Have you always wanted to buy a 10/22 and customize the hell out of it? A passel of people do. The venerable Ruger .22 auto may be the most customized platform in all of gundom. But Magnum research—yes, the Desert Eagle people–has taken on the 10/22 as a project for you with their new MLR22AT. The idea seems to be an off-the-shelf, pre-accurized gun, saving you all that trouble…
The rifle’s built on the barest minimum of parts anyone would recognize as a 10/22, then tacks on the goodies. The MLR22AT has an ambidextrous stock and a fully floated carbon fiber bull barrel with a steel core. All that high tech material means the rifle weighs in at a feathery 4.5 pounds, sans optics. Here’s the press release:
Magnum Research, a Kahr Arms-owned company and the maker of the Desert Eagle pistols, has announced it will introduce a new .22 LR rifle in their popular Magnum Lite™ series for 2012, the MLR22AT.
The MLR22AT will give .22 LR rifle shooters something to get excited about. The new ambidextrous lightweight thumbhole 10/22 stock is made of polypropylene with fiber additives for maximum strength. The stock comb height is designed high enough to comfortably and properly shoot with optics. The new stock design also features a semi palm swell on both sides of the pistol grip, and a molded-to-fit hard rubber butt plate attached with screws.
This rifle will be equipped with the Magnum Lite™ revolutionary patented graphite bull barrel, exclusive to Magnum Research. The patented uni-directional graphite fibers, parallel to the bore axis, results in a barrel with six-times the stiffness of conventional steel. The lighter barrel weights (from 13-16 oz, depending on barrel length) are easier to wield and dissipate heat up to 43% faster than steel. The result is rim fire performance of extreme accuracy.
Other features include a .22LR Benz target chamber designed specifically for semi-automatics; full floating barrel for maximum accuracy, CNC-machined receiver from 6061-T6 aircraft aluminum forging with an integral weaver-type rail for optics and a black anodized finish. The MLR22AT has an approximate weight of 4 ¼ lbs, barrel length of 17 inches, and over all length of 35 ½ inches.
This rifle utilizes the 10/22 trigger group and 10/22 rotary magazines. MRI bolts are manufactured and machined from heat treated and thorough hardened 4140 steel with minimum headspace for better accuracy.
MSRP for the MLR22AT will be $562. The rifles will start shipping in spring 2012.
Figure a street price somewhere in the $450 neighborhood. You can easily spend half again that much cobbling together your own tricked out 10/22. If the MLR22AT is as accurate as its billing, the savings could buy you a lot of match grade .22lr ammo.
