Ruger Precision Rimfire Rifle Review
Part 3 - External & Operational Features
April 22, 2018

In this part of my Ruger Precision Rimfire Rifle review I cover the external and operational features of this new bolt action rimfire rifle from Ruger.  The overall finish of the rifle is a combination of blued barrel, black anodized aluminum handguard, black polymer chassis and stock components.  The rifle comes without any sights and with a 30 MOA angled rail mounted to the receiver.

 

Figure 1

Clearly the styling of the rifle is intended to match that of Ruger's Precision Rifle and I think Ruger did a nice job in doing that.  The overall length of the rifle is between 35" and 38.5" depending on the buttstock position.  The Ruger specs state about 1/8" longer at 35.13" to 38.63" (no big deal)

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

The rifle weighed in at 7 lbs 1.7 ounces (7.11 lbs) without a magazine installed and 7.40 lbs with the BX-15 magazine.  The Ruger spec stated 6.8 lbs, so I think the specs must have been a preliminary version or something.

Figure 5

The rifle comes with an 18" cold hammer forged 1137 alloy steel heavy profile barrel measuring about 0.86" in diameter having a six groove 1:16" right hand twist on the rifling and the muzzle is threaded with a 1/2-28 thread pitch which is standard for most .22 caliber firearms.  Ruger includes a beefy thread protector that also covers the end of the barrel and the muzzle has a beveled crown.  Actually between the profile of the thread protector and beveled crown, the muzzle is well protected from any potential issues.

Figure 6                                                                Figure 7
 

The threaded barrel can be use for various muzzle devices with the most practical being a suppressor.  In my opinion flash hiders and muzzle breaks on a .22LR caliber rifle are of limited value where as a suppressor adds usable sound suppression.

Figure 8

The 18" barrel is surrounded by a 15" M-Lok slim profile aluminum handguard.  The hex shaped handguard measures 1.50" across the flats and the handguard has a black matte anodized finish.  It might be hard to tell looking at the photos, but the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o-clock positions are eight in-line M-Lok slots.  The 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 10:30 positions are a combination of M-Lok at the front and then six similar styled angled slots angled slots.

Figure 9 - Top

The Ruger name is engraved on the right side of the handguard only.

Figure 10 - Right

Figure 11 - Bottom

These next photos zooms in on the front bottom of the handguard and barrel.  You can see the barrel is stamped with the caliber "22 LR".  You can also see the other M-Lok slots at the 1:30 and 4:30 positions on the handguard.  Personally I feel that Ruger should have provided at least one section of M-Lok rail for mounting a bipod.

Figure 12 - Bottom

Figure 13

The receiver is mounted into a polymer (glass filled nylon) chassis system which has similar styling as that of the Ruger Precision Rifle.  I was impressed with the solid feel of the chassis and feel it was a good choice for the low recoil of rimfire caliber.

Figure 14

The top of the receiver has a 30 MOA sloped 12 slot Picatinny rail attached via four Torx head screws.  I did a quick torque check of the screws and they all seemed tight.

Figure 15

The right side of the chassis has the Ruger logo, name and "Fire" / "Safe" above the safety lever.  The bolt handle sports an oversized knob with a smooth finish for easy grasping and bolt manipulation.  This is part of Ruger's attempt at the "Big-Gun" bolt feel (more on this later).  The trigger guard is integral to the chassis system and the chassis accepts standard AR style grips.

Figure 16

Looking at the bottom of the chassis gives you a peek into the magazine well that was designed to fit all Ruger 10/22 style magazines.  I think this magazine well works good with the longer BX-15 and BX-25 style magazines, but found it difficult to get the standard 10-round rotary magazines out of the rifle.  It seems that the 10-round magazines have a slightly longer length front to back and get wedged into the magazine well unlike the the BX-15 which will drop free when the magazine release lever is depressed.

Figure 17

The left side of the rifle chassis system matches that of the right except you can see the safety lever comes installed on the right side.  The safety lever can be switched to the right side if desired and Ruger says the rifle "may be configured with other AR-styled grips and selectors".

Figure 18

The barrel attaches to a steel receiver and then the chassis is attached to this receiver.  The left side of the receiver has a 2D barcode, Serial number, Ruger logo and is engraved "RUGER PRECISION" and "MAYODAM - NC - USA".  Also at the rear of the receiver is the bolt release lever.

Figure 19

As already mentioned, on top of the receiver is a 30 MOA sloped Picatinny Rail.  If you are really going to shoot at further distances such as 300 yards, then this bias on your optic will be needed to give you more range of adjustment for longer distances using the slower less efficient (low BC) 22LR caliber.

