Shooting Sports USA spotlighted Tandemkross’s featherweight Ruger 10/22 Spitfire barrel in a previous evaluation but didn’t have room to include the company’s fiber-optic sights with M-LOK attachment and Doublekross 10/22 dual magazine. For the competitor or avid plinker, these two enhancements to the Ruger 10/22 are worth a look.
CUSTOMIZABLE, ADJUSTABLE
Tandemkross’s Rim/Edge Eagle Eye fiber-optic sight set is an M-LOK setup and comes complete with M-LOK fasteners, two wrenches and an extra red fiber-optic rod insert in case you don’t like the green one already installed in the front sight ramp.
Changing the fiber-optic rod is simple. A tiny vertical pin retains the front sight fiber-optic rod to the ramp. Use the provided 1/16 Allen wrench to remove the rod’s set screw from underneath the sight base and the pin falls out. Push out the fiber-optic rod, insert the color you want, drop the pin in place and turn the set screw back in. Done.
The rear sight is an assembly composed of a beefy, alloy base and a blackened steel square-notch blade attached to the base via a lateral screw that can be turned out with that 1/16 Allen wrench if there’s ever a need to remove it. Two red fiber-optic rods, one on each side of the rear sight’s square notch, provide reference points for aligning the front fiber optic. The rear sight is adjustable for elevation and windage. Turning adjustment screws with that same 1/16 Allen wrench, you can feel them indexing with perceptible clicks, but there are no index marks. This is a “set-and-forget” adjustment for one distance and ammo only.
Mounted to Tandemkross’s Spitfire barrel shroud, the top of the front sight stands a tall 0.80 inch above the shroud. The top of the rear sight rises 0.70 inch above the barrel shroud, more than enough to clear the Ruger 10/22 factory scope mount and enough to clear some Pic rails, so that the sights can be seen by the shooter with the mount or rail in place and the scope removed. Mounted in medium height rings, a scope’s 32 mm objective bell does not clear the installed rear sight on the test 10/22 here (though the one-inch diameter tube clears the sight), but of course, base and ring heights, as well as objective bell diameter specific to each installation, will determine this matter on an individual basis.
MSRP for the Rim/Edge Eagle Eye fiber-optic sight set is $74.99.
FAST CHANGE
Another upgrade to consider is the Doublekross 10/22 magazine assembly. The “two-for-one” design is essentially two 10-round magazines joined at the bases, but is manufactured as a single unit—a configuration familiar to many “run n gun” shooters of the 10/22. When a rapid magazine change is needed in mid-string, the shooter releases the mag, flips it over and reinstalls it to bring 10 fresh rounds to the rifle. In addition to the rapid change, the distended magazine provides the shooter with a positive grasp that can expedite the mag change. Clear plastic walls on the Doublekross allow the shooter to instantly determine how many cartridges remain in the magazine, aided by the bright green rotors that add visual contrast to brass cartridge cases.
In my experience, the design of some aftermarket 10/22 stocks can interfere with insertion and removal of double magazines. Don’t blame the magazine manufacturers, as the fault lies with the aftermarket stock. The only way to know if your aftermarket stock has that issue is to try it and see.
Like Ruger factory magazines, the Doublekross is readily disassembled for cleaning. Especially for competition, cleaning is important, as most .22 Long Rifle ammo necessarily has a waxy or oily bullet lubricant that can gum up mags and cause feeding issues.
MSRP for an assembled Doublekross 20-round magazine from Tandemkross is $49.99.
Taking apart 10/22 rotary magazines is simple, but reassembling them so they work properly is a bit tricky. Tandemkross offers an inexpensive ($15) tool kit that simplifies the task. In fact, the company has a number of inexpensive tools specifically for making Ruger 10/22 maintenance and repair easier. Several of them were designed and marketed by gunsmiths years ago; they are so good that Tandemkross picked up the rights to continue offering them to shooters and gunsmiths. If you disassemble and reassemble your 10/22s for cleaning (and you should), check them out. I’ve got them all, I use them and I recommend them.
Whether you use your Ruger 10/22 for competition, plinking or hunting, Tandemkross’s made-in-America upgrades and tools can enhance your fun or simplify your gun work.
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