A couple of my Rimfires

[Larry in SD]

I am a died in the wool Rimfire Fanatic, have been all my life. When it comes to Rimfires I guess I am a kid that never quite grew up. Part of this is in 1990 a buddy and I decided we needed an Indoor Shooting Range for something to do during our sometimes long and cold winters. A club was formed, a building purchased and transformed into an Indoor Shooting Range. We have just completed our 19th year of competition at the club.

When our club started the main use was for Rimfire Handgun Bullseye Competition. We did have some shooters shooting a 4 position NRA Type Gallery Competition, but that never was my cup of tea. A dozen or so years ago we started an indoor Bench Rest Competition also to broaden the courses of fire we offer.

I have used several different Ruger K77/22 VBZ's in .22 LR at our club over the years. There were two problems with this. #1 I always longed for a Custom Ruger 77/22, and #2 every time I would get done tinkering with one of the Ruger K77/22 VBZ's one of our club members would talk me out of it and I'd start over.

I finally purchased a Ruger K77/22RP .22 LR (Stainless-Synthetic). When I purchased this Rifle I bought it for a Hunting Rifle, and as such initially planned on leaving it as is.

Well I detest the looks of the Ruger Boat Paddle Stock, so I just had to do SOME modifications.

I made filler panels to sit inside of the hollowed out portion of the Ruger Boat Paddle Stock. I then covered the panels I made as well as the grip and forend panels with Camo Tape. I did a trigger job on this Rifle and mounted up a Simmons 22 MAG #10-22T 3x9x32mm AO Riflescope but eventually replaced the scope with a Weaver V-16 4x16x42mm AO Riflescope with a Fine Crosshair / Dot Reticle.

I have killed a truck load of Gophers with this Ruger in this form but eventually decided to finally go ahead with the Custom Rifle Project.

Larry

 

[Larry in SD]

The first part of the process was deciding on what parts-n-pieces I needed. First off I knew I wanted to put it in a Laminated Wood Stock. I pondered over which stock and ultimately ended up with a Volquartsen Custom Laminated Wood Stock. To switch from the Synthetic Stock to the Wood Stock I needed to purchase some parts, a Trigger Guard, Magazine Well and the Action Screws for a Ruger K77/22VBZ.

Next up was deciding on a Barrel. I searched and searched for information and in the end decided on a Clark Custom Guns 20" .920" Stainless-Steel Bull Barrel in .22 LR. Clark Custom Guns uses Lothar-Walther Barrel Blanks and I had read some really great things about the Lothar-Walther Barrel Blanks, which helped in my decision. One other thing that helped is that Clark Custom Guns would make the barrel any length I wanted under 22" at no extra charge, in addition to using their own design .22 LR Match Chamber Reamer.

When my parts started arriving I had to get to work. The bottom metal from the K77/22VBZ had Ruger's Target Grey Finish, so the first job was to polish off the Target Grey Finish so the stainless-steel parts matched my action. Next up was fitting the barrel. The Barrel Shank on the Clark Custom Guns Barrel to the Ruger Action was quite TIGHT. In fact I polished the Barrel Shank slightly and then placed it in the freezer. At the same time I placed the Ruger Receiver on the window sill with the sun shining on it. After about a half hour the two parts slipped together great.

SInce I had done a trigger job on this rifle originally I just wanted to touch things up a bit. I did a bit more stoning and polishing, came up with a custom spring and had a buddy drill & tap the receiver for an over travel stop. The result is a really great feeling, super crisp 1 1/4 pound trigger.

Above is the result of my labors. I also had to obtain higher Ruger Scope Rings for the Weaver Scope to clear the Heavy Clark Custom Guns Barrel. I did about a 500 round Barrel Break in procedure prior to shooting competition with this Custom Ruger. Once I had 500 rounds through the tube I then started in with some SK Jagd Standard Plus .22 LR Target Ammo.

At our club we shoot at 18 yards (the most distance we can get) and use the USBR Target. The 10 Ring on the USBR Target measures .100" and is scored using inward scoring, ie if the bullet hole touches any portion of the 10 ring the shots scores a "10". If the bullet hole obliterates the 10 ring so no portion of the 10 ring is visible outside of the bullet hole the shot scores a 10 X.

Above is the first USBR Target I fired with my Custom Ruger 77/22 using SK Jagd Standard Plus Target Ammo.

This winter I was able to fullfill a dream of building a Custom Ruger 77/22. I am totally pleased with how it turned out and how it shoots. The icing on the cake was I won our Indoor Rimfire Bench Rest Competition this year. We shoot 6 scores for record and a perfect score would be 1500-150X for the year. I ended up with a 1496.

Thanks for reading.

Larry

 

[YoteSmoker]

Very, Very Nice!!!

 

[Larry in SD]

Remember at the onset of this I mentioned my addiction to .22 LR Rimfires? Well the saga continues. My wife also happens to like to shoot .22 LR Rimfires. The problem is I am 6'2" tall and my beloved wife is 5'4" tall. When I get a rifle set up for me to shoot it is not at all comfortable for my wife.

My wife just loves shooting my Bushmaster 16" M4 ORC .223 with the 6 Position Collapsable Buttstock as she can easily make it the right length for her.

