Look back: this video was published October 1, 2022. It is a sit-down shop talk with Aaron from Anarchy Outdoors, not a range test and evaluation. Product lineups and availability may have changed since then, so check current listings before you buy. For the bigger-picture precision .22 conversation, see our earlier Everything Precision Rimfire with Anarchy Outdoors.
Channel fans and family, you just bought a Ruger Precision Rimfire. It shoots well out of the box, but the first question is always the same: what do you actually do to it next? I sat down with Aaron from Anarchy Outdoors to walk through the rifle on the table, which is modeled pretty closely on the one his brother-in-law competes with (they use him as a guinea pig). Then we got into the part nobody wants to hear: a fancy trigger will not fix your fundamentals.
Our earlier sit-down covered why precision rimfire took off and which factory .22s are worth buying. This one is narrower: the step-by-step upgrade path for the Ruger Precision Rimfire itself, and when a trigger upgrade actually makes sense.
TL;DR (as taped in 2022)
- Step one: it is not an AR, so swap the AR-style grip for a real precision vertical grip. Aaron’s pick was Anarchy’s filled-in Tuxedo, built after customers asked for something without the open space in the Penguin.
- Muzzle device: a titanium brake is mostly for looks, but with subsonic ammo outdoors it gets quiet enough to be fun.
- Bolt parts: a then-new bolt shroud, plus a bent bolt handle that sits closer to the receiver and also fits the Ruger American Rimfire.
- Whale Tail: an angled extended mag release so you can drop the mag without coming off the gun.
- Scope base: the factory rail is 30 MOA. Anarchy’s version adds a bubble level you can still see from behind the scope.
- Trigger: the factory trigger is fine. Learn to shoot it well first, then upgrade if you want to.
Grip first, because it is not an AR
The Ruger Precision Rimfire ships with an AR-pattern grip. That is fine on a carbine, but on a bolt gun you shoot from a bag or barricade you want a more vertical grip with a real thumb rest. Aaron admitted to a little nepotism here, since the grip on the table is Anarchy’s own, but the story behind it is a good one. Plenty of shooters loved the Penguin. Some did not like its open, hollow-looking area, so Anarchy listened and made the Tuxedo, which has the same basic idea in a filled-in, sleeker shape. Aaron said it turned out to be an awesome grip.
A titanium brake, and the subsonic caveat
Aaron’s next suggestion was half joke, half real: you have to be cool, so add a titanium muzzle brake. There is no real recoil reason for it on a .22. The fun part is sound. Shooting subsonic ammunition outdoors, he said you can get away without hearing protection and it will not really hurt your ears. With standard-velocity .22 you will still notice it, and indoors is a different story. He runs subs through a brake on his CZ, and all he hears is the click of the trigger and a little bit out of the brake.
Two caveats from the conversation: make sure you do not have a barrel or muzzle obstruction, and that “no ear pro” comment is about subsonic ammo outdoors only. My take: wear hearing protection anyway, especially when other people are shooting next to you.
Bolt shroud and bent bolt handle
Customers asked for a bolt shroud for the rimfire, and at the time of filming Anarchy’s had hit their website less than a week earlier. The rimfire also comes with a threaded bolt handle, which makes swapping it easy. Anarchy bent theirs so it sits closer to the receiver and is easier to run.
The handle was actually designed for the Ruger American Rimfire, which comes in about a billion models but shares the same action, so it works on both. One exception Aaron called out: the Ruger American Rimfire Long-Range Target is slightly different and slightly longer, just enough that they needed a separate SKU. (We covered that rifle in our Ruger American Rimfire Long-Range Target first look.) Both rifles take 10/22 magazines.
On camera we also joked that someone should get Sharps Bros to build a chassis that replaces all the plastic Ruger stock parts, since a lot of people have asked for one.
The Whale Tail mag release
The idea behind the Whale Tail extended magazine release is simple: drop the mag without breaking your grip and reaching all the way up. The rifle ships with a 15-round magazine that sticks out, or you can run 10-rounders that sit flush. Anarchy did not want the release to just come straight down, so they angled it a little. They also put out a video on their channel showing how to install it.
