The Rimfire Report: Round 2 With the KR-22
About 3 months ago, I had just finished my first two-range sessions with the TriStar Arms (Kral Arms) KR-22 rifle. This 10/22 magazine-compatible Turkish plinker didn’t really impress me after my first couple of outings with it, and now, three months down the road, I’ve put another 1,000 rounds through the rifle, and I was actually able to get a little bit better performance out of it the more I shot it. Today, I’ll share my updated results with you, as we take a second look at this quite peculiar Turkish rimfire rifle that has a ton of great factory features, takes Ruger mags, and is still only about $250.
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The Rimfire Report: Round 2 With the KR-22
Although I’ve tested them in my other 10/22s and they’re just as reliable so far as my regular BX-1 magazines, I’ve ditched the Kral-marked 10-rounders in favor of my trio of BX-15 s for the rest of the testing. As I said in my previous review, one of the best things any new budget rimfire plinker can have in terms of features is compatibility with existing magazine patterns. The BX-15s work well with the KR-22, as they do with all of my other 10/22 pattern guns.
As some of you requested, I went ahead and stripped apart and cleaned the entire gun. Even though it's still just a blowback gun, it's still interesting to see how each company goes about providing that balance of mass and recoil spring pressure to make a semi-auto 22LR rifle work. The KR-22 comes apart similarly to how a 10/22 does, but with a few added steps because of its rather clever design.
Like the 10/22, the KR-22’s action is held securely inside the stock via a set of machine screws. #3 and #4 machine screws are used as front and rear takedown screws. Once these are removed, you’ll need to remove the barrel from the entire mechanism, which, instead of a v-block, is held in place by two allen key screws that force themselves into some curiously shaped screw holes machined into the barrel. Retaining pins align the barrel for reassembly and are a pretty nice feature in my opinion, since there is zero room to misalign the cutout for the bolt's extractor claw (common on 10/22 reassemblies).
Once the stock and barrel are removed, you’ll have access to the trigger group, which is secured to the receiver via a no. 3 Allen screw. Thankfully, this comes off the upper receiver in one piece as an assembly and is also integrated into the magazine receiver/and release mechanism.
To remove the recoil spring and bolt, you’ll need a small punch to knock out the roll pin securing the plastic end of the recoil spring assembly. There is no rod like in the 10/22; instead, the recoil spring is guided through compression via a matching diameter tube baked directly into the KR-22's polymer upper and is concealed by the integrated Picatinny rail. Once the bolt simply falls out of the receiver of the gun, and here you’ll find a pretty standard design overall, including a rectangular firing pin shape that should be familiar to any rimfire enthusiast.
The included manual doesn’t provide specific instructions for removing the bolt, so I assume they don’t really want you taking it apart beyond separating the receiver, barrel, stock, and trigger group - which they do say to clean regularly and lubricate. By going a step beyond the manual, I found that the inside of the receiver was bone dry except for a few potions towards the front where I had tried in vain to lubricate the entirety of the bolt - thinking that’d increase reliability. I decided to clean everything up, lube the entire bolt assembly lightly, and apply a few small dabs of gun oil to the inside of the polymer receiver shell for good measure.
Overall, the disassembly and reassembly of the KR-22 isn’t all that complex, but it is slightly more involved than your typical 10/22 if you’re planning on removing the bolt for cleaning, but not by much. Curiously, the forend of the stock is removable via a Phillips-head screwdriver, but this seemingly does nothing but remove the forend.
Post Strip-Down Burndown
I took the first range session after reassembly to re-try the biggest sticking point I had about this rifle in my first article - reliability. With a fresh brick of CCI Mini Mags, as well as a box of Federal 36 Grain Hollow Points, I tried a few freshly loaded BX-15 mags, and to my surprise, it ran flawlessly with both the CCI Mini Mags and the Federal bulk ammo. Happy with how the first few magazines went, I kept loading them up to see if I’d start running into jamming issues around the 150-round mark like I did last time. Not so!
By simply stripping down, cleaning, lubricating, and perhaps not overtightening any of the hardware upon reassembly, I was able to squeeze a bit of better performance out of the KR-22. For the remainder of the 550-round box of Federal Champion, a 325-round box of Federal Auto Match, and of course, a handful of sleeves of CCI Mini Mags, I counted only a handful of failures to fire, all of which cropped up within the last 200 rounds of the roughly 900 rounds I put through the gun over the next couple of days. Once by this point, the gun was getting so fouled that it was failing to go into full battery, leading to light primer strikes which, when reinserted and re-struck, wound up firing.
With an 18” long barrel, the KR-22 still looks a bit awkward with a full-length .22LR suppressor like the Faxon Firearms Twnety Toucan on the end of it, but thankfully, the entire package is pretty light overall, meaning that the addition of the suppressor at least doesn’t make it overly cumbersome to carry around and shoot. Accuracy didn’t seem to change either, with similar groups around 2 inches or more in size at 50 yards shot with CCI Standard 40 grain - good enough for popping cans or shooting steel.
Final Thoughts
I do have to send this rifle back to TriStar Arms at the end of this review, and therefore, this will probably be the last time you’ll see me write about this rifle. While it’s still not my favorite rifle that takes 10/22 magazines, it certainly has redeemed itself a bit in my eyes, even if it took some TLC and perhaps a bit of perseverance through a break-in period.
The rifle is casually accurate, reliable when cleaned, maintained, and fed decent ammo, and of course has a threaded barrel, Picatinny rail, iron sights, reversible charging handle, extended magazine release, and an adjustable stock, all for about $250 out the door. The rifle would probably make for a great first rifle for a lot of shooters who are perhaps not going to shoot all that much, or are looking for something non-standard to add to their collection. The rifle also relies on virtually no aftermarket support for its features, except for its magazine compatibility, all traits I think are worthy of praise for a plinking rifle.
The KR-22, however, still does suffer from inhernet inaccuracy issues, and after having stripped the gun down this doesn’t surprise me as the way that the barrel is held into the reciver which has both the rail and the rear irons on it, means that its a lot more likely that the barrel is moving around a tad bit either inbetween shots, or if the barrel happens to get bumped or rested on. The 10/22’s V-Block is a far more robust solution that has its own faults, but can still be made reliably accurate and less prone to dislodging, leading to a loss of zero or movement between shots.
TriStar Arms KR22 Rimfire Rifle
I’d had a lot of fun, albeit frustrating fun, with the KR-22. Every once in a while, I like taking a look at some of the more “budget-friendly” options out there. While it may be just a small $40-$50 price difference, that $50 reduction is saving you more money for an optic or a suppressor, all while still giving you a threaded barrel, left side-charging, and of course the integrated picatinny rail for when you grab an optic for this rifle. Worth considering, but not a must-buy. As always, thanks for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report, and we’ll see you all again in 2026!
I’d like to extend a big thank you to TriStar Arms for loaning me the rifle used in this review, and Re-Nine Safety for sending out targets to use and abuse!
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Reloader SCSA Competitor Certified Pilot Currently able to pass himself off as the second cousin twice removed of Joe Flanigan. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ballisticaviation/
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So just buy the optics-ready Ruger.