Ruger 10/22 Redux

 

A few weeks ago I was going through the basement looking for things to sell, recycle, or throw out when I found a package of three new, unused, Ruger 10/22 magazines. I offered them to a friend who said no, he had all he needed, and I’d probably use them them the next time I bought a 10/22. I had no plans of buying another- I did a target 10/22 build some years ago, which is why I had the magazines- but it got me thinking. I had only recently started going to the range again, having gotten out of the habit during the peak of the pandemic, and I was thinking I needed a project.

I began casually looking for used 10/22s in local stores with on-line, searchable, inventories, but didn’t find anything. Then an impulsive visit to Bass Pro Shops (I was nearby) led to me buying a new 10/22 carbine last week. All they had was the wood stocked model, but I remember that I still had two 10/22 stocks in the basement: A modified target stock, and the synthetic stock from the previous 10/22 project gun.

I also had a collection of scopes, new and old, and after some thought I decided to put one of my Burris Mini 4x scopes on the new gun. 4x is the classic choice for a .22, and the Burris is a rugged, reliable, scope. This is as far as I plan taking it- for now- but I could see putting a better trigger on it, or modifying the stock trigger. Also, I still have that target stock, and if a reasonably priced target barrel were to come my way I might be tempted…

Stay tuned.

Remington 514 Restoration Wrapup

 The last step after refinishing was to attach the reproduction butt plate. It was slightly oversize, so I used the standard technique used for fitting rubber recoil pads. Attach the buttplate and wrap the stock with painter’s tape for protection:

Carefully sand the pad flush with the paper, using a belt sander, disk sander, or sanding block:

Polish the sanded edge of the butt plate with successive finer grades of paper (and a buffing wheel if you have one), and there you are:

(Update: Not too long after I finished the restoration, my friend started having second thoughts and wondered if I might sell it back to him. I said, sure, eventually. He made various offers of swaps, but I surprised him by just giving it to him the next time he dropped by.)

Remington 514 Restoration Part III

I’ve been concentrating on the stock for now, deciding how far I wanted to go and how much wood I was comfortable with removing. After consulting with a friend I decided not to try and steam out every dent and sand or patch every nick. Instead, I’d remove the lacquer with 220 grit paper and try to get rid of visible scratches. I’d follow that with 320 grit, and when I was happy with the surface, wet sand with Tru-Oil to fill the grain. I did a test first on the butt.

This looked good, so I did more sanding and did a sand-and-fill over the rest of the stock.

From here on I’ll be scuff sanding with 3M abrasive cloth and applying more coats until I’m happy with the depth of the finish. At that point I’ll turn my attention back to the metal parts.

Remington 514 restoration, part II

Last month I mentioned that I had acquired a Remington 514 from a friend with plans to restore it. Various projects have intervened since then, including the rebuilding of my Benjamin Marauder air rifle, some overdue tree trimming, and much-needed house cleaning, but I’ve finally gotten around to working on the Remington. Some tests on the barrel show that it’s not as bad as I first thought. Here’s a photo showing the barrel as received, and a section that’s been given a polishing with 3M synthetic steel wool (the red one) and  phosphoric-acid based cold blue:

Cleaned up nicely, and this is just a quick test. I’m going to strip the receiver and give the whole thing a good cleaning, polishing, and cold blue.

I’ve also started sanding the lacquer finish on the stock. It looks like walnut, and I think a sand-and-fill with Tru-Oil will look pretty good when I’m done. Stay tuned.