Tutorial: Install swivel screws in Ruger 10/22 stock

[kkp]

Very basic info for people who are nervous about working on their own equipment, vs. paying for someone else to do the work! This is far from the only way, there are lots of "correct" ways, as well as lots of ways some people might prefer to tweak the installation to their own liking. But this way is EASY, and it DOES WORK. So have at!

These are instructions for installing simple swivel screws into a Ruger 10/22 Carbine stock. I've used the plain, Ruger factory synthetic stock for this. This is as easy as a modification can possibly get. I am doing this because this rifle will be used for an Appleseed training event shortly, and I am setting it up as a Liberty Training Rifle, so it needs swivels installed for a 1 1/4" sling. [UPDATE: See Post #3, below, for applying the same basic process to the Ruger wood stock!]

Tools and Parts Needed:

• Ruger 10/22 with synthetic stock
• Screwdriver
• Swivel screws and QD sling loop (1 1/4" for Appleseed)*
• Sling (1 1/4" for Appleseed)
• Hand drill
• 11/64" drill bit**

Optional Tools:

• Center punch (under $5, handy tool!) or even a simple nail
• Ruler (if you to be precise, or consistent when installing to more than one rifle)
• Loctite (ideally red, but blue would help, too) or Epoxy
• Bench Vise (Only if you really want to. I didn't bother. This doesn't need to be a precision venture.)

*Note: I used the Uncle Mike's QD115 Quick Detachable Super Swivel kit, part # 1001-3, for 1 1/4" slings. Available at Amazon and elsewhere.

**Note: The instructions in the Uncle Mike's kit call for a 3/16" drill bit. I call baloney, because the 11/64" bit (one size down) was perfect. The bigger drill bit would work, but would leave a lot less material holding the threads in place, making it that much easier to tear out the screws. This material is not super strong!



The Uncle Mike's set I'm used comes with two screws: The wood screw, with the big threads, is for the rear of the stock, and the machine screw, with the small threads and matching nut, goes on the front. The front screw usually handles the most stress, since rifles are generally carried pointing up, so this is a good thing.

Step zero: Remove the stock from the action. I'll let you handle this yourself. If you don't know how, learn, because you'll need to know basic stuff like this before you can use your rifle! All you need is a simple screwdriver.

Step one: Where? Decide where you want the stud to mount. Generally the farther apart the better, within reason... the Uncle Mike's instructions say 13"-17" from the trigger, but on the tiny Ruger 10/22, that's not even possible!

First the forend: The synthetic stock has support cross pieces at various points, so plan to work around those. Fortunately, exactly 1" from the "dip" in the stock's front where the barrel band goes, there is a great spot to drill on this factory stock, which misses the cross support by just the right amount. This spot will be at least a smidgen stronger than a more central location, farther from the support piece. Mark your planned drilling spot with a center punch, nail, or even just a pen. Double-check that it's at least 1/8" (roughly) from the support piece, at least enough room for the nut that goes on from the inside. Note that the centerline is very easy to spot, since there is a molding line in the plastic.



Second, the rear stock: This was pretty straightforward. Pretty much every guide out there says the swivel should go between 1-2" inches from the end. Looking at it, 1.5" looked right to me, on this stock, so that's what I went with. Mark your drilling point as above. Again, the centerline is very easy to spot.



Step two: Drill, baby drill! The key to this project is drilling the right size hole in the right place. The right size hole for this kit is with the 11/64" drill bit, unlike the 3/16" bit called for in the direction sheet. You want a hole that just perfectly fits the main shaft of the screw, and allows the threads to bite into the material as much as possible while remaining possible to turn. Well, perhaps if you were drilling into a really high density hardwood stock with material the entire length of the screw, the smaller bit would give a whole that's too difficult to work with, but with the Ruger factory synthetic stock, it's just not the case. Pretty thin, easy-to-drill plastic, and the screws will turn just fine.



Hold the stock securely (or put it in a well-padded vise if you must), and drill in as straight as possible. The center punch should help get things started in the right place, if you used one, else you could also pre-drill a tiny pilot hole to start. If you drift a little, it's not the end of the world: It's just a sling, and the 10/22 isn't all that heavy. My forend hole was perfect, my rear stock hold was slightly off center. Holding it up in line and looking down, you can see that it's a little off. Slung on your back or in use, or looking from the side, you really can't even tell it's only 99% perfect instead of 100%.



Step three: Screw in the studs. Helpful tip: If you have a long, thin and strong piece of metal, like a punch, hex key, small jeweler's screwdriver, or even a nail, you can stick it through the stud's hole and use it as a bar to turn the whole stud very easily. I highly recommend it. Otherwise, either grip it hard, or perhaps use a padded pair of pliers to help screw in that stud, as discussed here:

First, the forend: Put the little white washer on the stud. I would seriously consider putting a thin layer of loctite or epoxy down the threads, so once dry, it won't unscrew easily (or at all). Screw in the stud until it's roughly 1/4" from being all in. Then, from inside, thread on the nut, and hand-screw it all the way down to the plastic. Finally, tighten the stud from outside the rest of the way. Finish with the holes perpendicular to the stock. Feel free to tighten thoroughly, as the loctite will help, but you want this stud to be especially strong since it supports most of the weight while the rifle is being carried, or fired if using the strap as it's intended.

