Our complete rifles assure the fit, accuracy and reliability we have designed for; however, we certainly sell a large amount of parts for the DIY buyer who wants to create their own 10/22 build.”
Complete custom rifles are a great buy-and-shoot experience and saves the customer money long-term vs step-by-step upgrades. Our recommendation for dealers is to stock both complete rifles for the all-in-one buyers and triggers, barrels, bolts, receivers and chassis for the builders. Complete rifles deliver enticing margins with quick turns, while parts afford consistent repeat sales as customers step through builds.
Complete Rifles
Manufacturers offering their own versions of 10/22 rifles include Volquartsen, Tactical Solutions, Grey Birch, Feddersen and custom shop options like Magnum Research, Clark, Bergara and others.
Volquartsen: Widely known as the originator of precision 10/22 aftermarket parts, Volquartsen offers rifles leveraging their own parts and triggers, with Lothar Walther-based stainless, aluminum or carbon fiber tensioned barrels paired with innovative lightweight aluminum or heavy stainless receivers. Stainless receiver rifles feature unique threaded-in barrels and market-leading fluting options. For something truly unique, Volquartsen offers the licensed PWS Summit biathlon pull-push manual-action rifles with 10/22 inlet and parts compatibility. They also offer a mind-boggling array of models and special order options.
Tactical Solutions: TSI has focused on rifles with their own lightweight aluminum-sleeved suppressor-ready barrels, billet receivers and Ruger BX-22 triggers that span both standard 10/22 and take-down formats. TSI offers barrels and receivers individually plus an ATF-legal SBX shrouded barrel that mounts suppressors without adding to a 16.5-inch barrel length.
Grey Birch: For dealers who do well with high-tier precision rifles, GB offers the most technically advanced 10/22 stock and action design on the market, including an integrated thread-in headspacable carbon fiber barrel receiver system now distributed through Brownells. The unique, hyperlight 1.5-pound Foundation billet chassis is packed with innovations not found in any chassis, such as a folding stock, receiver tensioning, ARCA and M-LOK rail mounts.
Custom Shops: Ruger, Clark, Feddersen, Magnum Research and Tactical Innovations offer factory Ruger 10/22s upgraded with special barrels, parts and aftermarket stocks to deliver sub-.25-inch 50-yard-group rifles. For dealers, there are lots of options to choose from at a broad range of price points.
Parts
Barrels, Chassis, Triggers, Bolts & Receivers: Precision 10/22 builders will always get their biggest accuracy jumps from upgraded components, generally in the above order. A simple match-grade barrel swap and usually a free-float bull-barrel-compatible chassis typically improves 50-yard accuracy to sub-1/2-inch range. Adding a match trigger and precision headspaced bolt can usually shrink those groups to under 1/4-inch at the same range, and a stiffer receiver will shrink them even further. Manufacturers like Power Custom and Tandem Kross also offer other various performance upgrades, such as colored and extended charging handles and magazine and bolt releases, drop-in trigger upgrades, match receivers, last-round bolt-hold-open, ergonomics and other internal upgrades.
Barrels: Our featured barrel manufacturers all have different approaches to precision and weight reduction. Some use a standard sporter chamber to allow for longer-cased hyper-velocity rounds, while the significant majority use the purpose-designed tighter .22 Bentz match chamber, delivering reliable high-precision accuracy from auto-loading rimfires. Volquartsen has a proprietary “tighter” chamber to increase accuracy further. VSeven offers a special chamber and rifling that chokes down .22LR rounds to .20 caliber to increase accuracy and velocity and overcome the wide .22LR bullet variations. Feddersen’s patented SEPR (Single Edge Polygonal Rifling) is a unique but proven rifling that can overcome bullet variances. The SEPR rifling is carried over to the Feddersen’s 10/22 bull, heavy-taper and factory-tapered barrel lines, which offer cleaner and longer-running intervals and 50-yard single-hole accuracy potential.
Tactical Solutions offers a wide array of anodized color options in lightweight aluminum-sleeved sporter-chambered barrels. Acculite and Beyer have their own spin on ultralight aluminum-sleeved .22 Benz chambered barrels. Beyer bonds the sleeves and match liners for improved durability and notably offers the lightest aluminum-sleeved and threaded barrels available, from 6- to 18-inch barrels in a variety of color options.
The widest breadth of exotic barrels, including stainless, carbon fiber and aluminum-sleeved tension barrels, comes from Volquartsen, renowned for 50-yard single-hole accuracy potential. Summit Precision offers affordable, lightweight, stainless carbon-fiber-tensioned barrels in a rainbow of colors. Proof Research is well known for its centerfire carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels and produces a 10/22 barrel with improved heat dissipation, no point-of-impact shift from heat, reduced harmonics, and increased durability.
