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Soup It Up For Soldiers Step 3: Ruger 10/22 Competition Trigger and Magazine Release

Tom — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:46:54 +0000

Now that steps 1 and 2 are complete, we’ve got one nasty accurate rifle with what is perhaps the world’s most comfortable (and sporty) stock.

What’s next?

How about a two-fer. This week in Step 3, we’re adding a Force Trigger Housing System which gives us a competition grade trigger AND an extended magazine release that allows speedy magazine changes without losing your firing grip. Nifty.

We have to confess that we got lazy with the shopping process for this episode. Overwhelmed by all the possible options for this step, we simply crawled to the Brownells GunTech team whimpering and asked them to take charge of the selection process. A few days later, the Force Trigger Housing System showed up in the mail. And, as you’ll see, it couldn’t be easier to install. I suspect the folks at Brownells are well aware of our lack of engineering skills and deliberately chose something that we couldn’t screw up. Smart folks those Brownells Techs…

First, a little about this component:

This is a complete drop in aluminum assembly with match quality trigger pull of between 2 and 3 pounds. The housing is made from aluminum and is available in matte black or silver. The trigger features a serrated, semi-flat surface with over travel adjustment for individual shooter preference.

This unit includes an extended release which allows magazine drops with your trigger hand. It’s quick and easy.

Let’s get started!

	Step 1 is starting to get familiar and we should all be professionals at removing the action and barrel from the stock by now. I’m thinking about starting a new business: Stock Removal Specialists, Inc. There must be an enormous market for this type of service. My wife is not convinced. As always, be sure the rifle is completely unloaded (chamber too!) before starting. Just remove the single screw that holds our new stock to the receiver and gently lift the barrel from the muzzle end first.
	The Ruger 10/22 is beautifully engineered – especially when you start taking it apart and realize how easy it is to do customizations. The entire trigger housing is held in place by two punch pins. Simply prop the receiver and barrel up on something non-scratchy like these custom wood blocks and gently tap the forward pin through. Make sure your wood blocks or alternative platform allows enough space for the pin on the bottom side. This should take very little pressure and/or light tapping.
	Now tap out the rear pin in similar fashion.
	Don’t worry if the pin does not want to come all the way out. On this rifle, the front pin fell all the way through fairly easily, while the rear pin remained in the receiver. Either way is fine as long as the pin pushes through enough to pull the trigger housing out. See? This is a low stress project after all.
	Remove the original Ruger 10/22 trigger housing. It will slide right out. This is a great opportunity to clean out the inside of the receiver and re-lube things. Everything is easy to get to with the trigger housing removed. Think of it as ‘Spring Cleaning.’ Pun fully intended.
	The new Force Trigger Housing System will slide right in to the now clean receiver.
	Now, simply replace the two retaining pins. On this setup, the Force Trigger Housing System holes aligned perfectly with the receiver. Piece of cake.
	Ta Da!
	Now that you’re an expert at stock removal and replacement, put the barreled receiver back into the stock and tighten up the retaining screw.

That’s it! We’re done! No parts left over. No blood. All in all another successful project.

With the new Force Trigger Housing System, we’ve now added a two-fer: A competition grade trigger with adjustable travel and an extended magazine release lever for speedy mag changes. If you’re faced with a horde or rodents on your property, you can maintain a high rate of accurate fire.

Join us next time as we add some more gizmos to this fine rifle. We’re going to call the folks at Brownells GunTech to see what we ought to do next. Perhaps an extended bolt handle. Would night vision goggles qualify as a rifle upgrade? Hmmm. Not sure the Brownells folks will buy that logic…

Remember to keep track of this project here. As soon as this rifle is done, it’s getting shipped back to Ruger where it will be photographed and placed for auction on Gunbroker.com with all proceeds going to Project Valour-IT of Soldiers Angels.

Fun Hakim Rifle Facts – Only Surrendered Once!

Tom — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:46:40 +0000

Fun Hakim rifle facts…

The Hakim was begat by the Swedish Ljungman AG-42, designed by Erik Eklund around 1941.

Bored with designing guns for a country who hardly ever goes to war, Eklund later founded the pop group ABBA, where he had many fun escapades with that other guy and those two Swedish singer-babes.

