I think it was 2 months ago when I took my muzzle brake off so I could modify it. I never did pin it on when I put the Tech Sights on the gun, and it wasn't even on all the way. I had pushed it back as far as it would go and the back of it hit the pair of button head screws on either side of the sight. That's as far as it would go and I tightened down the set screw and forgot to fix it. That may have been a couple of years ago, I don't know. But I finally did something about it. The set screw stripped out when I turned the hex key to loosen it, but it stuck out far enough to grab hold of with needle nose pliers. So I use pliers to get the old set screw out and threw it away. I took the brake off and tapped out the set screw hole, then put the brake back on. I pushed it back hard against the screws to see how much farther it had to go, but it was stuck and I couldn't get it back off. I think I used a screwdriver between the brake and front sight base to pry it off, but I don't remember for sure. When it broke loose, it went flying
somewhere and I heard it hit a wall or door but wasn't sure in which direction.
A few days ago I found the brake behind my desk and two days ago I finally got to work. I cleaned out all the ports by poking 2 sizes of drill bits in them, blunt end first, then the sharp end, twisting with my fingers. The white line in the 4th picture shows where the top of the brake originally was. The little yellow triangle is where I previously filed a 60 degree notch with a three square file. That's where the roll pin I put through my last front sight secured the muzzle brake. The set screw alone wasn't enough on the first brake and it went downrange at William's Gun Sights outdoor range. When I talked to Sarge about it recently, he didn't think it could have gone far, but I walked out to my target and back a couple of times looking for it and never found it. So I got another one just like it and pinned it on after I drilled a hole through my sight. The gray area on the picture is what I ground off and filed flat this time, so it would slide all the way back under the screws.
I dimpled my barrel about 1/16" deep and looked for a screw to fit the hole in the brake. I found one with a little square retainer on it that fit perfectly. It was from an old light switch or outlet I replaced. New ones come with the screws attached to them with the little squares, and I saved the old screw with the square. I chucked the screw in my cordless drill and ground it down on bench the grinder. It took several tries but I finally got the point centered and the angle on the end was approximately the same as the bit I drilled the hole in my barrel with. After I cleaned everything up with denatured alcohol I got out the cold bluing solution. I had enough to get one swab good and wet, and a drop or 2 left I used on a second swab to finish the job. I put green Loctite all over inside the brake before I slipped it onto the barrel, and put more on the screw. I tightened it down good with a screwdriver, then with a pair of pliers until I didn't think it would go any farther without breaking off. I used my heat gun on the brake to help set the Loctite. This green Loctite is made for bearings and sleeves that slide together, instead of being threaded. I cut the end of the screw off with a hacksaw, filed it down, and used the last of the bluing on a cotton swab. I got one deep scratch on it but it turned out okay.
A few things to note about this. 1. If I ever need to take the barrel band off the gun, I'll have to take the barrel off. It won't fit over the sight, and I don't think I can get the sight off with the brake on the barrel. 2. The brake is as close to being pinned and welded as it can get, without actually welding over the end of the screw. I don't think this one will
ever end up downrange. Unless I get mad and throw the whole gun downrange.
3. The rearmost hole in the brake leads down to the face of the muzzle.
It doesn't do anything at all. 4. After I was done with this I was detail cleaning my fire control group. I had everything out but the safety, and after struggling with it for several minutes I got that out too. I turned the button too far and flipped it upside down. The plunger went into the deep square notch it was never meant to go in. That was a real pain in the butt to deal with. After I got it cleaned and oiled, I was putting the safety back in and the spring and plunger got away from me. It sounded like one part hit somewhere to my left, and the other part landed on my right. Or it bounced off something to the left, then landed on the right. I crawled around with a flashlight and big magnet, but never found either one, so I need to order new ones. I'm also going to buy a Gunsmither Safe-T Tool for Ruger 10/22 that makes it really easy to put it together. It's a lot like an AR pivot pin tool. TandemKross has it for a dollar less than Gunsmither.
https://www.tandemkross.com/Gunsmither%E2%84%A2-Safety-Tool-for-Ruger%C2%AE-1022%C2%AE_p_141.html https://gunsmithertools.com/shop/ols/products/xn-gunsmither-1022-safe-t-tool-jgb1696x https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZn8BgEm4g