Ruger Charger

[Larry in SD]

I actually started this project a year ago, then scrapped the whole project.

A month or so back I got the urge once again so this time I just went and bought a Ruger Charger.

I shot the Charger in the above configuration for a hundred rounds or so and knew I had to make some changes. I quickly removed the factory stock and barrel. I then decided on a replacement. For the Barrel I selected a 10" Bead Blasted Stainless Steel KIDD Bull Barrel. I then sent the receiver, an aluminum trigger housing (that had previously been sent to TT Shooter in Modesto California for one of his Precision Trigger Jobs. It breaks super crisp at 1 3/4 pounds.) and scope base to John Norrell Arms to be refinished in their "Stainless-Steel" Norrell's Moly Resin finish. (The Ruger Charger came with the new Plastic Trigger Housing and Trigger which I put in my plinker 10/22 and used the Aluminum Trigger Housing from that Plinker to have tuned for this Charger.)

I then took the factory Ruger Bolt to my local machinist buddy and he milled the breechface to set the headspace at .043", pinned the firing pin so it can not ride up. I finished the bolt work by chamfering / radusing the rear face of the bolt that the hammer rides against during cycling.

I topped off this Charger with a 3x12x Burris LER Handgun Scope with a Fine Plex Reticle and Target Turrets in Silver 1" Weaver Quad Lock Scope Rngs.

My local gunsmith is working on a Custom Stock for me, but it is not finished yet. He is adapting a T/C Contender Grip to a Cut Off / Modified Ruger 10/22 Stock. In the meantime I decided to try a Tactical Innovations REBEL Charger Stock (which is the stock in the photo). Yeah I know I shouldn't have sold the Factory Charger Stock before my Custom Charger Stock was finished but I wanted to try the Tactical Innovations REBEL Stock anyway, besides I am impatient.

Above is a photo I snapped of my Custom Ruger Charger while at the range today. I was actually quite pleased at how the Norrell's "Stainless Steel" Moly Resin Finish matches up with the Bead Blasted KIDD Stainless Steel Bull Barrel.

I had previously zeroed this Charger at the Indoor Shooting Range at 18 yards. Todays goal was to try to determine what kind of accuracy I could expect at 100 yards. I only shot SK Jagd Standard Velocity Hollow Points and Wolf Match Target today and was rewarded with 5 shot 100 yard groups ranging from 1.350" to 2". All in all I was pleased considering this new KIDD Barrel only now has 190 rounds through it after todays range session.

I also spent some time trying out the new Egg Silhouette Rack I just completed.

Each fall our local shooters club holds an egg shoot. We set up 5 chicken eggs at 50 & 100 yards for rimfires. At 50 yards the shooter is restricted to using an optic of 9x or less but at 100 yards there is no restrictions on magnification, anything goes. I decided to build a set of Steel Egg Silhouettes to use for Practicing. I figured this would be quick to set up and loads of fun for the Grand Kids to shoot.

On this session I set up the Egg Rack at 50 yards. I must say that the Egg Rack worked perfectly and is not going to require any modifications at all. I burnt up about 50 rounds shooting eggs but that was only part of it. I had along my Ruger / Archangel 10/22 with an old 4x40mm Tasco World Class Riflescope on it for the grand kids to have their way with the egg rack. And have their way with the egg rack is indeed what they did.

It was a very fun day at the range, and for once everything worked as it should have.

Thanks for reading.

Larry

 

[DrMike]

Larry,

That looks like some fine fun. You've really changed the profile of the Charger. Did you gain sufficient accuracy to satisfy your efforts? I can see how it would be easy to get into such shooting.

 

[widgeon]

Good stuff, Larry.
Until recently, I had forgotten how much fun rimfire shooting can be.

 

[Larry in SD]

Thanks guys.

DrMike to answer your question, yes I think so. Granted I didn't shoot the Charger much in factory form, and have not put all that many rounds through the KIDD Barrel either for that matter but the KIDD Barrel is shooting quite a bit better than the Factory Barrel.

As per the Factory Stock, it didn't fit my hand at all. It was not made for guys with big paws like me I guess. Truth be known the Tactical Innovations REBEL Stock was not made for guys with big paws like me either but it is better than the Factory Stock. In fact if I end up keeping the Tactical Innovations REBEL Stock I am going to have to do a little reshaping on the bottom of the pistol grip to remove the flare to give my little finger more room on the grip.

