10/22

AmbGun Bear Creek Arsenal BC201 page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/22-long-rifle/bc201 Our 10/22 clone, Bear Creek Arsenal BC201 went in for warranty service two months ago for the broken bolt. I explained my hypothesis that since the bolt could be removed with the buffer pin in place it could be tilting out of its channel a bit. I noted that the bolt was 1/10” shorter than any other 10/22 bolt that I own. They returned the rifle through my FFL dealer so another background check and transfer fee.…generally a repaired firearm is sent back directly to me. Anyway as I reviewed the “repair” I found that the new bolt was exactly the same length. Looking further, I noted that the bolt track in the receiver is 1/10” shorter than my other 10/22’s. Bolt is easily removed with the buffer in place. After 100 rounds I had another cracked bolt. At one point I was thinking to run a KIDD or Volquartsen bolt, but with the shorter bolt track I didn’t want to put these bolts at risk. Trying to decide…send it back again and pay for another FFL transfer again on return…or just part it out. I can find a use for the Ruger BX trigger and the Hogue stock..maybe even make use of that big bull barrel…it shoots well. Lots of potential in the package. As yet, unrealized.

AmbGun BC201 Page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/22-long-rifle/bc201 The BC 201 is Bear Creek Arsenal’s 10/22 clone. The 16” stainless bull barrel dwarfs the standard Ruger 10/22 barrel…in diameter and weight. The aluminum receiver features an integral pic rail and with no front sight, this is an optics oriented rifle. The grippy Hogue stock could use a bit more comb height for proper eye alignment given the need for optics. The pic rail needs three more slots to get the optic far enough forward. Otherwise great for attending a Project Appleseed Rifle Marksmanship Clinic. I just placed both rings behind the turret. Includes the Ruger BX trigger and a Ruger 10 round rotary magazine…and dripping with oil. During the first two outings we experienced frequent malfunctions…every other shot…failure to go into battery. It features a bolt design very similar to the Volquartsen Competition Bolt featured in our Takedown project. Internal firing pin and different recoil spring…Just not DLC coated. The BCA bolt can be removed without removing the buffer pin. Discovered that it is 1/10” shorter from bolt face to buffer pin cutout. It is also .005” wider than the Volquartsen bolt. Possible that the bolt is briefly hanging up if it cycles fully to the buffer. Installed the Volquartsen bolt, and it ran flawlessly. Second try with the stock bolt…more malfs and a broken bolt. An in spec bolt, 3 more pic rail slots, and a higher comb and you’ve a solid 10/22 clone. Bolt measurements Stock Width .940 Bolt face to buffer cut 3.373 Volquartsen Width .938 Bolt face to buffer cut 3.278

AmbGun 10/22 Page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/22-long-rifle The KIDD bolt Includes a hardened, precisely machined Firing pin that delivers more reliable ignition, especially since in the KIDD bolt it is pinned to prevent it from lifting up…unlike the stock Ruger bolt. It is also fitted with the KIDD extractor that is “cut from hardened Tool Steel” and designed to reliably extract stubborn cases. The two upgrades could be installed on your stock Ruger bolt, but with them you’re already 25% of the way to getting the complete bolt…with each already installed. The KIDD bolt is a real beauty. Not like the elegant DLC coated Volquartensen Competition Bolt, but something that will make a machinist whistle in appreciation. Beautiful in a utilitarian way. Polished Smooth, but with just that hint of sharpness that lets you know this is no mass produced factory Ruger part. And the radiused charging handle lugs are purported to improve cyclic reliability. Did my Collectors Series, 2nd Edition 10/22 need a KIDD bolt. Probably not. I thought I would be reluctant to pull the Ruger series engraved bolt, but after fondling the KIDD bolt, its going in. My initial interest in the KIDD bolt was as a fix for the troubled Bear Creek BC201 10/22 clone. However after seeing that the Bear Creek’s bolt channel allows the KIDD bolt to lift up and get stuck…just like the two Bear Creek bolts that have broken, I decided that I didn’t want to risk such a beauty in a flawed receiver. The KIDD charging handle has a very slick feel and while I kind of prefer the smaller hooked handle, I really appreciate that they include three springs with the kit. Standard, 10% heavier, and 10% lighter. Perhaps subsonic would run reliably with the light spring and High velocity or suppressor use would benefit from the heavier. Within the noise of my marksmanship, I cannot discern an improvement in accuracy, but I am confident that the KIDD bolt will make my already reliable 10/22, even more reliable. A broken firing pin or extraction issues are just the excuse you need. Check out the KIDD bolt and charging handle.

