by Jim Dickson
Big magazines have long been favorite after market accessories for the Ruger .22 rifles and now there is a 25-shot Ruger extended magazine with some innovative improvements from the Ruger factory. This is a long overdue item.
The new factory 25-round BX-25 magazine is usable in the Ruger 10/22 Rifle, the Ruger 77/22 Rifle, the SR-22 Rifle and Ruger American Rimfire Rifle as well as the 22 Charger Pistol. It has the top of the standard 10/22 magazine with heavy stainless steel feed lips which feed cartridges at a 30-degree angle towards the chamber but it terminates in a black plastic box magazine held together by two screws. The magazine spring is stainless steel and the follower is injection molded high lubricity polyacetal designed so that it cannot tilt but must always deliver the cartridges at the proper angle. The magazine can be taken apart by removing the two screws to clean dirt and bullet lubricant wax residue out of it, but it does not require lubrication. Everything is designed to ensure maximum reliability.
To take the magazine apart you use a 3/32” hex head wrench to take out the two screws and then separate the two sides lifting the right side from the left side. Now lift out the spring, throat and follower from the left side. Clean and then reassemble in reverse order. The ability to disassemble and clean a magazine is of extreme importance as dirt and .22 bullet lubricant are a potent combination for gunk.
A high capacity magazine is a very worthwhile feature. It means you can shoot longer between reloading sessions when practicing and also means that you can carry enough ammo in your gun for a day’s hunting. That’s very convenient as is the fact that a 25-round magazine holds exactly half of a 50 round box of .22s so that you load precisely two magazines per box of ammo with no cartridges left over. That’s handy during a long day’s shooting session.
A more serious reason for high capacity magazines is self-defense. If your only gun is a .22 you should at least have a high volume of fire available. The .22 may not have stopping power but it does have killing Ruger BX-25 Extended Magazine functioned flawless in field testing power and at 50-200 yards that’s what counts. An interesting point about .22 rifles is that in city street fighting you normally don’t hear a .22 rifle and if you do you can’t locate the sound as easily as louder cartridges. A homeowner faced with rioters or looters will quickly find that there are few Kamikaze types in those groups and .22 fire will have a good effect. Obviously a military caliber would be much better but the point is you go with what you’ve got and for many people, and even for some members of your own family, that may mean a .22. In pioneer days the whole family had to fight when Indians or outlaws attacked an isolated farm. It’s been that way down throughout all history. It’s not going to change any today. Getting the most out of every gun is just basic survival.
I had two magazines to test along with two 550-round boxes of Winchester 36-grain hollowpoint copper plated bullets, 300 rounds of CCI Mini-Mag 36-grain copper plated hollowpoint bullets, and 500 rounds of Remington 40-grain standard velocity target ammo. There were no feeding problems.
Workmanship was everything we have come to expect from Ruger and the functioning was flawless. This magazine makes a good gun far more effective than it ever was before. I highly recommend buying several of these if you have a gun that it will fit. If Big Brother and the anti-gun crowd are against you owning high capacity magazines, then that’s the best proof that you are going to really need them, so get them now while you can.
MSRP for the BX-25 is $33.95. See your dealer for more details.
