The 1968 vintage 10/22 carbine got an Overton stock in better condition, so this 10/22s all original status remains. For those of you not familiar with the earliest vintage Ruger 10/22s, up until 1971, Ruger contracted stock making to Overton, but sometime in 1971, Ruger started making their own stocks. These Overton stock 10/22s were slightly different than the later Ruger stocks, so it makes that first series of 10/22s (64-71) a bit distinctive.
The only thing not original on this stock are the sling studs, which a former owner added at some point. A plus, though, for these first 10/22s is that only the magazines were plastic, everything else was metal, including the butt plate, trigger housing and barrel band. Very much old school Ruger.
As for the antique Marlin, I received the partially inletted and finished butt stock and finally got it attached. Took a bit of work, but the stock is on and it's a great improvement as far as stability, given that the old butt stock had three screws barely holding it together. This is important, because this old Marlin is rapidly becoming my favorite back yard plinker.
As you can see, this stock has some very nice figure, so when finished, it will look great. Still have to sand it down around the tang for a proper fit, but good enough now for the sake of shooting.
Yeah, this old pump Marlin really has me thinking of adding some other classic 22 pumps to the collection. Love my bolt guns, autoloaders are fun, lever guns are traditional, but pump 22s are wicked fast and sweet to operate. If you've never worked one of these vintage walnut and steel pump 22s, you really are missing something.
