SGW Gunsmith
Well-Known Fanatic
One of thee MOST popular .22 rimfire rifles, still currently in production, involves the Ruger 10/22 rifle and all of its iterations involved since 1964. It's one of the most easily worked on firearms available, and there is a plethora of aftermarket parts available to make that rifle into a "truly personal" shooting companion.
One modification involves replacing the barrel with the addition of a heavier 0.920 diameter aftermarket barrel that will provide better accuracy:
With the addition of a much heavier barrel, and only ONE action hold down screw to anchor the barreled action positively in place, some will encounter a condition some others call "barrel droop", caused by the rear of the action tilting upward and out of its bedding due to the now, heavier barrel. There is a solution:
This is a 10/22 receiver holding fixture I made for use in my milling machine to hold the action to indicated 0 in the X,Y and Z axis' so an additional hold down tang can be attached to the rear face of the 10/22 receiver:
A slot and through holes are then machined into the rear face of the 10/22 receiver so that the tang (see lower left in the picture) can be permanently mounted, and then anchor to the rear face of the receiver, pulling it down and into the bedding with the stock.
A torx head set screw is then used to draw the tang tightly up against the rear face of the receiver.
When done properly, the tang will look like this:
The nut for the anchoring screw is then inletted into the stock with bedding compound, and after hardening up, the tang is then inletted into the stock and the screw is used to pull the rear of the stock down, firmly into the bedding. The 0.920 diameter barrel will no longer "droop" and can be free floated its entire length in the barrel channel. If so desired, a harmonics dampening pad can be added an inch or so from the forend tip to quell any barrel vibrations that may exist.
One modification involves replacing the barrel with the addition of a heavier 0.920 diameter aftermarket barrel that will provide better accuracy:
With the addition of a much heavier barrel, and only ONE action hold down screw to anchor the barreled action positively in place, some will encounter a condition some others call "barrel droop", caused by the rear of the action tilting upward and out of its bedding due to the now, heavier barrel. There is a solution:
This is a 10/22 receiver holding fixture I made for use in my milling machine to hold the action to indicated 0 in the X,Y and Z axis' so an additional hold down tang can be attached to the rear face of the 10/22 receiver:
A slot and through holes are then machined into the rear face of the 10/22 receiver so that the tang (see lower left in the picture) can be permanently mounted, and then anchor to the rear face of the receiver, pulling it down and into the bedding with the stock.
A torx head set screw is then used to draw the tang tightly up against the rear face of the receiver.
When done properly, the tang will look like this:
The nut for the anchoring screw is then inletted into the stock with bedding compound, and after hardening up, the tang is then inletted into the stock and the screw is used to pull the rear of the stock down, firmly into the bedding. The 0.920 diameter barrel will no longer "droop" and can be free floated its entire length in the barrel channel. If so desired, a harmonics dampening pad can be added an inch or so from the forend tip to quell any barrel vibrations that may exist.
