TUF-22 Initial Impressions and First Range Report

[TheNatural21]

I Managed to get to the range for a bit after work to test some ammo at 100m. I only tested those that grouped less than 0.75" on average at 50m. I was thrilled to see four kinds of ammo average JUST under MOA at 100m - Eley Sport, Eley Contact, Lapua Midas+, Lapua Center-X. There were some sub MOA groups from others (notably CCI SV), but the average was a bit over. Best group of the day went to Eley Sport at 0.7", best average went to Lapua Midas+ at 0.97", and most consistent groups came from Eley Contact. At 100m (which is a bit more than 100 yards), 1MOA is about 1.15", and the 4 best performing cartridges all averaged between 0.97-1.05 inches. It was a bit breezy and it's possible that I could do better on a perfectly calm day, but I don't think the difference would be big.

I was surprised to see SK Rifle Match and SK Flatnose Basic get a lot of vertical dispersion at 100m. They both grouped really tightly at 50. My chronograph battery was dead, but I suspect there was a lot of muzzle velocity variation.

The rifle performed pretty well. I still had a failure about 3% of the time, but it's breaking in nicely. I've narrowed the failures down to 2 potential issues: the extra friction from that ejector that is perhaps still not finished wearing in against the bolt, and the fact that I'm using the regular spring with standard velocity ammo. I might order a lighter spring and see if that gets it running 100%.

 

[Teac]

I Managed to get to the range for a bit after work to test some ammo at 100m. I only tested those that grouped less than 0.75" on average at 50m. I was thrilled to see four kinds of ammo average JUST under MOA at 100m - Eley Sport, Eley Contact, Lapua Midas+, Lapua Center-X. There were some sub MOA groups from others (notably CCI SV), but the average was a bit over. Best group of the day went to Eley Sport at 0.7", best average went to Lapua Midas+ at 0.97", and most consistent groups came from Eley Contact. At 100m (which is a bit more than 100 yards), 1MOA is about 1.15", and the 4 best performing cartridges all averaged between 0.97-1.05 inches. It was a bit breezy and it's possible that I could do better on a perfectly calm day, but I don't think the difference would be big.

I was surprised to see SK Rifle Match and SK Flatnose Basic get a lot of vertical dispersion at 100m. They both grouped really tightly at 50. My chronograph battery was dead, but I suspect there was a lot of muzzle velocity variation.

The rifle performed pretty well. I still had a failure about 3% of the time, but it's breaking in nicely. I've narrowed the failures down to 2 potential issues: the extra friction from that ejector that is perhaps still not finished wearing in against the bolt, and the fact that I'm using the regular spring with standard velocity ammo. I might order a lighter spring and see if that gets it running 100%.

So is this barrel equal to a KIDD barrel? KIDD is supposed to shoot .5" at 50m which yours seems to do as well

 

[TheNatural21]

So is this barrel equal to a KIDD barrel? KIDD is supposed to shoot .5" at 50m which yours seems to do as well

Well... I've never owned a KIDD barrel so I can't say for sure. Rimfire central has a bunch of accuracy competition threads and there are more KIDDs near the top than Green Mountain (Dlask uses Green Mountain barrel blanks). But, this barrel is certainly up to the .5" at 50 standard.

 

[scuba52]

Where did you get your Victor Titan? Does the rear hold down block that says it's for the KIDD receivers work with the threads in the back of the Dlask?
There is 2 options for the rear hold down, they come down on an angle from the top of stock

 

[chalkriver2]

I am very happy with mine !

 

[TheNatural21]

I snapped a couple pictures when I went out to do some testing on the optic today.

 

[chevy]

Just finished ordering one on-line! Look forward to getting this bad boy out in the field

Just received a few days ago and just installed some optics so getting closer to getting this bad boy out in the field.
What you see is the basic Tuf-22 w/Hogue Stock but with an upgraded Kidd Ultra Light barrel and the Kidd single stage trigger.
With the optics the complete rifle weighs in at a cool 3 kg's on the dot.
It feels great in the hand and certainly should be a fun plinking rifle to shoot
Never owned anything quite like it so will be a learning curve - especially loading that magazine as there is certainly a technique involved without having ammo going where it shouldn't :-(
Can someone tell me if the regular 10/22 - 10 shot magazines work in the Dlask action?
Not sure what the stock is actually made of as feels kind of funky.........hard to describe as almost like a 5% velvet/velour finish?? So not sure what I should use to clean it??

