Desert Tech is well known for making some of the best bullpup center-fire semi-autos and bolt action rifles on the market. In an interesting turn for the company that seems to reinvent everything, Desert Tech didn’t make a bullpup rimfire gun. Instead, they came up with the Trek-22, a simple clamshell chassis solution for America’s favorite rimfire rifle, the Ruger 10/22.
Compared to one of my basic Ruger 10/22 carbines, the Trek-22 dramatically shortens the overall length of the gun. The Trek-22 brings my factory carbine’s total length down to just 27″. That makes it only 6.5″ longer than my 16.25″ barreled backpacker model when that backpacker model is disassembled. The Trek-22 makes the old carbine far more portable and maneuverable.
That short overall length opens up a whole bunch of storage and carry options for the Trek-22. It now fits in all sorts of travel bags, backpacks, behind and underneath truck seats…all over. Since it includes a rear grommet, it slings on the back for very low-profile carry. And unlike the Backpacker model, there’s no reassembly time.
The product itself couldn’t be much simpler. It’s a glass-reinforced polymer clamshell design. There are two halves to it. You pull your barreled action in your current 10/22 out of its standard stock — trigger pack and all — and set it into the left side of the Trek-22 chassis. Make sure the shift linkage aligns, push out the trigger pack pins, put the right half on, and then screw it all together.
Desert Tech includes all the hardware, including the wrenches. There are installation instructions included in the box, as well as several videos to walk you through the installation. If you need a video to explain the installation, firearm ownership might not be for you. It’s really that simple.
For the Trek-22, changing the magazine — rotary or stick — as well as clearing any malfunctions, happens fastest using the left hand, canting the gun 45 degrees with the receiver angled down and to the right.
This is pretty much the only way to activate the bolt catch while manipulating the charging handle at the same time. It also allows you to manipulate the safety and the magazine release. It eventually gets pretty quick, but it’s likely different than all of your other guns.
Beyond the compact format, a big advantage of the Trek-22 over my old factory wooden stock are the M-LOK slots. There are four on each side and five underneath. For those of us who love to smack varmints at night, it’s now super-simple to add a light or IR torch, as well as to mount any night vision optics on the top rail. It’s now also very easy to add a bipod or ARCA rail of your choice.
The Trek-22’s trigger linkage doesn’t actually replace any of the parts of the 10/22’s trigger pack. It’s purely a slave trigger in front of the actual trigger shoe with a linkage to the forward Desert Tech shoe.
I assume it’s just because there’s a bigger lever to pull on the 10/22’s factory trigger shoe, but the Trek-22’s trigger linkage system dropped the overall trigger pull weight a full pound. Unfortunately, whatever weight was shaved off was counteracted by an increased overall travel and a good deal of plain old squish.
The Trek-22 chassis free-floats the barrel. You might think this would have a significant effect on the precision of the little gun, but in this case, it didn’t. There was no measurable difference in accuracy with or without the chassis, at least in slow fire from a rest. I suspect that might change a little with a better barrel.
In addition to the magazine in the receiver, you can also mount two spare 10-round rotary magazines in the rear of the stock.
My biggest complaint with the Trek-22 is that, for all the modularity it provides, it eliminates the factory iron sights. No, you don’t have to remove them, but the front is now well below the sight line and the rear sight is tucked away inside the clamshell chassis.
You can add rail-mounted iron sights to the 1913 top pic rail, but the total sight radius would only be about nine inches. Of course, the whole point of that top rail is to mount an optic, but that’s one of the very few advantages the stock 10/22 had over this chassis.
At the end of the gun, toward the muzzle, you’ll find plenty of space around the barrel to mount the rimfire silencer of your choice. If you haven’t suppressed any of your .22LR rifles yet, get right on that. You’re in for a treat. Considering the length reduced by going with the Trek-22 chassis, you’ll never notice the extra length of the can.
This standard 10/22 rifle wasn’t ever worth getting a new threaded barrel, but now with the Trek-22, I can see using it enough to swap out the barrel for a threaded model, and probably a longer one.
I don’t dig losing my irons, but there’s no denying the increased modularity and functionality the Trek-22 brings to the 10/22 carbine. What’s even better is the incredible difference in size and portability, without losing any barrel length.
Specifications Desert Tech Trek-22 Ruger 10/22 Chassis
Chassis colors: tan, grey, or green
Weight: 20.8 oz
Width: 1 3/4 inches
Height: 4 1/2 Inches
Length: 26 1/4 inches
Trigger :Straight Blade
Mounting System: M-Lok Compatible
Sling Stud Attachments: Yes, 1 rear
Length of pull: 14″
MSRP: $299.99 (about $289 retail)
Rating (out of five stars):
Overall * * * *
For such a simple design, Desert Tech’s Trek-22 provides a lot of additional options for the standard Ruger 10/22. Beyond that, the small format opens up a whole new world of maneuverability, portability, and storage options. For this price, I’d like to see an option that does more than just slave the factory trigger shoe to a transfer bar.
