Issues Separating a 10/22 Target Receiver from the Laminate Stock

[Member 5605]

Dang, I'm late on this one.

I was going to suggest a blow torch, three chickens, one rabbit, five drops of honey and one sprouted garlic clove.

That always does the trick!

 

[SUPER X]

I did not see another post like this on the Forum so I apologize if I am repeating. I recently purchased a used Ruger 10/22 Target model (Serial 252-XXXXX) that looks like it was manufactured in 2002. It has a laminate stock and the older silver aluminum trigger group.

I attempted to field strip the rifle this morning to give my new toy a good cleaning and I'll be damned if the receiver would not separate from the laminate stock. There is no barrel band on the Target models so the only thing holding the rifle together is the takedown screw. I loosened the takedown screw all the way out, positioned the cross bolt safety in the middle and still could not get the two pieces to separate. They are really welded together good too.

I am looking for some advice from the forum members. Does anyone have an idea or a trick they could pass along? If you have had this issue with separating a rifle and its receiver before, how did you fix it?

This little problem would also explain why the action is so dirty (and probably why I got it so cheap). The previous owner could not take the rifle apart to clean it.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Put it in the freezer , it will make the plastic and aluminum shrink a little. And tap on the stock around receiver with a mallet. Then try .

 

[deathfromabove]

I picked up my Target 10/22 from the gunsmith last night. Apparently a previous owner had bedded the barrel and the action in the stock with some very hard epoxy. The smith was able to save the stock with minimal damage to it. But as he was trying to separate the stock from the action, he broke a piece off of the trigger guard/housing. He ended up ordering a brand new Pike Arms aluminum trigger housing to replace the part he broke, which I thought was a real stand up move on his part as this would have cost me over $70.00 to replace (if I wanted to stay with the aluminum trigger housing or if I spent the money on a BX trigger for it) and he only charged me $60.00 total for all of the work he did. I tried to give him more money to make up the difference for what he paid for the new trigger housing, but he refused. I will definitely be bringing more business his way in the future.

I plan to finish stripping the action down and doing a thorough cleaning on it this weekend. Going to need a long sonic bath. Because the action was glued into the stock, it does not look like the action has ever been cleaned. Very dirty with crud caked on and crammed everywhere. I am also going to try to remove some of the epoxy from the stock before I reassemble the rifle. Will and use some light sandpaper at first, but may need to turn to the Dremel with a sanding attachment. Sand a little and fit. Sand a little and refit. Will post before and after pictures when I am done with it. Thanks for all your help with this pretty silly problem.

Has anyone else had this type of issue happen to them with a used rifle that you had just purchased?

 

[EPS]

Looks like you found the PROBLEM.
I have 10/22 take down.
That was loose.
But I didn't glue it in.
I actually glued a piece of rubber in the stock.
And when the glue dried I put it back together.
Lol

 

[deathfromabove]

Sounds like a much better idea than gluing the whole rifle into the stock.

 

[EPS]

Sounds like a much better idea than gluing the whole rifle into the stock.

Yes .
I wanted to be able to take mine apart .

 

[Member 34319]

I picked up my Target 10/22 from the gunsmith last night. Apparently a previous owner had bedded the barrel and the action in the stock with some very hard epoxy. The smith was able to save the stock with minimal damage to it. But as he was trying to separate the stock from the action, he broke a piece off of the trigger guard/housing. He ended up ordering a brand new Pike Arms aluminum trigger housing to replace the part he broke, which I thought was a real stand up move on his part as this would have cost me over $70.00 to replace (if I wanted to stay with the aluminum trigger housing or if I spent the money on a BX trigger for it) and he only charged me $60.00 total for all of the work he did. I tried to give him more money to make up the difference for what he paid for the new trigger housing, but he refused. I will definitely be bringing more business his way in the future.

I plan to finish stripping the action down and doing a thorough cleaning on it this weekend. Going to need a long sonic bath. Because the action was glued into the stock, it does not look like the action has ever been cleaned. Very dirty with crud caked on and crammed everywhere. I am also going to try to remove some of the epoxy from the stock before I reassemble the rifle. Will and use some light sandpaper at first, but may need to turn to the Dremel with a sanding attachment. Sand a little and fit. Sand a little and refit. Will post before and after pictures when I am done with it. Thanks for all your help with this pretty silly problem.

Has anyone else had this type of issue happen to them with a used rifle that you had just purchased?

Careful, ultrasonic cleaners and anodized aluminum don't always mix, you could end up stripping off the anodizing as well as the crud. If that's your goal, I'll be quiet. Speaking from my own experiences, it can happen.

As for the stock, the shelf in the rear section likely was the culprit that mangled the trigger housing. Your new one will have nice sharp edges that will likely not want to go into the shelf as the old one broke coming out. I'd take special care looking over those contact points.

Best of luck, I look forward to seeing the results!

 

[deathfromabove]

Good call on the sonic cleaner. Guess I will just give the internals a good soak and scrub. I plan to be very careful not to take too much of the epoxy off of inside of the stock when trying to fit it all together. Thanks again for all the great tips. You all are the best source for problems such as the one I have been living recently. Greatly appreciate the help.

 

[deathfromabove]

I was able to work on my 10/22 "problem child" over this past weekend. I stripped it down and cleaned the heck out it. Very dirty action (apparently nobody else could take the rifle apart to clean it properly either). I then took my Dremel with a small grinding attachment and started to work at grinding away some of the epoxy that a previous owner had bedded the WHOLE rifle with. After about an hour of grind a little, try to fit the action, grind some more, try to fit some more etc.. until I was able to take enough epoxy off of the inside of the stock so the barrel and receiver fit oh so snuggly, but still able to take them apart without much effort. Then I tightened down the take down screw and took a gander at my new toy. I am heading to Sedro Wooley on Saturday to go shooting with a bunch of guys I work with and will sight the 10/22 Target in then.

Gonna take this one to the Appleseed that I am attending with my SIL and grandson in June as well as my new Thompson Center TCR/22 (S&W 10/22 clone) and my trusty 10/22 carbine that I have Rifleman'd with at previous Appleseeds. I am attaching pictures of the stock in various stages of grinding down the epoxy and one pic of when I got her back together.