Ruger 10/22 wish I was a real "M40"

[semperfi1970]

Just thought I would share some pics of my "M40" clone. I had an old Ruger 10/22 kicking around that just needed to be messed with. Base gun was a department store beach stock with alot of cool grain in it almost like fiddle wood. I picked up a Boyds stock for a wopping $70 and a e-bay special cheek rest for $14. I had the Harris bypod and the Center point milldot scope. I looked all over for a 24" plus heavy barrel and had no luck. I was able to find a 20" threaded heavy fluted green mnt barrel so I added a 4" muzzle brake to it to achive 24". The Boyds stock is rather long and any barrel shorter than 24" would have looked too short. It needed a trigger job so now it is down to an average pull of 2.5lbs. The gun shoots better than I can. Tell me what ya think and I am open to new ideas to change it further.

[Lurker]

Post your pictures on RimfireCentral.com, which is mostly a ruger 10/22 oriented forum. You will probably get hundreds of comments about your 10/22 there...

Bill

[Hit or Miss]

How does it shoot?  It is the coolest 10/22 I've seen, makes me want one, almost.

[semperfi1970]

Hit or miss, it shoots kinda like a normal 10/22. The plus is the trigger job and the longer stock. I guess I gain a little from the 24" barrel. I built it more for looks than anything else. All said and done it is way to heavy to take hunting in the woods as it is around 10 lbs. I can shoot an honest .5 inch group at 50 yards using wolf extra and 1" most of the time using cheap bulk ammo. Were it shines is shooting out to 300 yards and striking a 10" steel gong. Using a milldot scope set at 7 power I have found that zero set at 100 yards the third milldot down is on at 200 and the heavy post under the last milldot is on at 300. The scope is a walmart center point 4 to 16x40, for around 60 dollars it is fun to be able to shoot that far with a .22lr and not have to adjust the scope or employ kentucky windage. I say 7 power as it places 200 and 300 yard targets on fixed points in the scope. Anything above 7 power and you are out of milldots and anything under 7 power gains you range but you loose aim points and have to hold over on the milldots. At 300 with this scope the sight picture is about 20" between milldots. As far as wind drift goes thats another deal all in its own. All and all I like the gun and would do it agian but not for the $ invested, at the time it was a good idea and now I have a gun I would be lucky to get half what I got into it. Its saving grace is give me 10 minutes and it is back to original, got to love a 10/22.

[diggler1833]

You'd be able to get a little closer with a 40-X action (cost goes up considerably).  After that your wallet is the limit if you are actually trying to build a clone.  Hart and Schneider still sell barrels (Schneider has had the contract for the past few years), although I'm not sure if Gary makes a rimfire barrel.  McMillan still makes an HTG or A4 stock (depending on which M40 you are wanting to clone) that will fit the 40-X action.  If you want a vietnam era M40, then you can check out douglass barrels and try to find a stock off of Numerich.

For a 10/22 though it's not bad.  Glad you like it.

[semperfi1970]

Diggler 1833, love the way you think. Wish I had the dollars to play that way(:

[diggler1833]

Love the way I think too, but can't afford it either 

Semper Fi brother (1997-present)

[diggler1833]

Hey, forgot to mention (bit off topic actually), but I'll most likely be building a replica of sorts of a vietnam era M40 myself over the course of this year.  It is the only one that I can put together cheap enough (minus optics).  I plan on getting a new SPS Varmint (small varmint caliber as I alreay have done the .308 thing).  I'll have to take 2" off of the barrel (yeah I won't even get close to owning a correctly serial numbered action).  I'll then pillar and glass bed it in a correct looking stock (Numerich 553690), install the swivels, and I already have the sling.  I do have an older Redfield, not an Accurange, but I can't afford one of those, and a Redfield base and rings.

I will not clip slot it as I have no use for that (and I'm not going to be building an exact clone either).  I'm figuring about $450 for the rifle, $180 for the stock, $50 for the cut and re-crown, $50 for the rings and base, $30 for the pillars, and the rest of the stuff I already have, so about $760 total.  Well, maybe more because my '06 will be without a scope.

It won't be super close, especially to a collector.  But for something to have a close enough look and feel while I'm out plinking around it should make for a nice project.  Good luck with yours!

[semperfi1970]

Diggler 1833, please share pictures of the project as you do it. Sounds like a fun project.