Sweden later sold designs and tooling to Egypt as part of an All Middle East ABBA Mega-Tour. In return for releasing the Ljungman AG-42 design and 28% of t-shirt sales, Eklund insisted that the Egyptian government allow the pop group to sing “Fernando” in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

One of the design changes made to the AG-42 with the Egyptian Hakim was addition of a larger muzzle brake. The Hakim actually flies forward several feet when fired, while bathing the shooter with a refreshing mist of hot burning gas. This design feature makes rapid surrender almost effortless. Surprisingly, the French never expressed interest in acquiring the design.

The Hakim has the largest perceived weight of any rifle ever built, with most users assuming it weighs in at approximately 419 pounds. In actuality, the Hakim tips the scales at just over 10 pounds. Perception can be deceiving.

One of the reasons that only 60,000 – 70,000 Hakims were produced was weight. As the Hakim arsenal began to sink into underground oil reserves, production was halted as cleaning crude from wooden rifles is very time consuming and messy.

The Hakim features a unique bolt cover mechanism which was specially designed to allow the rifle to be thrown vigorously into the sand with an aggressive surrender motion, without allowing grit to interfere with the operation of the bolt.

Hakim designers anticipated collector interest in rifles that had never been fired before surrender, thereby preparing them for the lucrative gun show market. Collectors who know, know that Hakim’s will be squeaky clean inside due to their unique sand-proof design.

The Hakim operates via direct gas impingement, like the M16 / AR-15, meaning dirty and corrosive powder blast is driven into the firing mechanism. One primary difference between the Hakim and AR design is the addition of an adjustable gas flow regulator, which requires a special tool that is never around when you need one. Like in the heat of battle.

The Hakim fires the 8x57mm IS cartridge, otherwise known as the 8mm Mauser. This is generally a 192 grain projectile which used to be insanely cheap to buy until it rose in popularity after a series of wildly successful Billy Mays television infomercials.

To open the bolt of a Hakim, the user has to first push it forward in a closing motion, then pull the bolt carrier backwards. This counterintuitive design was apparently intended to prevent enemy soldiers with no musical training (think trombone here) to use captured Hakims against the Egyptians.

The Hakim was manufactured during the 1950’s and into the early 60’s. It saw battlefield service in the Suez Crisis / Sinai War of 1956 where large numbers of Hakim’s were thrown down in surrender in anticipation of a voracious military surplus rifle collector market.

And there you have it – an abbreviated history of one of the more interesting military rifles of the 20th century.

Doe Decides Back Yard Is Appropriate Place To Give Birth

Tom — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:47:30 +0000

Filed under the ‘something you don’t see everyday’ category…

Our female Welsh Springer Spaniel has extra-sensory perception. She can spot a bird, squirrel, chinchilla, or any other furry living being from a distance of 42.7654887 light years, provided that sun spots are not acting up. Late this afternoon, she starts barking at the back yard fence – looking intently out into the swamp behind our home. Real estate agents refer to this as ‘scenic wetlands.’ Anyway, her brother, who is kind of a special needs puppy, remains clueless about the events, but starts barking anyway. Mainly because it’s fun.

Looking out into the scenic wetlands from our second level deck, we spot a doe lying on the ground looking our way. Seeing a deer in the yard is not at all unusual, but seeing one just laying there staring at us is. Then, into view comes a staggering, wobbly fawn – closely followed by another. Meanwhile the doe is continuing to tidy things up as they were born minutes prior.

So here’s something a little different for your enjoyment…

The baby walk

To Load Or Not To Load, That Is The Question…

Tom — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:52:15 +0000

I’m one of those guys who enjoys reloading. Yes, I can save some money on a cost per round basis – if I place an hourly value on my time somewhere below the cost of 1/3 of a Wintergreen Tic Tac. The main reason I reload is that I like to tinker. Why experiment with 42 varieties of .357 Sig? Why shoot lead bullets at 1,000 feet per second out of my 1903 Springfield? Why not?

But lately, I’m having doubts about my patience for tinkering with one specific caliber. That would be .223 Remington, or when I’m feeling tactical, 5.56mm. Quite frankly, it’s a pain in the butt.

If it was a low volume shooting round, that would be one thing. Tinkering for hours to make a few hundred rounds of some caliber is fine if it will last a couple of shooting outings. But, as I have found out, my kids are capable of maintaining a constant cyclic rate of fire of just over 42,358 rounds per minute in semi-automatic mode with my sons DPMS A3 Lite AR-15 rifle. Doing some quick math, I might spend 42.8 hours reloading .223 ammo that lasts 19 milliseconds at the range.

Not only that, the process of reloading .223 ammo is somewhat complicated and has many important steps:

I gripe at my kids to pick up the .223 brass from the range.

