The 10/22 Spencer Carbine Project

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TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
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I saw this cool "tribute" gun on another forum, I thought I would enjoy attempting to build one of these myself.



so the idea is to recreate the look of the cavalry carbines of the late 19th century

The Spencer



The Sharps



The Springfield Trapdoor



Key elements:
semi-crescent butt plate - Ruger 10/22 already has
short barrel - ditto
barrel band - ditto
straight grip - we can modify
tapered forend - we can modify
saddle ring - we will add
slings - we will add
 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
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216
So I began searching for an affordable 10/22

didn't take long and I was able to score a 2013 vintage 10/22 for a very reasonable price, and it came with an extra stock!




stay tuned, in the coming weeks I will post updates as I go along
 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
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The first step is collecting the necessary parts. I have the gun and the stock (which is made of either maple or birch)

I found this set of slings from a Enfield No.1 Mk3, I'll modify the front one to fit the Rugers barrel band and the rear will get inletted into the butt stock



I bought this handmade 1" leather sling on ebay.



I didn't care for the sliver Chicago bolts, so I bought some brass ones

 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
I was planning on building a custom saddle ring, but I was lucky enough to pick up this one from a Krag-Jorgensen Carbine



I went shopping on the Bolt Depot and picked up some oval head screws for the butt plate, saddle ring and rear sling



I also found this rear sight, I think it's from a Winchester .22 (model 67??)



The guy who inspired this build installed an extended mag release, because it sort of resembles the lever used to open the action of some of the old carbines, so I got one too

 
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...and just when I had run out of (some one else's) ideas for an interesting build. Guess I'll start looking for a donor stock. I think I might do the Springfield; no lever, no sling.
 

TINCANBANDIT

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
Yeah I thought about ditching the sling, a true calvary carbine wouldn't have one would it?

anyway, here is some more progress on the stock

Following Hipshot's instructions I start on the fore end by marking a line and then cutting the line in with a fine tooth saw



I then start rasping, filing and sanding





The final cut is made with a wood chisel



Almost fits perfect, we'll clean it up a bit more and then taper the end considerably

 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
Now we mark a line to start changing the taper to the rear of the barrel band



Some rough guidelines, don't worry, I am not removing all of the material outside of the lines, I am just using the lines to remind me not to remove too much inside the lines.



I started with the rasp

 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
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Then went to the file



Then I started on the nose, I drew a line and began tapering the fore tip



but I forgot I wanted to shorten it, so I cut 1" off the end and trued it up with my disc sander


 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
Highstandardguy said:
How did you determine that 1" was the proper amount to shorten the stock?


just by looks (using the Sharps, Spencer & Springfields as my guide) I am leaving the barrel at 18.5" (at least for now) so I didn't want it too short, but also didn't want too much forend hanging out there either....
 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
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216
Here is a picture of the stock next to an unmodified one, it appears to be a lot shorter, even though we only removed 1 inch



 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
The brass screw heads were a little bigger that the factory butt stock screws, so I opened up the holes a bit



 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
Time to start with the more difficult task, inletting is a skill I want to master, so this is a good opportunity to get some practice.

I trace the outline with a sharpie



Then I start removing wood. I am using an Exacto knife tool, I thought it would be easier to be precise with this. I will remove the material well inside the line, then fit the saddle ring plate



almost there



pretty much done, I'll clean up the channel and edges a bit, but it fits flush on the back end and looks at home

 

TINCANBANDIT

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Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
I then followed suit with the sling swivel



almost there



done




next step is to clean up the edges and drill the holes for the screws
 

TINCANBANDIT

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Jan 3, 2014
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216
Holes drilled and screws mounted

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TINCANBANDIT

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
216
My blog will be catching up with these posts

http://tincanbandit.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-ruger-spencer-carbine-part-1.html

The sling mount was pretty ugly, so I cleaned it up a bit before bluing





I also had to slim down the front sling to fit the barrel band

You can see it here compared to the Uncle Mikes swivel mount



 
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