Ruger 10/22 frustrations

[SFCRangerDoc]

Good luck! It should be satisfying to see if your elbow grease pays off.

If you can, before you hit the range, do a thorough cleaning of the chamber. Normal cleaning with a rod and brush/patch or using a bore snake, won't always clean out the "carbon ring" that develops at the front of the chamber after shooting a lot of rounds. I used a 22LR rifle bore brush, bent 90 degrees, to scrub the chamber (after bending it, the threaded end works like a handle). I use it at the range after every few hundred rounds to keep anything from building up.

This is a good tip! I've got a couple older 223 brushes that i can use for this!

[Bainter1212]

OP, my wife's 10/22 does the same thing with the Auto Match ammo. I haven't actually tried any other ammo, but I did install a Volq extractor and still get stovepipes.
I am planning on sending the bolt here: http://www.ct-precision.com/
and have them work over the bolt assy. I will then smooth out the inside of the receiver and replace the recoil spring and guide and I am hoping to do away with the annoying stovepipes.

[SFCRangerDoc]

OP, my wife's 10/22 does the same thing with the Auto Match ammo. I haven't actually tried any other ammo, but I did install a Volq extractor and still get stovepipes.
I am planning on sending the bolt here: http://www.ct-precision.com/
and have them work over the bolt assy. I will then smooth out the inside of the receiver and replace the recoil spring and guide and I am hoping to do away with the annoying stovepipes.

Ill have to check those guys out! I'm hoping my smoothing work on the bolt surfaces will have done the trick. Once my guide rod and extractor come in im hoping it'll all just work. The auto match isnt the only ammo it stove pipes with...seems to hate winchester super-x and any of the Std Velocity ammoes like aquila and remington. We've had the best luck with CCI mini-mags and Golden Bullet HV's from Remington.

[RawHP]

OP, my wife's 10/22 does the same thing with the Auto Match ammo. I haven't actually tried any other ammo, but I did install a Volq extractor and still get stovepipes.
I am planning on sending the bolt here: http://www.ct-precision.com/
and have them work over the bolt assy. I will then smooth out the inside of the receiver and replace the recoil spring and guide and I am hoping to do away with the annoying stovepipes.

The overspray/rough receiver is a known issue for later vintage 10/22s. Early 10/22s were anodized, not painted, plus Rugger began cutting some corners after they switched to painting their receivers over the years. In most cases, just cleaning up the overspray will fix the issue for non-HV ammo. I can't argue with sending in the bolt, since fixing the headspacing, pinning the firing pin, and radiusing the bolt will only improve cycling and reliability; but probably not necessary if you're only trying to fix the stove pipe issue.

Mine will almost cycle CCI quiet (710 fps) but not quite. That's with a stock guide rod and spring and an extra power hammer spring. I polished everything, and the bolt was worked and radiused by Que. I think the extra polishing and bolt radiusing is only necessary when you go to a tight chamber (aftermarket or rechambered barrel), but it does make thing feel slick.

[Fishslayer]

I had those exact problems after my "stainless" model's first cleaning. Notice the "stainless" in quotes. That's because it's really painted aluminum. Painted aluminum that peels and turns to mung at the mere sight of any sort of real solvent. Check in there & make sure it's clean.

Also make sure your mags are seating correctly. My wood framed carbine had issues out of the box. Just needed a light trim in the mag well.

Also check the plugs in the rail mount holes aren't binding the bolt. If loose a dab of Loctite PST will keep things where they need to be.

[SFCRangerDoc]

I had those exact problems after my "stainless" model's first cleaning. Notice the "stainless" in quotes. That's because it's really painted aluminum. Painted aluminum that peels and turns to mung at the mere sight of any sort of real solvent. Check in there & make sure it's clean.

Also make sure your mags are seating correctly. My wood framed carbine had issues out of the box. Just needed a light trim in the mag well.

Also check the plugs in the rail mount holes aren't binding the bolt. If loose a dab of Loctite PST will keep things where they need to be.

Interesting...i wasnt aware that the reciever was painted aluminum. I may end up spending a bit more time with some emory paper polishing out the finish then...just for good measure. Ill check the mags fit as well but it seems like they fit properly.

[dwalker]

Never had any issues shooting anything in my 10/22's except when:

the extractor was worn out
the barrel was mis-aligned
I use Butler creek or anything but Ruger mags

I normally do all my own work, but I had a "gunsmith" rebarrel my 1980s vintage 10/22. He effed up and the extractor groove was out of alignment and the gun ran like crap. I chased my tail for a few weeks then finally took the gun apart and put it back together properly. Zero issues since.