Next, I have to cancel texting service on their phones so they can pay attention to the request I made in step 1.

Sort thousands of rounds of dirty brass to filter out the desirable .223 brass. Separate it from the 5.56mm brass that has gotten mixed in. Those Navy Seals have a bad habit of sneaking around mixing their military brass into my stuff. Sneaky bastards.

Call Discovery Channel, again, to request that Mike Rowe does an episode of Dirty Jobs about sorting range brass. Ask why they have stopped taking my calls.

Shoo my dogs away from nosing around dirty, leady brass that suddenly seems more interesting to them than bacon topped with Cheez Whiz.

Dump a pile of filthy .223 brass into my Lyman 1200 Auto-Flo Tumbler. This causes earthquake like sounds to reverberate from my garage for hours. Fortunately the neighbors no longer call 911 or the University of Southern California Earthquake Research Center.

After the brass is reasonably clean, I make sure that all of the walnut / corn cob / gritty tumbler media stuff is out of the cases. As the .223 case has a mouth diameter just smaller than a mosquito’s left nostril, this step is more difficult that it sounds. Shaking the case vigorously doesn’t always do it, so I’m thinking about rinsing them with an insect-sized Neti Pot.

Now for the brass depriming and resizing step. Here is where things get interesting. Invariably, at least 5 out of 4 cases will get stuck in the sizing die, causing me to stop the operation, drill out the case head, and remove it with bolts and a thread tap I bought at Wal-Mart. Yes, the stuck case situation might have happened one night after proper hardware stores were closed. Friends don’t let friends buy tools at Wal-Mart after all – that’s what pawn shops are for. Oh, by the way, Mighty Putty is on sale.

In a fit of impatience trying to get the show back on the road, I break the tap. What, anger issues? Me? Hey it was a cheap tap bought at Wal-Mart after all. It was asking for it.

Figure out how to remove a case that’s stuck in the die, that in turn has a broken tap stuck in it. This is a great time to go watch a re-run of Home Improvement. And ask my neighbor if I can borrow a flame thrower.

After the load of brass is successfully deprimed and resized, I break out the case trimmer. Don’t lose heart, we’re 10% of the way done.

My wife and kids decide to go on vacation. They know I will be trimming brass 18 hours a day for the next few weeks.

I gently move my dogs that have camped out on top of my feet. Apparently they think I have died standing in this position and are holding vigil.

Some ammo companies have the audacity to crimp their .223 primers in place. I have reason to believe that this is a plot by my dogs to keep me from moving for another couple of weeks as they are continuing to soundly sleep on my feet. Apparently my shoes are comfortable and smell nice. In any event, this step involves either reaming or swaging the primer pockets to make sure that new primers will actually fit. Swaging is the way to go here. You don’t cut away metal and the results are consistent. It’s kind of like making an auto part fit by hammering it really hard. Dillon makes an excellent swaging tool that is well worth the money.

Now we’re on the offensive and are beginning steps that are actually adding stuff back to the empty case. So you can think of this as the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Except that the Colts are ahead.

Using one of several highly scientific techniques, I stuff new primers into the newly reamed or swaged primer pockets. Depending on volume and how bad my mood is from dealing with stuck cases in my resizing dies, I will use the hand method or a progressive reloading press. If something really good is on TV, like Band of Brothers reruns, I use my hand operated Lee Auto Prime tool, since I don’t have DirectTV in my man cave. If Fashion Stars is on, and I therefore have no access to the TV due to the ‘Chicks Occupying Den Movement’, I’ll configure the Hornady Lock and Load Auto Progressive press to knock out a few steps at once – priming, powder charging, and bullet seating. But for discussion’s sake, let’s follow the hand priming route. It’s far more dramatic for this particular column.

If you’re feeling like the Anal Retentive Chef, it’s time to chamfer and deburr the case mouths with some sort of hand or electric tool. I’ve been dying to try out Hornady’s Lock and Load Case Prep Center, but for now am using stone tools fashioned from cinder blocks. Either that or I skip this step entirely.

It’s time for charging the case. This is fancy techno-speak for adding powder that makes things go bang. I like to use TAC by Ramshot as it works well, and more importantly, is really easy to measure consistently. And it looks like something people would identify as gunpowder.

It’s bullet time. The grand finale. The climactic moment. Add the bullet and crimp the case – usually in one simple step.

