Hi, I just purchased the Rock Island Armory, Armscor, 1022 model, aka M22, aka RIA22. I filmed the unboxing, but of course, the video refuses to upload to youtube so I thought I'd share my first impressions here with you.
First of all, the rifle was in a sealed bag that was set in a foam cutout inside the usual cardboard box. It came with a dovetail rail, mounting screws and a clear Butler Creek single stack 10 round mag. Also found were the usual safety pamphlets and instructions.
When I pulled the rifle out of its bag, I noticed that it was well oiled to protect against rust. A quick look over revealed a millimeter wide chip in the finish on the top of the receiver. I also noticed the the finish had been worn on the edge by the charging handle. The undiscript wood and finish is adaquate at best, slightly above the one of my Chineese SKS. Knowing that I'll probably upgrade to a synthetic stock helps with the small crack showing near the mag well.
The barrel seems free of defects and has a recessed crown. Armscor replaced the military style front sight by a hunting style fiber optic aperature. I liked the idea, but the fiber is so short, that it struggles to capture enough light. The rear sight is adjustable. There was some play in the barrel band and it's screw, along the the action screw had slightly marred heads.
Funny enough, the receipt from the store says that it was "inspected, no dammage" before shipping. I hope that the employee remembers where he forgot his glasses.
Reading the provided manuel, it says that the rifle is ready to shoot out of the box, following a cleaning of the barrel to remove oils. I decided to remove the action from the stock for a more in depth inspection. I found several more chips in the finish on the lower part of the receiver and a surprising amount of left over saw dust in the stock. Someone along the production line also managed to draw a happy face in the inner portion of the forend. It actually made me smile as I was baffled at the finding!
I was not expecting the level of quality of the older Rugers when I ordered this gun, but from the research I had done I was expecting something slightly better than what I received. Yes it was close to 100$ less than the original and it would of been ok if it would of came defect free. The way it sits, I would of expected another 50$ less on the price tag. I strongly debated calling the store and asking for a better example or a rebate. In the end, I finally decided against it as I was half expecting this from the start. I cleaned up the saw dust, applied a bit of touch up paint and that was good enough to make me happy.
I like the metal barrel band, trigger guard and butt plate. The rifle as a whole feels solid and the action is not gritty at all. The safety engages positively and is fonctionnal. The provided mag fits super snug in the action and the two 25 round steel lips that I bought also fit perfectly. Has long as this RIA 22 is a decent shooter, it will have it's place in the gun safe. I will update with a range report, as soon as possible.
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Range report:
Ok, well I didn't make it out to a formal range. I managed to try out the little rifle from an improvised rest that was not ideal. It was pretty windy and about minus 10 Celcius to make things better. I just needed to get out of the house and put it to test. I did not set out with the idea to mount a scope on it on a permanent basis, but since I had a spare 4x scope available, I decided to throw it on for accuracy testing. I torqued down the rail mounting screws to 30ft/lb and everything went fine, until I went to remove it and a screw head broke. Crap, but at least I was done testing the scope.
Functionality wise, things went pretty well for a semi-auto rimfire. The only WTF moment came when I manually inserted single short Remington in the chamber and let the bolt fly. As soon as it closed, the shot went off by it self. My finger was nowhere near the trigger. I dont know if it was ammo defect or that the firing pin was frozen or because the bolt was not slowed down from stripping a round from a mag, but it sure took me by surprise. Good thing I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction as one should always do.
I was limited on .22 ammo that I could test, the best I could come up was:
1- Winchester 36gr. - .22LR plated hollow point (1280fps)
2- Remington Golden Bullet 29gr. - .22 short high velocity (1095fps)
3-CCI CB 29gr. - .22 short lead round nose (710fps)
I experienced two missfires with the Remington and one with the CCI. All of which fired on the second strike. I only had one FTE with the Winchesters and no FTF, out of 200 rounds. All the other brands were fed and ejected manually as obviously the lower powered rounds could not cycle the action. That was a real joy with the wind coming off the lake.
All groups fired were five shots at about 25 yards. For some reason I kept getting vertical stringing with the CCI. I managed to repeat a few 1" groups with the Rems. The Winchester "333" were excellent providing regular groups in the 3/4" range. They were so accurate, that I could get 1" groups with half an effort, including rapid fire or using the iron sights. I'm sure I could best my 11/16" group with the Winchesters if I had a better rest and better weather. Both the 10 and two 25 rds mags fed like a charm. I did load them about 24 hours prior to season the springs. I could also pop my little Duraseal gopher target time and time again, offhand, just with the ironsights. This little rifle was so fun, I had a hard time putting it away.
Edit:
I contacted O'Dell Engineering who is the distributor for RIA about my broken screw and this is the reply I got: "We currently do not have parts to support the RIA 10/22 clone." So buyer beware !
