Vortex Crossfire<\/a> red-dot optic. The optic is a no-brainer since the 22 Charger has no iron sights. The brace and the suppressor are logical additions, making the gun more stable to shoot and exceptionally quiet.<\/p>\nI\u2019ve chewed through between 2,000 and 3,000 rounds of ammo with this gun from at least six different manufacturers.\u00a0 My kids have shot nearly a 1,000 rounds as well, feeling like the 22 Charger is their entry into \u201cmodern\u201d guns, unlike the hand-me-down bolt-action .22\u2019s I learned on and passed to them.<\/p>\n
The 22 Charger is a fun gun to shoot, as nearly every suppressed .22 LR gun is. The factory trigger is fine, neither too heavy nor too gritty. The gun is light, balanced and always enjoyable to shoot. Except when it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
When I first shot this gun two years ago it was my opinion the trigger would be the first part to get replaced if I started upgrading this gun. I still feel that way, only because I haven\u2019t isolated the creeping reliability issues that started around 500 rounds, and have persisted despite deep<\/strong> cleaning, ammunition changes and magazine replacements.<\/p>\nIf I was only getting one type of malfunction, it would be easy to diagnose. I\u2019m getting failure-to-feed, failure-to-extract, stovepipes and occasional light strikes. This isn\u2019t a high enough round count to justify the gun giving me issues on \u00a0less than 10% of the rounds fired.\u00a0 I know .22 LR firearms, by their size and nature, especially being such a narrow, slender round, are known for being finnicky. Again, none of it has been enough to make me put the gun up or make any drastic changes to it. And to be fair, this is the only one I own and have shot, so it could be something unique to this one gun.<\/p>\n
Returning to all other aspects, the 22 Charger is still a good gun. Shooting from a rest will get groups around 1.5 MOA at 50 yards with CCI Mini-Mags. Shooting standing while leaning against a post makes it easy to drop rounds onto a 6-inch square at 100 yards, despite the 2 MOA red-dot taking up a third of the target. Even my kids (around 10 to 12 years old) have an easy time dropping rounds onto the 100-yard target. This isn\u2019t \u201crecord-breaking\u201d shooting nor accuracy, but from a roughly $300 gun, I\u2019m very happy with it.<\/p>\n
One upgrade I always did to older 10\/22 rifles was dropping in a \u201cpaddle\u201d style mag release lever, ditching the OEM button that plagued my gloved hands growing up in Alaska.<\/p>\n
Running basic drills transitioning from target to target (usually clay pigeons) is easy, as the 22 Charger is well balanced with the PSA triangle brace.\u00a0 This specific brace folds to the left side, staying clear of the charging handle.<\/p>\n
Of course the 22 Charger shines with subsonic ammo, given that I\u2019ve suppressed it. This makes a wonderfully quiet platform, and the bolt noise of the 10\/22 platform is pretty minimal. Dropping birds near the garden doesn\u2019t bother a soul. People elsewhere on the homestead usually don\u2019t even hear it, and nearby birds are hardly disturbed.<\/p>\n
Summary<\/h3>\n Boiling my experiences with the Ruger 22 down into a brief statement leaves me with: \u201cbittersweet, but heavy on the sweet.\u201d Reliability issues are always frustrating, even when they\u2019re expected to a degree in .22 LR chambered guns. When it runs though, which is most of the time, the Ruger 22 Charger is one of the most enjoyable guns I\u2019ve ever owned.<\/p>\n
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