And now, last but not least, it’s final check time. As I put the rounds into plastic ammo boxes, I like to do one last visual check to make sure primers are there, they they are not upside down, that the case looks good with no cracks, and that there are no love handles on the case shoulder. Sometimes, a case will sneak through the system that is a tad to long, and when it gets to the bullet seating and crimping step, a very unsexy bulge is created at the shoulder. Not good. Mainly because it creates another step – pulling the bullet out and fixing the case.

And there it is. Just a few simple steps to prepare for my kids unleashing a hailstorm of .223 downrange – for at least 9 seconds.

Sometimes I think it’s just better to buy some bulk .223 from my friends at LuckyGunner.com.

Soup It Up For Soldiers Step 2: Bull the Barrel

Tom — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:26:36 +0000

Last Week…

Last week in Step 1: Sportify the Stock, we replaced the standard stock on our Ruger 10/22 with a custom Revolution Extreme one, graciously donated by Brownells. This week, we’re going to replace the barrel with a sporty competition model from Tactical Solutions – also graciously donated by Brownells.

Remember, at the end of this series, we’re going to end up with one heck of a rifle. And we’re going to auction it on GunBroker.com so 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Project Valour-IT of Soldiers Angels.

Step 2 Objectives

Take a perfectly good barrel off a perfectly good Ruger 10/22 carbine. Because we can.
Do NOT butch up the receiver. “Butching up” is a techincal gunsmithing term that loosely translates to “gouging metal.”
Do NOT butch up the shiny new Tactical Solutions barrel.
Try to avoid the use of large sledgehammers and/or blowtorches. This might cause the Brownells GunTech Team to resign en-masse and we wouldn’t want that to happen. Who would we call for advice about Step 3?
Make sure that the rifle still feeds and shoots. In a forward direction. Preferably .22LR ammunition.

The Parts

Tactical Solutions X-Ring Barrel

The Tactical Solutions X-Ring Barrel upgrade adds the “bull” part of this step

.920” diameter, 6061-T6 billet aluminum construction
Threaded end with included matching thread protector
Oversized shank (more about this below)
1 in 16” twist 4140 button rifled steel liner with 11° target crown
This one is silver. And quite sporty looking.

Tactical Solutions Compensator

Given the massive power and recoil of the .22LR rifle, we opted to include a thread-attached Tactical Solutions Compensator. Ok, to come clean, we didn’t really add this to help reduce recoil, because it’s pretty much non-existent anyway. It just looks cool, OK? Isn’t that a good enough reason?

360° gas ports allow for even distribution of gasses for optimum accuracy
Machined from solid billet of 6061-T6 aluminum
No indexing or gunsmithing required to fit on Tactical Solutions ½ x 28 TPI Threaded end barrels
0.920” Outside diameter so it fits exactly flush with the X-Ring barrel

How To

Admittedly, we were more than a little nervous going into this step as our previous gunsmithing experience has been limited to advanced techniques like ordering extra magazines from Brownells.com and replacing the factory grips on a Beretta 92-FS with Hogue Rubber Grips . That one was kind of hairy – we had to remove at least 4 different screws. And put them back.

However, Larry Weeks from Brownells talked us off the ledge and convinced us we could do this without professional assistance. While psychiatric services might be required, there would be no need for professional gunsmithing.

The Tactical Solutions X-Ring Barrel includes a very easy-to-follow set of instructions. And, as it turns out, swapping a barrel on a Ruger 10/22 couldn’t be easier. Apparently this rifle was designed with interchangeability in mind. As for the compensator, we were able to do without detailed instructions – you just screw it on.

