New 10/22 Owner

[wingspar]

Picked up a new to me, but well used 10/22 from the LGS today for $149. It's a beater that I don't have to worry about scratching up, and that is appealing. If I decide to change the barrel and make other mods to it later on, the options are there, but for now, I'm keeping it as is. Too late in the day to take it out and shoot it. Hopefully tomorrow, or sometime this week. A quick serial number search on the Ruger site shows the gun to be manufactured in 1970.

In the photos I took this afternoon, you will notice some rust. I'm going to try some stuff called Birchwoodcasey Barricade that the gun dealer recommended for the rust. He was out, but should have some in this week. Now, I no longer have to drool every time I read a thread on the 10/22.

 

[blume357]

Looks like because the receiver is aluminum the barrel is the only real rusty part... if the stuff from the store doesn't work you can always just put a different factory barrel on it... there are lots laying around in 10/22 owners inventory.

But then, like you said, a few dings and a little rust kind of makes it easier to own that 'new' rifle... at least you don't have to worry about getting that first boo-boo on it like you do with brand new.

 

[wingspar]

Yes, all the rust seems to be on the barrel, and maybe some on the bolt, which you can see in the first photo if you look close. When the local store gets some stuff in later for cleaning up the rust, I'll break the gun down, and see what the condition is on the bottom of the barrel. If it wasn't broken down and cleaned after getting wet, the rust could be much worse under there, making the decision to replace the barrel easier. Inside the barrel looks new. Like I said, it is kind of nice having a gun I don't have to worry about scratching up.

 

[Snake45]

Birchwood Casey Barricade will not REMOVE any rust; it's a type of oil that will help PREVENT future rust.

The rust you have will come right off with some #0000 or #00000 steel wool. Then you can degrease the steel and hit it with some commercial cold blue. THEN you put on the Barricade (formerly Sheath) to keep future rust at bay.

 

[Desert Dawg]

You shouldn't have any trouble finding a 10-22 barrel over on RFC.


I bought a very nice one there last year that had FireSights or whatever they're called on it.
Like new.

Go here: http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/fo ... .php?f=226

Click on barrels.



Kinda weird, I find Winchester 22s for reasonable and cheaper here, Remington 22s for less than the Winchesters and have yet to find a 'used' 10-22 under $200.

 

[wingspar]

Took the gun out and put about 100 rounds thru her today. I started at 25 feet, as I had another 22 that I am in the process of sighting in, and was shooting that from 25 feet. At 25 feet, I was ecstatic at the accuracy. At 50 feet, light was failing, and the accuracy was off a little. Probably me.

Birchwood Casey Barricade will not REMOVE any rust; it's a type of oil that will help PREVENT future rust.

The rust you have will come right off with some #0000 or #00000 steel wool. Then you can degrease the steel and hit it with some commercial cold blue. THEN you put on the Barricade (formerly Sheath) to keep future rust at bay.

Correct on the Barricade. It will not remove rust. It should prevent future rust, but I want to see if it will do anything to the rust. As for the steel wool, someone on another forum said that would not be a good idea. Anything like that where I get conflicting ideas, I'll try on the underneath of the barrel after I break the gun down for a thorough inspection and cleaning.

You shouldn't have any trouble finding a 10-22 barrel over on RFC.

I bought a very nice one there last year that had FireSights or whatever they're called on it.
Like new.

I've already got a PM from someone over there that has a barrel for $25. Seems awful cheap. I haven't logged in and looked at it yet. Do barrels come with sights already on them?

 

[CajunBass]

Personally I wouldn't do anything to it. By the S/N and the "no warning barrel" it looks to be pretty old, late 60's, early 70's or so. I'd just clean the rust off with either 0000 steel wool and some WD-40 or maybe use a Scotch-Brite pad.

I'm not saying it's a priceless collectors item or anything, I'm just in the "leave 'em alone" camp. :lol:

 

[Snake45]

Correct on the Barricade. It will not remove rust. It should prevent future rust, but I want to see if it will do anything to the rust. As for the steel wool, someone on another forum said that would not be a good idea.

It will not do anything to the rust; save your time. Also, when you do get the rust removed, you'll want to cold-blue (or perhaps paint), and that means you'll have to de-grease, which means you'll have to strip the Barricade off again anyway.

I'd like to know why someone said steel wool to remove rust is a "bad idea." That's been the standard way to do it for decades! Steel wool will NOT harm a blued finish in any way, but WILL remove rust. You DO NOT want to use a Scotch-Brite pad or anything of that type unless you want to strip to bare metal, because they WILL remove good bluing.

As someone said, factory 10/22 barrels are cheap due to so many take-offs. I think the going rate is $20-25 and over at RFC you might find someone who will send you one just for the shipping. I know a couple years ago over there was a guy who had so many of them sitting around he started cutting them up to make Ruger wind chimes! True story! :shock:

 

[wingspar]

Personally I wouldn't do anything to it. By the S/N and the "no warning barrel" it looks to be pretty old, late 60's, early 70's or so. I'd just clean the rust off with either 0000 steel wool and some WD-40 or maybe use a Scotch-Brite pad.

I'm not saying it's a priceless collectors item or anything, I'm just in the "leave 'em alone" camp. :lol:

It's tempting to not do anything with it, but some of that depends on what the underneath of the barrel looks like. If there is enough rust to be structurally damaging under there, then I will have to do something. The serial number search at Ruger wasn't all that good, but it looks like the gun was manufactured in 1970. I'm in the leave it as is camp too, but the rust is fairly extensive. I'll not be making any decisions for a while. It shoots accurate, so I hesitate to mess with it.

