Timney Triggers has released another great option in their “Calvin Elite” line of triggers. The Ruger 10/22 Calvin Elite brings some interesting features to the Ruger 10/22 Rifle and Timney was nice enough to send one out to us so that we could review it for you!
The Ruger 10/22 is likely the most customizable rimfire rifle on the market. The sheer number of parts available for them make it an attractive option for those wanting to get into rimfire competition. This is why the 10/22 was our choice for the National Rifle League 22 Open Class.
There are many options when it comes to triggers for the Ruger 10/22. Timney definitely needed to do something to stand out with their offering. They accomplished this by offering a user adjustable trigger shoe set. The 10/22 Calvin Elite comes with four trigger shoe options that can be adjusted for reach and cant.
The 10/22 Calvin Elite is contained in a 6061 T6 Aluminum housing. Shooters can choose from black or silver anodizing when ordering. Timney includes an extended magazine release installed in the housing. Most competitive shooters will find this useful, however they can get in the way during position changes in NRL 22 matches. I have bumped the release in training. Thankfully this has not happened in competition. The housing accepts standard 10/22 magazine releases. It would be a simple matter to swap your favorite lever if the included lever is not to your taste.
The Timney 10/22 Calvin Elite is a very well made trigger. The various shoes were easy to swap in and the adjustments were intuitive. It did take a little bit of fiddling to find the combination that I preferred. The adjustable shoes add a little bit of bulk to the overall system. In order to fit this in the trigger guard, most of the shoes will place the trigger in a forward position even when pushed to their rearmost adjustment. This will please shooters with large hands or those using AR type pistol grips. With my medium sized hands and our McMillan A5-22 stock, I found that the position is just a little too far forward for my preference. The knurled, round trigger shoe allows you to place the trigger further back, but it doesn’t feel as nice as the flat, red-anodized versions.
How Does It Feel?
The real measure of a trigger is in the quality of the pull. The Timney 10/22 Calvin Elite had no take-up or creep. When applying pressure to the trigger shoe there is no perceptible motion until the trigger breaks. After the break, there only a millimeter or two of overtravel. The reset can be clearly felt and the distance the trigger travels is equal to the overtravel.
The biggest criticism I have to the Timney 10/22 Calvin Elite is the pull weight. This trigger is specifically designed for competition, yet the advertised pull weight is 1.5-2 lbs. When we received our evaluation sample, the trigger pull measured 2.5 lbs on our Lyman Digital Trigger Gauge. I contacted Timney and inquired about any internal adjustment that I could perform. The response I received is that there is no user-serviceable adjustment and that I would need to ship the trigger back for them to check.
I boxed the trigger up and sent it back. Timney did a fairly good job of returning the trigger in a timely manner. The note in the box stated that it had been cleaned and adjusted. I wasted no time in putting the trigger pull gauge on it. Sitting on the bench, not installed in a rifle, the pull measured 2lbs. 3oz. over a ten pull average. After I installed it in the rifle, I checked the trigger pull again and receive the same result.
Conclusion
The Timney 10/22 Calvin Elite is an extremely high quality trigger that offers some great adjustment options to the 10/22 platform. We did not experience a single trigger related malfunction or increase in failure to fire over the factory components. While I am able to shoot very tight groups with it, I find that I prefer a lighter pull weight for competition. If our version was able to be adjusted to the 1.5 lb. pull weight, I would be satisfied.
If you are looking for a very crisp and clean 2 lb. single stage trigger pull, the Timney may be the trigger for you. At $242.96 retail price (at the time of this article) the Calvin Elite is one of the more expensive options available. Hopefully in the future, Timney will be able to refine this unit and get it down to the 1-1.5 lb. pull range.
I want to thank Timney for sending this trigger out to us for review for you. If you enjoyed this review, please consider supporting us on Patreon!