My Custom Shop Competition (CSC) came in on 02-25-2019. Since then I have put about 150 rounds through it and a good friend of mine has put about 120 through it during his ammo test of it. So far I really like the rifle and feel it is definitely the 10/22 Ruger should have started producing years ago. Do I think it was worth the extra cost over a regular 10/22; most definitely. Worth it over the target lite; in most ways yes (my wife has a target lite so there will be multiple comparisons to it). Anyways, on with the actual detailed review and range report.
*Overall Fit and Finish/Initial Impressions
-The rifle ships in a simple hard sided case that greatly resembles the $10 Flambeu case I picked up at Walmart last year. When you open it up you will find the rifle inside a plastic sleeve and held in by 3 hook & loop straps. There is also the normal 10/22 action lock deal along with a formal looking red envelop. Inside the envelope you will find the regular 10/22 owner's manual, the CSC supplemental manual, a custom shop (CS) challenge coin, a CS cleaning cloth, CS decal, and a CS letter of authenticity.
-The stock is laminated and painted grey with a course textured finish. The receiver is, as best as I can tell, a well applied HAIII. It does pick up fingerprints well and might be a bit hard to keep spotless if that is your thing. The barrel is a matte blue/black, I'm not sure what the specific finish is on it and the compensator is also HAIII I believe. Overall fit and finish is pretty good with my only minor gripe being the barrel favors the left side of the barrel channel just a bit. The barrel is still free floated but when we are up in this price range I would like to see it centered. There are no big gaps between the receiver and stock or the trigger group and stock. The barreled action sits firmly in the stock and actually takes a bit of finesse to remove and install. It is not like a regular 10/22 that will slide in and out with very little effort, you actually hear it pop loose upon removal and snap into place when installing.
*Stock and Weight
-Upon picking up the rifle I noticed it isn't a very heavy gun and it balances fairly well. It is a bit muzzle heavy and for that reason I believe Ruger should eventually offer the same rifle, but with a match version of the barrel on the TL for those looking to use it in steel challenge style matches. I plan to use this in NRL22 and as a general use rifle so the balance doesn't bother me much. As it is setup, my rifle weighs 8.8lbs with a 8-32x44 Mueller and a 6-9" Harris bipod.
- The finish on the stock isn't an aggressive texture but does help add some additional grip. I find it to be a welcome feel vs the smooth finish on the target lite (TL).The stock is comfortable for the most part but I find the grip to be a bit small in diameter and short in length. When shooting in positions besides offhand I find my hand waiting to make its way down towards the bottom of the grip and my pinky almost underneath the grip. This could stem though from having used a Ruger American in a MDT chassis for the last year and getting used to a true pistol grip that put my finger tip directly in line with the bottom of the trigger. The adjustable cheek rest is a nice feature but could have been a bit wider. I have not needed to raise it up to use with my scope mounted in low Warne rings. I have adjusted it forward to maintain the correct eye relief and found it easy to adjust.
*Receiver and Barrel
-The receiver is milled from a solid piece of 6061-T6511 and includes an integral 30moa extended picatinny rail. The machining is well done and I have not seen any flaws or machining marks. The rail is clean cut and my Warne rings fit tight with no play. Ruger did get on board with some common upgrades and joined the ranks of KIDD and CST when they added the rear hold down. It is styled after the KIDD but attaches like the CST rear hold down and also features the custom shop logo on top. It adds a fair amount of stability to the action when it is in the stock. The receiver also has a cleaning hole drilled in it but you have to remove the tang to access it. Another added feature is the addition of a screw under the pic rail extension which screws into the receiver while the head rests in a notch in the top of the barrel. From my understanding this is to help reduce barrel droop. I have not yet removed the barrel to see exactly how this works but there are pictures in the manual which shows it. The only real gripe I have with the receiver is the bolt buffer will not stay in place unless you hold it there. It slides freely through the hole without any resistance making it a bit annoying when trying to assemble the rifle.