It will not do anything to the rust; save your time. Also, when you do get the rust removed, you'll want to cold-blue (or perhaps paint), and that means you'll have to de-grease, which means you'll have to strip the Barricade off again anyway.

I'd like to know why someone said steel wool to remove rust is a "bad idea." That's been the standard way to do it for decades! Steel wool will NOT harm a blued finish in any way, but WILL remove rust. You DO NOT want to use a Scotch-Brite pad or anything of that type unless you want to strip to bare metal, because they WILL remove good bluing.

As someone said, factory 10/22 barrels are cheap due to so many take-offs. I think the going rate is $20-25 and over at RFC you might find someone who will send you one just for the shipping. I know a couple years ago over there was a guy who had so many of them sitting around he started cutting them up to make Ruger wind chimes! True story! :shock:

Like I said, I'll experiment with some steel wool on the underside of the barrel. I used to use steel wool on chrome, and it worked well, but it does seem like I tried it on a hidden part of a blued barrel once years ago, and it scratched the bluing, but I've slept since them.

I've had a PM from someone over on RFC who has a stockpile of barrels for $25, and they have sights on them. Might be the same guy who made the wind chimes. He is in Oregon, about 3 hours from me.

 

[LarryH]

I'm always on the lookout for the older, walnut stocked carbines. You got a great deal there! I've got them with just as much rust on them and they have cleaned up pretty good with steel wool and a little oil. I do like to refinish the stocks and am always surprised at what is under that Ruger finish.
Thanks for sharing!
LarryH

 

[wingspar]

I'm always on the lookout for the older, walnut stocked carbines. You got a great deal there! I've got them with just as much rust on them and they have cleaned up pretty good with steel wool and a little oil. I do like to refinish the stocks and am always surprised at what is under that Ruger finish.
Thanks for sharing!
LarryH

Thanks for your experience with steel wool and oil. Sounds like a good thing to try first.

 

[wingspar]

For those that say "Don't use steel wool on bluing", I now have to disagree with that. I used it on the barrel with no problems, and no scratching. I couldn't really tell if using oil with the steel wool was better or not, but certainly didn't hurt.

The underneath of the barrel looked brand new, so I removed as much rust as I could with some steel wool. It looks like a different gun, and looking at it, one would never know the rust was ever there. Of course, the photos were taken with a macro lens and good lights, so you can still see evidence of rust in the photo, but with the naked eye, you can not. For now, I'll keep the gun as is. The only part I would like to replace is the bolt. I don't know if I can remove the rust from the bolt or not. Couldn't put a dent in it with bolt in place. Not 100% sure how to get the bolt out, so I didn't try. There is a lot of info out there on breaking this gun down, but as for removing the bolt, I couldn't find much on it. Does anyone know what a new bolt would cost, and a place to purchase one?

This is what the bolt looks like.

Here is are photos before steel wool, and after steel wool.

Trigger assembly.

 

[Snake45]

Good job with the barrel. Hit it with some good cold blue like Brownell's Oxpho-Blue and it'll look almost like new.

Now, on to the bolt. It isn't difficult to get out once you get the directions. Once you have it out, you can use the steel wool on it, too. Or, since it's not blued, you can go a little bolder. Something like #400 Wetordry sandpaper, or maybe #600, will do a nice job. Or you can go whole hog and polish it up to look like bright chrome.

Looks like you'll have a nice looking classic 10/22 when you get finished with it. Home resto projects are fun!

 

[Joe M]

This may be of help. It shows how to disassemble your Ruger 10/22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eobAjygRpIo&NR=1

 

[wingspar]

Good job with the barrel. Hit it with some good cold blue like Brownell's Oxpho-Blue and it'll look almost like new.

Now, on to the bolt. It isn't difficult to get out once you get the directions. Once you have it out, you can use the steel wool on it, too. Or, since it's not blued, you can go a little bolder. Something like #400 Wetordry sandpaper, or maybe #600, will do a nice job. Or you can go whole hog and polish it up to look like bright chrome.

Looks like you'll have a nice looking classic 10/22 when you get finished with it. Home resto projects are fun!

Thanks. I'll look into the Brownell's Oxpho-Blue. The bolt is the only thing I haven't had apart, but with the link Joe M provided, it looks easy. Not what I had pictured it would be like to remove the bolt. Be a few days before I get to it, but I'll post back with some before and after photos of the bolt. I'm assuming all the work on the bolt should be hand work only. No power tools?

This may be of help. It shows how to disassemble your Ruger 10/22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eobAjygRpIo&NR=1

Thanks for that link. I really had no idea how the bolt would come out once I had the bolt stop pin out. That video makes it clear.

 

[I_Like_Pie]

10/22 barrels are the PERFECT way to practice your hand at "rust" bluing. From what I have seen/done it provides a much nicer finish than even factory salt blue.

For about $10 and some elbow grease you can make that barrel look brand new...CLICK HERE

 

[wingspar]

I finally got around to cleaning the bolt. Here is a photo from the previous page of this thread. That certainly looked ugly, but turned out to be nothing.

Here is the bolt right after removing. My hands turned black just handling it.

Here is the bolt after a little cleaning and polishing. I didn't have good polish or tools, so I'm leaving it like this for now.

Here it is back in the gun. Notice the little indentation in the upper left hand corner. Is that normal? I have a closer photo of it if necessary.