My 10/22 Archangel & Fitting Hints

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pimbeault

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Hello all, I don't post very much but I thought I would show some (bad pics) of my new 10/22 in it's Archangel stock and also share some of my experiences with modding the gun and fitting the stock.

I'm mostly into bolt action rifles and longrange shooting but after seeing all the modified 10/22s coming out lately, I decided to build one of my own.

It is a new 10/22 purchased after I had ordered my stock. I wasn't overly impressed with the gun at first. It has the plastic trigger group housing and cheap crinkle paint. Guess that's what I get for asking the guy behind the counter "give me the cheapest 10/22 you have". Since it was the first 10/22 I had ever owned, I put about 50 rounds through it just to see what it was like in stock form. Accuracy wasn't too bad. I could hold around 1" @ 50 yards with a 6x scope mounted to it with Eley Sport, and 1.5" - 2" with American Eagle. The trigger........YUK! I have several Savage rimfires and Centerfires and by comparison this trigger felt like a 10lb sponge.

The mods I did to the trigger and action:
-debur, stone and polish all contact points
-stone hammer and sear, changed angle and minimized the creep
-trigger overtravel stop, removed that horrible trigger return thingy
-made my own trigger return with a single spring that acts on the trigger and bolt release
-made the bolt release 'auto'
-radius the sear disconnect for better trigger reset
-JB weld trick to eliminate trigger take up
-radius the bolt, smoother cycling
-steel wool the inside of receiver. Get rid of the flaking paint. Later I'll use paint remover and polish the inside of the receiver
-bolt buffer

Only other thing I want to do is pin the bolt above the firing pin. Whenever I can find a 1/16 roll pin.

I shot another 50 rounds just to check function and safety after all the mods. Very impressed with the difference. Well worth the time and effort.

The Archangel stock is the Deluxe model from Mystic. I used an Aimpoint clone with a riser and QD mount. The barrel is a new Dlask 16" straight .920. I put on a standard A2 flash hider just to dress it up a little. I have side rails and a Rico grip enroute. After I recover from Christmas, I plan on ordering sling mounts, probably the push button QD type and a gas block or some other picatinny barrel mount to lower my front site. Here it is.

EDIT: Stock fitting, down below

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How I Setup the Archangel Stock

I don't have any pics of the steps I took to assemble the stock but I'll try to describe it as best I can.

Once I had decided to go with the Archangel stock, I started to search the internet to see how others were setting them up. I was actually kind of shocked to see that they weren't fitting very well at all. Most of the pictures I came across had very droopy hand guards or large gaps with washers holding things in place. I wanted to see if this could be corrected, as it turns out it's very easily corrected.

A little about the stock itself. Once the stock arrived from Mystic, I was very surprised at the quality of construction of the stock. The 'plastic' isn't the kind you would find on a Airsoft gun and even the word 'Plastic' doesn't do the stock justice. It's very stiff and rugged. When I bumped a piece against my table it almost sounded as if it was aluminum. I really liked the detail that was incorporated into the moulding.

Here's a pic that I'll use to try describe where I modified the stock and how I assembled it.

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First thing I did was drop the receiver in. It fit very well and level so I didn't touch anything in there. I then tried to put the top piece on but it was way too tight to fit over the receiver (no surprise). The instructions say to heat the piece up then press it on. I didn't want to do this incase it still wasn't sitting right and then not be able to easily remove it. Before I started sanding and filing, I took a long time examining each part and fastener to determine exactly how each relates to each other. I didn't want to do one thing and then find out I messed up the relation to another.

To get the top rail to fit, I used a square edged block with 80 grit paper wrapped around it. I sanded the sides equally until it started to fit around the receiver. Once it fit most of the way, I only sanded the areas which showed contact until it sat all the way down. I didn't want large gaps between the receiver sides and top rail with only a sliver of material holding it in place.

Now it's down all the way. I noticed that it would rock on the top of the receiver forward and back. I had checked my receiver for a hump on top when I first started modding it. It seemed good so I sanded the inside top of the top rail. I would rock it a bit, making sure the receiver holes were lined up, and then sand where it showed signs of contact. I did this until there was only a very slight amount of movement.