A firing pin in the works (and the dry-fire warning)
In 2022 Anarchy had a new firing pin in the pipeline. Aaron chipped a pin on his CZ, probably from dry firing, and the same thing can happen on the Ruger Precision Rimfire. Their pin was planned in heat-treated 17-4 stainless, and he was blunt about it: they would put a caveat in the product description not to dry fire with it. He wants reliability, not the ability to dry fire. If you want to dry fire, swap back to your old pin, or do what he suggested and put a drywall plug in the chamber so you do not chip the pin. I have not checked whether this part ever shipped, so look at Anarchy’s current lineup.
Scope base with a bubble level
The factory Ruger Precision Rimfire base is 30 MOA. Anarchy designed a base with a bubble level built in. If you do not want an add-on level hanging off the rifle, you can still see it from behind the scope. It helps you level the scope during mounting and keeps you honest about cant when you are shooting.
Triggers: the Chevy Cruze vs. Mercedes debate
Aaron ran down what comes from the factory, cheek pad and grip included, and noted that Timney makes a trigger for this rifle. Aaron said he would upgrade the trigger as his personal choice. He calls himself a trigger snob because he runs high-end triggers. He does not love blade triggers, and he finds the Ruger trigger a little gritty, even though people tell him nothing is wrong with it.
He had just been at Sportsman’s Warehouse playing with guns at the counter and picked up a SAR, the Turkish company that makes a CZ Shadow-style handgun. It felt great in hand, but he said the trigger felt like trash next to his worked CZ Shadow 2. The guy behind the counter thought it was a great trigger. On the table he had a two-stage TriggerTech, a two-stage Timney, and another Timney running Anarchy’s Tikka spring, and he called all of them phenomenal.
His analogy: he drove a Chevy Cruze for 12 years, then rode eight hours to Vegas in a Mercedes with hand-stitched leather, and now he gets why people buy luxury cars. I agreed with him on both sides. There is nothing wrong with stock Ruger triggers. At a Ruger media day we shot stock guns out to 2,300 yards with factory ammo and factory triggers, nothing broken in. You can also drive a Cruze across the country and it will get you there. You just might not enjoy the trip as much. We said on camera we would do a separate video comparing the triggers available for the Ruger Precision Rifle.
Do not buy a nice trigger to hide bad fundamentals
This is my favorite part of the video. A lighter, crisper trigger tends to break before you anticipate it, and that can cover up bad trigger control, but only up to a point. So learn to shoot the hell out of the stock trigger first. Then you will really appreciate what a good trigger does for you. (And then you will be a snob like Aaron.)
Aaron’s closing point fits all of long-range shooting. He has six years of experience, calls himself a terrible reloader and an okay long-range shooter, and compares it to teaching a teenager to drive: blinkers, mirrors, over-the-shoulder checks, all at once. He said he is only now comfortable driving with rowdy friends in the back seat. Precision rifle is a discipline. Stay humble, shoot more, suck less, and have fun.
Our take
For the Ruger Precision Rimfire, upgrade in the order that actually changes how you shoot: grip, mag release, a base and scope you can level, then the bolt parts if you want them. Put the trigger last, after you have put real rounds through the factory one. The stock rifle is already a strong entry into precision .22. These parts make it easier to run, not magically more accurate. If you are coming from a centerfire RPR, our Ruger Custom Shop Precision Rifle take with Anarchy Outdoors covers the big brother.
Links
- Ruger Precision Rimfire .22 LR (Model 8400): KYGUNCO
- Anarchy Outdoors rimfire parts: Tuxedo grip, Whale Tail, bolt shroud, bolt handle, bubble-level base (code SlavGuns on Anarchy-made only): slav.li/anarchyoutdoors
- Related on SlavGuns: Everything Precision Rimfire with Anarchy Outdoors
- Related on SlavGuns: Ruger American Rimfire Long-Range Target First Look
- Related on SlavGuns: My Ruger 10/22 build: Azimuth, FAB and BX trigger
- Everything else I run: SlavGuns Amazon storefront
- Support the channel: join the Squat Squad on YouTube
What did you upgrade first on your Ruger Precision Rimfire, and are you running the factory trigger or did you go full snob? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading, and keep on squatting!
Some links are affiliates.
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