By: Warren Gray

Copyright © 2023

“This combo is just the best way to make more out of your .22 semi-auto defense/zombie-apocalypse, shoulder-fired weapon. Ruger knocked this

one out of the park…Ruger stays on the cutting edge of firearms and

firearms accessories, such as the Ruger Silent-SR ISB suppressor.

They never fail to amaze me on their new product lines.”

— Lt. Clint Thompson, founder of Warriors and Sheepdogs, June 27, 2020

The Ruger 10/22 Takedown Rifle ($559 to $579) in .22 Long Rifle has always been a fine firearm for camping and survival situations, although I’ve personally preferred, and owned, the more versatile AR-7 Explorer (See my Gunpowder Magazine article on “The Timeless, AR-7 Explorer Survival Rifle” from June 2, 2023). But I once watched someone experiment with a makeshift suppressor for a Ruger 10/22, and the results were stunning, an extremely quiet, semiautomatic rifle with a variety of practical uses.

In 2017, Ruger Firearms introduced their new, Silent-SR ISB (Integrally-Suppressed Barrel, #19001) for $629, which easily fits onto the basic, 10/22 Takedown polymer stock and action. This is a factory accessory, not a complete weapon, but the simple combination results in what is surely the world’s coolest survival rifle!

What makes the Silent-SR ISB so innovative is that the overall barrel length is a completely legal 16.12 inches, but that includes 10.62 inches of internal, cold-hammer-forged, 416-stainless-steel, rifled barrel, and 5.5 inches of 17-4 stainless-steel, suppressor baffles (six figure-eight-shaped baffles) encased in a Cerakoted, 6061-aluminum housing. The ISB barrel assembly actually weighs four ounces less than the stock, 10/22 barrel assembly, which is an added bonus.

Without the added length of an aftermarket suppressor on a conventional barrel, this handy, inconspicuous rifle reduces sound levels to a mere 113.2 decibels, well within the ear-safe range, amounting to a perceived volume reduction of 84.6 percent with standard-velocity ammunition, or 46.4 percent with high-velocity loads.

Ruger 10/22 Takedown Rifle with Silent-SR ISB barrel assembly. Photo credit: Ruger Firearms

Although the actual internal barrel is only 10.62 inches long, measured muzzle velocity when compared with the stock, 10/22 Takedown barrel shows a loss of only 15 feet per second for subsonic loads, or 21 feet per second for supersonic loads, according to actual testing by the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine on May 3, 2019. In addition, any accuracy variations between the two barrels are minimal, recorded at .03 to .08-inch difference. The ISB barrel also flawlessly ran through 500 rounds of ammuntion fired from 25-round, factory magazines without any malfunctions, “and to our surprise, at no point did the suppressed barrel become more than slightly warm.”

In fact, one of the many great features of the Silent-SR ISB rifle combination is the ready availability of 25-round, Ruger factory BX-25 magazines in either black ($37) or clear ($40). The standard magazine is a 10-round, rotary unit, but BX-15 inline, 15-rounders or BX-25s are both available as factory options.

Ruger BX-25 factory magazines. Photo credits: Ruger Firearms

Ruger BX-25 factory magazines. Photo credits: Ruger Firearms

Another very useful, optional item to employ is a Buffer Technologies or Volquartsen recoil buffer, only about $9 to $12, and very simple to install. The recoil on a Ruger 10/22 is already very light, and not a problem, but even on the very best, suppressed, semiautomatic weapons, there is still the metallic clacking of the steel bolt striking metal with every shot, even if that’s the only noise that you hear.

This small, lightweight, polyuretane buffer replaces the steel, bolt-stop pin and prevents direct, metal-to-metal contact. The net effect of using this buffer and the ISB suppressor is an extremely quiet 10/22 carbine, with overall noise level reduced by about 92 percent, and a .22 Long Rifle is already fairly quiet to begin with.

Cleaning the silent-SR ISB barrel should be accomplished after every 500 to 1,000 rounds, and Ruger has made it a very simple process. A single 5/32” hex bolt holds the entire suppressor assembly together, which is easily removed, as shown below.

Photo credit: Ruger Firearms

Hunter Elliott, writing for RangeHot.com on September 4, 2017, noted that, “While reviewing that (Ruger Silent-SR ISB) rifle, I did fall in love with it, and secured the test sample for myself…it only takes a single tax stamp to possess…With the integrally-suppressed barrel, you save on length over a standard barrel with a silencer installed, but more importantly, this setup is very unnoticeable, letting you fly under the radar a bit, as is does not draw the amount of attention as a rifle with a silencer installed.

“The 10/22 Takedown Lite has become my favorite .22 rifle, and with the Silent-SR ISB it is even more my favorite…Very little accuracy was lost, about a half of an MOA. Reliability is still 100-percent…the fun factor is at the top of my list for reasons to have this rig.”

Retired police Lieutenant Clint Thompson, founder of Warriors and Sheepdogs, addeed on June 27, 2020, that, “As far as the Ruger Silent-SR ISB suppressor goes, I really liked it on the 10/22. At first, I thought I would return this sample to Ruger, but after 100s of rounds fired through this device, I decided it complemented the 10/22 and would be handy on the farm in Kansas. This suppressor is just first class, and so great on the Ruger Takedown.” So, he was the second reviewer to keep his excellent test sample.

I certainly loved my old AR-7 Explorer survival rifle for its versatility, and the fact that it could be taken down and stored inside its own stock, but the Ruger Silent-SR ISB setup has even more significant advantages. It can also be taken down for portability, and stored in a carrying case. Both rifles have 16-inch barrels, but the Ruger’s is integrally-suppressed, and amazingly quiet.

While Ram-Line used to make 25-round magazines for the AR-7, these are now discontinued and very scarce, but Ruger BX-25 magazines are quite plentiful and inexpensive. The AR-7 was also much harder to clean thoroughly, literally taking apart the whole side of the receiver, and it would not readily accept scopes or suppressors.

So, in conclusion, I’d have to strongly recommend the Ruger Silent-SR ISB combination on a Ruger 10/22 Takedown stock and action as the world’s coolest survival rifle. It’s an ultra-quiet weapon with a high degree of available firepower, and you can mount a scope for pinpoint accuracy. This makes it a superb survival carbine, able to quietly harvest small game, but with speed, stealth, and firepower for self-defense situations, if required. It’s a very hard act to beat.

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Warren Gray is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with experience in joint special operations and counterterrorism, and is an NRA member. He earned Air Force and Navy parachutist wings, and four college degrees, including a Master of Aeronautical Science degree, and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Intelligence Operations Specialist Course, and the USAF Combat Targeting School. He is currently a published author, historian, and hunter.