For those who want the flexibility for plinking and hyper-velocity rounds, Tactical Innovations, Tactical Solutions and Faxon all offer their barrels with sporter chambers. Tactical Innovations offers a wide span of custom and Cerakoted builder-friendly barrel options that even includes swappable barrel sleeves. Faxon, well known in the AR barrel market, now offers a variety of 10/22 profiles, fluting and finishes that are unique in the industry, with some slim profiles that are direct fits for factory stocks.
Chassis: Chassis vary broadly based on shooting style. Most dealers will be familiar with the popular Magpul X-22 chassis supporting bull- and taper-barrel profiles and Backpacker models. Grey Birch’s LDR fusion offers a lightweight, modular and adjustable design unlike any other precision billet chassis. For dedicated benchrest or precision shooters that demand full floating and an aluminum pillar bedded receiver, proven PRS-based MDT Oryx, KRG Bravo and Woox chassis are offered in 10/22 inlets. PMACA’s tiny competition aluminum chassis is specialized for fast Steel Challenge-type builds with AR stock/brace compatibility. For an AR feel, Midwest Industries chassis delivers a billet M-LOK rail-based chassis that supports AR furniture and accessory mounting. Like the SB Tactical Charger SB22 chassis and brace, some of these chassis can also support pistol charger builds as well.
Triggers: Trigger upgrades include drop-in parts replacement and complete unit options. Ruger’s own BX-Trigger substantially improves trigger break and feel and is an inexpensive and popular upgrade. Volquartsen, Tandem Kross, TI - Tactical Innovations, and Power Custom offer drop-in part options that deliver a true, crisp, match-trigger feel. For customers who want to upgrade further beyond the plastic trigger housing, Timney, Volquartsen and TI offer complete billet 2.5-pound match-trigger pull assemblies with automatic bolt release and extended magazine releases. Timney offers both single- and two-stage match triggers plus Elite trigger units with swappable trigger shoes. Volquartsen’s proven single-stage match TG2000 Trigger Group is available in a variety of color options.
Bolt & Receivers: A properly headspaced bolt with captured hardened firing pin and EDM tool steel extractor delivers the next step of improved accuracy and positive extraction, with tighter .22 Benz chambers and match ammo. Volquartsen, Grey Birch, Tactical Innovations, Tandem Kross and Power Custom offer dealers pre-headspaced, reliable drop-in match bolt options. A tighter overall barrel- and bolt-to-receiver fit and integrated receiver rail all improve accuracy. The span of aftermarket precision match 10/22 receiver options include Volquartsen’s Superlite aluminum and heavy match stainless steel, Tactical Innovations’ array of aluminum Cerakote colors, Feddersen’s aluminum and unique heavy nickel and bronze alloy, and Power Custom’s billet aluminum with removable rear mount. Faxon just introduced a very clean-designed receiver with integrated Picatinny rail with barrel tolerances that are friendly to DIY builders.
Optics & Ammo
Getting the most from these builds means most customers are not going to be satisfied with anything other than excellent optics in the $300+ range preferably with variable focus from 10-yards+. As a reference point, most competitors are using $500+ optics on these precision rifles. Athlon Argos 6-24x50, Hawke Sidewinder 6-24x50 FFP and Hawke Endurance 30 2.5-10x50 optics are all in the tier of quality dealers should suggest. A very fun optic is the Sig SierraBDX 6.5-20, which offers an electro-optics system for shots even to 500 yards. For fast-shooting Steel Challenge competitions, quality optics like circle-dot EOTech and Sig Sauer Optic are great options. Electro optics like ATN’s Thor and X-Sight deliver significant thermal and night-vision advantages for predator and varmint hunts.
Tight precision match chambers demand match-grade ammo to run reliably and deliver the best accuracy. CCI SV, Velociter, Green Tag, SK Standard, Standard +, Rifle Match, and the entire Lapua line are recommended. For those customers who want the ultimate best ammo for their rifle, Lapua offers a program that will test and ship a pallet of the best-performing ammo lot.
Final Recommendations
Precision 10/22s can deliver amazing performance and higher-than-normal margins with builds that can top $2,000, like custom 3-gun ARs and precision rifles. Notably, an all-encompassing 10/22 aftermarket list would be almost impossible, however, this market overview should get dealers started with proven, high-quality 10/22 platform products their customers will love. Most manufacturers also offer barrel options and accessories for the Ruger Charger and Take-Down formats as well, which add another dizzying array of product options. See our online customer 10/22 build showcase. Please note, Ruger® and 10/22® are Registered Trademarks of Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc.
See the build details of these featured custom 10/22s here.
