Calm After the Storm - Archangel Nomad

[Cone_Skid_Cone]

I was very pleased with Wanstalls quick and inexpensive delivery of the Nomad kit for my 10-22 ruger. They even threw in some paper targets in the shipment that I am still using. This is a bit of a late review as I had purchased it several months ago. The only troubles I had were not with Wanstalls but the product itself. After experiencing jams and malfunctions with various ammo, I sent the stock and magazines back to Promag. One key reminder, make sure you tell them you are a Canadian to be redirected to the Northern warranty center. My stock had been stuck in the US for roughly 2 months due to this miss communication. Taking the Nomad shooting after everything was cleared up, I had only brought Winchester Dynapoint .22Lr bulk. One out of the five magazine works flawlessly, the rest still cause various jams. I'd use Wanstalls again for my next purchase, but I'd be slightly more weary about buying another Arch Angel product. They did everything in their power to make it right, but the problem still persists.

At least I will have one magazine for grouse hunting this weekend!

[Mister Donut]

I didn’t know the .22lr could reach into space, that is where you’re aiming for right? I kid, sorry, couldn’t resist.

Yeah, guess you’ll need to set your bipod up that high to clear the monster magazine that it comes with. I’ve read a lot of angry reviews on the kit and it’s not exactly an isolated occurrence. I’m not sure sending it back to Promag will resolve the issue as it seems to be a bit of a hit and miss. Some say it’s the stock, some say it’s the mag, others say it’s both. I’ve been lucky with mine and haven’t had horrendous luck with it, but yea, occasionally, I’ll get some sort of failure.

[Patt08]

Looks pretty slick regardless! haha

[Cone_Skid_Cone]

It is a bit overkill as it sits right now! The scope came on a BSA .308 Majestic I had bought years ago, and as all of my other scopes are already sighted in on other guns, it will do in a pinch for grouse hunting. As for the bipod, it was strictly for clearance issues for the picture. I might leave it on as my old lady seems to have issues properly shouldering a rifle that weighs more than 3lbs.

I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only person experiencing issues, I was fairly disappointed after the receiving it back from the warranty center! What type of ammo do you find works best for your build?

[Mister Donut]

Mine runs on regular Federal Bulk and Blazer....it did not like Winchester. I was thinking about parting it out, but I think I'm just going to do everything I can so it runs reliably.

Here's a funny review I read about the stock kit:

When I was 16 years old, I obtained a Ruger 10/22 rifle from a co-worker. The rifle was stock so right away my dad and I hit up a gun show looking for the “cool” stuff to transform the rifle into something that a typical teenage boy would consider neat. Although not as many options as you can find these days, there was still a lot to choose from. I put on a folding stock, flash hider, extended mag release, and a cheap optic. That configuration has worked perfectly fine for me so I’ve never bothered to change it up. That being said, when I saw a local gun store advertising that they had Archangel 10/22 stocks available, I decided to check them out.

From their website, they looked decent. Especially for the same demographic I was when I got my 10/22. Their prices are a little higher than a number of the other 10/22 stock options so I figured they should be good quality. Since most of the articles I post here are aimed for the “big kids”, I thought it would be nice to change my rifle and post about some mods that may be useful upgrades for your kid’s Ruger 10/22 rifles. I decided on the Archangel Nomad Stock also known as the Marauder. The Archangel Nomad Stock is designed to look like the HK G36 which has been used in a number of video games so it appeals to a lot of younger people.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.



Even though that pic pretty much sums it up, I think a little more explanation is due.

First off, the instructions that came with the stock were a complete joke. As a 16 year old teenager, I had zero problems tearing apart my 10/22 and making the upgrades. On the other hand, I had to go to YouTube to figure out how this POS is supposed to be installed. The video I watched was pretty short and showed things well. However, my experience with the install didn’t go quite as easily. For some reason, the company didn’t include room for your stock sights so they needed to be removed with a brass punch or some other method which hopefully will not screw up the sights or barrel should you wish to revert back to the original configuration. Even after the sights were removed, the action still did not fit into the stock. After 30 minutes with a Dremel tool and a little encouragement from a rubber mallet, the pieces all finally came together.

The 25 round magazine that comes with this perfectly good waste of money doesn’t work so well itself. To get it to actually stay in the magwell took almost as much effort as putting the package together. Once at the range, it jammed on me every 1 to 2 rounds. About 2/3 of the way through the mag, it fell out of the gun. I literally tossed the rifle to the side and moved on to checking out the Slide Fire Solutions AK-47 stock and a couple other items I will be posting reviews on shortly.

