A proposed stock design for the Ruger 10/22



This is a sketch of the skeleton of a proposed stock for a Ruger 10/22 carbine. This skeleton would hold the barrelled action securely in place, and would keep the receiver and barrel in alignment (this is a weak point of the 10/22 design).

* The blue objects are the bedding blocks, which are made of wood or composite, and are glass bedded to the barreled action.
* The red objects are the aluminum V blocks, which support the bedding blocks; the cyan (light blue) objects are the bolts that hold the bedding blocks tight against the V blocks.
* The green objects are aluminum rails, which hold the V blocks in alignment.

The "user interface" portion of the stock would be built around this skeleton.


This is an example of the skeleton wrapped in the lines of the Fajen Thumbhole Silhouette stock. Notice that here the rear bedding block is attached be a screw coming in from the top of the stock, not the bottom; it turns out that the bottom of that block would be covered by the grip. With that modification, the skeleton fits within the lines of the stock. To add strength to this particular design, it might be prudent to extend the rails of the skeleton back and down some, following the lines of the stock, and run pins through into the stock. You could also extend the rails some in the front for additional strength in the forend. Keep in mind, however, that there will be some stock material on the outside of the skeleton rails, which will provide strength to the stock, and cover up the ugly aluminum bits.

You might wonder why I have two bedding systems in use; glass bedding and pillar bedding. Glass bedding the receiver of the 10/22 is a pain in the butt, because the action has to be able to rotate up and out of the stock. Pilliar bedding also won't work, since there are no screw holes in the back of the stock, and pillar bedding needs a screw to hold the action tight against the pillar. What I'm doing is using the glass bedding blocks to create a new "action" that I can then easily pillar bed since it has a screw point at the rear of the action. I need three pillars, rather than two, because the slip-in barrel of the 10/22, while it is easy to change barrels, leaves a "joint" in the action; to secure two linked rods, you need three attachment points. Because the rear bedding block can be pulled straight off the back of the receiver once it have been removed from the pillars, it is easy to glass bed.


This is a simple method to create an ajustable comb and/or an ajustable buttplate. Make a trench in the stock with a ball mill so that it just touches the surface (you can cut a trench first to allow the ball mill to go in). Create rectangular nuts whose narrow width just under the diameter of the ball mill. Now the bolts can rotate side to side without (assuming that you get the dimensions right) coming out of the slot. By placing spacers under the comb of different shapes, you can very the angle, height, and lateral position of the comb; sliding the nuts along the slot will move the comb fore and aft. You could even use different heights and offsets on the front and rear spacers and set the comb at an angle. Applying the same principles to the buttplate allows it to move in a similar manner. Once you get the spacers adjusted to your liking, they can be glued together, removed, and replaced by a solid piece that holds the comb or buttplate in the same position, covers the entire mounting rail, and is shaped to make the stock more attractive and less prone to snag.