[woodstock]

Does anyone know where to find a good old walnut stock with metal butt plate for the 10/22 carbine? I know there are a lot of these that are taken off and discarded. I personally like the look of the carbine and would like to have a nice walnut stock and metal butt plate to replace the birch and plastic that I have now.

 

[woodstock]

I've been trying ebay but I don't have any sniping software and I keep losing the auction in the last 2 seconds by $1.00 and no one ever seems to list them for a buy it now price. I will check out rimfire central. Thanks.

 

[woodstock]

Thanks COBrien, I found an old SE Overton stock from a guy on RFC.

 

[woodstock]

Just simply the nicest oem walnut stocks ever on a 1022. Tipically black walnut with beautiful grain complete with aluminum buttplate. How was the price... if you don't mind revealing?

I think they were priced very well at $75, shipped. Compared to Ebay that was about the going rate and there was no getting sniped at the last seconds of the auction. I will post some pics when I get this project finished. It is a beautifully figured piece of black walnut. Due to the way they are milled out it is even about 4 oz lighter than the original birch stock.

 

[woodstock]

Finally finished the Overton stock. Also had the trigger work done by Brimstone gunsmithing. Excellent work at a very affordable price of $35.00 including return shipping. Trigger now breaks at a very crisp 2.5lbs. I also removed the rear sight blade and used the original base, ground it down to fit barrel contour and reblued. Installed Wilson peep rear sight with gold front post. Wanted to keep it retro and thought the firesight would look out of place. Free floated the barrel band so it is just there for looks and doesn't touch the barrel and refinished barrel band and butt plate with baked on furnace paint. I need to do the trigger guard but been too busy to fool with it.
Finished the stock with 6 coats of linseed oil then finally put a couple coats of Johnson Paste wax on it for just a little sheen.

 

[woodstock]

Ruger uses birch from Maine for their stocks. On a scale of 1-5 both birch and walnut have a hardness rating of 4. Walnut is more desirable for gun stocks because it usually has more and darker figuring in its grain. While the visible grain in birch is lighter in color it looks better if it is stained to more closely resemble walnut and when scratched a lighter color is revealed. If you are concerned about scratches and the lack of figuring in birch then find a walnut stock if you can. If you want something just a durable but at a lesser cost then birch should be your choice.

Ruger originally used walnut stocks built by SE Overton for them. That is the one I have that is pictured above. They also has a run or two of walnut stocks after they started building their own an there was also at least one run of curly maple stocks for the 10/22.

Ruger walnuts in the barrel banded carbine R model were first SE Overton's from the inception (1964) until 1971 Ruger then began manufacturing the walnuts themselves from 1971 until they became a cost issue in 1984. First Birch, then for a short time maple and back to birch was the sequence of materials used from 1984 to the present.
The metal buttplate which is specifically aluminum was present from 1964 until the Liberty Model guns of 1976 at which time they were replaced by GE's Celcon. The C-63 is a part number. The early Celcon buttplates were installed after the stock was finished however they were inconsistent on fit. Much later Ruger installed the Celcon plate before the final standing on the stock which provided a very consistent fit.
The DSP stock with it's checkering and sling studs continues to be made of walnut today.
The real beauties were the original SE Overtons of black walnut.

 

[woodstock]

Walnut is lighter in weight than birch and you'll never get close to this with birch.

Yes it is.

 

[woodstock]

Less than you might think. Monte Carlo Style