 

[Teac]

Yes they work. ADDITIONALLY the special 25rd mags work.

Yes that stock looks kind of weird.

I have the same barrel

 

[TheNatural21]

Just received a few days ago and just installed some optics so getting closer to getting this bad boy out in the field.
What you see is the basic Tuf-22 w/Hogue Stock but with an upgraded Kidd Ultra Light barrel and the Kidd single stage trigger.
With the optics the complete rifle weighs in at a cool 3 kg's on the dot.
It feels great in the hand and certainly should be a fun plinking rifle to shoot
Never owned anything quite like it so will be a learning curve - especially loading that magazine as there is certainly a technique involved without having ammo going where it shouldn't :-(
Can someone tell me if the regular 10/22 - 10 shot magazines work in the Dlask action?
Not sure what the stock is actually made of as feels kind of funky.........hard to describe as almost like a 5% velvet/velour finish?? So not sure what I should use to clean it??

Great looking rifle! I'm curious to see how that KIDD barrel shoots - it would have been a tough decision if they had them in stock when I ordered.

The OEM magazine gets easier to load with practice. And the 10 round 10/22 mags should work fine.

 

[chevy]

Yes they work. ADDITIONALLY the special 25rd mags work.

Yes that stock looks kind of weird.

I have the same barrel

What kind of accuracy is your barrel capable of? Does it shoot the HV gopher rounds decently?
Thanks

 

[Teac]

What kind of accuracy is your barrel capable of? Does it shoot the HV gopher rounds decently?
Thanks

Just got it today, not yet used it

KIDD claims the bull barrel is guaranteed 1 MOA and the super light barrel should do the same but is not guaranteed. I only plink with the gun so I will not know how it does gophers.

However if I hunted gophers I would use a bolt 17 HMR

 

[chevy]

Just got it today, not yet used it

KIDD claims the bull barrel is guaranteed 1 MOA and the super light barrel should do the same but is not guaranteed. I only plink with the gun so I will not know how it does gophers.

However if I hunted gophers I would use a bolt 17 HMR

Yes, that is a great round for gophers.......I usually take 3 rifles when out shooting those little buggers.
221 Fireball for the fun factor and long range
17HMR for medium range
and now my Tuff22 for the short range shots

 

[Teac]

I wish we had gophers here

 

[chevy]

Just received a few days ago and just installed some optics so getting closer to getting this bad boy out in the field.
What you see is the basic Tuf-22 w/Hogue Stock but with an upgraded Kidd Ultra Light barrel and the Kidd single stage trigger.
With the optics the complete rifle weighs in at a cool 3 kg's on the dot.
It feels great in the hand and certainly should be a fun plinking rifle to shoot
Never owned anything quite like it so will be a learning curve - especially loading that magazine as there is certainly a technique involved without having ammo going where it shouldn't :-(
Can someone tell me if the regular 10/22 - 10 shot magazines work in the Dlask action?
Not sure what the stock is actually made of as feels kind of funky.........hard to describe as almost like a 5% velvet/velour finish?? So not sure what I should use to clean it??

Finally got my Dlask out to sight in at the gopher patch yesterday - waited till early afternoon with the slow down of gopher activity.
10 rounds to sight in and shot this 10 round group at 50 yards with American Eagle 38 gr. ammo. The AE's are my go to for the gopher patch and was totally blown away on how the Tuff-22 loves them! This is definitely my most accurate rifle with the AE's and its a SA - hard to believe!!
Found the magazine easier to load from the top as you can release the spring tension so they fall in easily - I find the gizmo to load all 20 at once to be more trouble as I usually scan for gophers while I'm loading. I have two other rifles at the ready so those little buggers have to be on their game to get past me
The first pic is the setup I had for the first half of the gopher shoot - a Tikka 22LR for the short range shots, a Tikka 17HMR for the long range ones and an Anschutz Model 1761 in 17M2 for the midrange buggers
I replaced the Tikka 22LR with the Tuff-22 @ midday. The second pic shows the 10 shot, 50 yard grouping.