Just my opinion but, they’ve priced themselves way beyond the common folk with injected molded plastic (2) and a draw pull bar.
Try as I might, I just can’t get any woodage over a 10-22 bullpup… 🙁
Don’t see much point in this. Not like anyone is going to be using a 10/22 for room clearing.
“Desert Tech didn’t make a bullpup rimfire gun. Instead, they came up with” a cheap Airsoftish plastic clamshell for a 10/22 that costs more than a 10/22.
I really like my 10/22. But I tried different scopes on it and came to the conclusion that any scope ruined the feel of what was essentially a very handy, compact carbine. So I mounted peeps on it and called it good. I do not see the need to bullpup an already compact rifle.
I have a very accurate Winchester bolt gun made in Russia that suits my needs for real accuracy.
No thank you.
Star wars strikes again and I don’t need all the plastic. Using the original stock to make a template just move the barrel as far back as possible and then install a trigger mechanism. Minimalist stock and best carry ability.
The length of the squishy trigger bar and the price are the main deal breakers. Years ago I sold to my huntin’ brother a ported fat barrel 10-22 tack driver with a beautiful Fajen stock, Harris bipod, scope, etc. and he has never shot it. Today the stock alone is worth twice what he paid.
It looks like a “pull”-type linkage (trigger bar loaded in tension rather than compression), which should eliminate some squish, but those bends might add some back.
Starship Trooper looking. Ugly and useless.
This stock fills all the dead spot defects of the Ruger 10/22 design. With a little sandpaper, blow torch, hydraulic hammer, grinder, and a few hours spent on the fix it better bench you could have your as purchased 10/22 shuting one hole groups in a blinding sandstorm. As advertised, Desert Tech Trek.
Made for 100% fucktional reliability while technically trekking Desert environments.
Just be aware that a peckery may try to acquire posession of this beautiful work of art while you slumber in your sleeping bag with a fcku lizard.
gregory peccary.
Squishy trigger combined with making it impossible for Southpaws like me to shoot it? Hard Pass!
Bullpups are highly overrated. Aside from the fact that this gun is not a tactical weapon, how do you shoot any bullpup left-handed from behind cover without getting smacked by the operating handle or by brass or a kaboom ?
RDB
The only possible way to screw up a 10/22. Which is one of, if not the best semi auto 22. Ever built.
Yet another right-ejecting bullpup for smacking left-handers in the face with brass.
Springfield Hellion is left eject capable.
Then it can’t be used by my right-handed wife or kids. Side-ejecting bullpups just suck.
ETA: That’s also a 5.56, not a .22 — I’d go with a bottom-eject Kel-Tec RDB if I was interested in a 5.56 bullpop
Have none of our intrepid readers yet mentioned that Desert Tech is owned by members of a particularly horrible Mormon-adjacent cult called “The Kingston Clan” aka “The Order”? I suggest looking that up before supporting them by buying anything they make.
Excellent advice. Seems like a bunch of dangerous loonies.
Did they try to lure your daughter away to polygamy or what?
Would be interesting for my SBR braced 10/22 Charger w/ suppressor, but $290 is more than I paid for the gun.
The idea is neat, the price is steep, the zero on a plastic optics rail questionable and cleaning is a nightmare.
But if you hate money and love guns, a Fletcher 11/22 might fix the issues.
This is a joke, right?
No thanks. I can EDC my take down Ruger charger more easily than a Trek 22.
Could probably pack the non takedown version as easily too, slick little guns.
I have a 10/22 in a Samson B-TM stock with Tech sights, definitely not as short but pretty handy yet.
I like being able to EDC a binary trigger self-defense firearm. I will have to check out the Samson B TM stock. Have not seen one before.
You can carry a lot more 22 ammo than 9mm.
Don’t care for Bullpups, but the pistol grip neutering was well done, actually looks good. And the built in carry of two magazines in nice too.
the badger m22 is way better than this.. it’s a drop in stock replacement, not a clamshell.. and its 1/3 the price. you still can use both original iron sights and reciever mounted optics.. not trying to clamp something to the resin rail.
I don’t live in California,
I’ll wait for a model with an actual pistol grip,
Not one of those ‘finned’ pseudo pistol grips.
A lower price would be nice.
the pistol grip and all other ‘features’ do not apply to rimfire rifles in the PRC.. just the mag limit.
I have a friend with one of these, I was dubious at first, especially the weird rear grip, but I REALLY liked it.
We went rabbit hunting and he let me use it. It had a lightweight 2.5x scope, we used 10 round mags and it and I slung it over my front for easy access.
I really liked it, for the brushy area we were in it was really handy compared to my longer rifle.
I want to get one, but yeah, that price is high.
Looks nifty, but I’ll never bring myself to pay more for something that attaches to my gun than what I paid for the gun itself.
“Desert Tech is well known for making some of the best bullpup center-fire semi-autos and bolt action rifles on the market.”
Let me stop you right there…