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New Project!: Making A Brass 10/22 Receiver From Scratch

440K views 916 replies 217 participants last post by  Al the Infidel 
#1 · (Edited)
So, I seldom visit the 10/22 forms, but I guess I will be from now on.

I have many pending projects, mostly for grandchildren and future grandchildren, and mostly high-end or custom bolt actions, but I've decided to make a 10/22 receiver. The reason is quite simple. I was an LDS bishop for many years, and during that time, I did my best to introduce our young people to shooting. While most enjoyed it, none seemed to show the enthusiasm I had when I was their age...until now.

One of the young men I mentored as a bishop recently asked, rather naively, whether or not I would consider helping him build a rifle. He wants to be a gunsmith and loves guns and shooting. He said he wanted to build a Rem 700 action. I told him that I wouldn't start with a centerfire, and that I wouldn't make a 700 clone, even if I did go centerfire. I ended up telling him I would think about it.

Well, I've built from parts 3 or 4 10/22s, but none really flipped my switch, and all went down the road when I started focusing on bolt actions and single shots. The 10/22s have become so common, the interest was gone. I had considered building my own receiver, but they too are everywhere, in aluminum and stainless. I recently bought a brass Henry Mare's Leg 45, and was very impressed with its appearance and smoothness. So, the light came on: Why not build a brass 10/22 receiver...and why not build two and involve this young man in the process of building his own? Doing so will teach him basic skills and introduce him to gunsmithing and gun building. And, depending on how much he wants to build, all the other parts are available in many variations. So, that's what I'm going to do.

Now, I have looked at a number of receiver drawings, which seemed pretty good but not complete. Is there a recommended set of blue prints for a 10/22 receiver scratch build like this?

Thanks in advance,

Teddy Bear Rat
 
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#899 ·
A few. The OP, Teddy Bear Rat did a range report after one year:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=555389

He recently posted a thread in which he took the rifle squirrel hunting:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=556972

And this rifle won first place in the "Ultimate 10-22 of the Month" contest in September last year:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=521714

You may also find this thread interesting. Another member, Candyx is building one from scratch with a stainless steel receiver designed with a thicker rear wall on the receiver to allow a second takedown screw for a free floated barrel, which is threaded into the receiver:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=539215

Oh- and

Hey, a NEW GUY... :yippee::Welcome::yippee::beerchug:WELCOME to RFC!!!!!:beerchug::yippee::Welcome::yippee:

Regards-

DrGunner
 
#909 ·
Brass 10/22: The Final Chapter

Many have inquired regarding the status of John, my "apprentice," and the progress on the second brass 10/22 receiver. Without getting into too much personal detail, other priorities in his life, mostly admirable, precluded his continuing to work on the receiver. His parents finally asked me to finish it for him, so, as a favor to them, I have tried to do so as time has allowed...though time has not allowed much.

The plan was to have the completed action, including the bolt and trigger assemblies, and all the various pins, screws, and small parts -- everything but the barrel and stock -- under the Christmas tree. I actually made that deadline, but, in the interest of bringing the whole project to a tidy conclusion, I thought I might share a couple of problems that arose.

First, as feared, so much time has transpired, I forgot how I handled some of the trickier operations. While I had every desire to finish his receiver before this happened, I also really wanted to wait for John to step up and do it himself, which obviously did not happen.

Another problem was John is in no position to fabricate his own custom stock, so his receiver exterior dimensions and shape needed to match the various aftermarket stocks out there. This aspect really caused a lot of extra work and precluded some of the aesthetic cues I incorporated on the first rifle. The result is a simple, blocky looking receiver, with very little of the brass showing above the stock line, but, it is what it is.

Now, the real problems. Some may not be familiar with the design of the Volquartsen bolt, but it incorporates a unique recoil spring and guide. The guide is a rod, not unlike the original, but it is independent of the bolt handle and rides in a hole drilled longitudinally through the top of the bolt itself. In general, it is a simpler and better design, I think, but it ended up causing the disaster every gunsmith fears: impossibly locked up parts requiring destruction of one or more of the parts to salvage the most valuable part.

Simply stated, and I'm sorry I didn't take pictures when it was locked up, but, when installing the bolt, the guide rod somehow had enough room to skip past and lodge beside the small dimpled block that serves to secure the conical end of the guide rod, almost like a detent. When it traveled about .5" beyond and beside its usual resting place, the rod's forward end came out of its hole in the bolt top and lodged on the shoulder of same. This served to lock the rod and spring impossibly between the rear of the receiver and the rear shoulder of the bolt where the guide rod hole is located, thus also locking the bolt into the receiver. Since the rod was skewed slightly, no amount of wiggling on one end could get the front face of the rod back into the bolt hole so the bolt could be retracted.

I bloodied my hand twice trying, but I ultimately gave up and cut the rod and spring ($20 from VQ) with a Dremel cut-off disk...no small feat in and of itself, given the confined space in there. I did manage to cut it off without marring the receiver interior, but it was quite nerve-racking.

