Headspace 10/22 magnum
- Thread starter Drillbit
- Start date
A friend gave me one of these to look at and the bolt face and barrel each had a slight high spot that met early. A Few thou off each to true the surfaces resulted in 100% ignition.
I guess you need to check to see what the bolt is impacting first, and that there isn't a high spot somewhere. 2.5 thousandths is pretty fine measurement, I'm guessing the actual problem spot is slightly bigger but you have some skew there. I had to take off more.
Good luck!
I guess you need to check to see what the bolt is impacting first, and that there isn't a high spot somewhere. 2.5 thousandths is pretty fine measurement, I'm guessing the actual problem spot is slightly bigger but you have some skew there. I had to take off more.
Good luck!
Woahh guys, educate me here. My experience with 10:22's is limited but it seems to me that .0025 of a inch is close enough, any which way you look at it. It has been my experience that the rim thickens varies more then that amount.
What exactly is your problem?
What exactly is your problem?
This^
You probably have more crud than .0025 between the bolt face and the breech end of the barrel.
Stripped the bolt and cleaned out the firing pin groove yet? Really dig in the front end. The mung can pack in there really solidly. Makes for bad things.
But "some firing problems" isn't grounds to be breaking out the angle grinder quite yet. Some better details, will get you some better suggestions, and grinding the face of your bolt too far is gonna cost you a bunch to get fixed or replaced.
Tried any other ammo?
Cheers
Trev
Yup, 99% of rim fire problems are "fixed" by good cleaning.
The rifle is brand new. I've tried several different kinds of ammo. Lots of misfires. Only shoots 2 out of 9.
Check out the rimfire section title "10/22 magnum click...no bang". Probably on page 2 by now. Sorry, but I don't know how to make the link.
Check out the rimfire section title "10/22 magnum click...no bang". Probably on page 2 by now. Sorry, but I don't know how to make the link.
I've tried a VQ firing pin and different hammer springs, but nothing really helps it. The rifle isn't "brand new" but I bought it used, new in the box condition. They haven't made these for quite a few years now. Probably wasn't ever fired because it wouldn't fire.
If the gun is really clean, which I gather it is, then you should be able to see whether there is a point of impact on the bolt face or barrel (shiney) should the problem be like the other one I encountered, where both the bolt and barrel were out of true where they met by a combined 5 thousandths or so.
Removing metal from any firearm isn't for the faint of heart, or the poorly equipped. I used a dremel tool, yes, but it is epoxied to a piece of steel that fits the tool holder of my lathe. A 4-jaw chuck and some careful measuring were needed for my fix. Took about an hour, and 55 minutes of that was setup, as usual for something like this. I have found Rugers to be generally well made, and I wonder if there isn't a reason they quit building the .22 magnums. Maybe they were made on a separate line or by a contractor, but most 10/22s I've seen are perfect. A high spot on the barrel and the bolt, both meeting, should never have left the factory.
Lots of other possibilities, though, perhaps something in the firing pin channel? If you've changed firing pins and hammers, then the bolt and breech face have a problem. Could it be a weak recoil spring? How solid is the bolt when it's forward? Is there any play?
Look for the bolt running into something. If that's not it, see if you can pick up another barrel or get this one re-chambered. Sometimes the chamber isn't cut quite deep enough, and this, together with weaker recoil springs, can leave the rim of your cartridge not quite seated when the bolt is forward. Then the firing pin doesn't make a clean strike and the rest is fail-to-fire history.
Headspace too small isn't likely the cause, and making the headspace bigger may actually make the problem worse. Lots of "maybes" though.
Take off the barrel and check to see how the cartridges seat in the chamber. Check the bolt for "looseness" at the closed position -- the spring should hold it quite firmly shut. If the chamber is OK and the bolt seats solid, strip the bolt and look for crap in the firing pin channel. See what pushing the pin forward does, and how far the pin can travel. After that, you're looking at the hammer possibly striking something besides the firing pin, but you would have seen evidence of that when you changed to the new pin, so I mention this last.
Someone borrowed my .22 magnum reamer and broke it (!) so I need to order a new one anyway. I can check the chamber for you if you like, but you may find someone closer.
If all else fails, sell it for parts!
Removing metal from any firearm isn't for the faint of heart, or the poorly equipped. I used a dremel tool, yes, but it is epoxied to a piece of steel that fits the tool holder of my lathe. A 4-jaw chuck and some careful measuring were needed for my fix. Took about an hour, and 55 minutes of that was setup, as usual for something like this. I have found Rugers to be generally well made, and I wonder if there isn't a reason they quit building the .22 magnums. Maybe they were made on a separate line or by a contractor, but most 10/22s I've seen are perfect. A high spot on the barrel and the bolt, both meeting, should never have left the factory.
Lots of other possibilities, though, perhaps something in the firing pin channel? If you've changed firing pins and hammers, then the bolt and breech face have a problem. Could it be a weak recoil spring? How solid is the bolt when it's forward? Is there any play?
Look for the bolt running into something. If that's not it, see if you can pick up another barrel or get this one re-chambered. Sometimes the chamber isn't cut quite deep enough, and this, together with weaker recoil springs, can leave the rim of your cartridge not quite seated when the bolt is forward. Then the firing pin doesn't make a clean strike and the rest is fail-to-fire history.
Headspace too small isn't likely the cause, and making the headspace bigger may actually make the problem worse. Lots of "maybes" though.
Take off the barrel and check to see how the cartridges seat in the chamber. Check the bolt for "looseness" at the closed position -- the spring should hold it quite firmly shut. If the chamber is OK and the bolt seats solid, strip the bolt and look for crap in the firing pin channel. See what pushing the pin forward does, and how far the pin can travel. After that, you're looking at the hammer possibly striking something besides the firing pin, but you would have seen evidence of that when you changed to the new pin, so I mention this last.
Someone borrowed my .22 magnum reamer and broke it (!) so I need to order a new one anyway. I can check the chamber for you if you like, but you may find someone closer.
If all else fails, sell it for parts!
Send that gun to ruger and you'll never get it back. Instead you'll get a certificate for a new rimfire of your choice, I would fix the issue if it was mine, but the again, mine works flawlessly.
I would put money on it being the wrong hammer spring. I put a VQ hammer in mine, but you have to use the factory magnum spring, or you will have this issue.
I sent my ruger bolt to a company in the states and it came back flawless. Mine worked well before it went down to CPC but it worked that that much better when it came back. Then again I could have ordered a Kidd bolt for the same price I paid. I think your problem is in the firing pin travel. Do you have one of the FTF cartridges still hanging around? If so take a picture of the back rim and post it, that should help in shedding some light on this.