AmbGun 10/22 Takedown Build Series in Shorts https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr Thanks Keltec for the SU16d pic rail peep sight KelTec Peep diameter is .14. I wanted .070 max…so Drilled out peep with #11 bit Tapped with 12-40 Threaded up Skinner .070 aperture Probably should have gone with extended aperture for a bit more threads and to shift aperture rearward a bit… Zeroing for elevation was quick with the Tech Sights front sight tower. It took a bit more trial and error to nail the windage…loosening the phillips head screw on one side and tightening on the other to shift the peep. About 20 rounds and I had it dialed. Proceeded to do an AQT Offhand I scored a 47 out of 50 with all hits in the black although one was close. Squatting (not an official Project Appleseed position, but more tactically useful than sitting on ass) scored a 43. Stage 3 rapid fire prone, a 45…really good scores so now I’m nervous for the slow fire prone worth double points. Shot an 88. Total score of 223 is my best ever shooting without a sling. I’d say building a pic rail aperture peep sight proved worthwhile. Check out the Ambgun 10/22 Takedown Build in Shorts series and parts list. Link in the description.

AmbGun 10/22 Takedown Build in Shorts playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVlCoEE1rzM4Zv_rpWhIf1uAwa9jL64x8 AmbGun 10/22 Takedown page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr Irons: 10/22 Std vs Takedown LOP 11.5 vs 13 Barrel 18.5 vs 16.5 Sight Radius. 22.75 vs 19 ⅞ (almost 3” longer) Rear Sight Tech Sights vs Keltec Trigger. BX vs Volquartsen HP+ Sling. Canvas GI vs None Aperture. .062 vs .140 Weight. 5.1 (4.74 without sling) vs 4.24 lbs (backpacker is 8 ounces lighter) Max width. 2.1” vs 2.5” (3/10 wider due to bolt handle) Buttstock to peep 12.75 vs 13.5” (¾” closer to peep) AQT 220 vs 205 OAL. 35.75 vs 34/19.5 (16 ¼” shorter)

AmbGun “10/22 Takedown Build Series in Shorts” https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr Testing the 10/22 takedown rifle using the Project Appleseed AQT. Started off with the irons, the KelTec rear peep and the Tech-Sights front sight tower. I twice failed to shoot a Rifleman score on the AQT. Discouraging. Mounted a Leupold VX-Freedom 1.5-4 scope and tried again. Couldn’t get the scope far enough forward for a good repeatable turkey neck cheek weld, but managed to squeak out a 214 Rifleman score. Experimented with a Crimson Trace red dot, scored better than with irons, but not a Rifleman score. So I concluded I needed a magnified optic, but one with either limited eye relief or able to be mounted far enough forward…pulled the gen 2 Vortex Spitfire 5x off my RDB and with the prism’s close eye relief, mounted using the low mount and all the way to the rear, it was perfect. Being a compact scope it also did not extend past the stock when broken down…unlike the Leupold scope…a bonus for fitting it into a backpack. And, with the Spitfire, my scores ranged from a low of 218 to a high of 244 during four ambi-AQT’s. Excellent scores for shooting the AQT without a sling.