First Assembly:

I first did what alot of people were doing. I quickly put it together, not installing the screws in the top where the base mounts but just using the large screws in the front and back of the top rail. With everything assembled the stock looked horrible. The gaps between the top and bottom were large and uneven. The Top Rail didn't line up horizontally with the bottom. (you've seen other pictures of this I'm sure) and the hand guard drooped so bad it looked like it was sick. I started over.

After examining the pieces again, I realized there is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT IN SANDING ANYTHING ON THE FRONT (C), just thought I would stress that because I have seen alot of kits on the internet with large gaps up front from doing this. The Handguard cannot be moved to a more upward position by sanding here because it all is stationary and can only pivot on the large screw coming down (D).

Second Assembly:

I used all 4 screws and mounted the top rail to the receiver. It was solid, straight and flat. Looks good. Next I tried to install the receiver into the bottom. It wouldn't fit.. The front of the receiver would go in but the back of the TOP RAIL (B) would make contact with the back of the STOCK (A) and not seat all the way. I suspect that's why alot of people don't install the top screws in to the receiver

HERE'S WHERE ALL YOUR ATTENTION NEEDS TO BE.... The back of the receiver where the Top rail and the stock make contact, (A,B) is oversized. It is dished out a bit too much (probably from when the stock is cooling after being moulded) and caused the Top rail to be pushed forward which makes the Handguard point down. I disassembled again but leaving the top rail attached to the receiver. I then used a small file, approximately 1/2" wide by 4" long and laid it across the back of the Top rail (B) and, with my thumb, filed the back to square it up. Then I moved the stock portion (A) and began doing the same thing. Every once in a while I would try to reassemble the stock. I Continued to do this until the receiver would sit flat in the stock and everything was square. By doing this the front section (C,D,F) moves rearward. The Bolt opening gaps now line up. And since the Stock front(E) doesn't move, the Handguard doesn't get pushed down when the screws (H) are tightened. The last thing I had to slightly modify was the large screwhole at the rear of the top rail. Since everything moved back slightly, I needed to elongate the hole forward slightly. I just used a small round file.

That's all there is. The upper and lower moulding lines align up. The handguard is straight. Also by sanding inside the toprail, the gap between the top and bottom are equal. Everything is fastened tight with no washers or shims. Actually if you look closely at a couple of the top pics, you'll notice that I filed off a hair too much and it caused the handguard to point up slighly. Barely noticeable and easily fixed, but I'll just leave it like that for now.

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Once I figured out what needed to be done, it would have only taken around a half hour to do. I hope this helps those who are unsure about these kits and also those who already have one and aren't happy with the fit. Good luck.
 
Excellent post. I didn't have any fitting problems with either of my stocks. I do have a slight misalignment side to side on one of the handguards. The barrel is not perefectly centered.

My only complaint with the Deluxe kit is that the BUIS cannot be used on the same plain. In order to zero them properly, the front sight has to be attached to that fugly barrel cover that is supplied. I have tried several different methods and it seems they're just designed that way. In hind sight I should have ordered two standard kits and picked up an aftermarket set of BUIS that work on the same top rail.


Super fun rifles to run and gun with. I have thousands of rounds through mine now and they're still going strong.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. Barks, I'm glad yours fit properly out of the box. I knew the BUIS wouldn't line up on the same plane but I had plans of maby cutting that front thingy to keep only the rail part then honing it out to fit over my barrel and holding it in place with a set screw of some sort. Turns out my barrel is larger than the muzzle piece. Oh well, I even looked at maby getting the proper matching front site from promag. Ouch, it's $108 US. I'm still looking into a barrel mount of somesort or a gasblock.
 
I also received an Archangel kit for my 10/22 from Jerry at Mystic. I've got all winter to finish the project, and the fit and quality was surprisingly precise. I also agree that 'plastic' doesn't properly do justice.

