Magpul’s X-22 Backpacker and Hunter stocks for the Ruger 10/22 are some of the most popular aftermarket stocks for the venerable rimfire rifle. Now they’ve announced a new lightweight, more affordable version, the MOE X-22 stock.
From Magpul . . .
The MOE X-22 Stock is the ideal rimfire stock for those looking for a lightweight, budget-friendly upgrade for their Ruger 10/22-pattern rifle. We wanted to give shooters an extreme value stock that still provides several improvements over the factory stock that came with their gun.
That includes M-LOK slots for attaching accessories, Magpul TSP on the pistol grip, a custom, non-slip polymer butt-pad, and integral sling loops that are compatible with Uncle Mike’s locking sling swivels. It’s also really lightweight, weighing in at just over a pound at 19 ounces. In short, the MOE X-22 Stock is built for lean efficiency with features that matter.
MOE X-22 Features:
Two (2) M-LOK slots at the six o’clock position
Lightweight at just over a pound (~19 oz.). Most factory stocks are almost twice that weight – if not heavier – depending on build material and design
LOP of 13.5ʺ, a common measurement for factory stocks found on the average centerfire rifle
Ergonomic, non-slip polymer butt-pad with angled toe
Integral sling loops (compatible with Uncle Mike’s locking sling swivels) on toe and foreend
Magpul’s own TSP texture on the pistol grip
Ships with two interchangeable barrel trays of different diameters to support both factory pencil and bull-barrel profiles to provide shooters with options for various configurations
Available in Black initially (now shipping); FDE, ODG, and Stealth Grey will be shipping soon
The old man in the White House keeps yammering on about the need for another “assault weapons” ban. This week, Senate Democrats obliged him by introducing yet another doomed bill to do that. Last night, Chuck Schumer said he’ll bring the bill to the floor to make Republicans vote on it (we’re sure red state Dems like John Tester will be grateful for that, too). Meanwhile, gun sales last month jumped 5% over last year, posting the third highest total for November on record.
According to NSSF’s Mark Oliva . . .
November’s figures of nearly 1.6 million background checks for the sale of a firearm at retail is a very strong indicator of a vibrant demand for lawful firearm ownership. The firearm industry typically sees a slight upswing in the number of background checks in the later months of the year, which coincide with hunting seasons and the holiday shopping sales. However, there are many communities with sustained levels of crime that have not abated.
Those concerns, along with the punishing antigun measures by the Biden administration and threats of more gun control promised by the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, cannot be discounted as contributing factors. Americans have demonstrated month-after-month, and year-after-year, Second Amendment rights matter and they are investing their hard-earned dollars to exercise their right to lawfully possess firearms before the right can be further infringed.
Here’s the NSSF’s press release . . .
The November 2023 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System(NICS) figure of 1,595,476 is an increase of 5.0 percent compared to the November 2022 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,519,524. For comparison, the unadjusted November 2023 FBI NICS figure 2,594,906 reflects a 5.6 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,747,862 in November 2022.
November 2023 is the third-highest November on record and marks the 52nd month in a row that has exceeded 1 million adjusted background checks in a single month.
Please note: Twenty-four states currently have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check for that transfer. The number of NICS checks in these states does not include these legal transfers based on qualifying permits and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers. The adjusted NICS data were derived by subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.
Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.
It should be noted that these statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold or sales dollars. Based on varying state laws, local market conditions and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.
It’s a sad day and marked the end of a nearly two-century era in New York. Add another tally on the board for a hostile gun control Blue state in the Northeast suffocating and pushing out a storied, tradition-rich firearm manufacturer that decided enough was enough.
RemArms, the latest iteration of Remington, announced it will close all manufacturing operations in Ilion, New York, and consolidate in La Grange, Georgia, completely leaving the Empire State. The doors will close for good by March of 2024.
“We are deeply saddened by the closing of the historic facility in Ilion,” RemArms CEO Ken D’Arcy said in a statement.
The closure means roughly 250 to 300 employees will no longer have jobs, and so far, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has made no statement about the historic manufacturer opting to leave.
