Hey guys, I just thought I'd post my 10/22. It's been a work in progress for a while. I originally built it to shoot a local benchrest match, but it was never going to get me into master class, so I got a bolt gun.
Still, I incorporated some ideas into the build and just wanted to share them. All of the parts, except for the receiver are Kidd. The stock is a Boyd's Tacticool.
During the build, I did encounter some problems. This is how I overcame them.
The first problem that I had was that the stock is made of really soft wood. It wasn't very rigid in the action section and although it was tight when I first got it, it quickly loosened up. What I wanted was a rock solid fit with NO movement. I knew that I had to bed the action, but the common methods that I saw just weren't working for me. Most only bed the action at the very back end, with very little contact with the whole receiver. I wanted to bed the receiver from the ejection port back.
I tried to do as much of it as I could with common hand tools so that others could replicate the work. So, this is what I did...
I first drilled out the hole for the action screw and installed a helicoil to accommodate a 1/4-20 screw. I also used a file used to sharpen chainsaw chains to cut a small channel in the lug.
The next thing I did was use the same file to cut a channel into the back of the receiver.
I then installed the pillar and bedded the rear portion of the action. To do this, I actually milled out the rear portion of the stock where the action goes so that I could get a really thick layer of bedding. I used JB Weld and knew that it was going to be stronger than the wood. The bedding turned out to be about 1/8" thick all the way around.
If you look at the pic, you will notice that there is now a hump that fits into the channel that I cut in the rear of the receiver.
Once I had the rear of the receiver bedded, I then bedded the lug area. You can see that the channel that I cut in the lug formed a sort of recoil lug.
Now, it's rock solid. The barrel is completely free floated and there is zero movement in the action area.
This is the complete rifle. Forgive the Simmons scope. I sold the PST that I had on it and the scope that I tried to replace it with won't focus down the 50 yards, so I'm still looking.
I should note that I had to use a sort of a weird method of bedding the receiver. I actually relieved the rear most area in stock where the action fits by an additional 1/2". That left a gaping gap at the rear of the receiver. When I bedded the receiver, I did it without the barrel installed. I then centered the action screw hole over the hole in the pillar and tightened it down. Once it's bedded, you don't want there to be tension on the action screw as you're screwing it in, so centering is pretty important. Once I had the action screw tight, I then taped up the underside of the action to keep the JB Weld from flowing through.
I then put the stock with the action in it in a vice at a 45* angle with the muzzle end pointing toward the floor. I then put a flood lamp over the rifle to get it all good and warm. The point was to keep the JB Weld in a state that would allow it to flow. I then started feeding the JB Weld into the area at the rear of the receiver and let it flow down both sides of the receiver. Once I had everything filled, I just leveled out the receiver and the JB Weld leveled itself out. I had very little cleaning up to do when it was done.
Oh, I used neutral shoe polish as a releasing agent to keep the JB Weld from sticking to the receiver as I was doing this.
Still, I incorporated some ideas into the build and just wanted to share them. All of the parts, except for the receiver are Kidd. The stock is a Boyd's Tacticool.
During the build, I did encounter some problems. This is how I overcame them.
The first problem that I had was that the stock is made of really soft wood. It wasn't very rigid in the action section and although it was tight when I first got it, it quickly loosened up. What I wanted was a rock solid fit with NO movement. I knew that I had to bed the action, but the common methods that I saw just weren't working for me. Most only bed the action at the very back end, with very little contact with the whole receiver. I wanted to bed the receiver from the ejection port back.
I tried to do as much of it as I could with common hand tools so that others could replicate the work. So, this is what I did...
I first drilled out the hole for the action screw and installed a helicoil to accommodate a 1/4-20 screw. I also used a file used to sharpen chainsaw chains to cut a small channel in the lug.
The next thing I did was use the same file to cut a channel into the back of the receiver.
I then installed the pillar and bedded the rear portion of the action. To do this, I actually milled out the rear portion of the stock where the action goes so that I could get a really thick layer of bedding. I used JB Weld and knew that it was going to be stronger than the wood. The bedding turned out to be about 1/8" thick all the way around.
If you look at the pic, you will notice that there is now a hump that fits into the channel that I cut in the rear of the receiver.
Once I had the rear of the receiver bedded, I then bedded the lug area. You can see that the channel that I cut in the lug formed a sort of recoil lug.
Now, it's rock solid. The barrel is completely free floated and there is zero movement in the action area.
This is the complete rifle. Forgive the Simmons scope. I sold the PST that I had on it and the scope that I tried to replace it with won't focus down the 50 yards, so I'm still looking.
I should note that I had to use a sort of a weird method of bedding the receiver. I actually relieved the rear most area in stock where the action fits by an additional 1/2". That left a gaping gap at the rear of the receiver. When I bedded the receiver, I did it without the barrel installed. I then centered the action screw hole over the hole in the pillar and tightened it down. Once it's bedded, you don't want there to be tension on the action screw as you're screwing it in, so centering is pretty important. Once I had the action screw tight, I then taped up the underside of the action to keep the JB Weld from flowing through.
I then put the stock with the action in it in a vice at a 45* angle with the muzzle end pointing toward the floor. I then put a flood lamp over the rifle to get it all good and warm. The point was to keep the JB Weld in a state that would allow it to flow. I then started feeding the JB Weld into the area at the rear of the receiver and let it flow down both sides of the receiver. Once I had everything filled, I just leveled out the receiver and the JB Weld leveled itself out. I had very little cleaning up to do when it was done.
Oh, I used neutral shoe polish as a releasing agent to keep the JB Weld from sticking to the receiver as I was doing this.
