Working the T/CR22

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The Ruger 10/22 made its debut almost 60 years ago and has gone on to be perhaps the most successful semi-automatic rimfire rifle of all time. Its rotary magazine was innovative in a rimfire rifle, making the 10/22 light, compact, quick-handling, and reliable. That the basic "carbine" model was value priced strongly drove its popularity and sales of nearly eight million units to date.

Ruger introduced other models with sculpted stocks minus the infernal carbine band, laminated stocks that were more stable with temperature and humidity changes but heavy, and the graceful "International" model with its full-length Mannlicherstyle stock in either walnut or laminated wood. Models were offered with black polymer stocks, stainless models were available, and special editions for different distributors. The list goes on.

Because of the patented method of barrel attachment to the receiver that was of interest to Ruger for individual finishing of steel barrels and aluminum alloy receivers and which allowed quick assembly of those components, the aftermarket jumped in. Soon a number of heavy "bull" barrels for 22 Long Rifle competition and varminting appeared, as well as weight-reducing carbonfiber jacketed barrels, aftermarket trigger groups and fire control parts, composite stocks, optics… the variety is all but endless.

Ruger held on to the 10/22 market, but as patent protection expired it was challenged briefly by AMT with its Lightning 25/22. More recently, Ruger successfully won a judgment against Armscorp/Rock Island Armory to block U. S. distribution and sale of a wood stocked 10/22 clone that was virtually identical in all ways except for a substantially lower MSRP.

Other manufacturers have since introduced competitive 10/22 rifles, including the Bergara BXR, the Smith & Wesson/Thompson-Center T/CR22, higher-end offerings from Volquartsen, Magnum Research and Tactical Solutions, and the most recent entry being the Winchester Wildcat, which was covered in these pages by fellow contributor RK Campbell in the October 2021 issue. It was Mr.

Campbell’s Wildcat piece that caused me to realize that the T/CR22 hadn’t been the subject of an American Gunsmith article, so I’m setting things right herewith. Far This will prevent cosmetic damage to the stock at the edge of the trigger housing mortise. It’s in the exact location of the takedown screw on the 10/22, so any stock for the Ruger rifle should interchange with the T/CR22.

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When I first saw a T/CR22, the word that came to mind was "modernized." After studying the rifle, its features, and price point, two more words were "competitive value." The T/CR22 offers the buyer of a semi-auto 22LR rifle most of the things he or she finds of interest in the third decade of the 21st century; features like an integral Picatinny "cheese grater" cast as part of the anodized aluminum alloy receiver, a fully adjustable peep rear sight Directly in front of the sight is the knurled muzzle thread protector found on T/CR22 versions that are sold in states which allow threaded muzzles. perched on its own cast-in dovetail at the rear of the receiver, a lightgathering fiber optic front sight, a 1/2"-28 threaded muzzle with protective ring on T/CR22s destined for states that allow such intrinsically deadly features, a receiver whose rear wall is pre-drilled for a cleaning rod for accessing the barrel from the breech, a custom-designed M- Lok compatible Magpul stock that has a removable barrel channel insert to allow mounting of bull barrels to the receiver and still permit use of the factory stock, recesses for quick detach sling mounts and a short "cheese grater" under the forend tip for a light or laser.

That’s a lot of value compared to a similarly-functioning rifle with only a stained birch stock and furshlugginer carbine band. Far Internally, the T/CR22 evokes a strong sense of déjà vu to anyone familiar with a 10/22 under the hood.

The barrel is attached with two screws and a gib, the trigger group joins with the receiver with two identical pins, there’s a larger bolt stop pin that readily falls out of the assembly just like that of the 10/22, the safety lever is a bit extended and works exactly as that of the original, and the trigger guard assembly readily interchanges between the 10/22 When installing new barrels be sure that the barrel is properly clocked for the extractor slot and that the front sight is plumb.

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The bolt is reinstalled in the same position, tail first and up. and the T/CR22, maybe with a bit of fitting of the respective stocks. The T/CR22 bolt appears identical to that of the Ruger, as does the offset rodguided recoil spring assembly.

Some differences of the T/CR22 from the Ruger include a polymer trigger group housing instead of a powder coated cast alloy housing, an operating handle that’s round, slightly tapered knurled metal for a positive grip, and a pinned extractor that is significantly longer and thinner than that of the 10/22, providing effective "into-the-nextcounty" ejection of empties. Another improvement is the manual bolt release that acts like a bolt release and does not require the fiddling of that of the 10/22.