AmbGun “10/22 Takedown Build Series in Shorts” https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr I was going to use the sights mounted on the Ruger barrel, but I discovered that the receiver’s pic rail blocked them. Tried mounting a Leupold VX Freedom scope, but there were not enough pic rail slots to get it far enough forward for a proper Turkey Neck cheek weld. I experimented with a red dot, it works well enough. Ultimately I went back to my desire for irons with a Tech Sights front sight tower with its standard AR post it sits about ½” higher than Ruger’s stock front sight. I had some hope that a Tech Sights SU16 rear peep would fit on the pic rail, but the overhang would not clear the receiver…so I dug out the original plastic rail mounted peep sights that came with my SU16c…not exactly the elegant option for the rifle, but they line up with the Tech Sights front tower. On a takedown rifle, barrel mounted sights make sense for preserving a precise zero…but within the noise of my marksmanship, I do not think I'll be able to discern a zero shift. I will test that with a magnified optic. My guess is that most claims of a shift in point of impact is often just a matter of being fooled by randomness…something that I think is rampant in the shooting world. The rear peep has the advantage that it adds 7” to the sight radius over the barrel mounted sights. I suspect the added sight radius carries more benefit than “zero preserving” barrel mounted sights. For a backpack carbine, I prefer the less bulky and sturdy simplicity of irons…which I will use for the Appleseed Qualification Test…next.

AmbGun “10/22 Takedown Build Series in Shorts” https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr Rifle stock for the AmbGun 10/22 takedown project. Since I wanted the takedown package to be able to easily slip in and out of a scabbard, I bypassed the rubber over molded Hogue stock. Given my mountain bike emphasis on bulk and weight, I chose the MagPul X22 Backpacker which is 12 ounces lighter than the Hogue and a whopping 21 ounces lighter than MagPul’s X22 Hunter. The Backpacker features storage for 3 ten round mags. And some o-ring sealed storage in the grip that’ll hold a really small tourniquet, water purification tablets, or some Skittles. The stock has holes ready for QD sling inserts and while I'm a huge advocate for shooter’s aid sling, I'll leave them unfilled…saving weight and saving $70 for the MagPul Type 1 and Type 2 inserts…four fucking QD inserts that cost almost as much as the stock. Wow. No stock mounting screws included in the Magpul kit or with the Ruger barrel…another week waiting for a stupid screw. The Brownells receiver thoughtfully included the stock screw for its side of things. So if You're following along with your own build, get some receiver cross pins and an extra stock screw. The X22 Backpacker DOES include an elevated cheek riser/storage cover for those who go with optics. The way that the receiver stock and barrel stock link up is beautiful and keeps receiver and barrel from banging together in a backpack. The rubber buttstock pad and angled toe remind me of the MFT Battlelink stock that I like so much. A terrific takedown stock design, just keep in mind that MSRP will be almost $200 if you want ambi QD inserts.

AmbGun “10/22 Takedown Build Series in Shorts” https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr Barrel choices for the AmbGun 10/22 takedown project. The AmbGun online survey results found the three options very closely matched. I went with the Ruger cold hammer forged threaded barrel. The price is ⅓ that of the exotic fiberglass wrapped aftermarket barrels. While it included barrel mounted sights, that turned out to not be an advantage…except for the front sight dovetail. It would have been nice to combine the Volquartsen bolt and trigger kit with a Volquartsen barrel. I really like how they reverse “cantilever” a pic rail to allow for a barrel mounted optic that is shifted rearward over the receiver…this does require a non-railed receiver so I could not go this route. The Tactical Solutions Takedown Barrel is a great option and shaves several ounces compared to the Ruger barrel. If I didn't think that Ruger makes very good barrels, I would have gone the TacSol route. Plus I think the TacSol barrel mounted sights would be visually blocked by the Brownell’s Receiver integral pic rail. Ultimately, the Ruger offers 90% at ⅓ the price.

10/22 Takedown Project Page https://www.ambgun.com/ambidextral-rifle/backpackrifle/takedown22lr Part 1 - Brownells BRN-22TR Receiver - AmbGun 10/22 Takedown Project https://youtube.com/shorts/GPho4LljtkE Part 2 - Volquartsen Competition Bolt https://youtube.com/shorts/_R9rVttjk58 Part 3 - Volquartsen HP Action Trigger Kit Plus https://youtube.com/shorts/v8rvq59ZIFI Part 4 - Barrel coming soon Part 5 - Stock coming soon Part 6 - Sights coming soon Part 7 - AQT coming soon