Troy 10/22 T-22 Sport Chassis Review

Troy 10/22 T-22 Sport Chassis Review

PART 1 - 10/22 Troy Chassis Upgrade
At some point we all have owned a 10/22 and if you an AR owner, you wish you had an AR format 10/22.  Of course Ruger made a quality valid effort to address this market demand with the rebranded Nordic 10/22 AR chassis however the Troy T-22 Chassis overshadows the Ruger version with a cool factor that only Troy can deliver.

Troy Industries should need no introduction, however if you are not an AR nut, you may have missed somewhere that Troy is considered arguably the most popular premium AR rail and accessory manufacturer in the world. Troy pretty much defined the free float AR accessory rail category and has continued to evolve it beyond where anyone has thought to go.  

For example; who would have thought a profusely perforated, slim, non-quad rail forend like their new Troy Alpha Rail would be so stunningly popular - but Troy was the first to offer the design.  Troy is also a leader in OEM manufacturing and produces the handguards and sights for the Ruger 556 series of rifles. There are certainly a number of quality AR rail and accessory manufacturers out there, however Troy’s sales volumes indicate people are choosing Troy more often because they are strong, rugged, light, versatile and comfortable, but most of all Troy’s designs such as the T-22 10/22 chassis are just badass. 

FIT & FEEL
Although there are similarities to the Nordic Components 10/22 Chassis that Ruger markets under its name, the Troy chassis was a unique Troy development and did not collaborate with Nordic as some have suggested. The Nordic chassis is multiple pieces, the Troy is only two, the sub-chassis and the forend.


Troy took their awesome Alpha Rail added in integrated front and rear flip up sights and then married it to a one-piece drop-in 10/22 lower sub-chassis.  They then added in a standard AR15/M16 spec A2 grip and 6-position buttstock and tube and you have everything you need in one $299 chassis to convert that old forgotten stock 10/22 into something truly fun and fast handling.  The T-22 is the coolest 10/22 chassis I have ever seen, even Mrs Pandemic said it was pretty cool looking and has been using it to hunt the coons that ate (yes ate) four of her mousing cats around the house - very big coons.  


A few have noted the gap between the pistol grip and the trigger guard, however shooting, you would never notice it. Hogue does make a little gap filler originally developed for the Nordic/Ruger build which I will show in a future T-22 article. It makes the gap less noticeable, however it really does not change the feel or comfort at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of wood stocked guns, however this stock changes the way the 10/22 feels to an AR feeling shooting platform while maintaining that rock solid 10/22 reliability.  My old “all metal era” 10/22 needed an upgrade from the beat and battered Butler Creek folding stock.  That old stock gave me kind of an AR feel, but the 2.3lb steel folding mechanism made it a little butt-stock heavy and has seen a lot of abuse.  Based on the full billet chassis, you would expect the Troy T-22 to be much heavier however by comparison the T-22 Chassis is unexpectedly light at 2.7lbs - 5lbs total with a Ruger 10/22 receiver with Tactical Solutions Barrel and Timney Trigger.

As you would expect the fit is the same exceptional Troy quality you see on any of their other products and once your 10/22 action is dropped in there is zero wiggle, rattle, or movement just as if it was locked in any other rigid stock.

BUILD SPECS
For this build I used the Troy T-22 10/22 chassis, my very old Ruger 10/22 which ha been upgraded with a $220 Tactical Solutions 16.1” threaded & fluted barrel, and a $220 Timney Trigger unit.  

The Tactical Solutions barrel has proven to be very accurate and light; however it was the Timney Trigger unit which really allowed the barrel to show what it could do.  

The Timney trigger unit adds a wonderful crisp trigger, automatic bolt release, and extended magazine release. Two simple upgrades which dropped weight, increased accuracy significantly, and made the gun a lot more fun to shoot.

I added a set of Troy’s Squid Grips which are little rubber grommets that fit into the holes in the forend.  Once in they are “the” most comfortable grip add on you will find for an AR forend.

Since I have had the Eotech Zombie sight it has bounced from AR to AR, however it sure seems to be about the perfect sight for this T-22 10/22 chassis.

INSTALLATION
Your complete assembled action drops into the lower subassembly and is secured via an included hex nut as the same point it would be with any Ruger 10/22 stock.  Technically the gun is fully functional before the top rail is installed. 

