Dealing with T/CR22 plastic stock loose "inletting"

[misterpepper]

The inletting for the action in my olive green Magpul stock (the stock stock) is quite a bit longer than necessary. The action screw lines up best with the action pushed as far forward in the stock as it can. Doing this leaves a gap of around .040" at the rear of the action. I can't imagine this is good for accuracy, considering it is widely understood that bedding the action to the stock, so that the action doesn't move relative to the stock during firing tends to produce the best results. Well, epoxy bedding a plastic stock seems like a bad idea. The epoxy is likely to be much stiffer than the stock itself and I assume would quickly crack. My solution was to add electrical tape to the rear of the action to take up the gap. I used 6 layers of Scotch Super88 (relatively thick for electrical tape) and it fills the gap under slight compression, while still being easy to tip the action in and out of the stock. I just built up the layers and cut the ends so that when they wrapped around the corners of the action they didn't protrude past the sides. While I was at it I also added 3 layers of tape under the barrel, just before the screw hole in the stock for the forend insert. This is to better free-float the front part of the barrel and to provide solid contact for the action screw to secure the action. I experimented earlier and found that adjusting tension on the action screw was affecting my group sizes (less tension on the screw gave better results) so I wanted to see what I could accomplish if I had more control over how and where the stock was touching the barrel. It may take a little experimentation to get the number of layers and positions of tape just right, but I'm encouraged by how much more solid the action seems in the stock now.

[bmw2]

Ever get a chance to shoot some groups? Decide on a action screw tension that worked best?

[Toomany22s]

Aluminum tape on the receiver.

[misterpepper]

I did shoot it, briefly, but only had a chance to shoot a few quick groups. I really want to shoot it again where I can adjust the action screw tension. It shot about the same as before I tweaked the action screw tension. I feel like I might have overdone it on the barrel pad, or maybe the placement, but I think the idea is sound. I actually did see that a few of the 10/22 guys were using aluminum tape for a similar purpose, but also that the aluminum tape has a tendency to compress over time. I assume this is due to the adhesive, not the aluminum. Anyway, the plastic stock of the T/CR22 didn't seem to warrant aluminum. I'll try to get out and shoot it early next week and report back.