Over the years, I have had quite a few build ideas that centered on Short Barrel Rifles. Mostly these were dreams based on paying the $200 tax. I never expected that we'd see some of the infringements on the Shall Not Be Infringed part of the constitution possibly be removed but since that's what people are saying could happen, it's got me thinking over build ideas. Let's look at a few inexpensive, commercially available options that the average person could put together
The one idea that keeps being of the most interest for me is a .22 LR rifle with a barrel length around 12 inches. Previously, I had floated a variety of ideas based of the Henry Mare's Leg or a Ruger 96 or something else but recently, I was gifted a Crosman 1377 Classic variable pump pistol and I have been enjoying it in the backyard. I have found the massive aftermarket support for this air gun and installed a moderator from Buck Rail to keep the noise pollution down. It's such a fun thing to shoot.
An image from a user on the AirgunBBS forum
Crosman makes a stock that fits the 1377 meaning I can experiment with the air gun version of this .22 LR short barrel concept without taxes. The idea that I can have a very lightweight repeating .22 rifle that's incredibly handy, carries exceptionally well and can take small game just screams to me. Forget speaking to me, this concept is a loudspeaker at full blast saying "This is amazing" and I am ready to make it work.
Background
Why would we want a 12 inch barrel .22 rifle? Generally speaking, the main reason for a longer barrel is velocity. The issue is that .22 LR is so small that it doesn't need a long barrel to hit the maximum or near maximum velocity. In testing done by
Ballistics By the Inch, they found that somewhere around the 11, 12 and 13 inch range, many common .22 LR loads are in the near-max velocity range. Simply put, the 16 inch barrels that are being sold are only needed for compliance reasons not performance reasons. No, longer barrels are not inherently more accurate. A person with a rifle with iron sights that are attached to the barrel will find it easier to be more precise with the longer sight radius but a person using a scope or red dot doesn't need the longer sight radius.
With that out of the way, I would like to present some options that are interesting to me and could be easily obtained for building a very convenient rifle. The options for this build are many but the ones I keep coming back to are these.
Henry's Mare's Leg .22 LR or the Chiappa LA-322 Bandit
The Henry H001ML Mare's Leg .22 LR with 12.8 inch barrel is the same receiver as the standard H001 and others in the family. Simply replace the pistol grip with a short stock from the H001Y. Add a cuff, leather sling and maybe a Leupold FX-II scope and you should have a lightweight rifle that will work in every woods in the US for small game hunting. It's short and would stow very will in your truck. It would be easier to work with than the Classic 18 inch barrel 22, that's for sure. Sadly, putting a silencer on this will be hard, enough so that I'm not sure that I would end up doing this.
The same idea can also work with other lever actions such as the new Chiappa Bandit (I think you'll need to use the straight wrist version, not the birds head grip version) or the Rossi and Heritage Arms options.
My Henry H001 Classic with a S&W Model 17-9
Browning Buckmark Varmint SR Carbine
I found out about the Varmint SR which has a 10 inch barrel and a full length picatinny rail. Browning also had made a rifle version of the Buckmark. Sadly, both of these versions have been discontinued making this idea the hardest to achieve. I had the though of seeing if I can find a used Varmint SR. then source the parts needed to put a stock on it. If I can combine the stock parts with the Varmint SR, you'd have a setup that's incredibly close to the Crosman build but it would be a .22 LR instead of an air gun making it more practical.
Since neither of those are made anymore, a person could purchase the Browning SA-22 and have the barrel cut back. The front sight would need to be reinstalled by cutting a new dovetail in the barrel but any good gunsmith should be able to complete both actions easily.
Ruger 10/22 and Charger plus Takedown Models
For the average person, the 10/22 platform is the easiest way to make this build work with the suppressor because all the parts just bolt on. You just need hand tools. Additionally, the aftermarket support is wild. Seeing that the Ruger Charger is the pistol version of the 10/22 and with base models with both 8 and 10 inch barrel options but also have takedown version, you can use the full aftermarket support of the 10/22 to build a Charger into a short rifle.
Simply put, all you would need is to buy the Charger of your choice and order a stock for the 10/22. Pull the Charger's action out and slide it into a stock of your choice and tighten the bolts back down. Farrow Tech does make an buffer tube adapter for the Charger that lets you put an AR stock onto the factory Charger which is even cheaper than a 10/22 stock. Alternatively, you can purchase an aftermarket Charger barrel and match it to your existing 10/22 rifle.
For example, if you have a regular 10/22 Takedown, you could purchase the Tactical Solutions 12 inch barrel giving you the ability to use a traditional screw-on suppressor. I like the idea of adding a small suppressor like a Bowers Bitty or TacSol Aeris. The nice thing is that if we do get the SHORT Act we should also get the HPA. Having a small silencer that's integrated should be much easier to get. Therefore, these integrally suppressed barrels from Angstadt or Gemtech like the MIST-22TB could be a good choice though I think they'll end up being longer than I want.
Personally, I think this is the option we are going to see the most of if SBRs are no longer taxed. The 10/22 is so widely available and there are already lots of people with Chargers and registered 10/22s. A quick internet search for 10/22 SBR gets you plenty of ideas. The aftermarket support for this platform is huge so it's a no-brainer.
