The Keefe Report: An Integrally Suppressed Ruger 10/22 Barrel—From the Factory

by
posted on April 27, 2017
isb_lede.png

A couple of years ago during a meeting with top Ruger product managers, I suggested that, as nice as the then new Silent-SR was, what about the millions of Ruger 10/22 and Mark series pistol owners already out there? What about them? Most .22s with “Sturm, Ruger & Co.” rollmarked on their barrels do not have threaded muzzles to accept suppressors. Well, Ruger has addressed at least a large subset of 10/22 owners.

I regard the Ruger 10/22 Takedown as one of man's more useful contrivances of the past 20 years. It just got better. Ruger has announced a factory integrally suppressed barrel for the Ruger 10/22 Takedown called the Silent-SR ISB (ISB stands for “Integrally Suppressed Barrel”). And Ruger's testing indicates that the Silent-SR ISB drops the report from standard velocity .22 Long Rifle down to 113.2 dB—well within an ear safe range. All while maintaining the handy overall length of a 10/22 with a 16” barrel.

Once legally acquired (this is an NFA item after all), all one has to do is remove the original barrel from your 10/22 Takedown and attach the 16.12” long barrel, suppressor and fore-end assembly. At present, for Byzantine internal accounting reasons, Ruger is not selling the gun and suppressor together, but at a retail price of $649, it’s not a huge spend for the ISB accessory barrel. The cold-hammer-forged barrel, according to Ruger, has an induction hardened breech.

While the ISB has an overall length of 16.12”, only 10.62” is actual barrelthe rest is suppressor and housing. When you look at it, the ISB appears to be a 10/22 with an oversize tubular magazine or perhaps even an over-under 10/22 paying homage to the, sniff, sniff, now-discontinued Red Label. The suppressor guts six “pushed-cone” baffles looking a bit like figure-eights that extend ahead of and below the barrel, too. Ruger materials say they are “frenched” into the fore-end. The 17–4 stainless baffles are inside a Cerakoted housing.

The whole thing is held together by a 5/32” hex screw (tool supplied) and disassembly is a snap. Simply take the barrel off in the conventional manner, turn out the retaining screw, and the whole thing comes apart, baffles, spacer, sleeve and front cap. One of the bugaboos of integrally suppressed .22 barrels has been difficulty of cleaning. That's obviously not an issue here.

And if you don’t think this is a big deal, I suggest you have not attempted to clean the inside of an integrally suppressed .22 barrel often. Typically, they are very hard to get out and get to, and when you do manage to get in there, you find something akin to runoff from the La Brea Tar Pits. At the bottom of an ultrasonic cleaner one time, I was pretty sure we were going to find the remains of a smilodon fatalis.

When we tested the 10/22 Takedown, we found the return to zero claims were spot on. Ruger says you can remove the Silent-SR ISB and not have a change in zero. Odds are there may be a different point of impact between suppressed and regular barrels, but we won't know that until we receive one for testing. As a majority block of the Rifleman staff owns 10/22 Takedowns, including Charger Takedown pistols, I imagine there will be a lot of rock-paper-scissors to determine who tests the Ruger Silent-SR IBS.

Latest

heavy machine gun crew with DShK on tripod pointing in air above trees
heavy machine gun crew with DShK on tripod pointing in air above trees

Red Fifty: The Soviet 12.7 mm DShK Heavy Machine Gun

While the Browning .50-cal. M2 machine gun has been unequaled for more than a century, John Moses Browning’s genius design has had one significant 12.7 mm competitor: the Soviet DShK.

Support The NRA Youth Education Summit (YES) On Giving Tuesday

With more than 1,200 students having graduated from the program and over $700,000 in scholarships awarded since 1996, NRA's YES is an immersive leadership program for high school students eager to learn about the foundations of our nation, the importance of civic engagement and the role of the Second Amendment.

Rifleman Review: Remington 360 Buckhammer

Remington Ammunition's 360 Buckhammer is a straight-wall hunting cartridge that's designed to give deer hunters an ideal round for their Midwestern hunt.

New For 2025: EAA Girsan Witness2311 Brat, Match and MatchX

European American Armory Corp. (EAA) introduced an affordable variation of the double-stack 1911 design with their Girsan Witness2311 in 2023, continually adding additional chamberings and slide length options. New for 2025, the company is adding three new versions of the Witness2311 with the Match, MatchX and Brat models.

Review: Citadel Trakr

At less than 4 lbs., this repeating rifle is easy on the back while also being extraordinarily easy on the budget.

Freedom Munitions To Move Ammo Component Production To Idaho

Freedom Munitions has announced it will be consolidating its projectile component production from X-Treme Bullets out of Nevada into its Lewiston, Idaho, facilities.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.