There’s been plenty written about the Ruger 10/22 Takedown since its March 2012 release. I was intrigued to discover that I couldn’t easily find a review that put more than 10 rounds through the rifle, breaking it down and reassembling it after each shot. So, I sought to put 30 rounds in this manner to see if the Takedown really would return to zero like Ruger puts in their advertising.

I took a brand new out of the box Ruger 10/22 Takedown (Model 10/22-TDT), and Winchester 36 grain hollow point copper plated rounds out for the test. I had considered using a scope, but I really wanted to literally take the rifle out of the box and just start shooting. Also, many Takedown fans have this rifle in their bug out bag, and it got me thinking that in survival mode I’m not sure I would want a scope that could eventually break, as well as add weight. But I digress.

Shooter’s perspective with the Ruger 10/22 Takedown. Note the author’s high-tech rifle rest.

My first three sighting rounds at 50 yards were a 2 inch group.

They were hitting low right, and I wanted to test myself by just working with what I had and not adjusting the sights. I taped up the target and started my 30 shot string by doing the following for every single shot:

1. Assembled the rifle
2. Loaded one round in the 10 round magazine (I used the same magazine for the whole test) and inserted it into the rifle
3. Dropped the bolt, flipped the safety off
4. Fired one round
5. Flipped the safety on, took out the magazine, opened the bolt, broke the rifle down
6. Reassembled the rifle, and went back to Step #2

I walked down range after 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 rounds. You can see the progression of me walking it in, along with a few flyers here and there.

30 rounds, all accounted for.

Pleased, but not satisfied with what I saw, I decided to throw another 20 rounds down range, taking the rifle down and reassembling after each shot.

50 total rounds. I believe a few went through and through in the last 20 shots.

After putting 50 rounds downrange in the aforementioned manner and seeing them all hit paper, I have to say that I think the Takedown is capable of holding zero after reassembly. What would be interesting is to perform this test again with a Takedown that has a few thousand rounds put through it and more wear and tear from the takedown/reassembly process. That’ll be another review though for another time — for now, I’ll be adding the Ruger 10/22 Takedown to my bug out bag.

www.Ruger.com.

Chris Cheng is History Channel’s Top Shot Season 4 champion. A self-taught amateur turned pro through his Top Shot win, Cheng very much still considers himself an amateur who parachuted into this new career. He is a professional marksman for Bass Pro Shops who shares his thoughts and experiences from the perspective of a newbie to the shooting community. www.TopShotChris.com.