OK! So! Range Report!
Back from the range, good day out. I didn't end up talking to Wolverine as I had planned, I just went out and shot.
Here is the gap I mentioned in my previous post:
You can see the roughly 1/4" of threads still showing. It didn't make any difference to performance. I made sure to check every couple of strings to make sure that the muzzle nut was still tight. I will check with my local gunsmith and see how much it will cost to get 7/32" or so taken off the chamber end of the insert. I'm still not sure if the extra length of the insert is normal or not. For the record, my rifle is one of the original batch brought in by Wolverine.
A couple of observations.
1. This is NOT a substitute for a bull barreled Ruger 10-22 with a cool aftermarket stock. This is NOT for all day plinking and doing mag dumps as fast as you can load. Keep in mind that the barrel insert is a .22 inserted inside a .30 barrel, so the walls of the insert are very thin. The CF had issues with their conversion kits for the FN. If they were shot too fast and got too hot the insert would expand and seize in the rifling of the main gun. Some had to be left installed after they could not be removed. I would use caution, and not do too many mag dumps. That said, I did a couple of mag dumps with no ill effects, and with only 2 mags, you get a fair bit of cooling time while you reload the mags.
2. This is best for shooting cheap and shooting where you normally can't, for example if you have to shoot indoors in the winter and your indoor range doesn't allow steel cased or steel jacketed ammo.
3. Like all semi-autos, the weak point is the magazines.
I started by loading 5 rounds in each magazine and firing to check function. All rounds fired, no adjustment needed. I then tried to load both mags to capacity. Both mags were hard to load past 15 rounds and I am very glad I stoned off the sharp edges last night. One mag took 25 rounds before my thumb gave out, but the other would only take 20. I then shot both mags rapid, but not dumped. I fired a total of 250 rounds. Other than a couple of 5 round groups for accuracy, the rest I shot rapid at capacity until around 150 rounds, then 10-15 rounds at a time because my fingers were too tired and sore to load to capacity.
At around 75 rounds, one mag stopped feeding after 10 rounds, follower jammed inside. "percussive maintenance" got it going again, at least for a while. The other mag worked flawlessly except at around 100 rounds. At around 100 rounds, I pulled the trigger, the bolt released, hung up for a second, then fired normally. The next round did the same, the third round failed to fire. I unloaded, put some lube on the bolt and reloaded the failed round and started shooting again, and it worked fine from then on. I suspect that I did not use enough lube to start with. I had one other fail to fire, a dud round that didn't go even after 3 tries.
The first mag failed several times, the second mag worked flawlessly after the system was re-lubed. Both mags worked fine with only 10 rounds loaded, but the first mag would occasionally fail if loaded more than that. I noticed that there are distinct dimensional differences between the two mag inserts.
You can see the differences in this picture. the mag on the left with the white follower is the problem child. Notice the different profile at the front of the mag.
You can also see that the mag on the left has the follower coming up higher when empty. You can't see it in the picture, but the mag opening is also wider, allowing the rounds to more a bit side to side, and possibly allowing the follower to wobble and bind as well.
I am sure that if I got some more mags, I could find a couple more good ones. It seems like either there are two designs or versions, or the QC is not what it should be. The aluminum is also a bit soft and there are lots of machining marks. I think a bit better quality and anodizing would make the mags much better. The basic design is clever and I like it. The "good" mag works fine.
Accuracy? Well, this is no Anschutz, but surprisingly good all things considered, certainly as good as I need. I was quite surprised given how the insert is installed. I had two types of ammo available. 40 grain CCI Mini-Mags and 40 grain Remington Thunderbolt. Technically both of these are high velocity. The manual says standard ammo only, but I didn't see any issues.
I shot at 25 yards using old military No 18 Small Target (simulates at 25 yards the old 4 foot target as seen at 200 yards). The bull is 1-1/2" and I was able to keep 5 rounds, including the fliers in an inch at 25 yards with my past 40 year old eyes and the factory iron sights. It shot pretty close to the same POI at 25 yards as it does full caliber with the sights set on the battle sight setting. I didn't shoot at 50 or 100 yards, but I did shoot one group with the sights set at 100 and the group moved down about 1-1/2 inches
(First group I shot with the Mini Mags)
(First group I shot with the Remington Thunderbolt)
A couple of other observations;
This a a .22 and like all .22s it is very dirty. You will get unburned powder and carbon all over the inside of the receiver and trigger group. It will be dirtier than when firing full caliber. Some carbon forces its way between the chamber insert and the barrel insert. It is not much, I could a ring of carbon on both parts where they join, but it didn't photograph well enough to be worth posting. This means that you will have to run a patch through the full caliber barrel as well as cleaning the insert.
The manual says to clean every 100 rounds, and the mags every 500. My (limited) experience is that you can certainly go longer than that, but the mags should probably be stripped and cleaned whenever the rest of the kit is.
I should have lubed it more heavily, especially the bolt, since this is where the crud builds up most.
To sum up, I am very happy with it. It dropped in, worked right away without adjustment, was surprisingly accurate. The only downer was that one of the mags didn't work so well. Since there is no mag loader, I would load only 15, maybe 20, and I will buy some more mags so as to get several good ones.
In my opinion it is a worthwhile accessory and I am very glad I bought it.