Fighting For Liberty

Got my first taste of some gunsmithing yesterday, installing a new hammer/springs and extended mag release for the 10/22.

I. Am. Hooked.

Gimmie parts, I wanna CHANGE STUFF! I don’t care what it does. Didn’t even take the darn thing shooting to see if it blows up or works, I just want to knock out pins and watch springs fly in every direction and get all greasy and gun-smelly and put new parts in that I don’t know the name of and … and … YES! It was awesome.

Hoping to take her out some time this week to see if that 1.5 lb trigger pull makes a big difference from the stock 4 lb. I’m used to the Mosin 92 lb trigger pull (Iz Mozin! You ROOSHIN! Juz pull!) and the SKS which on any given trigger pull could be anywhere between sneeze-and-it-goes-off or where’s-my-sledgehammer-I-need-to-fire-this-thing. Mind you, that’s not a complaint or a bad review, I love my SKS. It has character.

Now some observations regarding the 10/22:

1: Pins are small. Springs are smaller. When instructions for replacing parts say to remove springs slowly, they’re speaking from experience. Don’t be a moron and just “take the damn thing out”.

2: I should have purchased a 10/22 with a wood stock. I like the look better than the composite and … how the hell do you install Uncle Mike’s swivels in a rassafrackin’ plastic stock? I’ll be shopping for a wooden stock with thumbhole that doesn’t cost more than the price of a new 10/22 (ie: under $200 if I can find it and it doesn’t look like a piece of crap).

3: Volquartsen is the shizzle. However, when their instructions say that the part in question comes with a temporary pin to hold your trigger/sear/spring/everything in place until you drop it into the trigger assembly, then knock out the pin by putting in the factory one sized slightly larger – they lie. There was no such “temporary assembly pin” to help me out. I used a 3/8 length cut out from the middle of a cotton swab. Worked perfectly as a temporary pin and yes, it got shoved right out when I had it in place and installed the factory pin back where it was supposed to go.

4: How the @#*(#$~! do you remove the 10/22 bolt? There’s a big, big pin in the way and I’m unable to knock that sucker out to gain the additional 1/8″ clearance I need to slip it out and install an exact-edge extractor.

5: MORE PARTS CHANGING! Holy hell that was fun.

David Boomsticks