Here goes…

	The Tactical Solutions X-Ring barrel comes with a great set of easy to follow instructions. Between this article and the included directions, you’ll be fine!
	First, remove the stock by loosening the screw just in front of the magazine well. Lift the barrel from the front to remove the receiver assembly. Seems like deja-vu no?
	Just under the barrel, you’ll see two allen screws holding a barrel retainer v-block. Now would be a great time to find an allen wrench that fits these.
	We found that the magazine release lever and it’s corresponding pin like to fall out fairly easily when not contained by the insides of the stock. No biggie, just be aware of this so you don’t lose the pieces. If your magazine is out during these steps, you might also want to keep an eye on the magazine latch plunger.
	Loosen the allen screws and remove them completely. The barrel retainer v-block will come right off.
	The Ruger 10/22 barrel will pull right out with hand pressure. If you have an older rifle, or things are crudded up, be gentle – this is probably not a great place to use impact tools or recreational explosives.
	Since the Tactical Solutions X-Ring barrel on this particular rifle is threaded, we went ahead and put the thread protector on so we wouldn’t butch up the threads during the next few steps.
	Using your hands only (no large metal hammers or other tools substituting as hammers! This includes screwdrivers, pliers, and heavy flashlights) insert the new barrel into the receiver.Oh, it probably won’t fit. That’s OK – it’s slightly oversized by design. Tactical Solutions makes the shank just a hair on the large side so you can custom fit this barrel to a variety of Ruger or aftermarket receivers and create a perfect fit for your particular gun.
	Here’s a great time to be really, really patient. If you have to, pretend that you’re in an old 007 movie tinkering with an atomic bomb fuse – except that the clock is not ticking down while the co-star looks concerned. This is an easy step that will have major impact on the accuracy of the rifle. Using some emery cloth, gently sand down the barrel shank. Wipe off the crud, and try the fit. The barrel should eventually fit in the receiver very tightly, but with hand pressure only. Take your time and repeat the sanding, wiping, and test fitting as necessary. Remember, this part is made of aluminum, so it will sand down fairly easily.To the future buyer of this rifle: We were very patient with this step. The fit is rock solid.
	If you look closely at this photo, you’ll see that hand pressure has gotten the barrel to fit in the receiver except for the last 1/16th of an inch or so. Leave the hammers in the drawer!
	Place the barrel retainer v-block back in position and tighten the allen screws alternately. This will snug the barrel right up to the receiver.
	Look at that fit. Perfect!
	This would be a swell time to screw on the new Tactical Solutions Compensator!
	Now it’s time to put the new barreled receiver back in the stock. See Step 1 if you need a refresher on that.This would be a great time to add the rail that Ruger includes with the 10/22. Simply remove the four screws in the top of the receiver, and fasten the rail using the included screws. Remember to use proper gunsmith screwdrivers here so these very visible screws stay nice and tidy. You can get a set at Brownells.
	Since Step 2 resulted in the loss of our factory iron sights (The Tactical Solutions X-Ring Barrel does not have them) we popped a nearby Red / Blue / Green Dot sight from BSA on the newly mounted rail just to test things out. During a future step, we’ll decide what optic should live on this rifle permanently. Let us know if you have ideas!

Voila!

Purely as a quality control measure, we took the completed rifle with it’s shiny new barrel to the range to make sure it still worked. After all, one of our Step 2 objectives was to make sure that the rifle still was able to fire .22LR ammunition in a mostly forward direction. We tried a small variety of ammo types and experienced not a single problem with ejection or feeding. Considering we just put a whole new barrel on the Ruger 10/22, that was some very good news.

Yes, this rifle is already more fun to shoot than should be legal. Golf balls will be at your mercy at most any reasonable distance.

Next Steps…

Join us next week when things get really hairy. Hairy and triggery. We’re taking apart the receiver to install a new trigger group. Be on the lookout for explosions originating from an undisclosed location somewhere in South Carolina.

Stay tuned!

Brownells 2012 Gunsmith Career Fair: Does Rifling Really Make Demons Fly Off The Bullets?

Tom — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:17:32 +0000

Continuing momentum for the gun industry was evident at the Brownells 2012 Gunsmith Career Fair. Attended by nearly 200 current and prospective gunsmiths and 50 exhibiting companies, Larry Weeks of Brownellscalled the event a great success. “I was particularly impressed by the professionalism of the attendees” noted Larry. “Many participants from various gunsmithing schools showed up dressed in official school shirts – the sense of pride was evident.”

Brownells hosts the annual event to help match prospective gunsmiths and employers and to provide cutting-edge educational seminars to the gunsmith community. Dozens of big name gun, reloading, tools, and accessory companies all gathered at the Des Moines Marriott Friday and Saturday, almost certainly sending local Department of Homeland Security staffers into apoplectic shock. Fortunately, no hospitalizations have been reported. Among others, representatives from Hornady, STI International, FNH, Caesar Guerini, Les Baer Custom, DSA, Berry’s Manufacturing, Cylinder and Slide, Lauer Custom Weaponry, Forster Products, and Barrett exhibited at the event. And generous giveaways were abundant. Paul and Sharon Dressel put together a mountainous prize pack from their suppliers and their own stocks of premium gun stock blanks, Krieger Barrels brought over a dozen barrels, and Hawkeye gave away a $2,000 video Borescope system to one lucky gunsmith – just to name a few of the donations.