I also agree with the above, the "stainless" finish applied to the aluminum housings could be better and can indeed turn into schmegma that fouls the rifle. I have never bothered owning one but the friends of mine that have have spend some quality time with a dremel and polishing buffs making the inside of the reciver smooth and clean.

[SFCRangerDoc]

Never had any issues shooting anything in my 10/22's except when:

the extractor was worn out
the barrel was mis-aligned
I use Butler creek or anything but Ruger mags

I normally do all my own work, but I had a "gunsmith" rebarrel my 1980s vintage 10/22. He effed up and the extractor groove was out of alignment and the gun ran like crap. I chased my tail for a few weeks then finally took the gun apart and put it back together properly. Zero issues since.

I also agree with the above, the "stainless" finish applied to the aluminum housings could be better and can indeed turn into schmegma that fouls the rifle. I have never bothered owning one but the friends of mine that have have spend some quality time with a dremel and polishing buffs making the inside of the reciver smooth and clean.

I assume the extractor should ride center of the groove right? not dragging top or bottom and slide far enough in that the hook part of it is not visible when the bolt is closed correct?

[dwalker]

I assume the extractor should ride center of the groove right? not dragging top or bottom and slide far enough in that the hook part of it is not visible when the bolt is closed correct?

Thats the way mine works... now

[SFCRangerDoc]

Thats the way mine works... now

Haha nice. I have looked at the wife's and it appears hers is adjusted properly then. But I'll double check.

[dmy]

Similar experience, only different. I have a 10/22 carbine, purchased around 1980, which at the time, was completely stock. Several friends had identical rifles, but mine was the only one which had consistent FTF. I must have bought 10 different magazines (10-round rotary, 25-round banana, etc) and all of them had FTF problems. I put the gun in the closet for over a decade, but on the advice of an acquaintence, I first sent a letter to Ruger and then sent them my rifle without anything else (no magazines). At the time, the rifle was at least 15 - 20 years old. Ruger sent it back with 2 new magazines and a nice letter indicating it was now fixed at no cost. Since that time, I have put approximately 6 full bricks of various ammo through it without any FTF problems. Ruger diagnosed and repaired my rifle, which was long out of warranty, without any questions, without any charge and sent me a couple of new rotary magazines for my trouble. My strong suggestion is to contact Ruger. My one and only customer service experience was outstanding!

[Brujo]

The 10/22 I bought (technically my mom bought) when I was 13, now 40 had a very similar issue a few years ago. Since I had put thousands of rounds through it I figured the springs and the extractor where worn. After changing them it still stove piped. The issue turned out to be a little gunk had built up on the breach that I was not being removed by simple passes with a bore snake. I took a copper brush and scrubbed out the breach, works perfectly now.

[RawHP]

Haha nice. I have looked at the wife's and it appears hers is adjusted properly then. But I'll double check.

The extractor notch in the barrel is indexed relative to the slot in the barrel that engages the v-block. The best way to ensure the extractor notch is lined up, is to place the v-block without the screws on the barrel slot and align it to the receiver tang. Some people use a small level to do this, first leveling the tang and then leveling the barrel slot. I just eyeball it. Once that's aligned, you'll see that the extractor will be perfectly centered.

If you don't align the v-block to the tang, but instead try to eyeball the extractor, then you'll cause other problems with barrel alignment, since the v-block will be pressing on the barrel slot more to one side or the other.

[Garandimal]

Three things.
1. Grease.
2. More grease.
3. Still not enough grease.

Any metal/metal sliding contacts.




GR

[BrianRodela]

Most cycling issues with the 10-22 come down to two basic things, the guide rod spring and the hammer spring. Remember that the bolt must not only push back on the recoil spring but must also cock the hammer. Most of the time the hammer springs are stiff and the bolt rear face has very little mechanical advantage to cocking the hammer back. That is because the squared off back end engages the hammer closer to the hammer pivot pin than a radiused bolt. By radiusing in the rear of the bolt, it gives more mechanical advantage to the cocking process and allows full retraction of the bolt resulting in significantly less if any stove piping. Also full travel of the bolt gives it more kinetic energy to strip off the next round and chamber it resulting in less failure to feed issues. Radiusing the rear of the bolt will also allow the use of lower subsonic rounds which tend to be significantly more precise. I would also use a rubber buffer of some sorts should you use higher velocity ammunition resulting in greater recoil.
Extractor issues tend to be overblown and really cause issues when you can't remove a round from the chamber. Usually the discharge of the round is enough to blow itself out of the chamber.