Dumb idea?

[Nick7274]

I honestly don't know if I can get it to shoot any better with the Fedderson barrel. But I've heard so many good things about Fedderson I can't leave well enough alone, and had to order one. I might use it for a future build and not on this gun, if it keeps shooting the way it does.

[Nick7274]

I've also heard great things about CPC. I think either way is GTG.

[Vincent]

So far I have not been able to get my Fedderson sporter to shoot worth a darn. I had it reblued and it is beautiful now but I wish I had found out how it shot before I had it blued. Now the barrel means so much to me because of the 94 year old gunsmith that did the work I do not want to replace it:



Kinda pretty stock too:


Have not been shooting in over a year since I do not belong to the club anymore since moving 100 miles away. Have to find a range around here. I have the use of the back yard 75 yard range where the pictures were taken but I just can not get comfortable to shoot off a picnic table. So I have this beautiful rifle that, so far, will not shoot well enough to be interesting to me!! It also probably cost me more than any other rimfire I own and that hurts too!

As the old saying attributed to Townsend Whelan goes "Only accurate rifles are interesting" Thing is it is probably good enough for 99% of the 10/22 shooters but I have come to expect so much more with my other SuperStock rifles. In fact there were two duds in a row with expensive barrels as the rifle we built for Sophia would not shoot worth a crap with the original Shilen Sporter!! That is about 4 dud Shilens I have heard of (all sporters I do not know about their .920 barrels but with this horrible taste in my mouth from THIS one I will not find out either! You would think when you pay that much money for a barrel (it was sent back to Shilen and was no better when it came back) you would get at least a "good" barrel but neither the Shilen nor the Fedderson will shoot with a bone stock Ruger Target barrel.


We ended up buying Sophia a KIDD barrel. All the rest of the rifle except the amazing stock is KIDD and I am no KIDD fanboy but it was worthless with the Shilen.

The WORST GMHT barrel I have ever seen myself would shoot groups half the size of these two tomato stakes. I guess I should try some other stuff to make the Fedderson shoot but after two bricks of expensive ammo it is hard to justify wasting more!

Sorry for the rant but if it saves one person some hard earned money it is worth it. I am not ready to throw Fedderson under the bus but Shilen is a dead subject!

[azjeff]

If you want to send me that fingergroove stock I'll forget about the Magpul and everyone is happy!

[Vincent]

Originally Posted by azjeff

If you want to send me that fingergroove stock I'll forget about the Magpul and everyone is happy!

I believe that stock is the last or one of the last stocks "Tuck" (RFC Member and good guy) made. I contacted him asking about a stock for Sophia's project rifle that we built for her to show our appreciation of all she has done for us here at RFC and out of affection we share for her as friends who cared about her long before she was even a Moderator.

Tuck happened to be on vacation or something and by the time he got back to me with a picture or two and a quote for the price of the stock we were already going in another amazing direction with a stock that that just might be the most beautiful stock I have ever seen on a 10/22.

So I had a quote and some pictures of this, only partially finished beauty, and I asked Tuck if the same price would apply if I bought it for myself, thinking he would have given us a rock bottom price because it was going to her (it was a very good deal). I expected him to add another $100 at least to the price and if he had it would have been well out of any budget I had for a stock.

He got back to me and said it was supposed to be his stock, his last stock he made for himself but he needed the money for another project and offered to sell it to me if I bought it fast before he changed his mind. I did not even think about it for one minute and told the money was on it's way.

When I got it it had some small "issues" that needed to be addressed (still needs bedding changed) but it had about 3-5 (I do not remember for sure) coats of Arrow Wood oil (basically a 98% tung oil with a few additives) and in these pictures it has about 15 coats. It needs a couple more.

There is an old saying about tung oil finishes something like:

"A coat of oil every day for a week. A coat of oil every week for a month. A coat of oil every month for a year. A coat of oil every year forever!"

It is not what I would have chosen for a finish if I got the stock naked but I was afraid to change horses in midstream. After contacting "noremf" he said it would be a lot of work to change to something else and a possibility I would end up screwing up a very nice piece of wood!!

It is, easily, the nicest stock (when considering just the wood) I have ever owned. The original plan was to put a 19" GMHT on this rifle but when I started measuring I would only have something like .060" of wood on each side of the barrel at the fore arm tip WAY too close for my meager wood working skills and the rifle would have to coddled like a new born baby forever so that was out.

I looked around at what was available for a barrel in my small budget and a matte blue Fedderson fit the bill. It was not matte blue it was gray and it was paint of some kind.

I had helped my friend, a 94 year pold gunsmith to thread a shot gun barrel for internal chokes (I did the muscle work!). When I asked him about how much to blue it he said "Friends do not talk about such things" and two days later I had it back (he had said a week). Turned out the coating on the barrel came off "in sheets" so he had a easier job than he thought he would. Right now this rifle has one of my 80% receivers in it ready for testing

[noremf]

Originally Posted by Vincent

When I got it it had some small "issues" that needed to be addressed (still needs bedding changed) but it had about 3-5 (I do not remember for sure) coats of Arrow Wood oil (basically a 98% tung oil with a few additives) and in these pictures it has about 15 coats. It needs a couple more.

