(Sorry if this is a little long.  This was copied from rec.gins about a year 
ago)
Ruger 10/22 Heavy Barrel Conversion.
This project started early last year when Ruger announced their stainless
steel version of the 10/22.  For those not familiar with this little rifle,
it is a .22 Long Rifle semi-automatic blow back action carbine available in
a round butt hardwood stock or American Walnut sporter stock.  The sporter
stock features hand cut checkering and sling swivels.  The key feature of
the sporter stock is the absence of a barrel band, which is a part of the
round butt package.  Installation of a heavy barrel on the 10/22 requires
removal of the barrel band, and for cosmetic reasons, severe modification
of the stock.  Unfortunately, Ruger has yet to produce the stainless steel
version of the 10/22 in the sporter stock.  This problem was easily
surmounted by purchasing both the stainless round butt model and a blued
sporter model, then swapping the actions.  This was a drop-in deal, with no
alterations of either action or stock, other than painting the silver
barrel band black to match the blued action.  I later sold the resulting
blued round butt, along with my old reliable blue round butt to help
finance the remaining stages of the project.  
With the basic rifle in hand, I headed to the range to evaluate accuracy
and feel.  The first thing I noticed is that the rifle fit me much better
than the round butt model, probably owing to the increased length of pull
of the sporter stock.  The cut checkering gave a better grip and felt good
in my hands.  With a Leupold 3 x 9 Extended Focus Range Adjustable
Objective scope mounted in Conetrol rings and bases, the rifle grouped into
1 1/4" off a sandbag rest at 25 yards.  Well, that wasn't what I was hoping
for, and I started looking for ways to improve the accuracy.  
The first thing I noticed was the heavy, gritty, creepy trigger pull of the
standard action.  I also liked the light weight of the standard barrel, but
when shooting offhand it didn't provide the stability of even a sporter
weight big game rifle.  Brownells offers solutions to both problems in the
form of Volquartsen's drop in hammer replacement and Clark's fluted match
barrel.  While I was at it, I added a Volquartsen bolt release.  Brownells
catalog (515-623-5401) descriptions of these items follows:
"Volquartsen 10/22 Drop-in Hammer.  Improves 10/22 rifle trigger pull by
50%.  Superb, high-quality hammer reduces felt trigger pull with no
gunsmithing required.  Geometrically advanced, mirror-polished sear face
and precision-ground sear notch lighten and smooth overall factory pull by
a minimum of 50%.  Electropolishing produce (sic) a velvety smooth, low
micron overall exterior finish with a higher degree of lubricity for a
longer wearing, cleaner breaking, superior feeling trigger without hard
work.  SPECS:  Stainless Steel Sapphire honed.  Rc 60-61.  Includes hammer
spring and trigger return spring.  930-122-010, $33.00.
"Volquartsen Ruger 10/22 Magazine Release.  Instant, No-Fumble Bolt
Release.  Pull back slightly on the bolt handle and the bolt releases. 
Drop-in part does away with the factory two-handed, push-pull, lift and
let-go bolt release mechanism.  Made from hardened, heat-treated durable
steel.  Requires absolutely no fitting for a faster, easier to shoot 10/22.
 SPECS:  Steel, blued, matte finish.  930-122-003, $10.00.
"Clark custom Ruger 10/22 Fluted Match Barrels.  Rigidity & Lighter Weight
In A Drop-In, Heavy Contour Barrel.  Extra-wide, full length flutes quickly
dissipate excess heat for greater shot-to-shot consistency; keeps weight
down without sacrificing that accuracy-enhancing, muzzle heavy feel that's
so essential to good pointability.  Machined from Douglas premium blanks
and chambered with Clark's exclusive match reamer for increased accuracy
and reliable semi-automatic feeding and function.  Ready-to-install, no
fitting required.  SPECS:  CM steel, blued or stainless steel.  .920"
diameter, approximately 2.9 lbs. weight.  Available in 21 1/2" Target model
or 16 3/4" Hunter model.  181-301-222, $276.25."  (These are the catalog
number and price of the stainless target barrel, which is what I ordered)
When the parts arrived the first thing I noticed was the deep fluting and
high polish of the Clark barrel.  The width and depth of the four flutes
caused the barrel to take on a cruciform shape, and the matte finish of the
flutes contrasted pleasantly with the polish of the barrel.  I also noticed
that none of the parts came with installation instructions, just cautions
and liability releases.  The 10/22 action is simple enough that
instructions weren't really needed, but I consulted J. B. Wood's "Firearms
Assembly/Disassembly Part III:  Rimfire Rifles" for any tips it might have.
 Disassembly was very straight forward, especially since both trigger and
bolt release were held in with pins that slip-fit into the trigger group
housing.  Push out the pins, pop out the old parts, put in the new stuff,
and slide the pins back into place.  The barrel was just as simple.  Remove
the two socket head cap screws holding the V-block style retainer, slide
out the old barrel, and slide in the new one.  Make sure that the notch on
the underside of the barrel is square with the action, re-mount the
V-block, re-install the cap screws and tighten snugly.  That took care of
the action and barrel.  Now to the stock.
David 
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