According to Larry, three major themes emerged during the event. First, nearly everyone was looking for CNC talent. That’s Computer Numerical Control. Sort of like HAL 9000 for guns. It’s a fancy way of defining the combination of computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing that allows gun makers to automatically link design and milling processes. Second, companies are hiring gunsmiths in record numbers. Some of the participating companies were looking for hire a dozen or more gunsmiths – each – and that’s a great indicator of the continued health of the industry. Last, the professionalism of the students continues to increase with each passing year. More and more people are getting into gunsmithing as a vocation and the serious commitment shows. Another great sign for the shooting industry.

As an example of the type of content featured at the event, the folks from Hawkeye Precision Borescopes put on a session showing students how Borescope technology, integrated with personal computers, allows today’s gunsmiths to create a customer ready video showing the interior of their rifle barrels. What a great way to sell barrel conditioning or replacement services. Please use these devices for gun barrel analysis only, no medical procedures allowed! Oh, and Hawkeye generously donated a $2,000 video Borescope setup. Sometimes it’s nice to be a gunsmith.

Perhaps the most important item learned at this years event came from John Krieger of Krieger Barrels. During his keynote speech, John confessed that when you get right down to it, no one really knows why one barrel shoots better than another. They can use the same metal stock lot, air gauge the barrels, find perfect matches, and one will somehow shoot better than another. Fortunately John offered up an explanation for this. Back in the day, somewhere around 17,358 B.C. or thereabouts, when rifling was invented, some believed that the rifling spun the demons off of the bullets, thereby making them more accurate. Apparently some demons hang on with more gusto than others. We still use that excuse here when accuracy suffers…

If you are interested to learn more about the annual Gunsmith Fair, check out the site.

Soup It Up For Soldiers – Step 1: Ruger 10/22 Stock Upgrade

Tom — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:36:02 +0000

The Mission

We’re building a custom rifle. For education and charity. And fun.

We’ve always thought that the Ruger 10/22 rifle is one of the classic customizable platforms out there. It’s so popular, and so extensible, that an entire supporting industry has sprung out out of the (gun) works – so to speak – offering replacement parts, custom options, and various enhancements. That people would build entire companies around Ruger 10/22 customization speaks volumes about the quality, longevity, and flexibility of the rifle platform.

Earlier this year, while jawing with the Brownells folks at the 2012 SHOT Show, we got to talking about all the things one could do with a Ruger 10/22. Dave Bennetts, GunTech Team leader at Brownells even bragged that eventually you could replace every single part on a Ruger 10/22. So we took him up on that claim.

Over the next 6 weeks or so, we’re going to customize the dickens out of this rifle – just to see what’s possible. And we’re going to document the process here so you can learn how to do it yourself.

With parts and expertise donated by Brownells, a 10/22 Carbine donated by Ruger, and assembly by our fearless gunsmith-wannabe team, we’ll end up with one heck of a rifle at the end. And we’re going to auction it on GunBroker.com so 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Project Valour-IT of Soldiers Angels.

Step 1 Objectives

Replace the factory stock on the Ruger 10/22 Carbine with the new Revolution Extreme stock.
Do NOT call the Brownells GunTech Team whimpering and begging for technical assistance.
Do NOT send a bag of parts to the Brownells GunTech Team with a note asking if they can ‘fix it’.
Make sure that the rifle still shoots (preferably in a forward direction) after this step is complete.

The Parts

Ruger 10/22 Carbine

We’ve got a stock Ruger 10/22 Carbine equipped as follows:

Wooden stock with metal buttplate
10 round rotary magazine
Removable scope base adapter
Iron sights adjustable for windage and elevation (gold bead on the front sight)
18.5” barrel

Keystone Sporting Arms Revolution Extreme Stock

The Revolution Extreme stock is just plain racy…

Contoured palm swells
Vertical thumbhole grip
Rubber buttplate
Cutouts in the forend and stock to reduce weight

How To

Well, here goes nuthin.

The Revolution Stocks people must know us well – especially our habit of ripping open packages and tossing the instructions. Directions for changing the stock are printed right on the back of the package. We suppose it can’t be too hard then.

