Alternative to integrally suppressed barrel - Tactical Solutions X-Ring SBX Barrel for 10/22 Rifles

I like this barrel. I own quite a few Tactical Solutions products for Ruger 10/22 and Ruger Mark III and IV. I've never been disappointed with any TacSol product - always high quality, sturdy, and thus far long-lasting.

I've seen this particular barrel out for a couple years now, and have been thinking about buying it, but decided to wait. I have enough Ruger 10/22 barrels, but nothing like this. I finally broke down and bought this barrel. Bottom line is Il like this barrel.

It's pretty light, which is good. It's the color I wanted - good again. Very snug fit in my Ruger 10/22 receiver, but not too difficult to install (I didn't need to do any modifications). Also good, but honestly nothing new - many other Ruger 10/22 barrels are similar in this regard.

Obviously the most unique characteristic about this barrel is I guess what would be call the "shroud" at the end of barrel. The overall barrel length (including the shroud) is just over 16". The bored/rifled portion of the barrel is just over 12", so the remainder of the barrel is the shroud is about 4". The idea is that you can attach a suppressor to this barrel without extending the length much farther beyond the BATFE-mandated 16" barrel length. This just helps ensure that when this barrel is installed on a rifle (Ruger 10/22) it is not considered an SBR.

This a very interesting idea, but you do need to manage your expectations. For example, the interior diameter of the shroud is about 1.1" I think. I own several rimfire suppressors. One is 1.5" outside diameter, so it will not fit inside the shroud, and therefore can't be installed on this barrel, practically speaking.

Furthermore, I have several rimfire suppressors that have 1" outside diameter, so they will fit inside the shroud, no problem there. However, the length of my rimifire suppressors is 6". So, my suppressors stick out beyond the end of the shroud by about 2". This brings the overall length of the barrel with suppressor installed to just over 18". I'm happy with it, I'm ok with it, I expected this. It's just important to beware of the barrel dimensions and the suppressor dimensions.

Bottom line is, the ideal suppressor for this barrel is about 4" long and 1" diameter, threaded 1/2x28. You should be good.

I just wish it had open sights, which is what I prefer. Not sure how they would have open sights on this barrel. In general, I always prefer open sights.

Overall - I'm very happy with this barrel.