Total Industry Disdain
The news from D’Arcy comes at a time when it is increasingly apparent elected state officials in New York don’t want the 207-year-old firearm company. D’Arcy made it clear in his comments the state’s hostile legislative environment isn’t welcoming.
“We have a dedicated workforce at the Ilion facility, but maintaining and operating those very old buildings is cost prohibitive, and NY’s legislative environment remains a concern for our industry,” he said.
The concerning legislative environment D’Arcy references is multipronged. Anti-Second Amendment Democrats hold large majorities in the state’s legislature and there’s no gun control bill, or even anti-hunting bill for that matter, that isn’t a serious risk for becoming law.
Gov. Kathy Hochul in her lust for power has thrown her former pro-Second Amendment views in the trash heap and gone all-in on gun control, dismissing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen and enacting even more egregious and restrictive gun control measures instead. She’s been just fine to let the damage done by former disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY SAFE Act continue.
Remington Arms Company in Ilion, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
In addition, New York Attorney General Letitia James has continued her assault on firearm manufacturers too in an attempt to end run around Congress and the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). NSSF is in turn suing AG James for her attempts to use the state’s ‘public nuisance’ law to hold lawful firearm manufacturers responsible for the unlaw actions of unrelated remote third party criminals.
In a more infamous example of how petty the state’s leaders have been in showing open disdain for the firearm industry, don’t forget Remington’s D’Arcy offered in 2021 to repurpose their one-million square foot Ilion facility to mass produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers during the COVOD-19 pandemic to help save lives. That offer was completely ignored by then-Gov. Cuomo.
Facing that continual attack from elected state officials, it’s easy to see why Georgia’s sunshine and firearm-friendly environment was too good to ignore.
Friendly Leaders React
Following D’Arcy’s announcement, there were plenty of pro-Second Amendment, pro-industry elected officials coming out in support of RemArms and its workers.
U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the highest-ranking Republican official in the state, offered choice words for the governor and her harmful policies.
“It is because of New York Democrats’ unconstitutional gun grab policies that the oldest gun manufacturer in the country has been run out of the state,” GOP Conference Chair Stefanik said. “Hochul must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now.”
My full statement on America’s oldest gun manufacturer Remington Arms leaving New York State. pic.twitter.com/I8HH88NnS5
New York state Senator Joe Griffo, and state Assemblymen Robert Smullen and Brian Miller, all Republicans, offered a joint statement, saying in part, “Unfortunately, like we have seen all too often in New York, burdensome regulations, crippling taxes and problematic energy and other policies continue to force businesses and companies to flee the state, taking jobs and livelihoods with them.”
Republican state Senator Mark Walczyk added, “Albany Democrats and their failed policies are directly responsible for the closure of this facility and the unemployment of roughly 250-300 New Yorkers.”
Twenty and Counting
The decision by RemArms to formally and finally exit the Empire State, while sad, isn’t all that surprising considering all the hostility coming from the state. The departure matches an ongoing trend of storied and historic firearm manufacturers leaving the Northeast and planting new roots in the South in more gun-friendly and welcoming states. RemArms marks at least the 20th firearm business to do so in recent years.
Firearm manufacturers are showing state elected officials they’re willing to invest their future in states that respect the firearm industry and the contributions it makes. Here’s a running list of those companies:
Alabama
Kimber expanded production to Troy, over Yonkers, N.Y. It later relocated its corporate headquarters to Alabama.
Georgia
Remington Firearms announced it will establish a global headquarters, research and development and expand production in La Grange. RemArms made their recent announcement that all Ilion, New York, manufacturing operations will move to La Grange as well.
Taurus moved production to Bainbridge, Ga., from South Florida in 2019.
Iowa
Les Baer moved from restrictive Illinois to LeClaire, Iowa, in 2007.
Lewis Machine & Tool Company (LMT) left Illinois after 40 years to relocate to Iowa in 2019.
Florida
Dark Storm Industries moved some operations from Oakdale, N.Y., to Merritt Island, Fla., and is considering relocating to other Florida communities, as well as in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Mississippi
Olin Corporation’s Winchester Ammunition moved most production from East Alton, Ill., to Oxford in 2011.
North Carolina
Sturm, Ruger and Co. expanded production in Mayodan, N.C., in 2013.