The billet upper and lower chassis keys together at just below the rear sight and at the rail lower subassembly union.  Tighten down the rail the two bolts after you have added a little Lock-Tite with the other included hex key with  just like you would with any of Troy’s Alpha rails.  Troy notes this should be tightened down so the gap is no narrower than a nickel which seemed more than tight enough to me.

I rarely if ever do anything more than a cleaning spray and a pull a Barrel Snake through the bore to my 10/22, however if you like to fully disassemble everything for a full cleaning, simply reverse the process for disassembly.  The entire assembly or disassembly process takes about 2 minutes tops.  A big obvious benefit of this chassis is that it free-floats the barrel, so even your old stock barrel my shoot significantly better, just by upgrading to this chassis.

FEATURES & FUNCTION
The Troy T-22 Sport chassis is a machining work of art.  Everyone who has shot it loves the fit, finish and feel of the chassis. Even the complex curve union between the subchassis and forend is perfect.  Functionally this shoots just like any 10/22, however with the Troy Alpha rail and Squid grips, it is so comfortable. Troy also makes the T-22 Tactical version which has the quad rails in stead of the slim Alpha rail. This T-22 Sport version can accept accessory rails which can be mounted where you need them.

The integrated front and rear sights work perfectly and deliver the same sighting plane as an AR, so you will get the same practice/training hold off as you would with an AR with a 25M zero. Although Troy is famous for their top end sights the cost of this entire chassis, I do not feel like they really reduced the quality by that much. 

They are aluminum versus steel, but pop up with the press of a button and lock in place solidly and are clearly designed to be used as full time iron sights if needed.  I slipped on my Eotech Zombie Sight which in my opinion is the perfect option for this chassis and further encourages fast shooting.

The chassis even has a m milled window to see you serial number, mine of course I blanked out on the images for these photos.

The intent of the design is to allow you to add any standard AR stock or grip you want, however Troy starts you off well with a standard 6-position stock and standard grip.  Of course Troy is also a great source for grip and stocks to further accessorize your T-22 10/22 chassis.  I already am working through the next level of upgrades so keep tuned for future articles.

Shoulder up the T-22 chassis and your mind thinks you are shooting your tricked out AR until the magazine change.  This is where I had a little issue. The Troy magwell has one extra little 1/64” shelf which requires you to either wiggle your mags in each time during a reload or Dremel polish the edge off the shelf so you magazines slide in or put a chamfer on the top right side of your magazines.  

Occasionally I have had issues with aftermarket chassis being a little too tight and this was simply one of those situations. 

The shelf is needed to properly align the magazines, however it needs to have that crisp precise machined edge removed or make the choice to modify the magazines with a little chamfer and the mags will insert and drop free without issue. Being handy with the Dremel I opted for the Troy receiver modification and took just enough of the edge off that the magazine changes seat easily and fast.  Push forward on the Timney extended mag release and the magazines drop free,  slap in another magazine, rack the bolt, and you are back to shooting.

FINAL THOUGHTS
As with any AR, this is just the starting point, because with the AR compatibility, you have complete flexibility on how you want your T-22 to look.  Want to mount up a big heavy 20-22” match barrel and mount up sniper style grips and stock; it provides that same flexibility even if you want to go light and compact. Don’t forget since this does not need a buffer and buffer tube, you can use some of those really cool AR folding stocks out there as well.

On my list of wants, I would of course like to see Troy tweak the magazine area as that step is too crisp and maybe wide it a bit as well because some Ruger and other aftermarket magazines are cast a little sloppy and if a little out of spec can be a little tight. I would have also like Troy to mill in single point sling QD-Sling mounts on each side above the pistol grips.  There is plenty of metal in this area for an integrated mount.

The T-22 is extremely cool and converts even a stock cheapo 10/22 beat and worn into something totally bad-ass looking. The T-22 Sport is also extremely well designed and returned to its 25 yard zero after disassembly and re-assembly.  I see this chassis updating and bringing new life to loads of old forgotten 10/22s.  A must do build for any 10/22 owner!


Read the 10/22 Upgrade Troy Part 2 and Part 3 Build Reviews

SPECS

Troy T-22 Sport

Ruger 10/22 Chassis/Stock

Weight 2.7lbs

Material - 7071 T6 Aluminum

Coating - Hard Anodized Black

MSRP - $299.00

MADE IN USA!

SOURCES
Shop the complete selection of 10/22 upgrades at Brownells.com 

Troy Industries - http://www.troyind.com