There is an old saying about tung oil finishes something like:

"A coat of oil every day for a week. A coat of oil every week for a month. A coat of oil every month for a year. A coat of oil every year forever!"

It is not what I would have chosen for a finish if I got the stock naked but I was afraid to change horses in midstream. After contacting "noremf" he said it would be a lot of work to change to something else and a possibility I would end up screwing up a very nice piece of wood!!

n it ready for testing

Arrow Wood Oil is not Tung Oil based. It is Boiled Linseed Oil based with about 50% Alcohol thinners with a small amount of original formula Mineral Spirits.

Contents are:

Boiled linseed oil 8001-26-1 47.4%
Isopropyl Alcohol 67-63-0 17.6%
Ethyl alcohol 64-17-5 10.3%
Mineral Spirits 8030-30-8 2.6%
Methyl alcohol 67-56-1 .8%

The MSDS is directly from the guy that markets it. He does not make it albeit he implies he does. He is a sales guy pure and simple. Did not want to send me the MSDS until I claimed I was a "downstream" user which means by law he has to send it. He did via email.

The periodic "refreshing" still applies. BLO is one of the "children" of the "parent" called semi-drying oils. Never really cures or sets up if you like that term better.

If you decide to look up the product I strongly recommend you view the marketing hype with a very large grain of salt to say the least.

FIRST OFF....IT IS NOT A BAD PRODUCT!!!!!!!!

I want to make that clear!!!!!!

But all it is is thinned Boiled Linseed Oil with the attributes of that finish.

I did extensive research on it back in 2014 for a RFC member and it has no "magic" qualities about it regardless of the hype.

Spent 45 minutes on the phone with the guy who markets it.

I even saw a demonstration of it's use at a gun show and it was staged to make it look like it does.

Also got a sample which I messed with for a few days.

Did a post on it on 5/2/2014.

The removal or putting another finish over it warning(s) still stands. If it were a cold pressed plant/vegetable you would need a barrier coat of Shellac over it before you could use a different finish.

As far as being BLO, while some folks say they have not had any problems putting say Tru-Oil® over it there are far more folks that have especially on Military wooden stocked rifles.

If it does go "south" you got big problems and to remove it is a real PIA.

Threads on that.

noremf(George)

[Vincent]

So sorry George very large brain fart on my part!! I remembered you telling me that and confused it with something else. Pretty dumb on my part and to you my sincerest apologies!

[noremf]

Originally Posted by Vincent

So sorry George very large brain fart on my part!! I remembered you telling me that and confused it with something else. Pretty dumb on my part and to you my sincerest apologies!

That's OK Vincent. As I become more "well seasoned" I have those farts more often.

Only reason I even bothered to answer is that that finish is felt by some RFC members to be God's gift to stocks and has all the magical qualities of something called forth by a Druid.

George

[KiwiPete]

Originally Posted by azjeff

Since I picked up the '96 10/22 and decided to build a heavy I've been looking at barrels and stocks, and working on the trigger group and bolt. Having access to a high precision machine shop at work and machinists who like to tinker there's no need to send anything out. Today I got the idea to make this an all-Ruger build. Obviously the barrel is the big question mark so I ask, is it a waste of time putting any work into a Ruger Target barrel? If there's potential there to shoot MOA with the usual re-chamber/crown etc. it's an interesting thought. If they just won't shoot I'll keep thinking. Not interested in rolling the dice on that 1 in 100 barrel that shoots if that's how it is.


TIA for the input.

I wouldn't be afraid to go the all-Ruger route.
My Dad gave me my 10/22 at the age of 8- now 36.5- and the trigger was horrible. Sent it off to a sympathetic gunsmith friend who started work on the trigger. I carried it on until I was happy with it and then left it alone after that. Mainly I polished the hammer with a fine diamond knife sharpener that I had, and took any machining marks off the top. It felt gritty from new and now it's as smooth as can be.
One thing I noticed early on, was the next round in the magazine would have a scrape mark from the bolt gouging it as it closed, so I put a radius on that as well. First round was always on the money and then not so much..
I may have had that trigger apart 30 times til I was really happy with it but I'm pleased I took the time. Over here in NZ there just weren't heaps of aftermarket goodies available on the shelf, and even as a kid, loved to do things myself.
Biggest accuracy improvement was taking that corner off the rib on the bolt, and floating the barrel with a strip of emery cloth. All free.
My friend has been long range big-bore shooting for years and he cannot believe my 10/22 stock trigger is so crisp. We were testing it on boxing day with CCI ammo and both shooting .6" at 100 yards, 10 shot groups. Was hot after 400 rounds though.
Best of luck with your project. I will haul it out and take some photos if my explanations are hard to decipher
Pete

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Vincent]

Good job Pete!

I bought my first 10/22 new in 1976. Was $59.95 with walnut stock and aluminum butt plate. Still have most of it butt now it looks like this:




Still one of the best deals in all of shooting world!