The steel lips are awesome once fitted properly. Hot lips suck.
And how do you exactly "fit" them properly? I've bought 2 of the BC steel lips for $100 total (40$/piece + tax) a couple of years ago and the f***ing things would not only jam in my recent generation 10/22 (that works flawless otherwise, btw), they would actually cause the round to be TORN APART by the bolt!
Yes, that is correct... I'd have a torn open round (with powder pouring out of it into the chamber) on every 4th-5th shot, every single time like clockwork (with different types of ammo being tried, just to see if it's not perhaps an ammo issue - it wasn't!). Plus, the more rounds were loaded into the mag, the worse it would get... if I'd load it up all the way to 25, it would FTF every single time. Occasionally, the failure to feed would cause such a f-up jam inside the gun that the bolt wouldn't even open and I'd have to smack the charging handle with something heavy multiple times just to get it to release and slide back! "Awesome" was not the word that came to mind at the time.
I did some research and some people suggested filing away a small piece of metal inside the "lips" with a jeweler's file. Others suggested plenty of Teflon lube inside the mag. Did both. Didn't help! My big time favorite suggestion was that the BC steel lips need to be "broken in", lol... Now how exactly do you "break them in" if the freaking things won't fire more than 5 rounds before a concrete-solid jam occurs inside the rifle, with the round completely seizing the bolt and often times tearing open and pouring gun powder everywhere? Pretty hard to "break them in" under such conditions, eh? I should've taken pictures or a video to post, as words simply don't do justice to how crappy of a product the BC mags are when actually in use.
Hot lips, steel lips... same garbage in my book. Complete and utter crap that I was thinking of selling, but just never had the heart to unload something this sh*tty onto someone else, even if they were a complete stranger (instead, I promised myself that I'd extend my experience to other 10/22 owners at every opportunity, just to make sure they don't end up shelling out good money on these useless Butler Creek magazines). While fighting with the multiple FTF at the range, I remember thinking how much I wish I could shove both these two mags up Mr. Butler Creek's rear with a steel toe boot... that might actually be worth the 100$ I got ripped off on.
After having been royally f'd-over with BC mags, I am convinced that original Ruger mags are the only way to go... period! Never an issue with those.
As for original mags and other accessories, I've had good experience with these guys a few years ago. They're in the States, but shipped my stuff over via USPS no problem. Decent prices too:
ht tp://www.hawktecharms.com/Ruger-10-22-Parts-and-Accessories-s/1.htm
Edit: 10-round mags are sold out and they appear to be working on their website, because you can't choose anything else than the US as the shipping destination at checkout. Let's hope it's just a temporary glitch and not some new ATF b.s. rule in the soon-to-be-disarmed United States of Obamastan!
