Apparently

Ruger has figured out how to design a magazine release for the 10/22.  I was going to link you to the Ruger website, but apparently their rifles page is down right now, so instead I’ll just tell you the story.  I swung by Gander Mountain this weekend in an exercise is masochism to see if they had any overpriced 9mm or .45 ACP sitting around.  They didn’t, which really didn’t surprise me too much.  As I meandered about the store, I happened upon a rack of Ruger 10/22 rifles, all of which were fitted with what looked like an extended magazine release.

Anyone who has owned a Ruger 10/22 knows that the original factory magazine release was a design only a proctologist could love, requiring the shooter to screw his or her hand about into a most unnatural position, and then jam your finger or thumb vertically into the release to (hopefully) drop the magazine out.  On the Rugers that I handled at Gander Mountain on Saturday, the magazine release was now an extended lever that protruded about an inch in front of the trigger guard.  I didn’t have a camera on me at the time, otherwise I’d have taken a picture, but to give you an idea, think “Mini-14”.  While not as positive as a push-button release, it is a leap in the right direction for what is probably the most popular rimfire rifle on the planet.