What Is a 10/22 Rifle and What Does It Shoot?

Decode the Name Before You Look at Rifle Models

The name 10/22 sounds like a math fraction, but it actually describes the two most important mechanical features of the gun. The first number, 10, refers to the 10 cartridges held in the factory magazine. The second number, 22, refers to the .22 Long Rifle cartridge that the rifle chambers. Sturm, Ruger and Company introduced this firearm in 1964, and it quickly became one of the most popular rimfire rifles in American history.

A rimfire cartridge is standard powder ammunition where the firing pin strikes the base rim rather than a center primer button. The rim is hollow and packed with priming compound. When the firing pin crushes that soft outer edge, it ignites the gunpowder inside the brass case, pushing a small lead bullet down the barrel. This ammunition is inexpensive, compact, and produces very little kick against your shoulder.

The rifle uses a semi-automatic action, which means it fires one shot per trigger pull and reloads automatically. When you pull the trigger, the expanding gas pushes the bullet forward while pushing the steel bolt backward. That rearward motion pulls the spent brass casing out of the chamber, ejects it into the air, cocks the internal hammer, and strips a fresh round off the magazine as the bolt slides back forward. You do not have to work a bolt handle or lever between shots.

The original feed system uses a rotary magazine, which is a small round wheel inside that holds the ammunition. Unlike long military-style magazines that stick down below the belly of the stock, this circular spool sits completely flush with the bottom of the rifle. It holds 10 rounds on a spring-loaded wheel, feeding each cartridge straight into the chamber without snagging on tree branches, thick brush, or your gun case.

You may also see replica models on store shelves that carry the official Ruger 10/22 name but run on disposable air canisters. These replica airguns are CO2 models, which are rifles powered by disposable gas cartridges. While licensed airgun replicas exist for casual plinking, a standard 10/22 is a genuine, powder-burning firearm regulated under federal and state gun laws.

Spot the Crucial Differences Between Powder Guns and Air Rifles

Confusing a powder firearm with an air rifle can lead to serious legal problems and severe safety hazards. Both guns shoot small projectiles, and both can look identical from across a room. But the way they generate power, the noise they make, and the distance their ammunition travels are completely different.

A 10/22 firearm relies on a chemical explosion. It burns gunpowder inside a sealed brass casing, creating hot, high-pressure gas that pushes the bullet down a steel barrel. Because it burns real gunpowder, it produces a sharp gunshot crack, a puff of gray smoke, and a distinct sulfur smell. The bullet leaves the muzzle at roughly 1,000 to 1,250 feet per second (FPS), which describes the exit speed of the projectile. That small lead bullet can travel up to a mile and a half if you fire it up at an open angle.

Air rifles do not burn powder or create explosions. Instead, they use mechanical air pressure to push lead or alloy pellets, which are shaped, aerodynamic projectiles made for rifled barrels. Air rifles use several different power plants to store this air pressure:

• Break-barrel rifles: These are rifles cocked by pivoting the barrel down to compress an internal spring or gas piston. You must muscle the barrel open for every single shot, which requires physical cocking effort.
• Multi-pump pneumatics: These are rifles powered by 3 to 10 forearm hand pumps, letting you choose lower speed for close paper targets or full power for garden pests.
• PCP rifles: Pre-charged pneumatics are rifles filled with high-pressure air from a special hand pump, compressor, or scuba tank. They deliver steady shots without muscle-straining cocking between pulls.
• CO2 rifles: These are rifles powered by disposable gas cartridges that slide directly into the stock or under the forearm, offering easy semi-automatic shooting without pumping.

Sound levels also set these tools apart. A 10/22 firearm produces about 140 decibels of sound, which is loud enough to permanently damage your hearing without protective muffs. Air rifles are dramatically quieter. Many modern airguns feature built-in noise baffles or muffled barrels that swallow the expanding air, dropping the sound to a muted pop that will not disturb nearby neighbors.

Never mix ammunition between these platforms. You can never load a powder-burning .22 Long Rifle cartridge into an airgun. You also must avoid loading steel BBs into a rifled pellet barrel. Steel BBs are smooth round balls for plinking, and because steel is harder than barrel steel, feeding steel BBs into a rifled barrel strips the delicate internal spiral grooves and ruins accuracy permanently.

Match the Rifle to Your Target Practice and Pest Control Needs

Picking the right tool starts with looking at your actual shooting area and your specific goals. Both rimfire firearms and pellet rifles handle casual target practice and pest management, but they belong in very different environments.

Plinking is casual shooting at simple targets like paper or cans. If you want to set up an afternoon shooting cans against a safe berm on rural acreage, a 10/22 firearm delivers fast follow-up shots and satisfying steel-plate clangs at 50 to 100 yards. But if you only have a modest suburban backyard, you cannot shoot a firearm. For residential target games, a quiet airgun or a backyard plinking BB gun keeps the activity safe, quiet, and completely legal.

Target training and marksmanship practice work well on both platforms. Learning proper breathing, sight alignment, and smooth trigger control does not require burning expensive gunpowder. In fact, many shooters practice the fundamentals on air rifles to build muscle memory without developing a flinch from firearm noise or muzzle blast. It offers the same safe skill-building benefits as running realistic training drills with replica air pistols.

Pest control requires careful consideration of real punch or humane knockdown power, known technically as foot-pounds of energy (FPE). If you have rats, mice, or nuisance squirrels digging up your garden beds next to neighboring homes, a .22 pellet rifle is the proper tool. A lead pellet fired from an air rifle carries enough energy to dispatch small garden pests cleanly within 25 to 35 yards, yet it loses speed quickly and will not punch through a fence or residential wall.

