DrFrankenRuger

 Here is a photo of the New model finish (top) and Old model finish (bottom). The Old model has a traditional blued finish, the New model has a Matte Applied Finish. Ruger says the new finish is part of the metal and is more durable and does not require oil to protect it from rusting. Ruger also said it is more resistant to rust, however not rust-proof.

 A closer look at the two finishes with the New model on the right side. The New model barrel has a rougher surface. You can almost see the lathe marks in the steel.

  After Ruger said the coating was supposed to be better, I decided I would do a quick test. I took the New model barrel and scratched it with a screwdriver one time and the finish came off. I scratched another area 5 times to see the wear and another area 20 times to see the wear. Then I repeated the same procedure on an Old model blued barrel. I saw no difference in the damage done to either of the barrels. The only difference I noticed, was I could repear the Old model barrel with a little Bluing Touch-up. The new barrel I would have to repaint. I'm pretty sure that the new coating is a type of painted on finish similar to KG Industries Air Cure 1200. I can probably use some of that to cover over the scratches.

 As far as rusting, there was rust on the barrel in about a month, much quicker than a blued barrel. I was able to remove it easily with some Stainless-Steel wool and it blended in with the black finish. 

 The New model Barrel Band is made of polymer plastic (right side) and uses a nut that is recessed into the plastic to secure the Barrel Band Screw. The Old model (left) is made of aluminum and has female threads tapped into the band to hold the Barrel Band Screw.

  Here is the Receiver/Trigger Guard Housing assembly without the barrel and stock.

 There is no difference in the New Model Bolt and the Old Model Bolt. I have just included this part to show the difference in the manufacturing of the rifles. If the quality of one part of production is cut, than we can assume that they have done the same in other parts of production.

 I have removed the Trigger Guard Housing from the Receiver and you can see the Bolt still in place. Notice the heavy marks on the Bolt. Let's take a closer look.

  What is this?....Is Ruger adding Jeweling to their Bolts, or is this just poor machining?

  The other side is the same way.
  Top view of Bolt.

  Bottom view of Bolt.

  Something tells me that's not Jeweling, looks more like poor machining. Their old Bolts had some rough edges, but at least the side that faced the Ejection Port was polished. This looks like it was just removed from the casting sand and then Ruger ran a mill over it to get the proper size. No grinding or polishing here.

 This is a Bolt from a rifle purchased at the beginning of 2008. I know it looks like it has some scratches, but believe me it looks a lot better than the New Model Bolt and it looks great when installed in the rifle.

 Top view of the Bolt from rifle purchased in 2008. Some scratches but no pitting.

 The new Trigger Housing (top) is made of polymer plastic, where as, the Old Housing (bottom) was made of Aluminum. The New model has an Extended Magazine release, our Old style has a custom made release. I have placed the Hammers in the Fired position so you can see the New Model and the Old model. 

  It looks like all the parts and pins are interchangeable between the New and Old model rifles. The only difference is when we drop the Hammer and Bushings out.

   The New model Hammer (top) is now one piece, instead of a Hammer and 2 Bushings, like the Old model (bottom). There is probably an advantage on the single piece Hammer, as there will be less drag on the moving parts. With the New Hammer all you have is friction around the shaft. The Old style had the friction around the shaft and the two Bushings. More parts, more lubricant, more dirt and powders to collect and cause problems. Also the New model is much easier to install.

 The factory Trigger was terrible, with a lot of creep and take-up. I have since redone the Trigger to have a clean, crisp break with no take-up and a 3lb. trigger pull. It turned out to be a really nice Trigger, far better than I expected.

 However, the metal that the New Hammer is now made of seems to be softer than the Old model metal. I could not believe how easy it was for me to remove metal from the hammer to reduce the take-up and trigger pull. It is obvious that this New model 10/22 rifle will require some range time to see how it compares, in action, to its predecessor.

 I took the New Model rifle to the range on 4/3/09 and put 500 rounds through it and it functioned very well. I was worried that the New model barrel would lack accuracy but was proven wrong on the first magazine. The barrel had excellent accuracy out to 30 yards with Open Sights.

However, testing is not done. I don't consider 500 rounds anything more than a Break-In period. There is still a lot more rounds to be fired in this rifle and I will update the webpage as I use it more.

 I don't think Ruger is worried about the barrel, trigger, stock and other small parts, as most people are buying the rifles for the receiver anyways. What amazes me is that they are cutting corners on the rifle, but not lowering the price. I always thought the idea of mass production is to make it cheaper. Obviously, I was wrong and it was to make corporations richer. Oh well, Live and Learn.