barrel rotated too far?

[deadmeat08]

I bought a Ruger 10/22 from Bi-Mart about a month or so ago. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until now I attached the scope mount that the barrel or rear sight is slightly off. It seems as if the barrel is rotated just a little too far clockwise (staring down the business end). I'm new to rifles and I'm not sure how to fix this. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not sure if these pics will help, but here's a couple...

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[BlackGunsRFun]

Please don't get into the habit of staring down the business end. If you have to in order to clean the rifle, double check, and then triple check to make sure the firearm is unloaded, and lock the bolt to the rear. Even better would be go get a bore snake so you can clean from the breech to the muzzle, instead of using a cleaning rod and doing it the other way around. This also protects the crown of the muzzle from being damaged by a cleaning rod.

The barrel on a 10/22 uses a clamp at the lower front of the receiver. The barrels are not threaded into the receiver.

I would suggest that you take the gun to the range to determine if the rifle puts the bullets where you aim them. If they do, there's nothing worry about.

You will notice that both the front and rear sights are sitting in dovetail groves machined into the barrel. You should be able to drift them to the right or left to change their relation to the axis of the bore, and also in relation to eachother. I would recommend using a brass punch so you do not damage the sights or mar the finish.

If you are uncomfortable doing this yourself, any decent gunsmith can perform this operation for you.

Hope this helps!

BGRF

 

[deadmeat08]

Ah, that makes things easier than I thought. I was afraid the barrel was screwed in or that the sight was permanently fixed where it is.
And I wasn't actually looking down the barrel from that end, it's just clockwise if you were...

Much appreciated!
-travis

 

[Oohrah]

Agree with the answer. there are two hex head bolts that tighten a clamp to secure the barrel. They need to be loosened, the barrel turned to left to center it, and tighten the two hex bolts again. You might try using a bubble type level placed on top of the rear sight to see if it is indeed canted to the right. This bubble level also takes the guess work out of installing a scope so the cross hairs are correct and not canted

 

[Gunner69]

Word of caution when rotating the barrel, ensure that the extractor fits the groove cut into the breech of the barrel. If not you will more than likely chip the extractor and end up having to replace it. To do this rotate the barrel with the bolt locked to the rear.. then slide the bolt forward and make sure that the extractor is centered in the slot.

 

[Oohrah]

Forgot about that really important part of having the extractor lined up

 

[Gunner69]

So did I once.. Experience can be a painful taskmaster..

 

[madderg]

It doesn't mater where the sites sit...the barrel is set to except the extractor in the center of the extractor notches. Turning it out of this alignment will jam or break your extractor.

 

[deadmeat08]

well, thankfully, i haven't gotten around to messing with the rifle yet. so, what do i do? do i try to tap the sight into alignment? do i mess with the barrel? should i just take it to a gunsmith? i'm unfortunately at a loss here...

 

[skud_dusty]

I'd just shoot it myself and see if there are any accuracy problems. If they aren't then don't worry about it, it's not going to hurt anything.

 

[Browning55]

So what did you do and how did it work out?

 

[deadmeat08]

actually, i haven't done anything yet. i'm going to take it camping with me later this month and see how it shoots. if i can shoot it accurately despite the sights being wonky, i'll just live with it. it probably won't matter much once i get around to putting a scope on it.
i'll let you all know how it goes.
thanks!