	Make sure the gun is unloaded! Remove the rotary magazine, open the bolt and lock it in the open position.
	Check again to make sure the gun is unloaded and be sure there’s not a stray cartridge in the chamber!
	Now remove the barrel band. This is techno-gun-speak for that round metal thing near the front of the stock. First, loosen the screw on the bottom of the band. You don’t need to remove it entirely – just enough for the barrel band to slide off the front of the rifle. If you want to be professional about this and not butch up the screws, use a gunsmith screwdriver set like this one available at Brownells. It makes a huge difference. Since we are donating this gun, we’re using all the correct tools!
	Now simply slide the barrel band off the front of the rifle. It should pass right over the front sight.
	Next, loosen the takedown screw. This is located on the bottom of the stock just in front of the rotary magazine.
	Gently lift up on the front of the barrel, making sure that the safety button is positioned in the middle – halfway between on and off. Be careful with this step as the safety can catch on the inside of the wood stock if it’s not centered. Also, there is a notch on the back of the receiver so be sure to remove the barrel end first. We want to keep this nice little stock for a future use after all.
	Position the receiver and barrel into the new stock, receiver end first, so that the notch in the receiver fits over the corresponding protrusion in the stock. Lower the barrel into place.
	Using the takedown screw from the original stock, fasten the new stock to the action. The front barrel band is not required with the Revolution Extreme stock so store that away.
	Go shooting!

Next Steps…

Admittedly, the stock replacement step was a piece of cake. We’ll consider it a warm up exercise for the barrel swap, which we’ve not done before, so if you hear explosions originating from the southeastern US we might know something about that. We’re going to call the folks at the Brownells GunTech Team to get some advice for the proper one for this rifle and some tips on how to do this without breaking too many parts. We’ll cover that next week.

Stay tuned!

Signs, Mom Counting to 3, and Caning by Celery at the NRA Annual Meeting

Tom — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:36:07 +0000

“Oh, signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs

Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind

Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”

While the 5 Man Electrical Band was nowhere to be found, the city of St. Louis took the message to heart – and even hired James Earl Jones to make new audio signs in case people were too busy talking about guns to pay attention to the printed signs. Well, the James Earl Jones part is not entirely confirmed – yet. We’re working on that.

We lost count of the number of “NO CONCEALED WEAPONS” signs after 14,328. And that was just on the MetroLink train. Can’t read? Not to worry – the MetroLink stations broadcast an audio message loop, part of which reminds riders that no weapons are allowed at any time. And that gum chewing get’s you caned by unripe celery. That’s where James Earl Jones comes in.

Yeah, but what if you are texting, therefore not looking at signs, while listening to Justin Bieber and his Orchestra with your earbuds? Not to worry! The MetroLink folks thoughtfully placed a 2 foot by 4 foot sign at the top of station escalators so you run right smack into it – knees first. If you read the fine print, you’ll find that reconstructive knee surgery is not covered by the city. Bummer, that hurt.

Although it may seem silly to have all those signs, there’s a good reason. Your mother can’t always be around to threaten counting to three if you don’t stop whatever it is you’re doing. Hence the signs. Given that signs are not quite as intimidating as an angry mother, it usually takes 20 or 30 of them to make you feel guilty enough to stop. Thinking about carrying your concealed gun on the MetroLink regardless? Not after you pass the 23rd sign telling you not to.

Some people think that signs are a waste of time, because people no longer read anything except text messages and Kardashian Kapers Weekly. That and the fact that bad guys will ignore the signs anyway. While there is some truth to that, scientists have discovered that inherently bad people just require more signs. Most people who turn out bad do so because their mothers would allow their bad behavior to continue all the way to the count of 4 or even 5, hence the need for more signs in their adult years. Are you beginning to see the logic? By the time the good guys get to the MetroLink ticket machine, the signs have guilted them into melting their guns to make Shake Weights. Bad guys are more stubborn, but even the worst of them can’t make it to the train platform without tearfully donating their illegal guns to Jerry’s Kids.

Taking an example from the MetroLink’s sign program effectiveness, the Americas Center also prohibits weapons through the use of signs. While these rules seemed effective on the NRA Annual Meeting attendees, as there were hardly any mass shootings at the fresh lemonade stands, gun industry employees are clearly very, very bad people. Signs or no signs, they brought tens of thousands of their guns into the show. So signs only work most of the time, not all the time – hence the need for more aggressive tactics like window stickers.

Can you even imagine how high Gun Salesmen’s moms had to count?

Top 5 Niftiest Thing Seen at the NRA Annual Meeting Day 3

Tom — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:45:31 +0000

Final day of the NRA National Meeting checklist:

Bottoms of feet on fire. Check.
Knees swollen to the size of basketballs. Check.
3 days. 3 hours of sleep. 3 gallons of Mountain Dew. Check.