Pennsylvania
Kahr Arms moved their headquarters to Greely, Penn., from New York after the state rushed through passage of the SAFE Act. And pulling most of its manufacturing out of Worcester, Massachusetts.
South Carolina
American Tactical Imports relocated 100 jobs and its manufacturing from Rochester, N.Y., to Summerville, S.C., in 2013.
PTR Industries left Connecticut for Aynor in 2013, where it set up shop.
Tennessee
Beretta moved firearm production and engineering and design to Gallatin, Tenn., from Maryland in 2015 over concerns of increasingly strict gun control legislation.
Smith & Wesson announced it was moving the company headquarters and some production to Maryville in 2021. It held a ribbon cutting ceremony in October.
Texas
Mossberg expanded production in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2013, instead of growing its New Haven, Conn., plant.
Colt Competition moved from Canby, Ore., to Breckenridge, Texas, in 2013.
Wyoming
Magpul Industries left Boulder, Colo., after the state passed magazine restrictions and moved production to Laramie, Wyo.
Weatherby Inc.’s Adam Weatherby announced at SHOT Show in 2018 that he was moving the company from California to Sheridan, Wyo.
Accessories maker HiViz announced in 2013 they were leaving Fort Collins, Colo., over restrictive gun control legislation to Laramie.
Stag Arms announced in 2019 they were opening their new facility in Cheyenne, Wyo., after leaving their former headquarters in New Britain, Conn.
Under Bruen, California will have to show that its restrictions are “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” In this context, [May v. Bonta] says, that means “all law-abiding, competent adults” have “the right to carry firearms and ammunition for self-defense in all public areas that have not historically been considered ‘sensitive places’ or their modern analogues based on relevant history.”
Before S.B. 2 was enacted, federal judges had concluded that similar restrictions in New York and New Jersey failed the Bruen test. While California legislators were considering S.B. 2, a federal judge in Hawaii issued a temporary restraining order against several of that state’s location-specific gun bans. Three days after Newsom signed S.B. 2, a federal judge blocked enforcement of Maryland’s restrictions on firearms near public demonstrations, its ban on carrying guns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, and its presumptive rule against guns in other businesses open to the public.
Unfazed by those warnings, California is forging ahead with a policy that defies Bruen while pretending to comply with it. At a February 1 press conference announcing the introduction of S.B. 2, its supporters lamented the “radical Bruen ruling” and the resulting “flood of applicants” for carry permits while expressing the hope that the bill would mitigate the “disastrous effect of the Bruen decision.” As the complaint in May v. Bonta notes, Newsom himself called Bruen “a very bad ruling” and “used air quotes when discussing the ‘right’ to carry firearms outside the home, making his contempt for the Constitution clear.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
By Chuck Michel
CRPA filed suit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office challenging the “constitutionality of (its) carry permit issuance policies and laws that make it extremely difficult, if not outright impossible or impermissibly time consuming” to get a permit to carry s firearm in public.
Ever since the announcement of the Bruen decision, CRPA has fought to bring CCW application and issuance processes in line with the new standards. Still, certain jurisdictions drag their feet and continue to create unnecessary delays, add onerous fees, and implement other bureaucratic hurdles to stall CCW issuance (as evidenced by the responses to CRPA’s poll late last week).
CRPA’s next lawsuit will focus on issues surrounding CCW permit issuance in certain counties and cities in California. But we need your help deciding what you consider the number one priority. Vote in the poll below!
— CRPA: California Rifle & Pistol Association (@CRPAnews) November 30, 2023
CRPA has let it be known that across all of California’s 58 counties, we will be vigilant and relentless in our efforts to ensure that post-Bruen CCW policies and procedures are in place and followed. This is part of the CRPA’s CCW Reckoning Project. The lawsuit could easily have been avoided if the Constitution was observed and the Bruen decision was followed.
Here’s an inconvenient truth: firearm safety education saves lives. However, some people fear guns and don’t want anything to do with teaching their kids how to be safe around them. At the same time, others agonize over when to start teaching firearm safety with their kids. What’s the right time to start teaching your offspring to respect firearms?