Figure 20

The safety selector has a 45 degree throw and and can be configured to the right side.

Figure 21                                                           Figure 22
 

The rifle comes with Ruger's Marksman Adjustable™ trigger and has a pull weight range of 2.25 to 5.0 pounds.  The trigger pull on this rifle was coming in at about 2.75 lbs and in my case making adjustments to try and lower the pull weight didn't make any significant difference.  Although, the trigger was extremely crisp with no perceptible creep and very little overtravel and I would still give Ruger a solid A+ on the trigger.

Figure 23

The rifle comes with an AR style polymer grip.  The shape of the grip reminds me of a Magpul MOE grip, but the grip is branded with the Ruger name.

Figure 24                                                            Figure 25
 

The grip is attached with a screw located in the top of the hollow section just like all other AR grips.

Figure 26

These next three photos show the bolt closed, full open in the .22LR configuration and full open in the short action rifle configuration.  This added bolt throw is intended to make the rifle have the same "big gun" feel as their Ruger Precision Rifle.

Figure 27 - Bolt Closed

Figure 28 - Bolt Open .22LR Configuration (1.5" Throw)

Figure 29 - Bolt Open Short Action Configuration (3.0" Throw)

To change the bolt throw length, you pop off the black metal clip located as shown below.  Doing this is relatively simple and just requires a small screwdriver for prying.  Also notice the large oversized bolt knob which appears to be made from anodized aluminum.

Figure 30

You can remove the knob from the bolt using an Allen wrench inserted in the female socket on the end of the knob.

Figure 31

The chassis (stock) comes with a polymer cover located just behind the receiver.  By removing this cover you provide access to the trigger pull adjustment Allen wrench located underneath.

Figure 32

You can remove the cover by prying the rear tabs on each side of the stock outward at the bottom and then lifting up on the back.  The photo below shows the Allen wrench below the cover.

Figure 33

To adjust the trigger pull weight, you can use the Allen wrench and access the pull weight screw forward of the trigger guard.  I have circled the screw in red below.

Figure 34

Turning the screw clockwise increases the pull weight and counter clockwise decreases the pull weight.

Figure 35

The magazine well area looks 10/22-ish and will accept 10/22 magazines.  Again, I found that the rotary 10-round magazines were getting stuck in the mag well, but the BX-15 and BX-25 had no issues.

Figure 36

The adjustable buttstock has the same basic features as the Ruger Precision Rifle, but Ruger has simplified it for this rifle.  A single cam lever is used to loosen the length of pull section and comb height section.  The photo below shows the shortest length of pull which is 12".

Figure 37

The longest length of pull measured 15.5".  If you look closely, there are a set of teeth that interlock to keep the stock from changing adjustment when the cam lever is tight.

Figure 38

The comb can be adjusted in height and also in location on the buttstock lengthwise.  The two photos below show the comb in the lowest and highest locations.

Figure 39

The rear stock portion also includes a sling QD attachment hole with a steel insert which can be used on either side and a short section of rail on the bottom for using a rear monopod.  Ruger also states you can use the loop portion on top of this rail area for attaching a rear bag if desired.

Figure 40

The buttpad is also adjustable in height by loosening the two screws and you can adjust it to the highest position shown in the right photo below.  Overall, Ruger tried to give you as much adjustability as possible in this stock while still keeping the price point of the rifle at a reasonable level.

Figure 41                                                           Figure 42
 

Ruger included a single BX-15 Magazine with this rifle.  This magazine has a short profile so that it can be readily used with a short bipod or bag.  The magazine measures about 5.3" in length.  The construction of this magazine appears to be the same as Ruger's BX-25 magazine with the only difference being length and capacity.

Figure 43
Ruger BX-15 Magazine Front

Figure 44
Ruger BX-15 Magazine Right

Figure 45
Ruger BX-15 Magazine Rear

Figure 46
Ruger BX-15 Magazine Left

Figure 47
Ruger BX-15 Magazine Feed Lips

You can see a video version of this part of the review by going to the video below.

 

Thoughts

Ruger has done a great job at providing may features that you would want on a precision rifle such as nice trigger, 30 MOA rail, adjustable buttstock and heavy profile threaded barrel while at the same time keeping the price point low enough to make it attractive as a rimfire platform for many shooters.  I did most of this part of the review prior to ever shooting the rifle and developed a fondness to the design.  Later in range testing I was glad to see this fondness wasn't for nothing and was very pleased to see that Ruger's engineering and quality paid off with good results.

For more detailed photos and commentary, make sure you check out the other parts of this review and feel free to leave comments below.  The following links are provided to help you see other parts of this review. 


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