With that thought in mind I decided to do another Custom .22 LR. This time I found a fantastic buy on a used Ruger 10-22 and bought it. At the same time I found a buy on a TAPCO T-6 10-22 Stock with a SAW Style Pistol Grip and TAPCO's 6 Position Collapsable Buttstock.

I was not overly thrilled with the looks of the rectangular forend on the TAPCO Stock and decided there had to be a better way. I envisioned modifying the forend so I could attach an AR-15 Aluminum Carbine Free Float Tube so the end product would look like my Bushmaster (or as closely as possible).

In the process I shortened the factory Ruger 10-22 Sporter Weight Barrel to 17", while at the same time removing the front sight.To keep with my theme of keeping things as close as possible I also ordered a pair of Yankee Hill Machine 1/2" Scope Risers and mounted an old Tasco 4x40mm World Class Riflescope. The end result is the scope height is about the same height from the buttstock as on the Bushmaster.

I also went to a rimfire talk forum and read everything I could on doing a trigger job on a Ruger 10-22. I have taken everything apart and polished, polished and polished some more. The result is a super crisp & smooth trigger pull, but it is heavier than I would like it (enter the package from Brownells with a Wolff Gunsprings Spring Kit).

I am not totally done with this project as yet (the mail man just brought the final pieces from Brownells as I type this). So far I am very pleased with the way this project has turned out so far. As for the 10-22 itself, well I am not sure if shortening the barrel or free floating the barrel or both made it shoot better, but what I have shot this 10-22 it is shooting way better than I had hoped for.

For comparison purposes the above photo shows my Custom Ruger 10-22 and my Bushmaster. No they are not twins but do look and feel enough alike that they may have come from the same family.

More to come later.

Larry

 

[nodak7mm]

I am most definatly coming down to fondle that baby, if ya let me!!!

Flippin Gorgeous Rig..

Rod

 

[Larry in SD]

Thanks guys. Rod you come on down and you can fondle it all you want.

Part 4

IN the middle of all of this my nephew (who turned 39 this past July) got bitten by the Bench Rest Rimfire Rifle bug. Well one day while in Scheels in Fargo I found a slightly used Ruger K10-22T (Stainless-Laminated Target Rifle) for about $100.00 less than a new one. I immediately phoned my nephew (while I was still in Scheels) and told him all about the Rifle, telling him it was the old style one with the metal (aluminum) trigger Guard and not one of the new ones with the Plastic Trigger Housing.

Well when I hung up the phone with my nephew he promptly phoned Scheels and put it on Lay a Way. Upon bringing it home a few weeks later (my nephew had to come up here from Willmar Minnesota) we started working on it. My nephew liked the Volquartsen Laminated Wood Stock I put on my Custom Ruger 77/22 so much that I happened on a really, really great buy on a slightly used Volquartsen Custom Laminated Wood Stock for a 10-22 and bought it for him (we then sold his stock on the net for $20.00 more than I paid for the Volquartsen Stock).

We totally disassembled the 10-22. Once I had the barrel removed I totally cleaned the bore and then polished the bore with Flitz Metal Polish. Once everything was cleaned again we reassembled everything. In the process we free floated the barrel channel on the Volquartsen Stock started at a point 2" in front of the receiver on out to the tip of the forend.

We then mounted up my Simmons 22 MAG 3x9x32mm AO Riflescope and went to shooting.

My nephew has since sent his trigger group away for a custom trigger job to a company out in California. This guy does great work and does a lot more than a basic trigger job. He also custom makes the hammer bushings and uses 4x40 TPI set screws to secure them to the pivot pin. He also makes his own design trigger return spring so when trying for a < 2 Pound Trigger Pull the spring doesn't bind. He also does the Auto Bolt Modification so when the bolt is locked back all that is needed to return it to battery is to pull back on the bolt handle and let her fly.

My nephew also just received a 4.5x14x40mm AO Mueller APV (All Purpose Variable) Riflescope to complete the package.

As strange as it may seem this particular Ruger Barrel shoots CCI Blazers like they are target ammo. I can't hardly wait to actually shoot some target ammo through it.

Larry

 

[FOTIS]

I likes... a lot! :idea:

 

[Larry in SD]

Thanks

Looks like I am going to be putting together another one now. My oldest daughter is talking about a Custom Ruger 10-22 similar to the one my nephew has, but with a Clark Custom Guns Bull Barrel.

Larry

 

[BK]

Jeez, Larry, do you need another nephew? Cool stuff. I wish I had the time and ability to make stuff like this happen, but I'm out of town working all but about four days a month.

I'm glad you started taking pictures on the workbench. No self respecting gun should have it's picture taken on a floral-print couch!

 

[Larry in SD]

Thanks

At least there was a Harley Davidson Pillow on the Floral Print Couch.

The shooting benches are portable shooting benches at our Indoor Shooting Range. Not the sturdiest in the world but way better than me trying to shoot off hand.

Larry

 

[cloverleaf]

Larry,
I knew you was a gopher gunner... Nice artillery. Indoor rang is a great idea. You got a pasture full of them 9 stripers staked out some where??? Hope oyu are on the mend. CL