Yes, prudent parents teach their kids gun safety (safey, not how to shoot). When, though. The simplest answer I’ve heard comes from a retired FBI agent. “When do you teach kids about guns? About the same time you teach them about hot stoves, electricity and fire.” In other words, when you drown-proof your kiddos, gun proof them, too.
1. STOP
2. Don’t touch
3. Leave the area
4. Tell an adult
This easy-to-learn, potentially life-saving protocol leaves politics at the door with one goal in mind: save lives.
The Eddie Eagle program has achieved proven results since its introduction in 1988, helping to educate over 29 million kids in firearm safety. It came about from the efforts of “educators, school administrators, curriculum specialists, urban housing safety officials, clinical psychologists, law enforcement officials and National Rifle Association firearm safety experts.”
However, that doesn’t stop gun-hating civilian disarmament activists from despising the NRA’s safety program…and actively working against its common sense goal. Former Brady Campaign honcho Paul Helmke took shots at the NRA’s safety program . . .
[I]t would be wise to stop this misguided excuse for gun safety education in its tracks. The NRA dresses up its gun safety course in the guise of a colorful cartoon character named Eddie Eagle. Yet there is absolutely no evidence directly linking the use of the Eddie Eagle program to a decline in children’s deaths by guns.
Helmke quotes from the experts who compiled a Violence Policy Center “study” in his Huffpo screed . . .
“The primary goal of the National Rifle Association’s Eddie Eagle program is not to safeguard children, but to protect the interests of the NRA and the firearms industry by making guns more acceptable to children and youth… The hoped-for result is new customers for the industry and new members for the NRA.”
Helmke wrote that anti-Eddy jeremiad shortly before leaving his job with Handgun Control, Inc the Brady Campaign, a group that, unlike the NRA and the NSSF, has no gun safety education program at all for children or adults, while claiming they’re “gun safety” advocates.
The NRA doesn’t do much that’s right any more, but the Eddie Eagle program is an exception that proves the rule. With or without Eddie, in the end, it’s up to good-guy gun owners to teach our children the basics of gun safety.
1. STOP
2. Don’t touch
3. Leave the area
4. Tell an adult
Make sure your kids know it as soon as they’re old enough to understand it.
Michael in GA posted the following in the comment section . . .
Is it counterintuitive to open carry a sub compact pistol? I was at a restaurant for my wife’s birthday with her and her mother. A man one table over stood up and had a Smith & Wesson M&P9 Shield on his hip.
I nudged my wife and gestured with my eyes toward the gun. She looked and said, “That’s great!” I said no, it isn’t.
If you are going to open carry, carry a full-size. The Shield is designed for concealment. By open carrying it, you have just removed the most important advantage of a sub compact and ignored all the advantages of a full-size gun.
She said I shouldn’t criticize a fellow gun carrier. My point is, once you join the armed citizenry, why not do what makes the most sense? Why limit capacity, accuracy, reliability, power for the ability to conceal and then open carry?
I would rather conceal a full-size than open carry a sub-compact.
A couple of reasons come immediately to mind.
Michael says he’d rather conceal a full-size handgun than open carry a subcompact, but that’s hardly a universally held viewpoint. If you’re going to own just one pistol, lots of gun owners would rather have one they can effectively conceal when open carry isn’t an option.
For a lot of people, carrying a full-size M&P, even under a cover garment is about as discreet as Sherman marching through Georgia.
Or maybe the carrier has smaller hands and doesn’t feel as comfortable with a full-size pistol, or doesn’t shoot them as well as they do a smaller gun.
But we’re sure you can come up with some reasons yourself. Let Michael know your thoughts in the comments below.
The National Supermarket Association, which represents roughly 600 independent grocers, estimated a quarter of its members in the [New York City] are packing heat, compared to 10% pre-pandemic.
“You see the necessity because the city is getting out of hand with the crime rate,” said one supermarket owner, who purchased a 9mm SIG Sauer handgun two months ago, after thieves cut a hole in the roof of his Ridgewood, Queens, store to steal $3,000 and smash up the registers and camera system.
“I feel safer having a . . . weapon with me,” the 50-year-old said, especially when going to the bank.
The gun-toting grocer said he hasn’t had to use his firearm, but practices once a week for the worst-case scenario where he needs to defend himself and his staff.
