The Rimfire Report: An (Almost) 100% Aftermarket 10/22

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of guns, ammo, shooting sports, and history! Over the last 5 years working with TFB I’ve had the honor and privilege to be able to review some of the latest products that come out in both the broader firearm world, as well as the niche market of rimfire firearms. I was recently invited to test out one of the new TANDEMKROSS “Spitfire” Lightweight 10/22 barrels that were just released less than two weeks ago. One thing I’ve been struggling with when it comes to my ragged assortment of 10/22 pattern parts is that most of the parts from my original 10/22s have been sacrificed for various other rimfire projects. To that end, I just decided to go ahead and use as few of my factory Ruger parts as possible and go all in on a new build to see what a full aftermarket 10/22 build can do. So today on The Rimfire Report, I’m going to give you guys an overview of what I’ve been up to with this almost 100% aftermarket part 10/22 build.

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

The Rimfire Report: Ruger American Rimfire Long-Range Target The Rimfire Report: Do .22LR Bullet Coatings Matter? The Rimfire Report: Mossad’s Deadly Legacy with Beretta Model 71

The Rimfire Report: An (Almost) 100% Aftermarket 10/22

I think we can all agree there’s something iconic about the Ruger 10/22. With its dated yet iconic design, simplicity, and reliability, it’s become a favorite for shooters of all levels and is still often the first gun that most kids get to shoot first. Yet, like any great platform, there’s always room for improvement, especially when you start looking at what aftermarket companies like TANDEMKROSS and Volquartsen bring to the table. When I received the new TANDEMKROSS Spitfire lightweight barrel, I got to work on a 10/22-focused high-speed lightweight Steel Challenge rig with the Sptifire arguably being the core, or at least the impetus, for the build.

I wanted to keep it aesthetically pleasing to match the anodized gold barrel that hides under the jet-black M-LOK outer sleeve. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea but since I had a bunch of Tyrant CNC AR-15 parts lying around, and the ManticoreX trigger group I had was jet black, I went ahead and included a Tyrant Concept 1 pistol grip, and MOD V2 Foregrip. With both TANDEMKROSS and Tyrant CNC, the emphasis on ergonomics, materials, and styling quality is at the forefront of their business models, so I think they pair pretty well together. While TANDEMKROSS is slowly working its way to just providing customers with complete builds, they’re still well-known in the rimfire world as a sold aftermarket parts producer, especially for products that cater to competitive shooters. So, I figured, why not go all in? I wanted to see if I could keep the spirit of the 10/22 alive while using as few Ruger parts as possible.

The Manticore X Lower makes use of your existing 10/22 receiver, or in my case, my  Fletcher Rifle Works OpenTop 11/22 receiver. The Manticore X merges the chassis and trigger assembly of the 10/22 which makes the entire platform much easier to take down and service and also gives the user some nice quality-of-life features like a folding stock, and an AR-15 style pistol grip and fire selector. Combine that with the easy-to-service FRW 11/22 receiver and this means that as a high-volume shooter, you have easy cleaning and maintenance access without the need for a bunch of extra tools since the pins that hold the receiver and the lower together are self-captured pins. There is a convenient storage space for your factory pins in the rear of the Manticore X lower.

Fletcher Rifle Works OpenTop 11/22 Receiver

The Fletcher Rifle Works Opentop 11/22 isn’t on the list of compatible receivers with the Manticore X, but I can independently confirm that it does indeed work. I think the combination adds a bit of extra style, too, keeping with the TANDEMKROSS and Tyrant CNC angular styling theme. We’ve covered the OpenTop 11/22 project from Fletcher Rifle Works and Sebastian Unger a ton here on TFB, if you’re looking for more info on that specific receiver, you can check out more articles about it here.

The Spitfire Lightweight Barrel comes in a number of different color combinations depending on your preferences for both the sleeve and the barrel itself. The barrels are quite pricey starting at $300 but they also come complete with their own set of M-LOK compatible fiber optic iron sights, and they’re all also threaded 1/2×28 straight from the factory and come with thread protectors and a nice thick o-ring. The whole barrel weighs in at a mere 11.2 ounces which is a drastic reduction in weight compared to a standard 30.24 ounces. So nearly three times the price for roughly one-third of weight.

The end of the barrel and sleeve are designed so that they fit perfectly with the TK Game Changer Pro Comp which I transferred from my Ruger MK IV to this gun for just this build. The Game Changer comp adds back in an additional half ounce of weight, but I’m sure the compensator more than makes up for it. While I didn’t add the iron sights, I did make use of the M-LOK chassis to mount a matching foregrip for the Tyrant CNC Concept One pistol grip. This extra bit of grip is more comfortable for the size of my hands.

The Missing Piece: The “KrossFire” Bolt

While arguably the most important part of the 10/22 platform, I still only have bog standard Ruger 10/22 bolts available to me and really haven’t had the opportunity to try out any of the nicer aftermarket 10/22 bolts on the market. While not a proper range session, I took a few minutes to function check the rifle in its current configuration with the Ruger bolt and found it to be flawlessly reliable with high-velocity Aguila Super Extra 40 grain as well as CCI’s Clean-22 Polymer Coated 40-grain target ammo. More extensive reliability testing is going to be done over the coming weeks, with the end goal of having it reliable enough to take to a local Outlaw Steel Challenge match.

A proper optic will also have to be selected and mounted to the rifle before it’s ready to take to a match that I’m paying money for. I’ve always enjoyed my Trijicon SRO but I’m also thinking of just purchasing another C-MORE red dot. Since the polymer models of the C-MORE are already super lightweight, and it’s an optic that I know would compliment the already somewhat edgy aethestietic that this rifle already has. However, I have a few other more modern optics that I think would also go pretty well with the Manticore X OpenTop 11/22.

Initial Thoughts Upon Completion

All in all, this custom 10/22 build looks like it’s almost ready to perform in the Rimfire Steel Challenge. It weighs in at just a touch over 4 lbs with most of the weight being centered towards the rear. While not at an optimal level for my liking, the gun is currently tuned well enough with both bulk and match-specific ammo, and built for quick target transitions with minimal effort from the shooter—everything you’d want in a competition rimfire rifle. On top of that, it runs great suppressed as well but still gets as infamously dirty as any other 10/22 shooting bulk ammo.

While aesthetics may be a personal thing, I have to admit that I was pretty fortunate to have those Tyrant CNC parts on hand. Sometimes, that added confidence from a good-looking build can enhance the whole shooting experience or just spark up a friendly conversation at the range which is part of the reason I love going to competitions. More rounds downrange will confirm its reliability for competition and determine whether or not I convert this to a true 100% aftermarket build with an aftermarket bolt. However, based on my early tests I might just mount an optic, zero it, and go for it this month! Wish me luck and as always, thanks for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report! We’ll see you again next week!