I toured a few gun making facilities in Turkey several years ago and was underwhelmed with the crude facilities. Obviously, that’s changed. There are some excellent firearms coming from Türkiye these days.
TriStar is noted for shotguns, but I recently received a test gun from them that’s much different. The KR.22 is more or less a clone of the Ruger 10/22. I am a fan of the 10/22 and have been hunting with one since the ’70s, so I am a bit of a skeptic about any copies, but after a few months and several hundred shots I am liking this gun.
The KR.22 features a 1/2x28 threaded muzzle for use with a silencer. It has a reversible bolt handle so the forgotten southpaw can work it with ease. It has an adjustable comb that allows the use of different height sighting systems. I did the range testing with a huge 5-25X top-end optic set in a high mount. It worked just great with the comb raised. Lower the comb to the bottom and the open sights are easy to use. In fact, I shot a few hundred rounds at my steel targets with those sights recently and even my antique eyes could see them pretty well.
The gun, of course, has swivel studs. I used it hunting in some rough country and found it easy to carry on a sling. There is a Picatinny rail integrated with the stock. Part of that rail is mortised out to allow the rear sight to fit low. I found that if I clamped a scope mount very tightly it would squeeze the polymer rail enough to introduce jams. I simply lowered the torque and the jams went away. Not a criticism of the gun, but a reminder when mounting a scope.
The fiber optic front sight is adjustable for elevation with a 1.5mm Allen wrench. The non-adjustable rear sight sits low in that mortise in the rail and has two white dots. The gun comes with a pair of 10-round rotary magazines and accepts 10/22 magazines. The semi-auto rifle uses a simple blowback action and is chambered for .22 LR. The bolt does not lock open.
The KR.22 has two safeties. In front of the trigger is a push-button trigger block safety. There is also a safety in the center of the trigger, much like a Glock handgun.
I noticed when I tried to insert the arbor for a bore sighter that the bore diameter seemed a bit snug. So I checked with gauge pins and found it to be .215 inch. This is slightly tighter than the SAAMI spec of .217. I am told this is not uncommon and is a result of difficulty converting metric to our system of measurement. I think that in this case it may be a good thing as it’s likely a factor in the excellent accuracy. The three ammo products tested had three-shot groups that averaged .64 inch at 50 yards. The best averaged .55 inch. That’s pretty remarkable accuracy at this price point.
The compact carbine is available in three color combinations: all black, ODG/black and FDE/black. The muzzle has a knurled thread protector. The synthetic stock has grooves in the fore-end and is stippled on the pistol grip, so the shooter’s grip is very positive. The butt is skeletonized for a racy look. The adjustable comb has a single stud through the top of the stock that protrudes into the skeletonized area. A rubber buttpad finishes the stock.
The 10-round rotary magazines fit flush and are released by a lever in front of the trigger guard. The trigger is just a little stiff at 5¾ pounds, but it feels lighter. I shot the gun a lot before I weighed the trigger pull and was a bit shocked when I put it to the scale. I would have guessed it to be much lighter.
Once I fixed that too-tight scope mount the gun ran pretty well, but not quite 100 percent. It did show a bit of bias against some 40-grain hunting rounds using a large meplat, periodically failing to feed that style of ammo. I tried multiple other ammo products, and most ran sufficiently but there were a few hiccups. I shot three brands of bulk pack ammo, using hundreds of rounds each, and it ran all of those with little drama. As expected, the more I shot the better it ran. I don’t keep track but I likely have north of 500 rounds through the gun now. The jams are fewer. I have a plate rack in my back yard and it’s addicting. My challenge is to hit all six plates before the first one falls. They fall more slowly with a .22 LR, and I am able to do this drill successfully more than half the time. This speaks volumes about how well the rifle handles. I also managed a few days squirrel hunting, and while the bad weather had squirrel activity low, the gun performed well and was a delight to handle in the woods.
I have seen this gun online for $235.99 and expect it to be even lower in the future as it fills up the pipeline. With its performance and price, I would not be surprised to see the KR.22 become the “it” fun gun for 2026.
Specifications:
- tristararms.com
- Type: blowback semi-auto rimfire rifle
- Caliber: .22 LR
- Magazine: removable rotary; 10-rnd. capacity (2)
- Barrel: 18.6"; sporter contour; button rifled;1:16" RH twist; 1/2x28 threaded muzzle w/thread cap
- Trigger: 5 lbs., 12 ozs. pull weight
- Sights: adjustable fiber-optic front, rear notch
- Safety: push button; trigger blade safety
- Stock: straight w/adjustable comb; synthetic; ODG/black, FDE/black, black; 14.25" LOP
- Metal Finish: black
- Overall Length: 39"
- Weight: 4.9 lbs.
- Accessories: none
- MSRP: $289-$309
