Ruger 10/22 stovepipes and bolt not cycling.

ajayofcanada

ajayofcanada

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I just finished building my modified Krinker kit, I added on a 8.5 inch barrel with a Yankee Hill Machine Phantom flash suppressor. I'm using a plastic mag until my Tac Inc arrives in a few weeks.

Went out to the range today, and noticed that I was having to cycle the bolt by hand and the rifle was not properly ejecting rounds, they;d get stuck between the bolt ejection port.

I was using Winchester 333 rounds that I bought from Walmart, if your not familiar, it's a box of 333 count rounds for 9 bucks, they are 36 Grain copper plated hollow points. Speed on the box says 1280 FPS.

The bolt was going back enough to put another round into the chamber, but not far enough to #### the hammer. I had to manually pull the bolt all the way to the rear and then it would fire, but the following round would not. Though the first 25 I put through the rifle worked fine. But performance was intermittent.

I'm guessing it's the ammo and tomorrow I will try a few different types to see which works best, unless I'm wrong and it's something else? This is my first 10/22 rifle so I may need some help.



 
This issue sounds familiar. I think someone else had the same problem with a krinker kit.
Just to start, I'd clean it and try a different ammo like Ren said. I Doubt it's the ammo, but it's something to try.
 
Failure to cycle

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Blowback operated rifles are "balanced" by the weight of the breech block and the amount of force needed to #### the mechanism, by the stiffness of the recoil spring.

Reducing a barrel length can upset this balance, because some rifles need a longer barrel to build up chamber pressure to operate the firearm. Some firearms need a longer time for the bullet to be in the barrel in order to build up or sustain enough energy to cycle the action.

An example of this was the old Gevelot rifles. They fired from an open bolt, were a blowback action, and had NO EXTRACTOR. They relied on enough energy and gas to cycle the action. If the barrel was cut down, they just did not function.

Cleaning and lightly lubricating the action and trigger mechanism are another factor.

You might try a high velocity load, or if you are using a load with light bullets, change to a HEAVIER BULLET. A heavier bullet can give a bit more lag time in the barrel, thus sustaining the energy for a bit longer. This just might be enough to cycle the action.

Change the barrel back temporarily to the stock Ruger barrel, and try the same ammunition. If it functions with the stock barrel, then your problem is in the shorter barrel you are using. Also, you might want to GENTLY polish the area on the hammer and bolt where they contact each other, to reduce the friction when the rifle cycles.

Last of all, if all else fails, you might buy another recoil spring, and clip off one coil at a time, then try firing the rifle. This is an absolute last ditch approach.
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The bolt could be hitting one of the scope rail screws. If you cycle the bolt by hand does it feel rough or like it is hitting something?

You could also try polishing the internals to make the operation smoother. Apparently a good polishing job can cycle subsonic.
 
That is probably it hitting the hammer and everything else in the trigger assembly. Give her a good polish and should be better.
 
I used a full brick of 36 grain in my 10/22T and never ever had a failure to cycle. Even on the duds that are not filled fully.

I bet the bolt is hanging up on something. Open her up and take a peek, maybe something is gumming it up or the guide rod is bent.
 
A couple of years ago my regular 10-22 started acting up; stovepiping ever 3rd or 4th shot. Turned out to be a broken extractor.........just blew the empties back into the action----some fell out and some didn't..............wTc
 
I took it apart today, I also polished the hammer. Maybe it's just me, I took the trigger group out of the rifle, and when trying to #### it by hand, the spring seems very strong.

I also learned, when the bolt slides halfway through its path, it hits the hammer to #### it back(obviously), but in my case, the spring is so strong that it stops the bolt from travelling its full length, which prevents the gun from firing.

I either have to keep polishing, or possibly use some Stinger ammo. I guess I'll figure something out.
 
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Since I sold you the kit, I have a couple of prescient observations:

1) the winchester white box ammo from Walmart doesn't cycle well in any 10/22. I saw a lot of them didn't extract well.
2) The Krinker kit would benefit from an upgraded volquartsen trigger spring. My 10/22 had a deformed hammer, which caused all sorts of problems, so I replaced it, and it worked fine after that.
3) With brand new Butler Creek mags, they WILL stovepipe until they are worked in. I highly recommend loading 8-10 rounds to start, use them about 10 times, then load 15, use that 10 times, then load 20... etc... When they are really new the spring is VERY tight and that will result in the round not being picked up and put into the chamber.
4) The Volquartsen ultimate edge extractor will also help well.

Keep at it, the mags will wear in, and better ammo will work gangbusters.

I found it liked Remington.
 
I polished the hammer and bolt surface to a mirror shine. As well, I am expecting a new metal Tac Inc magazine soon, so far I am not impressed with the plastic butler creek mags, they scream cheap.

The major problem with the rifle,
1) the bolt cycles far enough to extract a spent round, and put a new one into the chamber
2) but.... the bolt is not going rearward with enough force to #### the hammer, so you end up with a live round in the chamber, but pulling the trigger does nothing as the hammer was never cocked.

I will try on Monday to see if the polishing did anything, but as far as I can tell, by sliding the bolt with my hand, I can feel when the bolt hitys the hammer, and how tight the hammer spring is, which is so tight, it's actually stopping the bolt from going all the way rearward and cocking the hammer down.

Maybe CCI Stingers will have enough force to push the bolt back, or get a lighter spring from somewhere. The spent 22 cases sure have a deep enough dent in them, compared to other 22 brass I've seen.
 
As to the BC mags. I found they don't seem to feed all ammo the same. I use only CCI Mini-mags and they work flawlessly all of the time. I also loaded them full and left them for a few days before I used them and I've had MINIMAL issues if any. As far as the Stingers go if that barrel has a match chamber (warning right on the cci website,and the box as well I think)I wouldn't use 'em. The case of a Stinger is a bit longer then a normal .22 round and you could have issues with that.If it's not a match chamber use 'em. I did for the first 500-1000 rounds and it smoothed up the action really well.
 
Some bolts can be tight in the reciever. Especially, aftermarket ones. I've tricked out a couple of 10/22's and ran into similiar problems. Stingers fly too fast and i shot tighter groups with standard loads. Try mini mags they're a little cheaper than the stingers.. and still pack more power than those wallmart winnnies.
 
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