Stop roughly this far from tight:


Add the nut on the inside, and hand-tighten it all the way down to the plastic:


Screw it in nice and tight until perpendicular:


Second, the rear stock: Put the little white washer on the stud. As with the forend, I really recommend some loctite or epoxy on the threads. This stud is held in place entirely with the threads of the screw, and frankly it's not going into a very thick piece of plastic, so there's not a lot to bite into. The loctite or epoxy will help a lot. Screw in the stud until it's all the way flush with the stock. Be very careful not to overtighten! Since there's not a lot of plastic material holding the screw, so it won't take a lot of overtightening to strip it right out. Again, finish with the holes perpendicular to the stock. You can see in the second photo below that I was every so slightly off-center with my drilled hole, so it went in slightly off-center. Not a big deal, once in use; barely noticeable unless you're looking directly down the back at this angle.



Slightly off to the right, oh well, not a big deal:


You're basically done! All that left is attaching the QD swivels and the sling itself. If you used epoxy or loctite, give it enough time to cure before moving forward, so you don't accidentally torque the studs before everything has set.

Continued in post #2:

[kkp]

Continued from Post #1 (due to photo restrictions):

Step four: Attach the QD Swivels. Follow the instructions. The little "handle" on the swivel screws out to allow you to push in all the way, opening the swivel attachment point. Slide it onto your newly-installed front, and rear swivel studs, re-close that attachment point, and screw the little hand back in, so you can no longer push in to open the swivel.

Front:


Rear:


(again, you can see my rear attachment point was very slightly off center, but you can also see that it isn't going to make a difference)

Step five: Attach the sling. This is going to vary by sling, of course, so follow the instructions. But for a simple USGI sling, simply use the hook end to hook the rear loop. For the front end, open the little buckle to allow you to slide the end free, lace it through the sling swivel loop, and run it back through the buckle. Lock it in place by re-closing the buckle. NOTE: I managed to put the sling on wrong in the photo below. The hook at the rear stock should have been hooked reversed from how I did it, which would put the buckle to the outside. See what I mean about reading those instructions?

Sling is backwards but otherwise looks great!


Step six: Done! Now go find an Appleseed event near you, and sign up!: http://www.appleseedinfo.org/

[kkp]

WOOD STOCK RUGER 10/22 CARBINE

The same methods described above also work on the wood stock on Ruger's base model 10/22 Carbine, with only one additional step, and a 3/8" drill bit. Also, I would consider epoxy to be more mandatory than optional: Wood compresses and wears more than plastic, and you don't want your swivels to get messed up a few years from now!

Step zero: Remove the stock from the action. You can handle this yourself, as i wrote in the synthetic stock writeup above. All you need is a screwdriver.

Step one: Where? Decide where you want the stud to mount, again this is exactly the same as we did with the synthetic stock above.

First the forend: As with the synthetic stock, exactly 1" from the "dip" in the stock's front where the barrel band goes, there is a great spot to drill on this factory stock. Mark your planned drilling spot with a center punch, nail, or even just a pen. Do your best to get it nice and centered, since unlike the synthetic stock, there is no easy centerline on the wood stock. On the other hand, there are no cross supports to worry about, and the wood is much thicker than the plastic, so its stronger.

Second, the rear stock: This was just as straightforward as the synthetic stock. The only additional concern is avoiding the wood screw holding the back plate on, but the 1.5" measurement I used on the synthetic stock works fine here, too. Mark your drilling point as above, being careful to be as on center as possible, as again, there is no easy centerline on the wood stock. As before, though, a teeny bit off is no big deal.

Step two, part A: Drill, baby drill! Same as with the synthetic stock... mostly. Just like with synthetic, drill the holes with the 11/64" drill bit, unlike the 3/16" bit called for in the Uncle Mike's direction sheet. Be careful, go slow, drill nice and straight. Otherwise, the same instructions from step 3 with the synthetic stock apply.

Rear Stock:

Front Stock:

Inside barrel bed view of front stock:


Step two, part B: Countersink the hole! This is the one part of the wood stock install that's really different from the synthetic stock install. Because the plastic is thin, with cross braces, we needed to avoid the cross braces. But because the wood is thick, a larger hole has to be drilled from the other side so the nut can get down onto the screw. Read this all the way through before you start!

Simply use the larger 3/8" drill bit and drill from the inside. Go slow... You do NOT want to drill all the way through! Test the depth periodically by pushing the nut into the countersunk hole, and screwing in the stud from the other side. Don't forget the washer!