With that said, here are the top 5 niftiest things we saw on Day 3 of the NRA Annual Meeting 2012.

	The American Dream was pervasive at the NRA Annual Meeting. Everywhere we looked we saw entrepreneurs and innovators showing their new wares. This photo is representative of the phenomenal interest that Looper Brand has generated with their new line of made-for-women-by-women holsters – The Pin-Up Collection. Getting an interview with husband and wife team Bart and Lisa was near impossible through the crowds. But don’t worry, we persevered.
	Interview with Team Glock member Tori Nanaka. We had a really great discussion with Tori and very proud dad Aaron. Don’t worry, even though Toris is a Junior, we asked her all sorts of goofy questions like we always do. Some of her answers even caught us off guard – and we’re highly paid professional smart-alecs. Smart lady that one… Stay tuned for the full interview.
	CorBon Rifle Action? Peter Pi – founder and CEO of CorBon Ammunition is a big game hunter and entrepreneur extraordinaire. Why not invent a new long cycle rifle action that uses a Pre-64 Model 70 style trigger? This one was sent to HP White Labs to see if they could blow it up. They couldn’t. It looked pristine to us.
	Blackhawk Gear for the Ladies! We were invited to a luncheon briefing with the Blackhawk folks and got a close-up look at the new stuff – most notable of which was new pants, shirts, compression shorts, and under-gear made specifically for the ladies. Some is tactical, some is tough and functional everyday wear. Our X-Chromosome editors will be featuring this soon.
	Tactical Art from Technoframes – Yes, we’ve seen these before, but this one sporting a pair of 1911’s just caught our eye and we had to stop for a brief discussion about mixing guns and art with Jimmy Moreland, US Distribution Manager. We’re always amazed at the creative ideas people come up with. Technoframes makes some really, really cool stuff. Check them out. They will customize to your hearts content. We’re thinking about getting one made for our pristine 1936 Colt Woodsman Series 1. That should be displayed, not locked away in the safe.

Top 5 Most Interesting Products from the NRA Annual Meeting Day 2

Tom — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:08:05 +0000

We had more time to wander the floor today, and here are some of the more interesting things we stumbled across:

	Crimson Trace Zombie Lasers – Well, not really, but they are green. A lot of new engineering is going on to fit power-sucking green lasers into the same form factors for which Crimson Trace is famous. We tried pre-product models for 1911 Lasergrips and a new model packed into the Lightguard frame. First out will be green lasers mounted inside Lightguard frames for all current guns where there is a compatible Lightguard.Later, we’ll see green in familiar grip form factors.
	Is it ethical to take gun bling manufacturers out for drinks and then, while they’re slugging down a Captain Morgan’s or Pinot Grigio, take a secret photo of a yet-to-be-released product and publish it on the internet? We think so. It’s good business right?The latest (forthcoming) creation from the folks at Hot Caliber is a man’s ring, hand fashioned from silver, that features a lost-wax casting of a bullet-shot-at-a-big-steel-plate. Yes, it’s elegant. And manly. People will ask about it, thereby giving the wearer a great excuse to talk about guns.What’s not to like?
	We love our GunVault.It sits under the nightstand, gun and extra magazines inside, patiently awaiting the correct finger press sequence to open it in case of emergency. For example, if the cast of Jersey Shore and their one-night guests come pounding on the door after a late night at Karma.The new SpeedVault offers classic GunVault features – either a biometric fingerprint scanner or 4 button touchpad – that secure your gun. The neat thing about this one is that it is designed to mount under a desk or table. The support bracket can be attached to the side or top of a piece of furniture.
	We have a 22-250 fetish. It’s a fun round – both to reload and to shoot.Imagine our surprise and outright glee when we stumbled across the Olympic Arms booth and found the UMAR, an AR platform rifle chambered in– you guessed it – .22-250.It features a custom made magazine which is purpose built. And it’s just plain cool. Why? Because we can.
	Wow. We’ve been asleep at the wheel since we did not know this one was coming.Arriving at the Beretta booth for a scheduled meeting, we saw this hanging on the wall – the ARX-160 .22LR rifle.Not even on Beretta’s web site yet, the ARX-160 is an operational equivalent to the forthcoming Beretta combat rifle. Not only does it look “beast” – it’s got fully ambidextrous operation all the way around – charging handle, mag release, and safety. It looks like a whole lot of fun – we can’t wait to shoot one.