I find pure joy in shooting .22 LR guns because of the nostalgia of shooting these guns growing up. I bet every gun owner in America has shot a .22 LR of some kind in their lifetime. They’re cheap to shoot, fun to plink with, easy to take down and clean, and can become family heirlooms over time. Hundreds of manufacturers produce .22 LR-caliber firearms, and plenty more make aftermarket parts and accessories for them. The Crazy Ivan Competition Chassis stands apart.

I have competed in NRL22 and built a super heavy chassis .22 LR rifle, but I have never built a lightweight one. When the opportunity came up to review the Competition Chassis, a super lightweight chassis built for competition, I was excited! The growth of .22 LR shooting sports such as Steel Challenge and Metal Madness has brought many kids into the competition shooting community and allows families to spend weekends together shooting. These lightweight chassis rifles are becoming more and more of a necessity for kids who can’t hold up, let alone move, a 4-5-plus-pound rifle.

Rimfire Build With the Crazy Ivan 10/22 Competition Chassis

Before diving into the chassis, you will need a buffer tube and stock and a 10/22 receiver or barreled action, which includes the barrel, bolt, trigger group, and receiver. Volquartsen Firearms makes my favorite rimfire guns in the world. They are a family-owned and operated business that makes the finest rimfire rifles, pistols, and parts in the U.S. in Carroll, Iowa. They sent me the FDE Superlite with Oryx Chassis for a few upcoming projects and events this year, so I used the receiver for the Crazy Ivan chassis build. Let’s dive into what makes the Crazy Ivan chassis so great.

Full-length of .22 LR competition build.

Compatibility

The Crazy Ivan Competition Chassis will fit most 10/22-style receivers, except those with a fixed tang. To make it compatible with a Volquartsen trigger, you must request a special grip insert when ordering the chassis. Crazy Ivan is compatible with all Ruger 10/22-style barrel profiles, including 0.920-inch “bull” barrels and all Ruger 10/22-style receiver profiles, including those with integrated top rails. Ruger receivers with a rear tang are not compatible.

Installation

The Crazy Ivan Chassis is a simple installation. No modifications of the receiver are necessary. The chassis features an adjustment screw at the base of the receiver that pins down the back of the receiver for a tight fit, so no bedding, tangs, or inserts are needed. The buffer tube threads into the back of the chassis and is held in place by a set screw. The grip installs just like an AR-15 with a set screw that tightens into the chassis. The receiver drops in smoothly with no force needed. I only had to push the safety button into a middle position to clear both sides of the chassis.

A Holosun optic made for fast target acquisition on this rimfire build. — *Photo by McKenzie Hanson*

Lightweight Design

The Competition Chassis weighs 8.92 ounces, which is as “crazy” as the name implies. While I used parts I already had and the receiver from my Volquartsen rifle, you can keep the overall build weight super low with the right parts. A carbon fiber buffer tube and buttstock can collectively add 7-8 ounces to the build. A fluted or carbon fiber 10/22 barrel can keep the overall build weight low and make the end of the rifle light and better balanced. A lightweight 10/22 rifle is the best firearm to teach new shooters and kids. It’s easy to hold, has little to no recoil, simplistic controls, and isn’t as intimidating as shooting a big-bore caliber gun.

Ammunition Testing

The accuracy and range test speaks more to the quality of Volquartsen Firearms than the chassis, but a properly fitted chassis is necessary for making good impacts. The Volquartsen receiver is outfitted with the lightweight THM 16.25-inch tension barrel with their Forward Blow Comp. While this barrel groups easily at 100 yards, some ammunition performed better with it than others. I was genuinely surprised by some ammunition not performing as expected, but that shows you how important it is to test various ammo through your firearm. It is also a good idea to re-test and re-chronograph different lots of ammunition, as slight changes can occur from one lot to the next.

Accuracy & Chronograph Data

Accuracy results with the Crazy Ivan Competition 10/22 build.

Load	Velocity (fps)	Accuracy (inches)
Eley Match 40-grain (Top Middle)	1,081	1.82
Eley Benchrest Precision 40-grain (Top Left)	1,088	1.22
Eley Club 40-grain (Top Right)	1,111	0.931
Federal Auto Match 40-grain (Middle, Above Bullseye)	1,151	0.66
CCI Mini-Mag Target Copper Plated Round Nose 40-grain (Bottom, Below Bullseye)	1,182	0.75

Five rounds shot at 25 yards and chronographed using the Garmin Xero C1 Pro.

A Range Test of a Different Kind

Introducing young shooters with the 10/22 rimfire platform.

My two nephews, 5 and 10 years of age, came up a couple of weekends ago and wanted to shoot some guns. The first gun I pulled out for them to use was my new Crazy Ivan Competition Chassis, built with the Volquartsen receiver and topped off with the Holosun 510C optic. It was their favorite gun to shoot, and even though the 5-year-old wasn’t quite ready to hold a firearm up by himself, this build was perfect for my brother and I to teach with. Both kids could reach the safety, reach and pull the trigger, and weren’t bothered by any felt recoil. The large window on the 510C made it easy for both kids to see the reticle clearly and their intended target. The 10-year-old had a field day cleaning the steel plate rack, and the 5-year-old impacted my Caldwell AR500 33% deer target set at 75 yards.

This range test mattered more to me than any test I could’ve put the gun through. I think it speaks for itself in terms of validating the design of the Crazy Ivan Chassis and the accuracy of the Volquartsen receiver. I’ll have memories that last a lifetime now from this one simple, lightweight .22LR build.