A 10/22 firearm carries far too much power for close-quarters garden work. A .22 Long Rifle bullet will pass straight through a small rodent, pierce a wooden fence board, and keep traveling with lethal force. Save the 10/22 firearm for farm fields, hunting leases, or rural acreage where you need to manage larger vermin like groundhogs, raccoons, or opossums out at 50 to 75 yards.

Follow This Safety Checklist Before You Set Up Your Shooting Area

Before you load any magazine or take a single shot, walk through this basic safety checklist. Making an error with property boundaries or projectile traps can lead to criminal charges or serious injury.

• Check municipal discharge codes: Discharging a powder-burning firearm inside city limits or suburban residential zones is illegal in nearly every municipality across the country. Even if you have a high privacy fence, neighbors calling in a gunshot will bring local law enforcement to your door. Some cities also ban airgun discharge outdoors, so read your city or township ordinances before shooting.
• Inspect your backstop thoroughly: Never rely on a wooden fence, plywood sheet, or row of hedges to stop a projectile. For air rifles, always shoot directly into a rated steel pellet trap, dense rubber mulch box, or thick backstop berm that completely absorbs pellets without ricochets. For a 10/22 firearm, you need an inspected earthen berm at least several feet thick and free of hard rocks, or a lane at an approved gun range.
• Put on eye protection: Every person on the firing line must wear shatter-resistant safety glasses. Pellets can bounce backward if they strike a hard knot in wood, and semi-automatic firearms eject hot brass casings to the side that can burn your eyes or face.
• Wear hearing protection for firearms: Always wear certified earplugs or sound-muffling earmuffs when shooting a 10/22 firearm. Air rifles generally sit below dangerous hearing thresholds, but powder firearms can cause immediate, irreversible hearing loss.
• Protect your airgun from dry firing: Dry firing means firing with no pellet loaded, which slams and damages the internal piston in break-barrel and spring-piston airguns. While modern 10/22 firearms can handle dry firing without immediate metal damage, dropping the piston on an empty airgun chamber will crack seals and shatter internal springs within just a few pulls.
• Lock up guns and ammo separately: Store your rifle unloaded in a secure gun cabinet or lockbox. Keep powder ammunition, pellets, and gas cylinders locked in a separate container out of reach of children and untrained visitors.

Choose Between a Rimfire 10/22 and a Modern .22 Air Rifle

Deciding between a powder-burning 10/22 and a modern .22 air rifle comes down to where you live, what you want to spend, and how much time you have to travel to an approved range. Look at how the two options compare across your everyday shooting routine.

Consider your shooting location first. If you live in a city or a dense suburb, buying a 10/22 firearm means you must pack your range bag, load your car, and pay range fees every single time you want to shoot. You cannot shoot it in your basement or your backyard. If you choose an air rifle instead, and your local town allows backyard shooting, you can step out onto your back patio after work and shoot paper targets safely into a mulch trap for 20 minutes without leaving home.

Compare the long-term running costs. While .22 Long Rifle ammunition is the cheapest firearm ammo on the market, it still requires shopping at licensed sporting goods stores or paying hazardous material shipping fees online. A tin of 500 lead pellets for an air rifle costs a fraction of that amount and can be shipped straight to your front porch without paperwork in most states. Pumping a PCP air rifle or cocking a break-barrel costs nothing at all once you own the base gear.

Evaluate beginner comfort and recoil. The 10/22 firearm has very gentle recoil compared to a 12-gauge shotgun or high-power hunting rifle, making it a classic choice for teaching older teenagers marksmanship. But the loud report and hot flying brass can still intimidate nervous first-time shooters. A muffled .22 air rifle produces almost no muzzle sound and zero sharp crack, allowing a new shooter to relax, focus on breathing, and master steady trigger control without fear.

Think about cleaning and routine maintenance. A semi-automatic 10/22 firearm uses dirty powder gases that blow carbon grit, wax, and unburned powder flakes straight back into the receiver. You must regularly disassemble the bolt assembly, scrub the chamber with powder solvent, and run brass brushes down the bore to prevent jamming. An air rifle runs clean. You never have to scrub powder fouling out of an airgun action, though you must keep pneumatic rubber seals lightly oiled with silicone oil and keep moisture out of PCP air tubes.

FAQs

Is a Ruger 10/22 considered an assault rifle?

No, a Ruger 10/22 is not an assault rifle. It is a traditional rimfire sporting rifle designed for casual target shooting, marksmanship training, and small-game hunting. It fires one small .22 caliber bullet per trigger pull, just like any standard semi-automatic hunting firearm.

Can you shoot a 10/22 rifle in a residential backyard?

No, you should never shoot a 10/22 powder firearm in a residential backyard. Doing so is illegal in almost all incorporated cities and towns, and the bullet can travel over a mile with enough energy to cause fatal injuries. If you want to shoot targets at home, use an air rifle with an approved backstop where local ordinances allow it.

What does .22 LR stand for?

The letters LR stand for Long Rifle, which is the specific cartridge size for this platform. The cartridge combines a tiny brass case, a powder charge, and a lead bullet that measures twenty-two hundredths of an inch across. It is the most popular rimfire cartridge in the world.

Can I load .22 pellets into a 10/22 firearm?

No, you must never load airgun pellets into a 10/22 firearm. A 10/22 chamber requires a complete brass cartridge that holds gunpowder and a firing primer. A loose lead pellet has no powder to push it, so the firing pin would simply dent the soft lead without firing the projectile.

Do I need a background check to buy a 10/22 rifle?

Yes, buying a 10/22 powder rifle from a licensed dealer requires a standard federal background check on Form 4473, along with any state-specific waiting periods. Air rifles that shoot pellets, on the other hand, are generally not classified as firearms under federal law and do not require background checks.