Make sure there is enough thread coming through to get all the way through the nut. If not, poke the nut back out and drill out a little more material until its just right. In the photo above, the hole definitely wasn't deep enough. But eventually, you'll get it deep enough. It's deeper than you think!



Step three: Screw in the studs. Helpful tip: If you have a long, thin and strong piece of metal, like a punch, hex key, small jeweler's screwdriver, or even a nail, you can stick it through the stud's hole and use it as a bar to turn the whole stud very easily. I highly recommend it. Otherwise, either grip it hard, or perhaps use a padded pair of pliers to help screw in that stud, as discussed here:

First, the forend: Put the little white washer on the stud. Screw in the stud until just before it protrudes into the larger countersunk hole, inside. Push in the nut, be sure to get it all the way to the bottom of the hole. Finally, tighten the stud from outside the rest of the way. Finish with the holes perpendicular to the stock. tighten it to nice and snug, but don't over-tighten. Mix up some epoxy and carefully push it down around the nut. I used a small hex key, swirled a dollop of epoxy, and pushed it into the hole. Keep evenly applying until its all thoroughly covered and all the metal is essentially bedded in epoxy. Wipe your hex key clean on a paper towel before the epoxy dries!


(Sorry about the focus on this shot!)

Second, the rear stock: Put the little white washer on the stud. As with the forend, I really recommend some loctite or epoxy on the threads. This stud is held in place entirely with the threads of the screw. Fortunately, the wood is thicker and better for the screw to bite into, compared to the synthetic stock. Its still a good idea to use epoxy, however. Screw in the stud until it's all the way flush with the stock. Be very careful not to over-tighten! Wipe excess epoxy off as you go. Finish with the holes perpendicular to the stock.

You're basically done! All that left is attaching the QD swivels and the sling itself. Give the epoxy plenty of time to cure before moving forward, so you don't accidentally torque the studs before everything has set. I'd recommend at least overnight, but at a minimum, follow the instructions included with the epoxy you chose.

From here, the instructions are identical to the synthetic stock instructions in post #2 above.

Step four: Attach the QD Swivels. Follow the instructions. The little "handle" on the swivel screws out to allow you to push in all the way, opening the swivel attachment point. Slide it onto your newly-installed front, and rear swivel studs, re-close that attachment point, and screw the little hand back in, so you can no longer push in to open the swivel.

Rear Stock Swivel:

Front Stock Swivel:


Step five: Attach the sling. This is going to vary by sling, of course, so follow the instructions. But for a simple USGI sling, simply use the hook end to hook the rear loop. For the front end, open the little buckle to allow you to slide the end free, lace it through the sling swivel loop, and run it back through the buckle. Lock it in place by re-closing the buckle. Note that the buckle should be on the outside of the sling! You don't want the pointy parts pressing into you when the rifle is slung over your shoulder.

Step six: Done! Now go find an Appleseed event near you, and sign up!: http://www.appleseedinfo.org/


(Yes, the trigger group is missing, while Brimstone works his magic on it!)

[Tom-ADC]

Nice job, thanks!

[kkp]

Thank you! Hope someone out there finds it useful. I find that even though I'm relatively handy, it always gives me a lot more confidence in tackling a project when I can find a good step-by-step like this, using the same parts I needed to use, and I didn't see anything like this when I was looking. Documenting the process helps me out when I want to do the same thing in the same exact way additional times, too. (such as when the time came to do it again with the wood stock 10/22!)

[jakejake527]

Thanks! I saw this on rfc right now also

[CitiZen-75]

Thanks for this!

[fishhoppa]

Thanks KKP!

The picture visual was great. I have to set-up the 10/22 TD rifle for my first Appleseed in Oct! Will have a bolt action 22 as back-up.

[kkp]

Post back pics of your LTR, people!

[GoodahSP]

Thank you.

Great info. Its always nice to have a step by step with visuals. Might try this later on.

[Skidmark]

Thanks for posting those descriptions. I'm going to keep a new 10/22 pretty simple, adding sights and sling. It just seems imperative to me that any firearm that might see use beyond a range (hunting, patrolling after SHTF, etc.) should be portable, that is, able to be carried on your person, hands-free but close by.

[kkp]

Originally Posted by Skidmark

Thanks for posting those descriptions. I'm going to keep a new 10/22 pretty simple, adding sights and sling. It just seems imperative to me that any firearm that might see use beyond a range (hunting, patrolling after SHTF, etc.) should be portable, that is, able to be carried on your person, hands-free but close by.

AGREED.

[SB1964]

Good job & a nice thread. I did my 10/22 Raptor (laminated) stock, it was a beatch. Very easy to chip the laminate, but it came out good. Easier to shoot outdoors (with installed sling mounts) & a sling, if I'm not near my truck, as I dont normally set down my rifle.

[Paperchasin]

Excellent write-up! Deserves to be stickied at the top of this forum!

[spex]

Excellent write-up Op, very well depicted (easy to follow) I'm ordering my parts soon and will use your instructions, thanks!

[aghauler]

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