The biggest departure from the 10/22 is that the T/CR22 offers a bolt hold open feature when the factory T/C magazine is used. It should be stated that any 10/22-compatible magazine is readily accepted by and theoretically functional in a T/CR22, except that the bolt won’t stay open on an empty magazine. T/C redesigned its rotary magazine with a metal plunger/lever on the left rear side that activates the bolt hold open feature.

Note, to load a T/CR22 magazine, one must push that metal plunger/lever fully down before inserting the first cartridge. If this step isn’t followed, the magazine jams on loading. Depressing the magazine hold open lever slightly rotates the magazine follower so that it is in proper position to accept the first cartridge. The remaining nine cartridges are loaded on top of the first, just as with any other 10/22 compatible magazine.

The reason for pressing the hold open lever to load the first round is because the magazine follower "overclocks" when empty to lift the hold open plunger/lever up to activate the pivoting bolt hold open hook to stop the bolt from closing. Depressing the plunger/ lever "unclocks" and returns the rotary follower to its loading position.

The sintered powdered metal feed lip insert is thoughtfully equipped with a molded-in "billboard" message exhorting the shooter to "PRESS LE- VER TO LOAD." It’s a little detail, but it’s also direct evidence that it pays to read the manual instruc-

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Far The 90° tip of the lever engages the duckbill on the hold open hook in the upper left front of the trigger guard housing, rotating that hook to engage the bolt face. Note the admonition molded into the feed lip insert to "Press Lever to Load" the first cartridge. Failing to do so will jam the magazine! Once the first round is loaded, the T/CR22 magazine can be loaded with the remaining rounds as with any 10/22-compatible magazine.

When the magazine is empty, the follower spring overclocks the follower to raise the hold open lever against the hold open hook duckbill in the trigger housing. tions, because automated telephone attendant menu options are not the only things that change. Takedown of the T/CR22 is another déjà vu experience. There’s a single captive brass-bushed screw in the underside of the stock that’s removed to separate the stock from the barreled action.

Once the screw is loosened, make sure to center the safety pushbutton to clear the trigger guard slot in the stock, or else the stock gets hung up on the safety on one side or the other, possibly damaging the stock depending on the force applied. With the barreled action out of the stock, next push out the two trigger housing pins to separate the trigger housing from the receiver. If the larger bolt stop pin hasn’t already fallen out of the receiver/trigger guard assembly, it probably will shortly.

Just listen and watch for the pin drop; this is one you can hear. With the trigger housing assembly and bolt stop pin out of the receiver, next remove the bolt by inverting the barreled action and pulling back on the operating handle as far as it will go, then reaching in to the receiver Remove these screws and the insert to open the barrel channel for 10/22 "bull" barrels. and hooking a finger or two onto the bolt face and lifting up and out.

The operating handle is captured on the recoil spring / guide rod assembly and can be withdrawn diagonally through the ejection port. Barrels are readily exchanged just as with the Ruger, by removing the two screws and gib that hold the barrel in place, removing the barrel, installing the new one and reinstalling the gib and retaining screws after ensuring the barrel is properly clocked for the extractor slot and for the front sight (if present) being plumb.

As mentioned, the T/CR22 stock has an insert in the barrel channel that is held fast with two screws; remove those screws and the channel insert can be taken out to allow clearance for a heavy barrel. The monolithic fiber optic front sight base is held in place by a hex inset flathead screw. Removal of the screw permits the entire front sight to be separated from the barrel. Further disassembly of the trigger group is primarily as with the 10/22, if fire control group parts are desired to be changed or upgraded.

The trigger group is simple to work on, and rather than cover its disassembly with words and a snapshot or two, I’ll refer the reader to any of many excellent Interwebz videos on the subject. Note that the extendedlength T/CR22 ejector is held fast in the trigger housing by a fixed pin, and does not rotate about an axis pin further back in the trigger housing in the manner of the 10/22 ejector.

Thompson/Center has an excellent tutorial video on their website describing disassembly and reassembly of their proprietary and unique T/CR22 magazine; see TCarms.com/tcr22. The T/CR22 isn’t going to replace the 10/22, but it’s a value-added and handy 4.4-pound alternative that has attracted and will continue to attract buyers interested in the T/ CR22’s unique features.

Despite the 10/22-style rifle having a lot of DIY appeal and Interwebz video and forum support, they may still end up on gunsmith benches when professional services are required. AG