 

[markt]

Here's a build I had Dlask put together for me (thanks Leigh!). It's a TUF-22 receiver, Green Mountain Fluted Sporter barrel, Kidd bolt, BX trigger and Magpul stock.

I'm super happy. With the lightweight barrel, the weight is 5.6 lbs and the centre of gravity just under the magazine well. My primary use is for shooting on steel but with a Nikon Rimfire 3-9x scope on it, I was able to get some 0.6" groups with CCI SV at 46 yds the other day. I've ordered a Brimstone Tier2 trigger which should help get the groups down a bit.

It's very reliable and feeds Fed Bulk, CCI SV, CCI Mini-Mags all very well.

The TUF-22 is a great option if you want to get something that is well-built.

 

[transumer]

I have a new Tuff22 receiver with 12.5 carbon barrel. I used upgraded Ruger bolt and Kidd trigger rebuild kit. Accurate up to 25 yards then opens up. Flip side I have Ruger receiver with Kidd bold and Kidd 16” Light fluted barrel and Timney trigger. Rifle #2 is definitely more accurate. I’ve only shot it out to 50 yards.

The Dlask build quality is great. I figure the 12.5” barrel is not ideal for accuracy but it’s so fun to handle. Weight difference between the two is max 1/2lb. Balance is great for both rifles. In fact the longer barrel does not “feel” longer than the shorter.

If I want accuracy I break out the Kidd barrelled rifle.

 

[TheNatural21]

I finally put a lighter weight recoil spring in my TUF-22. Since I pretty much only shoot standard velocity ammo (mostly CCI SV, but most match ammo is the same velocity), I was thinking the 1-2% of rounds that didn't feed properly might be spring related.

I also picked up several 10/22 10 round rotary mags that I was testing at the same time (previously I just used the 25 round mags). I've never used them before and I was trying to load them the same way I load the Savage A22 and B22 mags... which resulted in damaging a lot of the projectiles. Then, of course, the little nicks in the projectile caught on the edge of the chamber and prevented proper feeding (like 50% of the time!). I was about ready to throw the mags out when I realized the problem, loaded them properly, and didn't have another issue. Makes me wonder if the occasional issue I had before was ammo related and not spring related at all.

The last piece of the puzzle, the chassis or stock, is taking me a lot longer than I expected. I'm toying with the idea of the Oryx, but it's a bit on the heavy side and it bothers me that it doesn't have side Mlok slots. The other one that really caught my eye was the Bravo, but it seems to be taking the extremely long route to Canada. The magpul hunter isn't exactly what I'm after, but I'm thinking of picking one up as a decent compromise. With the swappable cheek pieces I'll be able to get the right cheek weld finally, and it has the side Mlok whick is where I like to put my sling QD cup. I was hoping for a vertical grip too, but the magpul doesn't look too bad.

 

[old303]

The 10/22 rotary mags are a bit weird to load at first, especially if you're used to regular box mags and pushing rounds straight down rather than leftwards around the circle. There's a Maglula loading gizmo for that specific mag that's wonderful to have if you want to cheat and load them up faster.

 

[markt]

The last piece of the puzzle, the chassis or stock, is taking me a lot longer than I expected. I'm toying with the idea of the Oryx, but it's a bit on the heavy side and it bothers me that it doesn't have side Mlok slots. The other one that really caught my eye was the Bravo, but it seems to be taking the extremely long route to Canada. The magpul hunter isn't exactly what I'm after, but I'm thinking of picking one up as a decent compromise. With the swappable cheek pieces I'll be able to get the right cheek weld finally, and it has the side Mlok whick is where I like to put my sling QD cup. I was hoping for a vertical grip too, but the magpul doesn't look too bad.

Getting a good cheek weld on a Magpul X-22 can be tricky. I had to go with an adjustable cheek riser on my build as my scope sat too high for the highest riser Magpul offers. The thread on this is here: https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/2054946-Magpul-Hunter-X-22-cheekweld-perfection.

 

[rosconow]

Watch out for carbon fiber wrapped barrels. They insulate the heat from escaping to the surface to cool. So it may feel cool to the touch, but in reality it's red hot in there. Just an fyi.
I you don't believe me just start researching Christian Arms carbon barrel fiasco.....