Yesterday Ruger announced a new .22 rifle, the SR-22.
Nevermind that it looks like it’s just the Nordic Components kit around a 10/22 receiver, I’m actually OK with that (as long as Ruger properly licensed it). However, I don’t see the niche for this rifle. It sorta looks like an AR-15, but the safety, mag release, and charging handle are all different. This severely limits it’s usefulness as a low cost AR training platform.
Ok, so that’s not where it fits, maybe it’s just a cool looking plinker for folks who want something “tacticool” but don’t really care about AR training. Fine, but the MSRP of $625 puts it way higher than it should be for that. You could buy a standard 10/22 and number of accessories to acheive the same affect for quite a bit less. The S&W M&P 15-22 is only $499 MSRP and is actually an AR pattern rifle.
In fact, the only advantage I can see of this rifle is that it can take 10/22 mags if you already have a bunch of those. Since a modified 10/22 will do that too for less money, I just don’t see where this rifle fits.
Regardless, I’m glad to see Ruger coming out with so many new products and responding to the market. I sincerly hope I’m wrong about this rifle and that they sell piles of them.
