Like the occasional sore throat or stubbed toe, factory 10/22 triggers are just a fact of life we live with. They crunch and grind along through their take-up. Then they hit
Enter the Ultimate 10/22 Trigger Upgrade from TandemKross. An exquisitely machined and presented trigger parts group that literally turns the 10/22 into an entirely new gun. From the aggressively textured wide flat shoe, to the polished tool-steel sear and hammer, to the precision spring, the entire Ultimate Trigger Kit is everything a top-shelf trigger must be. And the older your 10/22, the bigger the difference in upgrade experience.
SKIP AHEAD
Metamorphosis
By any standard, the aftermarket components for the Ruger 10/22 is deep. So much so that its easily possible to replace every single piece of a Ruger 10/22 with non-
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One part in particular has always defined the 10/22 and that is its exceptionally consistent trigger. No, not that the trigger consistently delivers, but that it consistently disappoints. The crunchy 10/22 factory triggers were just something we put up with, likely leveraging the low 10/22 price point to defend our low trigger standards. Even Ruger seemed not to care. It was as if a poor trigger was just another part of the 10/22 Rite-of-Passage that nearly every gun owner passed through. The Ruger 10/22 snuggled in nicely between the Schwinn Varsity and the high mileage F150. You know, somewhere between grade school and your first real job. Iron sights and minute-of-tin-can accuracy were plenty for those days, but now that we know that precision and accuracy should be givens, not dreams. The dated philosophy behind the archaic 10/22 trigger has come to an end.
Modern Family
By using electrical discharge machining (EDM) for the finer points on the hammer and sear, TandemKross in collaboration with Brimstone Gunsmithing has brought the mid-20th century 10/22 fully into the 21st century. Brimstone Gunsmithing, located on the opposite end of country from TandemKross (in Washington while TK is in New Hampshire), has tremendous experience with triggers of the 10/22 variety among others. Compared to many aftermarket triggers, the starting price of $135 for the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger hardly induces sticker shock. Many triggers at twice that price are common.
Learn your Gun
The installation of the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger is straightforward with just a few places where choice matters. There is an excellent video on Youtube that walks
The video for the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger walks you slowly through the disassembly and reassembly of the 10/22 trigger group. The only hiccup I noticed is the orientation of the hammer spring. On the video, the spring is blocked in view so it takes a moment of sleuthing to make sure it’s oriented correctly. It’s one of those things that makes perfect sense after you know how to align it.
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The first time I installed a TandemKross Ultimate Trigger it took me about 25 minutes, partially to do it right, but mostly to savor the wonderful experience of upgrading
Upgrade and Up-Upgrade
Two version of the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger are available, each in two different colors, red and black. The standard TandemKross Ultimate Trigger is for the factory 10/22 trigger group. The other offering is a TandemKross Ultimate Trigger with an extra part for upgrading the Ruger BX Trigger group. Which of course begs the question of why upgrade and upgrade? Easy answer. Because it truly is an upgrade to the upgrade. The entire feel and operation of the trigger is improved including the aggressive and colorful flat-faced shoe. Sadly, the $89 BX trigger that Ruger sells within its own aftermarket catalog should really be the standard trigger that every 10/22 comes with. It’s a good starting point with still plenty of room for improvement.
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The days of substandard out-of-the-box performance should be over. But alas, Ruger, like many gun manufacturers, still sleeps well at night knowing that many of it’s
Anyway, at least in our current 10/22 reality, that’s how it is. Or perhaps not? During my upgrading of two different 10/22 rifles with TandemKross Ultimate Triggers, I noticed that my most recently purchased 10/22 was considerably more polished and smooth in finish work that the other one that was from the 1990s. In fact the earlier one was shockingly crude inside compared to the more current one. So that means that the older your 10/22, the bigger the perceived upgrade.
10/22 Version 2.0
According to TandemKross, “The design of the factory spring and plunger requires a heavier spring in order to have consistent, positive resets. The “Ultimate” Trigger
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In my scientific trigger pull tests, the TandemKross Ultimate Triggers constantly broke at 3.2 pounds with very limited take-up and almost no overtravel. Comparing the TandemKross Ultimate Triggers to the stock trigger was more Venus and Mars than night and day or apples and oranges. The factory Ruger 10/22 trigger broke weakly at almost twice the poundage, and three times the travel. And the ride was pretty bumpy along the way. In my force vs. displacement tests, the stock trigger broke at just under six pounds, and 0.15 inches of travel. The 3.2 pound snap of the TandemKross Ultimate Triggers happened at around 0.1 inches of travel (I forgot to zero the displacement sensor so the travel is from -.05 to +.05). Further, my graphs clearly show a distinct difference in break.
The TandemKross Ultimate Triggers is instantaneous while the factory Ruger trigger seemed to need some time to think about breaking as indicated by the slope of the line rather than a vertical drop. While the factory trigger may sound to your ear like it’s obviously made up its mind when it’s time to break, the graph shows some hesitation. Compared to the redesigned sear, hammer and spring of the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger, the Ruger trigger takes its sweet time to punch the firing pin while the Ultimate Trigger shows no detectable hesitation.
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Furthering the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger experience is the glorious aluminium shoe. By increasing the face area as well as flattening it, the index finger has a solid
So put a TandemKross Ultimate Trigger into your Ruger and fall in love with your 10/22 all over again. It really is that good.