This receiver has tighter dimensions than most receivers, so I believe it's possible this could happen in any receiver. I've probably installed and removed the various VQ bolts hundreds of times, and this has never happened before. Hence, a word to the wise: when installing a Volquartsen bolt, make certain the conical nose of the guide rod is squarely in that little dimple before retracting the bolt and compressing the recoil spring.
The next, bigger problem came when I installed a test barrel and the salvaged bolt in the receiver. It just would not go bang. I discovered the firing pin was striking about .025" too high (at the 12 O'clock position), meaning either the barrel hole was drilled too low or the bolt is positioned too high. Again, having left the project for nearly two years, and not having the precise dimensions clearly in my memory, I'm guessing it was my recent machining of the receiver interior, and not the drilling of the barrel hole, that caused the bolt to be positioned too high in relation to the barrel.

So, what the heck do I do about that? Well, I could have machined a barrel blank, offsetting the bore by .025", or I could have somehow offset the firing pin location within the bolt. The former is too much work and cost and would preclude using any of the myriad aftermarket barrels, and the latter is almost impossible on the VQ bolt, due to the round, cylindrical design of the firing pin.

After considerable congitatin', here is what I did. I ordered a new aftermarket bolt using the flat firing pin of the original Ruger design. I then fabricated a new firing pin .025" taller at its nose (extending .025" further down the bolt face) and then slightly machined the forward portion of the firing pin slot in the bolt .025" deeper to accommodate the .025" extra height of the firing pin. It appears that solved the problem (good firing pin intention and all 5 rounds-- bullets and powder removed) and will now allow John to change barrels at some time in the future.

So, here is the completed and polished action with the various parts installed. I used the simple BX trigger, for economy sake. There was precious little material on the top, as you can see, leaving just enough to form two small islands into which I milled 60 degree dovetail grooves and installed these Warne rings I had on hand. The laser-etched markings on the bolt were not my idea, but I'm certain John will probably choose the most unattractive, gaudy barrel and stock he can find, so it should be a good fit. Had it not been this time of the year, and my heart filled with the Christmas spirit, I doubt I would have done this, but I feel I have now fulfilled my duty to John and his parents, and I hope he gets a lifetime of enjoyment from it.



Merry Christmas

TBR
 
#912 ·
I feel badly also, but for the past two years, the bad side of me was willing to allow him to reap what he sowed -- his loss -- serves him right, etc. Without getting too religious, I believe a greater presence has compelled my actions (such magnanimity does not come naturally to me), and I am convinced the Atonement has taken a unique course in John's life, both in its form -- a silly rifle -- and in someone like me as a proxy. I hope he can take in the meaning of this and make his life choices accordingly.

TBR
 
#914 ·
If you ever decide to sell this rifle, you are going to have an amazing bidding war...this is by far the coolest, most beautiful gun, not just a rimfire, but gun in general, that i have ever seen...this slays scores of overpriced, underworked mausers, generic bolt together 70's, ultra hip and modern 700's, and not so classic eurotrash offerings...your talent and skill is amazing Sir.....
 
#915 ·
So, I seldom visit the 10/22 forms, but I guess I will be from now on.

I have many pending projects, mostly for grandchildren and future grandchildren, and mostly high-end or custom bolt actions, but I've decided to make a 10/22 receiver. The reason is quite simple. I was an LDS bishop for many years, and during that time, I did my best to introduce our young people to shooting. While most enjoyed it, none seemed to show the enthusiasm I had when I was their age...until now.

One of the young men I mentored as a bishop recently asked, rather naively, whether or not I would consider helping him build a rifle. He wants to be a gunsmith and loves guns and shooting. He said he wanted to build a Rem 700 action. I told him that I wouldn't start with a centerfire, and that I wouldn't make a 700 clone, even if I did go centerfire. I ended up telling him I would think about it.

Well, I've built from parts 3 or 4 10/22s, but none really flipped my switch, and all went down the road when I started focusing on bolt actions and single shots. The 10/22s have become so common, the interest was gone. I had considered building my own receiver, but they too are everywhere, in aluminum and stainless. I recently bought a brass Henry Mare's Leg 45, and was very impressed with its appearance and smoothness. So, the light came on: Why not build a brass 10/22 receiver...and why not build two and involve this young man in the process of building his own? Doing so will teach him basic skills and introduce him to gunsmithing and gun building. And, depending on how much he wants to build, all the other parts are available in many variations. So, that's what I'm going to do.

Now, I have looked at a number of receiver drawings, which seemed pretty good but not complete. Is there a recommended set of blue prints for a 10/22 receiver scratch build like this?

Thanks in advance,

Teddy Bear Rat
what grade of brass are you going to use ???
I would suggest using "hard bearing bronze" as it will hold up to the wear of the bolt and will not tarnish as fast as soft brass
 
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