Review: Sarco "M1 Carbine" Stock for Ruger 10/22

[butler]

All,

My first review for the Ruger Forums. If I messed up or am otherwise in need of correcting/counseling, please let me know.

Please see below for my review of Sarco's "M1 Carbine" stock for the Ruger 10/22. I already had the Tech Sights installed; wanted to get the M1 Carbine stock purely for aesthetics/nostalgia.

Respectfully,
butler

**********

THE GOOD

This thing is much cheaper than the competition. Prices as of 2017 September.

E. Arthur Brown and Company has a similar replica stock. Here's the main page:

The stock is $109.00:

The sling and oiler are sold separately from the stock, for $19.00:

And the "dummy stick" (plastic part that glues to the bottom of your regular 10-round rotary magazine for the Ruger 10/22) is $23.95 each:

So, to outfit your Ruger 10/22 with two "magazines", that's $109.00 + $19.00 + ($23.95x2) = $175.90.

(Brownell's has a similar stock for the same price -- $109.00 -- but no sling and oiler and no "dummy stick" available.)

In contrast, I got my stock from Sarco for $74.95, including the sling and oiler:

Then, I got my "M1 Carbine style magazine extension" from 1022FunGun for $19.95 each.

Thus, to outfit my Ruger 10/22 with two "magazines", I paid $74.95 + ($19.95x2) = $114.85. Sarco charged me for shipping, but 1022FunGun did not.

Sarco + 1022FunGun is less than 2/3 the cost of E. Arthur Brown and/or Brownell's.

**********

THE BAD

The color...well, judge for yourself:

The wood is stained a lot darker than I expected. It's certainly darker than the M1 Carbines that I'd seen/admired from the movies/TV:

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THE UGLY

I'd read the reviews of the Sarco stock not being a good fit and hoped that these reviews were out-of-date/wrong.

Alas, they are not. The cut-out for the trigger housing group/assembly is tight. I went for the field-expedient solution and just tried to use my wife's fingernail files -- but after thoroughly ruining five of them, I knew I was in over my head and headed to Home Depot to get some sanding paper. Two hours later, I was done. (Now, granted, I'm not the world's best handyman, so I'm sure some of you all with proper tools -- e.g. a dremel/sander -- would probably finish the job more quickly.) I compared the Sarco stock to my existing Ruger factory wood stock and the cut-outs seemed to be the right shape -- it's just the Sarco was dimensionally a bit smaller (by 5%? 10%?) so I had to grind quite a bit.

You can see the results here -- I had to sand away parts of the stock down to bare wood!

**********

In the end, I'm still really happy with the stock. The resemblance to an M1 Carbine is "good enough", and I've gotten multiple compliments and inquiries at the range from shooters and employees alike.

Moreover, while the Tech Sights sorta ruin the authenticity of the look, I can't say enough good things about the ability to adjust for windage and elevation (but that's probably a whole 'nother review).

All in all, a good buy -- if you're willing to put in some work.

Respectfully,
butler

P.S. Selling the old stock here!
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=260362

 

[Snake45]

Good writeup.

I bought one of these three or four years ago. I THINK it was the Sarco, like yours, but I'm not 100% sure anymore. Mine's very dark, like yours, at any rate.

My 1985 10/22 dropped right in, no problems whatsoever.

I don't care for the screw-on handguard, so I'm going to adapt a real M1 handguard. Probably adapt a real M1 barrel band, too--hopefully, with the bayonet lug if I can do it.

I can't get the sling and oiler into mine. I'll have to relieve it a little bit in that area. It's just THAT much too small.

I don't like the look of the Tech Sights, so I'm trying to work out a way to use real M1 sights on mine, mounted where they should be.

I'm planning to hog out some wood under the barrel and add some lead to get it to the weigh and balance exactly like my real M1. Balance is more important than weight, but I'll probably be close on weight too.

As to the color, mine's dark like yours, but that's okay. I've seen many real M1 Carbines (and Garands) almost this dark. It's not really that much darker than the real M1 walnut handguard I'll be using. But it's too shiny. I plan to strip the factory finish off of it, then stain or dye it dark with a much flatter, more GI looking finish.

Good luck with your project. These things are fun, aren't they? :wink:

 

[eveled]

I always wondered why Ruger didn't make them more M-1 carbine like. Given the time they came out, and it being so similar. It makes a good m1 training carbine.

 

[NH Rugerman]

Ruger has a special edition they did with TALO with the M1 Carbine stock in 10 or 15 round versions...available from Gun Genie and others..here is the link to the 10 round version...

http://www.galleryofguns.com/genie/Default.aspx?item=21102&index=0&mfg=Ruger&mdl=10%2f22&cat=All&type=All&cal=All&fin=&sit=&pid=&inv=