I think that sometimes we pucker-up and hope for the best when buying remotely, but (At the risk of a shameless plug) buying from Mystic was as solid and safe as it can get. Jerry was in touch with me and obviously loves what he does. Considering the product and service aspect, the kit was a fair price. Can't wait until it's done!
 
great job man! Looks tight, I bought this stock as well from Mystic, I bookemarked this thread and when I get my 10/22 ill defnitly be coming back to it.

Where did you get your barrel and flash hider from if you don't mind me asking? Also your aimpoint clone? I've been searching for an aimpoint clone and haven't had any luck.
 
Thanks, It was quite fun modifying gun and putting all the rest together. The barrel is from Dlask Arms and the rest I picked up off the EE. These 22's are a little addicting. I have already started collecting parts and pieces for my next assembly. I think I'm going to loose this one to my son so I want to make sure I have a spare one for myself come spring.
 
my 10/22 also dropped right in without a problem. I don't have an issue with the BUIS supplied in the deluxe kit. They co-witness nicely with my red dot. I have put side rails and a UTG foregrip on it. With the black 25rd mags it works great for indoor 2gun practice.
 
Hi there. I just wanted to publicly thank Pimbeault for sharing all your information on how to set up the Archangel.
I have a spare 10/22 and have been waiting for the right platform to come along and I think this is it.
All the pictures of the sagging hand gaurds on the dealer sites were a bit of a turn off. But thanks to your post I'm
confident to build one my self.

I was holding out for a fs556 but Fab told me he is concentrating on the wooden guns for now. This is kind of a
blessing in disguise since the price of the 556 with all the goodies is sort of out of control.

I wanted to ask you what the over all length of your gun was, stock collapsed minus the flash hider.
You see I want to use the shortest barrel possible to come in just over the magical 660 mm.

Also do you think the flip up sights and extended mag release are worth the extra $100.

Thanks again Pmbeault. Happy shooting.
 
zaino2000 said:
Also do you think the flip up sights and extended mag release are worth the extra $100.
Click to expand...

In my opinion the sights are not worth it.....

I have Two Archangel set ups. One came with sights but they both came with the extended mag release. I like the mag release, but if you were going to use a shorter barrel, the sights may not work. Maybe I'm the only one that has this problem, but these sights are not meant to be used on the same top rail. There is a slip on barrel cover that the front sight is meant to sit on. When mounted on the same plane as the rear sight, I cannot get zeroed at all. It always shoots low.....about a foot low at 35 yards and even lower the further out you go. There is no vertical adjustment on the rear sight and the front post will not go down far enough.

Based on my stock, an 11.5 inch barrel is the shortest you could go to maintain legality. You may have to check your registration. I have 2 10-22s but one is the youth model with a factory 16 inch barrel. My other is the standars 18.5" My registration card for one says semi-auto non-resticted barrel over 470mm. The other says non-restricted, barrel UNDER 470mm.
 
Thanks for the comments zaino2000. The overall length is now 785mm, 30" 7/8. You can go quite a bit shorter, just have to update your registration if you go less than 470.

As Barks said, the extended mag release is included with both kits and 11.5 is about the shortest you can go.

In my opinion the BUIS is good quality and worth the money but unfortunately don't line up on the same plane. If you plan to use the stock barrel and the included barrel cover then the BUIS are well worth the price. If not, you'll either have to buy a riser for the rear sight or different front sight or a different barrel mount/gas block to mount the included front sight.

One quick comment on the construction. I just received a new Tapco to install for someone. The quality of construction and material of the Tapco is no where near the same as the Archangel.
 
Thanks Barks and Pimbeault. I think I will omit the sight option and save the $100.
for some lights and lasers and stuff.
Not really big on that slip on flash hider deal anyway. I was planing on on going for that
AR look with a carry handle and front sight that works on the same plane.
Saw one like that on rimfire central. It looked pretty slick.
I appreciate the barrel info too. Pretty sure I will be going with a 12" with a break or a
fake can. I'm really not to thrilled about updating my registration for under 470mm.
Does it matter if I keep the old barrel just in case I sell it? In my mind the LGR is
dead to me. lol... soon we hope...
 
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