“I don’t know who is coming in, what I’ll confront, on my way in, on my way out,” he said.
Radhames Rodriguez, who owns several bodegas in the Bronx, said he purchased a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol after obtaining his concealed-carry license two months ago.
“If I see somebody coming to me and I’m going to lose my life because somebody’s got a gun aimed at me, a knife, I need to protect myself and my family,” said Rodriguez, 60, who is also the UBA president.
I make a habit of counting the number of reloads I make by keeping a tally of primer and bullet boxes. I’m not a hoarder and I don’t keep them, but I am detailed in my process. I reached an interesting number the other day. I realized that I had hit a very special count for a very special cartridge: 20,000 rounds of .38 Special.
I’ve done the majority of shooting in .38 Special in my Smith & Wesson 642. The gun has appeared here before and has remained unchanged as far as accessories. Unlike many other guns I’ve owned and carried, this little snubby really can’t be modified much beyond factory configuration. As a result, I’ve been able to spend far more time practicing with it rather than fussing with it.
But this piece isn’t about the gun, but rather the cartridge. I never really set my sights, in a manner of speaking, on the .38 cartridge like I did other rounds. There have been guns I’ve bought for the caliber, but the .38 wasn’t one of those. I wanted a good carry gun that was light and reliable, so I decided that the .38 would fit and I just went with it. Reloading for it came next and it has since become my favorite pistol cartridge.
The stuff you learn shooting 20,000 reloads (on top of thousands of rounds of factory ammo) can be pretty interesting and I feel that I’ve got a very good picture of what the .38 Special. looks like today.
The reason I love the .38 SPL so much is because it’s so elastic in function. Most people have one general power level for their semi-autos due to the fact that the guns won’t function with ammo that’s not energetic enough to cycle the slide. A revolver shooting .38 SPL only requires the power of your finger to make it fire and can thus be loaded with ammo that is extremely mild or hotter than hot.
1.) The majority of my shooting with .38 has taken place with soft lead bullets. In my time with the cartridge, I have come to appreciate the mid to low end of the power spectrum and thus have made extensive use of Trail Boss powder and bullets such as Hornady’s .358” 158gr SWC. I load these bullets to the edge of the shoulder and use anywhere from 3-4 grains of TB. This produces about 550-650fps from a 1 7/8” barrel and feels like shooting a very powerful .22LR.
2.) Over 20,000 rounds, I’ve found that there’s rarely a wrong way to do .38 SPL. I have used everything from simple lead to the most advanced machined copper bullets and found them all to be extraordinarily easy to load and shoot. When I say that there’s rarely a wrong way to do it, I really mean it. If you can follow simple instructions, you can safely load this cartridge.
3.) When I teach other people the basics of reloading, I teach them on the .38 SPL. The cases are large enough that they can be easily manipulated by inexperienced hands and yet small enough to not require much force in the sizing stage.
4.) The powder charges used for .38 are forgiving. Because we have no action to cycle, the novice reloader can afford to be off a bit if they have an entry-level scale or powder dispenser. Most modern revolvers chambered for .38 SPL are rated to +P, so there is room for error, but care must still be taken.
5.) Anything goes with bullets. I routinely use only two powders: Trail Boss and Titegroup. These two can cover the entire performance spectrum up to .38+P. I really enjoy Trail Boss and use it extensively for plain lead and plated bullets. I have tested lots and lots of different bullet and found them all to be great. The beauty of shooting a .38 is that you can easily practice at the ranges you’d fight at using basically any cheap bullet at minimal expense.
6.) Case life is excellent, especially for mild loads. I have tested both brass and nickel-plated cases using mild loadings and have not yet worn out a case. I have one that has been loaded about sixty times and it is still in use today. Using higher pressure loads will wear brass out faster and it will become brittle with time.
7.) Bullet seating depth is very forgiving. Since we are working with a gun that doesn’t have a magazine, we can afford to mess with this dimension at will. I’ve loaded some wadcutters to the point of being flush with the case mouth and big lead bullets almost to the front of the cylinder.