-The barrel is 16.125" with flutes. ½-28 threads and a small amount of safety writing on the bottom side. It comes with a radial compensator that seems to ever so slightly reduce barrel jump but does, in my opinion, add greatly to the appearance. I expected the comp to make the rifle noticeably louder but that only seems to be true when shooting HV ammo, standard velocity sounds the same as a rifle without a comp. The only real downside to it coming with the comp is there is no included thread protector if you wanted to run it without the comp. According to Ruger the barrel has an improved semi-auto chamber to increase accuracy but maintain reliable operation. I am not exactly for sure how much tighter the chamber is over a standard 10/22 chamber but I have had trouble at times getting unfired rounds to extract when manually cycling the bolt. There have also been times when I have had to give the charging handle a small bump to get it to fully seat a round.
*Bolt and Trigger
-The bolt is probably one of the best features of this rifle. It is a CNC machined bolt with no rough spots like a standard factory bolt. It features a hard black coating which is slicker than a well-greased pig. It comes with a pinned firing pin as well as the rear bottom of the bolt is radiused. The slick coating, quality machining on the bolt, plus the well machined receiver results in the smoothest operating 10/22 I have ever shot. Even when suppressed the rifle is still smooth. The headspace is set at about .043-.044" from what I was able to read with my calipers. The charging handle is oversized and has a non-captured spring.
-The trigger is a BX group with the addition of an auto bolt release and an extended mag release. The trigger pull is 2.1lbs with some creep in the take up and a little bit of over travel, it will most likely get sent to Brimstone for a trigger job and one of their flat faced trigger. The bolt release works just as it should. As for the mag release it too works well and is a very nice addition. It is very easy to push with your trigger finger while still remaining low profile and not presenting a big opportunity for an accidental release. I have noticed though that the mag release does make it a bit harder to find the bolt stop tab but I am getting used to it and it is becoming easier to do with use. The mag release is the only part on the rifle I have seen for sale on Shop Ruger.
*Shooting Impressions
-As I have already said I find this to be the smoothest operating factory 10/22 I have handled. The TL we have has a horribly gritty action even after polishing the receiver and bolt. When I first started shooting the CSC I never cleaned the rifle or did anything to it. It shot 100 rounds without issue and then it started acting up. When I would cycle the bolt it would load a round just fine but when I pulled the trigger it did not fire. I could pull the bolt back and the round would stay in the chamber with only a light primer strike; let go of the bolt, pull the trigger and it would fire plus extract the empty round and load another. At this point the problem would start again. I shot a few more groups with it like this and then stopped until I could clean it. I was able to get it cleaned the next night and the no-fire condition has not been an issue since (somewhere between 150-175 rounds). I am still having problems though with it sometimes not extracting an unfired round and if this persists it will get a new extractor.
-As for accuracy I will let the groups do the talking. I know they might not be as great as you would expect for a "custom shop" rifle but I see potential and feel they will get better with more rounds through it and a more thorough ammo test,
-The first set of groups are from the first day of shooting before I did anything to the rifle. These were also when I was basically hand cycling the action to get it to fire. The weather was sunny, about 50℉, and no wind. They were shot prone at 50yds off a bipod and rear bag, all are 5rd groups using CCI SV. I started on the right and went to the left from bottom to top. The top pic are the first four groups followed by the next seven groups.