I do have a 10/22 and I even have the Farrow Tech adapter for the Charger for a build I never did. My 10/22 is setup with a factory 18 inch barrel modified by MaddMacs and is using Tech sights with a red dot on a rail. It's setup to look a bit like an M14. It shoots so well that I don't want to mess with it so I won't be touching it. If I didn't care, I would go find a factory 10 inch Charger barrel and install that on my current 10/22 with wood stock. To be fair, it would probably be the cheapest option for me.
My current 10/22 won't change but it is long. Not exactly a easy to stow, truck gun.
CZ 457 Scout + American
My CZ 457 Scout is nice but I think we can do a little better.
I have the 457 Scout and I can confirm that with the short stock and 16 in barrel, the rifle carries very well with it's 6.5 pound field weight but I would like it shorter and lighter. While I don't use them, I like having the iron sights on the barrel so I don't want to shorten it unless I can move the front sight rearward. A nice feature of the 457 are the barrels and how easy it is to swap. It's basically the bolt action version of the 10/22. Currently, you can get the rather long 457 American barrel for around $250. The American barrel is 22 inches long but we can trim it back to 12 inches or so and easily fit that to the CZ 457 Scout. Just for fun, I measured Scout barrel and found that with the Scout stock, I could actually trim the barrel back further to 9 inches without cutting into the stock. That could be a very handy option but I am trying to stay close to that maximum velocity range.
What I like about this for me is that I keep the original barrel untouched and can quickly switch back if I want to. I can remove my cartridge cuff returning to the 12 inch length of pull (currently around 13.25 inches) so that my kids can use it when time comes.
Keystone Arms Crickett Pistol
Keystone Arms makes a single shot, bolt action pistol that can be had with iron sights and a threaded barrel for not a lot of money. These have a left hand bolt configuration but I think a person could replace the stock with a rifle stock without to much fuss. If the Keystone stock could fit, you can have a very lightweight rifle with a 9 or 10 inch barrel for under $200. They do have the Overlander chassis for more money that might be something you are interested in but I can't confirm if that fits the pistol action.
Standard .22 Rifles Cut Down
So far, other than the Browning SA-22, I've offered some options that would be somewhat complicated in achieving the goal of a 12 inch .22 LR rifle. Honestly, it doesn't have to be that complicated with buying stocks and parts etc. The 10/22 option is great because parts just bolt on meaning you can do that in your living room on the couch with hand tools. No gunsmithing needed.
If you didn't have hundreds of dollars to build out something new but you still wanted to do this, having a gunsmith trim your barrel down to whatever length is not going to be costly. It would be even less if you don't have it threaded. Do you have a Winchester or Mossberg bolt action or maybe a Savage 64 or 93 that's been around for years? Sent it over to a smith. None of this needs to be complicated with fancy parts. I genuinely considered having Moss Pawn or someone local cut down the barrel on my Ruger American Rimfire for this idea but seeing as the BSA Sweet 22 scope is heavy, I think I'll just leave that rifle alone for now.
Summary
In summary, I believe that you will be just as well served by a 12 inch barrel version as you would an 18 inch barrel version of the rifle you might be considering. There are definite weight and length savings with the shorter rifle with little to no loss in average velocity. For some, the 18 inch version of the Henry classic 22 rifle is the best because of the magazine capacity; 15 vs 10 rounds for the 12 inch model. For some people, that won't matter. In the end, what actually matters is that you should be free to choose the firearm with a barrel length that does what you need it to do. It is a tool and you shouldn't be hindered in selecting a model that best fits your needs. You shouldn't be forced into something for compliance reasons that compromises the utility of that tool.
Which one do I like the most? I think the best option might be to buy the American barrel for the CZ 457 however, I keep thinking about the lever action a lot. I'm a very big fan of the H001 platform but spending $400 on the H001ML and spending another $100 for a youth stock is a bit much for something I can't suppress. Other than the silencer, I can't guarantee that it will be as light as I want it to be which is around 5 pounds with everything. The CZ does everything I want at 6.5 pounds and it will only get lighter with the short barrel and no iron sights. Not to mention that the barrel kit from CZ comes with and extra magazine which are around $30 each. Yikes. Chiappa's LA-322 is pretty inexpensive and they claim the Bandit is 2 pounds which is very light. I pulled the stock off of my LA-322 with Mason Leather cuff and 50 round box of CCI Standard; it weights 2.27 pounds. If everything is accurate, the Bandit with stock and cuff would be around 4.5 pounds with all the leather goods. I can live without a suppressor with that weight. Add a Leupold 1.5-4x20 scope for an additional 9.6 oz and we're looking at just over 5 pounds for a lever action rifle with 12 inch barrel and most of the goodies. The best part of this though is the Bandit is also a takedown model. That means that I can break the rifle down into halves for even easier transport. I might not have the suppressor but I do have a takedown that's very light. Very interesting. Final question, will 922(r) be a problem for me? Will I be forced into building a Henry because they are made in the US? Let's find out.
