When my daughter turned three, we had “the talk.” No, not about boys. About something else that was going to have a major impact on her life in years to come: Her first gun. I asked what she wanted and her marching orders could not have been clearer. “Purple,” she said. I agonized for a while (three years, in fact) over what to build her before Tom Hines, who owns Tactical Solutions, and Pat Mundy at Leupold & Stevens came to my rescue. Tom makes exceedingly slick firearms, specializing in tricked-out Rugers, while Pat helps promote Leupold’s custom shop, which can do some amazing things to personalize optics (including color anodizing). Together they created this pimped-out (and very accurate) purple squirrel slayer from an ordinary Ruger 10/22. Assuming I’ve got enough ammo, I might even let my daughter shoot it. Eddie BermanThe scope base adds 15 MOA of elevation to the scope. Chromed components on the Warne rings are a trick touch. Eddie BermanThe best 10/22 accessory ever is this under-lever magazine release, designed by Tactical Solutions. Eddie BermanThe 16-inch fluted barrel delivers consistent 1.2-inch 5-shot groups at 100 yards with top-grade ammo. Eddie BermanWhether the compensator will help you bag more squirrels is debatable. That it is very cool to look at is not. Eddie BermanMost aftermarket 10/22 magazines are junk. The high-capacity magazines from Tactical Innovations are not. They’re machines from aluminum, have steel feeding lips, and are fully adjustable for a perfect fit in the magazine well. Eddie Berman
An ordinary Ruger turned pimped-out squirrel slayer. By John B. Snow