-These next targets were shot two days later in 34℉ temps with wind and overcast, windchill was about 27℉. They were shot by a buddy of mine off of his bench using a bipod and rear bag. The first white target is doing a torque test on the two action screws. He started at 10in-lbs and worked up to 35in-lbs in 5in-lbs increments. As you can see the rifle liked the screws being on the tighter side at 35in-lbs. The second target is a torque test on just the rear screw. He left the front screw at 35in-lbs and then adjusted the rear screw from 10in-lbs to 25in-lbs. He ended up settling on 35 for the front and 20 for the rear. Both of the white targets were shot using CCI SV. I don't have a picture of the group but one group was shot with the rear screw not attached and it was the largest group shot. *Due to to many pics in this post, pictures are in second post*
-This target was shot on the same day and same manner as the two torque test targets. It was shot using a variety of Eley and SK ammo. I had run out of Lapua Center-X during the ammo test of my last rifle so it didn't get included. Each ammo has two 5rd groups The stand outs from this test are Eley Club, SK Rifle Match, and SK Pistol Match Special. You might have to enlarge the photos to see it but each group has the ammo, lot number, and group size wrote inside the individual box. Due to the cold weather and windy conditions when this was done, we plan to revisit this ammo test in warmer weather on a calmer day and from a more solid rest. *Due to having too many pics in this post the groups are posted in the second post*
Ammo/ Smallest Group/ Largest Group
CCI SV/ .565/ .661
Eley Target/ .584/ .641
Eley Club/ .369/ .464
Eley Force/ .713/ 1.128
Eley HV HP/ .578/ .707
SK Rifle Match/ .314/ .638
SK Pistol Match Special/ .409/ .511
Wolf Match Extra (Lapua)/ .589/ .633
SK magazine/ .497/ .660
Test/ Group
Eley Club w/ comp .381
Eley Club w/o comp .394
Eley Club w/ suppressor .497
*Summary
-Overall I am pleased with the rifle. It shoots well, handles nicely and has good fit and finish. I got the rifle for $659 plus tax and I feel it was worth it. With all of the features this rifle comes with it would be hard to build an equivalent rifle any cheaper in my opinion. Compared to the target lite I believe it would depend on what you plan to do with the rifle and if you want the added features. The TL we have will also shoot really well, handles well, is better balanced with its lighter barrel and the BX trigger in it is nicer. With that said I would still take the CSC as the action is so much smoother, the bolt already has every upgrade/modification an aftermarket bolt has, the receiver is of better quality and finish, the rear hold down does seem to make a difference and the integral rail is very nice. The TL is now selling for about $510 plus tax so you would save some but by the time you swap the bolt or send it to CPC to get a smoother action, change or mod the bolt release, add an extended mag release, add a 30moa rail (not sure if that is critical for most people), and put on a comp if you want; you aren't far behind the CSC. I feel with the CSC if the accuracy is not good enough for someone then it is a solid platform to fit a true match barrel to such as a Shilen select match grade. One thing that has been discovered is a KIDD two stage will not fit in the stock without relieving some of the wood so be aware of that if you would want to go to one of those. Also with the 30moa rail I had to practically bottom out my scope to get it sighted it, I believe I came up one revolution to get it sighted in at 50yds.
-I hope this overly long review has been worth while for someone and answers any questions you might have, if not I'll do my best to answer them.
*Overall Fit and Finish/Initial Impressions
-The rifle ships in a simple hard sided case that greatly resembles the $10 Flambeu case I picked up at Walmart last year. When you open it up you will find the rifle inside a plastic sleeve and held in by 3 hook & loop straps. There is also the normal 10/22 action lock deal along with a formal looking red envelop. Inside the envelope you will find the regular 10/22 owner's manual, the CSC supplemental manual, a custom shop (CS) challenge coin, a CS cleaning cloth, CS decal, and a CS letter of authenticity.
-The stock is laminated and painted grey with a course textured finish. The receiver is, as best as I can tell, a well applied HAIII. It does pick up fingerprints well and might be a bit hard to keep spotless if that is your thing. The barrel is a matte blue/black, I'm not sure what the specific finish is on it and the compensator is also HAIII I believe. Overall fit and finish is pretty good with my only minor gripe being the barrel favors the left side of the barrel channel just a bit. The barrel is still free floated but when we are up in this price range I would like to see it centered. There are no big gaps between the receiver and stock or the trigger group and stock. The barreled action sits firmly in the stock and actually takes a bit of finesse to remove and install. It is not like a regular 10/22 that will slide in and out with very little effort, you actually hear it pop loose upon removal and snap into place when installing.
*Stock and Weight
-Upon picking up the rifle I noticed it isn't a very heavy gun and it balances fairly well. It is a bit muzzle heavy and for that reason I believe Ruger should eventually offer the same rifle, but with a match version of the barrel on the TL for those looking to use it in steel challenge style matches. I plan to use this in NRL22 and as a general use rifle so the balance doesn't bother me much. As it is setup, my rifle weighs 8.8lbs with a 8-32x44 Mueller and a 6-9" Harris bipod.
