yet another 10/22 question

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has anyone ever modified a 10/22 ruger receiver to accept a takedown screw or bolt with a different thread pitch than the stock parts?

just looking at it, i am not sure whether it would be safe to re-tap that hole for a 1/4-20 bolt.

read on for the bigger picture. [rolleyes]

i have a whole bunch of ideas on pillar bedding with department store parts for pennies on the dollar compared to most 10/22 bedding techniques i've seen. i like the how-to's on rimfirecentral, but they all do custom metal work to get a workable pillar, and i would like to find an off-the-shelf alternative that requires little or no grinding, welding, polishing, etc.

to that end, i have done some shopping and i picked up a set of four zinc-coated insert nuts at home depot similar to YM-606 in this photo. the catch is that you just don't find these anywhere in #12-24 coarse. non-threaded spacers in the plumbing and screw hardware sections of HD was not impressive at all.

option one is to keep looking for a better spacer with an acceptable flange.

option two is to drill out the threads entirely. i can do this, but your average 10/22 builder can not.

option three is to heli-coil from whichever TPI the part comes as down (or up?) to #12-24 coarse. this is relatively costly if you don't already have access to the kit.

option four is to pop out the brass nut in the 10/22 stock and have a gunsmith re-thread the receiver in 1/4-20. which is what i'm most curious about, since the others are trivial.
 
I like option two. The average 10/22 builder is going to have to drill their stock to put in a pillar - I think that if they can handle that, they can drill out the threading. If they can't, they probably can't handle the rest of the pillar project.

Tapping the receiver to 1/4-20 looks like it could work. I'd want to measure one to make sure I'm not reading the print wrong, since that hole fits in between the barrel block holes.

Options 3 & 4 kind of defeat the low-cost option intent you're looking for, I think. Did you see any of the RFC posts on using pieces of threaded lamp rod as pillar?
 
i did not see that; i was referring to the public how-to articles they've got up, that were ostensibly made public because people often go searching for these kinds of things, they're real popular, etc. i'll go dig deeper for the threaded lamp rod idea.

i felt drilling out the threading in a tiny piece of metal would be significantly more challenging than drilling the correct hole and countersink into the much larger wooden stock. on the one hand, you can kneel on the stock and eye-in the hole as you drill it, whereas with a little metal spacer you're going to want to use at least a vise -- probably a whole drill press.

but then again, there are really good bits for drilling metal for affordable prices these days, and if you mess up it's just a $0.80 piece that you can buy five more of and try again until you get it right.

i'm going to keep looking for threadless spacers, but i'll try drilling out the threads sometime this week.
 
Yeah, I can't remember life without a drill press.......it does kind of raise the bar on the level of home project, though.

Those insert nuts look like a good way to go. I did one of the RFC recommended 'turn a brass air fitting into a pillar' projects. It came out nice, but took a long time, and cutting off 60% of the original fitting just seemed like a big waste. I guess I should look into getting a lathe!
 
well i did a crappy drilling job, but i've confirmed that the insert nut is a successful alternative to fashioning a pillar manually. the height worked out just fine.

just take this how-to from RFC by hipshot, and substitute out the flanged pipe fitting in favor of the best insert nut you can find, then strip the threads on the drill press (you're going to need a drill press no matter what). you can shave off the outside of a #2 pencil and squeeze it into the existing hole in the stock to center the drill bits; i did that on a lathe with a file that i just held against it lightly. for this particular insert nut, i got a 19/32" forstner bit for the countersink, and a 3/8" lip and spur bit for the through-hole. it required some vigorous hammering to settle into place. use rags, and don't let stray fabric get caught in the drill on the press.

the steps are otherwise exactly the same, so i didn't document it. here's the finished product.

pillar-bedding-1.jpg


pillar-bedding-2.jpg


pillar-bedding-3.jpg


pillar-bedding-4.jpg
 
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OK to sum up:
You drilled out the brass insert in the stock, drilled a hole for your nut-sert and now use a 1/4-20 bolt to secure the receiver to the stock.

I'm assuming you had to re-tap the receiver hole for 1/4-20?

Thanks
 
nope, i use the same takedown screw that came with the 10/22.

use the drill press with an appropriate sized bit to remove the 1/4-20 threads from the inner diameter of the insert nut, then you don't have to modify the receiver at all.
 
Sorry - I edited the post, turns out the threads were not proper, but did allow the takedown bolt to pass through. I posted the link from rimfire central that I followed in the previous post.
 
yeah, i was only able to find 1/4-20 TPI, which does not allow a #12-24 coarse all the way through, so buyer beware. you can thread it a little ways in, but the math catches up with you in the end.

3/8 looks like it does the trick, only i could not find such a part. everything with bigger ID threading, or just a big open hole, either had a flange that was too wide for the receiver channel in the stock, or had too-thin walls, or a curved flange surface. or it just didn't exist or wasn't in stock, but that's the kicker! the people that work at these places can't tell you which it is! department store shops are full of 9-5ers these days; nobody really understands what you're actually doing with their products, anymore. where have all the wise old-timers gone?

i actually had to strip down my receiver and bring it in to true value to show one guy. that was hilarious. technically, i walked into a shop with a rifle in my hand :)
 
it's funny you mention that, i checked their website as the very first thing, before i went anywhere. i might be a little slow but i couldn't find anything that looked exactly right.
 
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