Review: Shooting the MAGPUL Ruger 10/22 Hunter X-22 Stock
I’ve been a fan of MAGPUL and their products for years. What’s not to like about a former Marine starting a gun accessory company and making it big? Over the last few years MAGPUL has ventured outside of the modern sporting rifle market into more traditional products like stocks for sporting arms such as the Remington 700 and Ruger 10/22.
The MAGPUL Ruger 10/22 Hunter X-22 stock offers the 10/22 shooter some pretty unique features for a reasonable price. But before we get to the good stuff, let’s take a look at some MAGPUL propaganda, specifically their epic X-22 commercial.
Wow, TAKE MY MONEY! I would have loved to have been at the pitch meeting for that video.
Like the Hunter 700, the X-22 offers a wide degree of modularity for the end user. Sporter or bull barrel 10/22, MAGPUL has you covered.
Check this out, the barrel channel flips over; one side for a sporter barrel, one for a bull. Nice touch.
The stock is similar to the Hunter 700. The cheek pieces are interchangeable and length of pull is easily adjustable by adding or removing spacers. A nice touch that’s not usually associated with a stock in this price range.
The sides and bottom of the fore end accept M-LOK accessories.
Like the Hunter 700, MAGPUL doesn’t give you a QD stud or a threaded hole for a QD stud. They do have a pre marked area with extra plastic to allow you to install one. I simply drilled and then tapped a 10-32 hole and screwed a QD stud in. I happened to have a tap and QD stud available, so it isn’t a big deal but I would imagine 99% of the consumers who buy a stock like this don’t have either on hand.
The test gun is a standard blue and wood 10/22 that was made sometime in the early 1990s.
The gun is entirely OEM. I outfitted it with the same optic and base I’ll use later on in this post, but wanted to get an idea of how it would shoot with Eley Club 22 ammunition.
This was my best 50 yard 5-shot group. Right around 1″ (that is a 2″ orange dot). OK, time to test the Hunter X-22 (and trick out my rifle a bit)!
Boom! This is how I configured my 10/22 in the Hunter X-22 stock. No video of me crawling around in the brush in a ghillie suit but it still looks cool. I upgraded it with a few parts from Brownells:
- Shilen match grade 10/22 barrel
- Power custom oversized 10/22 bolt handle
- Timney 10/22 trigger guard assembly
- Harris bipod
- Nightforce rail
- Nightforce 30mm rings
- Badger Ordnance 30mm-1″ ring reducers
The Timney trigger guard assembly for the 10/22 is a nice upgrade. The entire trigger group is simply swapped out as opposed to changing parts within it. Not only does this give you a nicer trigger, it gives you a metal housing, oversized magazine release, and rapid bolt release. I’ve had one on one of my other rifles for a couple of years and really like it a lot.
For an optic I selected a TRACT optics TORIC 3-15x50mm scope. TRACT is a new company formed by some guys who’ve worked in the business for a number of years. They sell direct to the consumer, no middle man. I’ve had this scope on a few different guns and I an extremely happy with it. The locking adjustable parallex makes it ideal for a 22 caliber rifle. For more info about TRACT Optics, check out their website.
Shooting the Hunter X-22 stock was a pleasure. The pistol grip is vertical, similar to those you would find on a precision rifle with a McMillan A3, A4, or A5. The adjustable length of pull and cheek piece are game changers. Typically larger optics on a 22 rifle become difficult to manage, with this stock, the cheek weld is ideal.
How’d it shoot?
Much better. This is a 5 shot group at 50 yards with the same lot of Eley club. Yes, we changed a bunch of parts, but they sure did work! While I’m sure the barrel and trigger helped more than the stock, the X-22 did help my ergonomics tremendously.
So what are my thoughts on the Hunter X-22?
- Shift in paradigm for 10/22 stocks. The X-22 offers options that show how shooters and shooting has evolved since the 10/22 was introduced. The vertical pistol grip, adjustable length of pull and interchangeable adjustable combs offer a serious upgrade to a factory 10/22 for a little over $100 (2/2017).
- QD stud. MAGPUL, you need to start providing a QD stud for bi-pods on your rifle stocks, or at least threading a hole for one. It is a superior way to mount a Harris bipod over the M-LOK- fewer parts, and more secure.
- Tactical trainer? Rimfire tactical training rifles seem to be catching on. While a 10/22 won’t match the bolt action precision rifle you are shooting, it likely give you a similar length of pull, similar grip (vertical pistol grip) and raised comb.
MAGPUL also makes an X-22 for the take down 10/22.
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