- The finish on the stock isn't an aggressive texture but does help add some additional grip. I find it to be a welcome feel vs the smooth finish on the target lite (TL).The stock is comfortable for the most part but I find the grip to be a bit small in diameter and short in length. When shooting in positions besides offhand I find my hand waiting to make its way down towards the bottom of the grip and my pinky almost underneath the grip. This could stem though from having used a Ruger American in a MDT chassis for the last year and getting used to a true pistol grip that put my finger tip directly in line with the bottom of the trigger. The adjustable cheek rest is a nice feature but could have been a bit wider. I have not needed to raise it up to use with my scope mounted in low Warne rings. I have adjusted it forward to maintain the correct eye relief and found it easy to adjust.
*Receiver and Barrel
-The receiver is milled from a solid piece of 6061-T6511 and includes an integral 30moa extended picatinny rail. The machining is well done and I have not seen any flaws or machining marks. The rail is clean cut and my Warne rings fit tight with no play. Ruger did get on board with some common upgrades and joined the ranks of KIDD and CST when they added the rear hold down. It is styled after the KIDD but attaches like the CST rear hold down and also features the custom shop logo on top. It adds a fair amount of stability to the action when it is in the stock. The receiver also has a cleaning hole drilled in it but you have to remove the tang to access it. Another added feature is the addition of a screw under the pic rail extension which screws into the receiver while the head rests in a notch in the top of the barrel. From my understanding this is to help reduce barrel droop. I have not yet removed the barrel to see exactly how this works but there are pictures in the manual which shows it. The only real gripe I have with the receiver is the bolt buffer will not stay in place unless you hold it there. It slides freely through the hole without any resistance making it a bit annoying when trying to assemble the rifle.
-The barrel is 16.125" with flutes. ½-28 threads and a small amount of safety writing on the bottom side. It comes with a radial compensator that seems to ever so slightly reduce barrel jump but does, in my opinion, add greatly to the appearance. I expected the comp to make the rifle noticeably louder but that only seems to be true when shooting HV ammo, standard velocity sounds the same as a rifle without a comp. The only real downside to it coming with the comp is there is no included thread protector if you wanted to run it without the comp. According to Ruger the barrel has an improved semi-auto chamber to increase accuracy but maintain reliable operation. I am not exactly for sure how much tighter the chamber is over a standard 10/22 chamber but I have had trouble at times getting unfired rounds to extract when manually cycling the bolt. There have also been times when I have had to give the charging handle a small bump to get it to fully seat a round.
*Bolt and Trigger
-The bolt is probably one of the best features of this rifle. It is a CNC machined bolt with no rough spots like a standard factory bolt. It features a hard black coating which is slicker than a well-greased pig. It comes with a pinned firing pin as well as the rear bottom of the bolt is radiused. The slick coating, quality machining on the bolt, plus the well machined receiver results in the smoothest operating 10/22 I have ever shot. Even when suppressed the rifle is still smooth. The headspace is set at about .043-.044" from what I was able to read with my calipers. The charging handle is oversized and has a non-captured spring.
-The trigger is a BX group with the addition of an auto bolt release and an extended mag release. The trigger pull is 2.1lbs with some creep in the take up and a little bit of over travel, it will most likely get sent to Brimstone for a trigger job and one of their flat faced trigger. The bolt release works just as it should. As for the mag release it too works well and is a very nice addition. It is very easy to push with your trigger finger while still remaining low profile and not presenting a big opportunity for an accidental release. I have noticed though that the mag release does make it a bit harder to find the bolt stop tab but I am getting used to it and it is becoming easier to do with use. The mag release is the only part on the rifle I have seen for sale on Shop Ruger.
*Shooting Impressions
-As I have already said I find this to be the smoothest operating factory 10/22 I have handled. The TL we have has a horribly gritty action even after polishing the receiver and bolt. When I first started shooting the CSC I never cleaned the rifle or did anything to it. It shot 100 rounds without issue and then it started acting up. When I would cycle the bolt it would load a round just fine but when I pulled the trigger it did not fire. I could pull the bolt back and the round would stay in the chamber with only a light primer strike; let go of the bolt, pull the trigger and it would fire plus extract the empty round and load another. At this point the problem would start again. I shot a few more groups with it like this and then stopped until I could clean it. I was able to get it cleaned the next night and the no-fire condition has not been an issue since (somewhere between 150-175 rounds). I am still having problems though with it sometimes not extracting an unfired round and if this persists it will get a new extractor.
