One of the firs things we noticed when we started this project was how horrible the factory trigger on our 10/22 was. Not only was it very heavy for a light rifle, but when loading pressure the trigger would “creep” forward before eventually breaking. This is not a good situation for overall accuracy. The factory pull weight was close to six pounds. This makes it very difficult to keep precise sight alignment on a light weight rifle. The angle of the wrist portion of the stock also made it extremely difficult to get a “straight to the rear” pull. I knew that in order to get any meaningful results from our modifications, we would need to address the trigger.
There are a number of videos on YouTube demonstrating how to “tune” your factory trigger for a lighter, cleaner pull. If you are on a shoestring budget, this may be the way to go. However, I will caution our readers about altering any angles. It is very easy to end up with an unsafe trigger. If you don’t know what you are doing, seek the help of an experienced gunsmith. We chose to go another route for this episode.
There are scores of replacement triggers available for the 10/22. What you choose will depend mainly on your budget. Initially we were attracted to the Two Stage Trigger Unit from Kidd Innovative Design. However, at $289.00 we realize this is out of the realm of most of our viewer’s budgets. Next up was the Single Stage version. At $199.95 it is a little more affordable, but still at the upper end of the spectrum. Kidd has an even less expensive option for the “DIY” type. They offer a “Trigger Job Kit” that includes a replacement trigger and hammer assembly. At $105.00 it’s about as good as you are going to get while ridding yourself of the plastic factory trigger. It requires you to re-use your trigger housing, but Kidd will allow you to add additional parts to replace just about anything else in there. The “Trigger Job Kit” was what we initially selected. Then we were inundated with requests for details on the recently released “Ruger BX-Trigger“.
The Ruger® BX-Trigger™ is a Genuine Ruger® Factory Accessory. It is a complete “drop in” trigger assembly. All you do is remove the action from the stock. Pop out the two trigger assembly retaining pins and drop out the old trigger assembly. The new BX-Trigger™ goes in the exact same way the original part came out. If you can field-strip your 10/22, you can install this trigger. The trigger retails for $89.95 direct from Ruger®, but can be found online around $75. We purchased ours on eBay since they were out of stock at Brownells and Midway USA.
The Ruger® BX-Trigger™ comes in some very interesting packaging. The “clamshell” type package has cutouts around the trigger and above the hammer. The assembly has a durable dry-fire block snapped around it to retain the small pins. The whole works was designed so that you can dry-fire the trigger assembly while it is in the package.
This packaging offers a very cool advantage over a box of trigger parts. You can actually try it out before you buy it. In the case of mail-order purchases, you can see if you like the quality of the trigger before you install it. Since most mail-order houses will not accept returns after the parts have been installed, this is kind of a “Satisfaction Guarantee”. Barring any of that, if you don’t like it, you can still truthfully resell it as “New In Box”.
The Ruger® BX-Trigger™ is visually identical to the original trigger assembly in our 10/22 Carbine. If you own an older 10/22 you will benefit from the new model magazine release that offers a much larger release lever. I really prefer this over the mongo “oversized”, “tactical” magazine release levers. I think it is the perfect size for the 10/22 and its intended task.
I was immediately impressed with the BX-Trigger™ once we had it installed. It brought our pull weight from six pounds down to three pounds and eliminated much of the creep. It will still not be mistaken for a high-dollar match trigger, but it is a significant improvement for the price.
Is it better than the Kidd “Trigger Job Kit”? To determine that, we will have to wait until the end of the series. Until then, this trigger will allow us to keep the rounds on paper as we add to our build.
This is awesome. I’ve been waiting for a thorough review and comparison to the kidd triggers since this thing came out. I was closed to pulling the trigger (no pun intended) on the Kidd trigger job kit until this BX trigger came out.