Competition Match Hammer & Sear Kit

The great thing I've learned about the Ruger 10/22 is that it can be a cheap and easy rifle to tinker with, especially for beginners like me who have zero gunsmithing skills. 

I picked up a Competition Match Hammer & Sear Kit like the one found at Cabela's for a pretty decent price and found it to be incredibly easy to install.  Also, there are plenty of youtube videos out there to help you along in case you get lost with the instructions.

Before:

The one thing about the Archangel kit is that if you ever have to even do a field strip, you have to take the whole thing apart, and off the top of my head, I count at least 7 screws before you even get to the rifle itself.  It is a pain in the buttocks.

This kit cost me $64.99, same as at Cabela's which usually retails it for $69.99, but I think it's been on sale for the longest time. I'm sure there are tons of other brands out there that provide similar kits, but I went with this one because of the mostly good reviews and the fact that there was "no gunsmithing required" or "no fitting required" are music to my ears. 

I don't have good progress pictures, and as you can tell, this is basically a shot of the trigger group taken down and strewn across my work mat along with other bits and pieces. 

One thing that did have me concerned was extra parts when I was finished.  I'd imagine that's a vehicle mechanic's nightmare, after reassembling an engine to find an extra bolt of two lying around, wondering where it should have gone.  My kit had a few extra washers that I was assured from the manufacture were not meant for 10/22s with the polymer trigger group. 

Anyway, nothing interesting to look at really, except a bunch of parts laying around, but what I should have taken was a picture of my face, with the look of dispair after reasembling the rifle.  I forgot to lube any of the moving parts.  I had to take the whole thing apart again, then put it back together.  Normally, I wouldn't complain about a field strip, but anything that requires screwdrivers and allen keys can be a bit of a pain. 

After:

At the end of the day, it pretty much looked exactly the same from the outside.  To tell you the truth, I haven't had the 10/22 long enough to complain about it's performance, let alone find a reason to "upgrade".  I did the function test a few times, and it seemed like I put the thing together correctly.  We'll see about that the next time I take her to the range.



Cut out the Foam Insert for my Pelican 1750

Well, I finally got around to cutting out the foam that came with my Pelican 1750 to fit some of my hardware.  Even in such a large case, it was pretty hard to get everything I wanted in there.  I've been thinking about how to cut the foam out for weeks.  Ever since I got my Pelican from Cabela's, down in the states, I've been humming and hawing about how best to sort it out.  If I screwed up, it would probably cost me another $80 or so just for another foam insert.  I was searching around for ideas, and my favourite one so far was one I saw on Gun Cruzer:

Although I only have one AR and one pistol, it would have been nice to just leave my AR and my 870 in the bottom, and just my 1911 and all the mags in the lid, sort of like this picture above.  I don't know if maybe I could have fit the 1911 and my M14 in the lid, and my AR and my shotty below, but that means I would have to change the foam configuration to have one thin sheet at the bottom of the case, then a thick later to house the AR and the shotty, then a thin layer to separate the bottom of the case with the top.  Then have a thick thick layer of foam to house my pistol, all the mags and maybe even my M14, then another thin sheet to be put up against the inner surface of the lid.  Well, the foam is pretty price from Pelican so next time I go to Home Depot, I'll see if they have anything even remotely close.

Anyway, I ended up with this setup.  Just crammed my 1750 with as much stuff as possible.  I guess I could get another hard case for my M14, haha!  Well, I might also go down to Cabela's and grab one of their soft cases for $65:

Pretty amazing for $65.  I grabbed one for my buddy Jay, now I want one, haha!  It's pretty nice, should fit my AR, my shotty and my pistol in the one of the side pouches.  Less bulky too.  Anyway, I can alternate the hardcase (my Pelican 1750) between those three and my M14. 

Pelican 1750

I discovered Cabela's recently on a trip down to Washington for a car show.  Holy $hit.  They have everything under the sun for guns, and even though sometimes the prices aren't that good compared to some local places, just being there makes you want to buy something. 

So anyway, I was down in Washington for a car show, and discovered Cabela's.  I didn't buy anything but did return the following week to buy this single-rifle case that was for all intents and purposes built like a Pelican Case.  I got it back to Canada and discovered that neither my AR nor my scoped M14 fit properly inside of it (had to be tilted) so being as anal as I am, I sold the case and went back down to Cabela's to buy something that fit a lot better, this Peilican 1750 double rifle case. 

The previous week, I was down there and bought a 1170 single pistol case for my R1. I guess I wanted something really sturdy to protect my range queen so I shelled out $50 for the Peilican 1170 in tan (it was the only color at the time). There was a Plano for $30 that could hold more pistols and mags, but I told myself that my Remington R1 will be the first and last pistol I will ever buy......haha, famous last words!

So anyways, when I went down to get the long Pelican case, I got the tan one to match my pistol case. My version of matched luggage, only these come with life-time warantee and they never go out of style.

I'll take some better pictures when I get a chance.  Next time, I won't have the 870 in the way and obstructing the view, haha!