Yes I am a rimfire fanatic from way back. I have been on the Board of Directors of an Indoor Shooting Range here in town since 1990 that is basically for Rimfires. From the first Monday in December through the end of March each year I spend a LOT of time at the Indoor Shooting Range with either a Rimfire Rifle or Handgun in my hands.

Larry

 

[Larry in SD]

Update on the Charger.

We started this stock project a year and a half ago. Roger and I would work on it from time to time then we'd get side tracked for several months and then start in on the project again.

In the process plans have sort of changed a bit. Instead of the Walnut Contender Grip I am going to be using a Rynite Contender Grip. As for the 10/22 portion of the stock it is going to end up black to match the Rynite Contender Grip either using spray on truck bed liner or Brownells Black Grit Paint (haven't totally decided yet).

Well this has been quite an ordeal. Roger (my local gunsmith) finally got everything finished up on the Custom Charger Stock. So now it was time for me to do my portion of this project. Monday I shortened the forend and decided how I was going to shape it. With the aid of a belt sander and some patients I ended up with what I was after with the forend tip being as closely shaped as I could get it to the Ruger 10/22T Laminated Stock of my wifes 10/22.

After a bunch of sanding I was finally ready for paint.

So far I have just sprayed on some flat black on the stock but will eventually spray it with Rustoleum Spray on Truck Bed Liner hopefully to make it more durable. Once all that is cured I may or may not have it dipped as there is a local lady that does HydroGraphics.

This has been a long time in the making as Roger has been busy with his other businesses and as such taken a long time to get to this stage. Actually I took the above photos yesterday. Today I scuffed up the stock and added more coats of flat black (3 times actually). Tonight after things were dry I again scuffed it up a bit with a scotch brite pad and assembled the Charger. I am going to shoot it as is for now for a while to get a feel for the new Stock before I apply the spray on truck bed liner. Speaking of which, yes we did a test pattern on a piece of scrap wood and the Rustoleum Spray On Truck Bed Liner's texture matches the texture on the T/C Rynite Contender Grip about as close as can be expected.

Our annual Egg Shoot is coming up on Saturday. Hopefully tomorrow I can sneak away to the Indoor Range to make sure it is zeroed in the new stock. I'll try to get a photo when I am at the range tomorrow.

Larry

 

[DrMike]

That is some great craftsmanship, Larry. Very nice, and very impressive.

 

[Larry in SD]

Thanks DrMike.

I can take credit for the design but Roger my local gunsmith gets the credit for turning my thoughts into reality. This whole thing started due to the fact I could not get a Custom Charger Stock with the look and feel I was after. Maybe I am just a little hard headed but that was basically the driving force behind this entire project. Besides I am an old Contender Shooter at heart.

I originally took the 10/22 Stock and cut the buttstock and pistol grip off as in the first picture above. Roger and I then took a bunch of measurements off of my Contender to get the grip angle and trigger reach the same and did the rest of the modifications to the rear of the stock. After Roger finished up his portion I then shortened the forend and reshaped the forend tip.

I have a can of Rustoleum Spray On Truck Bed Liner sitting here, and we have done a test of it on a scrap piece of wood. The texture matches the texture of the Rynite Contender Grip almost perfectly but for some reason the finish on our test piece doesn't seem to durable in that you can actually scratch it quite easily with a finger nail.

Larry

 

[Larry in SD]

Well here is sort of the final product, less the truck bed liner. Roger told me to make sure the paint is fully cured before I spray the truck bed liner on it. I figured while the paint is curing I may as well be shooting it as I am going to have to go over it with a scotch brite pad before I apply the truck bed liner anyway.

I took it to the Range this morning for a quick session to make sure the scope was zeroed. Yes it was off a bit but I was quickly printing one hole groups centered in the bullseye of a USBR Target.

The grip on this Custom Charger Stock feels like an old friend for Contender Shooter. We made sure the grip angle is the same as a Contender as well as the trigger reach.

Larry

 

[cloverleaf]

Wow Larry! Very cool. If I wasnt such a rifle nut myself Id say you need a hobby, but you already have one! Very neat! CL

 

[Larry in SD]

The wife won't let me have a girl friend so I have to occupy my time elsewhere. Thanks I am sure pleased with the outcome so far.

Larry

 

[JD338]

Larry,

That is pretty sweet. That would be a fun all day plinking gun.

JD338