8.) Brass collection is easy since it doesn’t eject. The best part about this is that not only do you never really lose your fired cases, but you they are always in great condition. I don’t bother polishing my .38 brass because I just don’t let it fall in the mud or dirt.
9.) Beginners to shooting can use a full size revolver or their carry gun with light to mild loads to become confident and familiar with marksmanship and trigger control. I love a nice, full-size .357 Magnum on the range because it is so easy to train new shooters on. There is almost no recoil and the student can increase power level when they feel ready using the same gun.
10.) Lastly, the .38 SPL has a very large following and materials can be had readily. It’s easy to load in progressive presses and has commercially available options from virtually all modern manufacturers. Reloading supplies and load recipes are available everywhere.
If you haven’t taken a look at what the .38 Special offers, you’re selling yourself short. The cartridge offers a great deal of zest and has thousands of possible load combinations.
In my time spent with the .38, I’ve come to greatly appreciate it for what it is and does. Despite being well over one hundred years old, it still has perfect relevance for today’s shooters, both novice and advanced.
Desert Tech Trek-22 Chassis (Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com)
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com.
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com.
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com.
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com.
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com.
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.
Image courtesy JWT for thetruthaboutguns.com.
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.
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.
A gun control group in New Mexico recently announced yet another gun “buyback” event. This time, though, there’s a twist: no 3D-printed guns are allowed. We’ve seen this before, but this time the group managed to paint themselves into a corner when they refused to respond to some very simple questions about the policy
The biggest one: Why not buy 3D-printed “ghost guns” from the public? The main reason they won’t answer that question is obvious. There’s simply no good argument for that policy.
If they were to agree to take them, they’d get ripped off by people who print dozens of simple guns specifically for the sale (like this one). They’d effectively be admitting that gun “buybacks” are worthless.
Someone turned in 62 3D printed “ghost guns” for $150/ea at a recent Houston “gun buy back” event 🇺🇸
The “no questions asked” events are really only good opportunities for a criminals to dump a crime gun, or for Joe Citizen to get rid of an old, broken-ass firearm that has no value, and was never likely to be used in a crime. Plenty of people who’ve looked at “buybacks” closely have concluded they do nothing to stop the cycle of criminal violence.
But if the politicians who plan and promote these things refuse to take 3D-printed guns people bring to these events, they’re admitting that 3D-printed guns aren’t really the public health and safety menace (GHOST GUNS!) they claim they are.
There are lots of good 3D-printed gun designs these days. Despite a few examples, few people are going to waste their time and money building them to sell at a “buyback.” There’s also the fact that they’ve been repeatedly found in Europe, but don’t get used often in crimes, so the argument that gun availability drives crime isn’t supported by the evidence.
A Salt Lake City Policeman examines a gun during a buyback on Saturday, June 11, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The security theater grifters who put on “buybacks” never bother to defend them as being effective, taking the Fifth whenever they’re challenged by the public. But, unlike a court of actual law, we’re totally free to use their silence as evidence against them.
Gun buybacks make for good media stand-up opportunities and sound bites for the local news. That’s the real motivation behind the politicians who promote these things. As for getting guns off the street that would otherwise be used in crimes, it’s all just more performative security theater that does virtually nothing to reduce actual gun crimes.
The reason none of these people respond when asked about 3D guns or the effectiveness of their dog and pony shows is that there’s almost no evidence they work, so there’s no way to win their argument. As the RAND Corporation reports, “While the ultimate goal of most buyback programs is to reduce firearm violence and crime, few studies have demonstrated that these programs have such effects.”
Gun buyback programs, as commonly implemented in the United States, are small, feasible interventions, but they are unlikely to measurably reduce firearm violence, even if they do prevent some incidents. Research on buyback effectiveness is limited, but the findings to date are not promising. Furthermore, the intended impacts are implausible because too few firearms are turned in to gun buybacks, at least as currently implemented. Given these limitations, policymakers and community groups should consider whether the scarce resources allocated to gun buybacks—even if these resources are minimal—might be better spent on more-promising violence prevention efforts.
That kind of analysis doesn’t play well on the evening news and doesn’t look good in a campaign commercial. As long as there are cameras and reporters with microphones to interview attention-whoring politicians, there will be “buybacks,” no matter how useless they are.