-As for accuracy I will let the groups do the talking. I know they might not be as great as you would expect for a "custom shop" rifle but I see potential and feel they will get better with more rounds through it and a more thorough ammo test,
-The first set of groups are from the first day of shooting before I did anything to the rifle. These were also when I was basically hand cycling the action to get it to fire. The weather was sunny, about 50℉, and no wind. They were shot prone at 50yds off a bipod and rear bag, all are 5rd groups using CCI SV. I started on the right and went to the left from bottom to top. The top pic are the first four groups followed by the next seven groups.
-These next targets were shot two days later in 34℉ temps with wind and overcast, windchill was about 27℉. They were shot by a buddy of mine off of his bench using a bipod and rear bag. The first white target is doing a torque test on the two action screws. He started at 10in-lbs and worked up to 35in-lbs in 5in-lbs increments. As you can see the rifle liked the screws being on the tighter side at 35in-lbs. The second target is a torque test on just the rear screw. He left the front screw at 35in-lbs and then adjusted the rear screw from 10in-lbs to 25in-lbs. He ended up settling on 35 for the front and 20 for the rear. Both of the white targets were shot using CCI SV. I don't have a picture of the group but one group was shot with the rear screw not attached and it was the largest group shot. *Due to to many pics in this post, pictures are in second post*
-This target was shot on the same day and same manner as the two torque test targets. It was shot using a variety of Eley and SK ammo. I had run out of Lapua Center-X during the ammo test of my last rifle so it didn't get included. Each ammo has two 5rd groups The stand outs from this test are Eley Club, SK Rifle Match, and SK Pistol Match Special. You might have to enlarge the photos to see it but each group has the ammo, lot number, and group size wrote inside the individual box. Due to the cold weather and windy conditions when this was done, we plan to revisit this ammo test in warmer weather on a calmer day and from a more solid rest. *Due to having too many pics in this post the groups are posted in the second post*
Ammo/ Smallest Group/ Largest Group
CCI SV/ .565/ .661
Eley Target/ .584/ .641
Eley Club/ .369/ .464
Eley Force/ .713/ 1.128
Eley HV HP/ .578/ .707
SK Rifle Match/ .314/ .638
SK Pistol Match Special/ .409/ .511
Wolf Match Extra (Lapua)/ .589/ .633
SK magazine/ .497/ .660
Test/ Group
Eley Club w/ comp .381
Eley Club w/o comp .394
Eley Club w/ suppressor .497
*Summary
-Overall I am pleased with the rifle. It shoots well, handles nicely and has good fit and finish. I got the rifle for $659 plus tax and I feel it was worth it. With all of the features this rifle comes with it would be hard to build an equivalent rifle any cheaper in my opinion. Compared to the target lite I believe it would depend on what you plan to do with the rifle and if you want the added features. The TL we have will also shoot really well, handles well, is better balanced with its lighter barrel and the BX trigger in it is nicer. With that said I would still take the CSC as the action is so much smoother, the bolt already has every upgrade/modification an aftermarket bolt has, the receiver is of better quality and finish, the rear hold down does seem to make a difference and the integral rail is very nice. The TL is now selling for about $510 plus tax so you would save some but by the time you swap the bolt or send it to CPC to get a smoother action, change or mod the bolt release, add an extended mag release, add a 30moa rail (not sure if that is critical for most people), and put on a comp if you want; you aren't far behind the CSC. I feel with the CSC if the accuracy is not good enough for someone then it is a solid platform to fit a true match barrel to such as a Shilen select match grade. One thing that has been discovered is a KIDD two stage will not fit in the stock without relieving some of the wood so be aware of that if you would want to go to one of those. Also with the 30moa rail I had to practically bottom out my scope to get it sighted it, I believe I came up one revolution to get it sighted in at 50yds.
-I hope this overly long review has been worth while for someone and answers any questions you might have, if not I'll do my best to answer them.