10/22 barrel question - free float or what the best option?

hermosabeach said:

I have an old 10/22 that has an aftermarket bull barrel and stock.

The paint on the stock is trashed and it's time to repaint the stock.

I know with a Centerfire, you want the barrel freefloated.

I'm wondering with the much smaller 10/22 alloy receiver, is it best to free float the barrel or is that too much stress on the receiver?

What's the best option?


Thanks

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From a stress standpoint not so much. There are other issues that can come into play depending on tolerance stacking such as the barrel pointing down so much you can't dial up enough to zero.

One of the common fixes for that issue is this:

There are a few other companies who make similar, this one is a bit unique in needing some filing on the barrel "hook".

Another tactic used back in the early 90's when the .920's were new was to bed the barrel and float the receiver.

I use a 22" 0.920" barrel with an older ~6 Oz tuner and the gunsmither block on a ~45 year old receiver

Think of the entire gun as a marriage of parts. Maintaining proper alignment between scope and bore adds up to proper fitment of parts that are churned out in mass quantities and a wide array of tolerances.
If you are going to stay with your present stock, try laying a rubber o-ring in the barrel channel, back near the v-block cut-out. This pulls the barrel down into the o-ring, centers the barrel in the channel, can help kill inconsistent vibration, and tightens barrel/receiver/stock fit.

hermosabeach said:

Thank you for that. I found a couple of old threads on rimfire central with bedding procedures.

It feels like I need some OCD and spend some time making the gun happier.


I had heard about bedding the barrel and floating the action but it seems like it limits accuracy vs bedding the action or pillar bedding the action and letting the barrel float. Or sending the action off to have a rear tang installed as well.

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Nothing to lose. Bed the barrel with black RTV silicone.

hermosabeach said:

I have an old 10/22 that has an aftermarket bull barrel and stock.

The paint on the stock is trashed and it's time to repaint the stock.

I know with a Centerfire, you want the barrel freefloated.

I'm wondering with the much smaller 10/22 alloy receiver, is it best to free float the barrel or is that too much stress on the receiver?

What's the best option?


Thanks

Click to expand...

Is this just a little project you want to play around with or are you getting ready to go down the 10/22 rabbit hole?

If it's going to be a rabbit hole for you, my advise is to abandon it now. Chasing the ultimate in accuracy with a 10/22 is a fruitless endeavor that is a path which leads to a lot of money spent to get the accuracy you could have gotten with a bone stock bolt action.

If this is just something you want to play around with ....

The major problem with the 10/22 is that there usually is no way to stop the rear of the receiver from moving. Even if you bed it, you're going to get some up and down play.

I'm sure there are several ways to remedy this, but I chose to cut a notch across the rear of the receiver near the bottom. When I bedded the receiver to the stock, the bedding compound formed a protrusion in the stock that locked into the notch on the receiver. Honestly, I just used a 1/4" diameter round file, being careful to go straight, to cut the notch.

I then drilled out the screw hole for the action screw that holds the receiver to the stock and used a helicoil to go up one size on the screw and pillar bedded the action to the stock. Just be sure to go straight so you don't impede on the barrel mount screws.

I used JB Weld as a bedding compound. Its cheap, temp stable, is rock solid and is pretty easy to work with.

The next problem is the barrel to receiver fit. From what I've seen, this ranges in varying degrees of sloppy. If you are lucky and have one with a pretty tight fit, bed the barrel to the receiver using some loctite 620. Apply the loctite, install the barrel, put on clamp and let it dry.

If the fit is sloppy, you can use stainless shims to tighten up the fit and bed with 620.

When you bed the action to the stock, bedding the first 2" of barrel is a good idea too.

Have you found anyone still manufacturing receivers with anything but slip fit barrels? i.e. threaded receivers either using a threaded tenon or barrel nut? Struggling to find anyone still doing it.

ChrisKinsman said:

Have you found anyone still manufacturing receivers with anything but slip fit barrels? i.e. threaded receivers either using a threaded tenon or barrel nut? Struggling to find anyone still doing it.

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I don't know of anyone still doing it. Even if someone was, I don't know that there's any great added benefit. Aluminum receiver ... heavy steel barrel...

If you're chasing accuracy, I would think that having your receiver trued and then having a barrel thermal fitted would net you the best cost to performance ratio.

Now, if you're talking about going with a steel receiver, it MIGHT be a different story.

Maybe apples and oranges, but the barrel to receiver system on the CZ 457 is not unlike that of the 10/22. The guy at Desert Precision did some pretty interesting work with the CZ 457 and thermal fitting barrels. He was getting some good results.

Proper torquing the barrel blocks and free floating the barrel is my go to for accuracy. Harmonic in barrel plays more into barrel accuracy IMO.

TonyAngel said:

I don't know of anyone still doing it. Even if someone was, I don't know that there's any great added benefit. Aluminum receiver ... heavy steel barrel...

If you're chasing accuracy, I would think that having your receiver trued and then having a barrel thermal fitted would net you the best cost to performance ratio.

Now, if you're talking about going with a steel receiver, it MIGHT be a different story.

Maybe apples and oranges, but the barrel to receiver system on the CZ 457 is not unlike that of the 10/22. The guy at Desert Precision did some pretty interesting work with the CZ 457 and thermal fitting barrels. He was getting some good results.

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Yeah Kenny is a bit busy with his new action. Thermal fit does sound interesting. Know any smiths doing that kind of work as from what I have heard DPG isn't really doing it anymore...

This is mainly a way to play in the semi auto class in addition to my open class rifles...

ChrisKinsman said:

Yeah Kenny is a bit busy with his new action. Thermal fit does sound interesting. Know any smiths doing that kind of work as from what I have heard DPG isn't really doing it anymore...

This is mainly a way to play in the semi auto class in addition to my open class rifles...

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Have you tried giving modacam a call?

As for the new action, oh, man. I came so close to pulling the trigger on one of his barreled actions when he was doing the thermal fits. Now I'm glad I didn't. At the time, I dumped a little chunk on doing what I could with my CZ and got it shooting good, so I couldn't justify the expenditure. But a threaded cz 457 is a whole different ball game.

I dont know man. Several "custom" 10/22 receivers around. If you get one from a manufacturer where you're confident its true, getting a barrel for a thermal fit shouldn't be a problem. I'd give modacam a call. He seems to be a bit more flexible than Kenny.