Obviously at this point I was unhappy with the Archangel Nomad and had zero intentions of keeping it. That brings us to the disassemble stage. Tools required? Brass punch, hex wrench, screw driver, crowbar, jaws of life, and a BFH. After using the brass punch to tap the fake suppressor off the barrel, I removed all the screws. At this point I was expecting the thing to pull apart but that didn’t happen. After dicking around with it for far too long, I grabbed the BFH and beat it to death. I had to break the thing into multiple pieces to get it off the gun. I then promptly placed the remains in an appropriate container (pictured above) for burial.

3 things come to mind when I think about this product.

Maybe my 10/22 is a very old version which does not properly fit the new stock?
Perhaps I got a deformed stock?
The stock is simply garbage.

While I was fairly convinced that the truth lies within #3, I was still willing to consider the other explanations. That is until I received another product from Archangel which proved to have very similar issues and equally as bad instructions. The unknown extra parts didn’t help much either.

If you’re looking to upgrade or “trick out” your Ruger 10/22, do yourself a favor and steer clear of Archangel 10/22 stocks. Instead, take a look at Tactical Innovations or R&S Precision. Yeah, I know they sell Archangel stuff too but hey, nobody is perfect.

From w ww.702shooter.com/product-reviews/archangel-nomad-stock/

[Cone_Skid_Cone]

Haha right on! Depending on the magazine, my biggest issue seems to be feeding. Either the rounds feed offset from the chamber (low or to the side) which could be a magazine seating issue, or the rounds wont rise inside of the magazine. A few times I've had to put a small screwdriver in my magazines and pop the round up to its seat. I really liked using Federal bulk when it was in its original stock, but Walmart rarely has Federal in stock and I can't afford the cost of ammo AND lube to shop in other local stores.

[Moe]

I never had any issue assembling my kit. Never went on youtube to understand the process. I found the instructions clear. The rifle had issues with the mag. After a brick it became reliable. I just hose out the mag with cleaner every 4th loading and good to go. I now have about one jam every 100rds.

Sad to see you gave up and fired the thing in the garbage. I love mine.

Moe

[Mister Donut]

I never had any issue assembling my kit. Never went on youtube to understand the process. I found the instructions clear. The rifle had issues with the mag. After a brick it became reliable. I just hose out the mag with cleaner every 4th loading and good to go. I now have about one jam every 100rds.

Sad to see you gave up and fired the thing in the garbage. I love mine.

Moe

Sorry, I guess my post wasn't very clear, that was an article I found rather amusing. I still have mine, and had no problems installing the kit. I've heard that the mags do feed better after a break-in period, but I haven't used mine very much, so maybe it's just a matter of time before it sorts itself out.

[spugnoid]

I have this kit as well. I like the kit for what it is (10/22 in a little black dress) however, even with replacement feed lips for the mags, I have yet to find ammo that feeds reliably for more than a mag or two. I have tried some Federal and Winchester that I had laying around and it was ok. However, due to the rimfire shortage in my neck of the woods, I ended up with a brick of Yellow Jackets even though I have sworn off Remington rimfire. I used to shoot those exclusively out of my remington semi-auto when I was younger so I took a chance.

I've heard the term jam-o-matic but never thought I'd own one. A typical magazine goes like this: misfeed, doublefeed, no-feed, bang!, misfeed, !@$%#@, misfeed, *&!@#$, misfeed, bang!, repeat ad-nauseum. Anyways, I've put it in the safe until I can find some non-Remington ammo and test it again. At the end of a 20min cuss-fest there is just as much destroyed live ammo on the ground as there are empties. I have tried to always load the mags with the bolt locked open as per instructions but I think the shape of the Yellow Jackets just isn't compatible with these mags. I don't even own any other aftermarket mags to test.

Mostly the rounds are not lifting up and entering the chamber properly but instead get mashed against the edge and hold the bolt open.

Maybe when I've finished building my AR I will have some time and money to go back and make the Nomad work.

[ShotgunNut]

The guy was too impatient and didn't even let his mag break in. Every 25 round mag I've ever had would not start to feed properly until after at least 3 or 4 full loads. He let his frustration and disappointment put his money in the garbage before the kit could even work itself in.