First of all, the rifle was in a sealed bag that was set in a foam cutout inside the usual cardboard box. It came with a dovetail rail, mounting screws and a clear Butler Creek single stack 10 round mag. Also found were the usual safety pamphlets and instructions.
When I pulled the rifle out of its bag, I noticed that it was well oiled to protect against rust. A quick look over revealed a millimeter wide chip in the finish on the top of the receiver. I also noticed the the finish had been worn on the edge by the charging handle. The undiscript wood and finish is adaquate at best, slightly above the one of my Chineese SKS. Knowing that I'll probably upgrade to a synthetic stock helps with the small crack showing near the mag well.
The barrel seems free of defects and has a recessed crown. Armscor replaced the military style front sight by a hunting style fiber optic aperature. I liked the idea, but the fiber is so short, that it struggles to capture enough light. The rear sight is adjustable. There was some play in the barrel band and it's screw, along the the action screw had slightly marred heads.
Funny enough, the receipt from the store says that it was "inspected, no dammage" before shipping. I hope that the employee remembers where he forgot his glasses.
Reading the provided manuel, it says that the rifle is ready to shoot out of the box, following a cleaning of the barrel to remove oils. I decided to remove the action from the stock for a more in depth inspection. I found several more chips in the finish on the lower part of the receiver and a surprising amount of left over saw dust in the stock. Someone along the production line also managed to draw a happy face in the inner portion of the forend. It actually made me smile as I was baffled at the finding!
I was not expecting the level of quality of the older Rugers when I ordered this gun, but from the research I had done I was expecting something slightly better than what I received. Yes it was close to 100$ less than the original and it would of been ok if it would of came defect free. The way it sits, I would of expected another 50$ less on the price tag. I strongly debated calling the store and asking for a better example or a rebate. In the end, I finally decided against it as I was half expecting this from the start. I cleaned up the saw dust, applied a bit of touch up paint and that was good enough to make me happy.
I like the metal barrel band, trigger guard and butt plate. The rifle as a whole feels solid and the action is not gritty at all. The safety engages positively and is fonctionnal. The provided mag fits super snug in the action and the two 25 round steel lips that I bought also fit perfectly. Has long as this RIA 22 is a decent shooter, it will have it's place in the gun safe. I will update with a range report, as soon as possible.
---------------------------------------------
Range report:
Ok, well I didn't make it out to a formal range. I managed to try out the little rifle from an improvised rest that was not ideal. It was pretty windy and about minus 10 Celcius to make things better. I just needed to get out of the house and put it to test. I did not set out with the idea to mount a scope on it on a permanent basis, but since I had a spare 4x scope available, I decided to throw it on for accuracy testing. I torqued down the rail mounting screws to 30ft/lb and everything went fine, until I went to remove it and a screw head broke. Crap, but at least I was done testing the scope.
Functionality wise, things went pretty well for a semi-auto rimfire. The only WTF moment came when I manually inserted single short Remington in the chamber and let the bolt fly. As soon as it closed, the shot went off by it self. My finger was nowhere near the trigger. I dont know if it was ammo defect or that the firing pin was frozen or because the bolt was not slowed down from stripping a round from a mag, but it sure took me by surprise. Good thing I had the muzzle pointed in a safe direction as one should always do.
I was limited on .22 ammo that I could test, the best I could come up was:
1- Winchester 36gr. - .22LR plated hollow point (1280fps)
2- Remington Golden Bullet 29gr. - .22 short high velocity (1095fps)
3-CCI CB 29gr. - .22 short lead round nose (710fps)
I experienced two missfires with the Remington and one with the CCI. All of which fired on the second strike. I only had one FTE with the Winchesters and no FTF, out of 200 rounds. All the other brands were fed and ejected manually as obviously the lower powered rounds could not cycle the action. That was a real joy with the wind coming off the lake.
All groups fired were five shots at about 25 yards. For some reason I kept getting vertical stringing with the CCI. I managed to repeat a few 1" groups with the Rems. The Winchester "333" were excellent providing regular groups in the 3/4" range. They were so accurate, that I could get 1" groups with half an effort, including rapid fire or using the iron sights. I'm sure I could best my 11/16" group with the Winchesters if I had a better rest and better weather. Both the 10 and two 25 rds mags fed like a charm. I did load them about 24 hours prior to season the springs. I could also pop my little Duraseal gopher target time and time again, offhand, just with the ironsights. This little rifle was so fun, I had a hard time putting it away.
Edit:
I contacted O'Dell Engineering who is the distributor for RIA about my broken screw and this is the reply I got: "We currently do not have parts to support the RIA 10/22 clone." So buyer beware !
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