some misc 10/22 questions and jamming issues

[krprice84]

First, I just bought the carbine ruger 10/22 with a wood stock. I like the gun, but I’ve found that it seems to jam a fair bit (using mostly the butler creek metal feed lip 25 round mags). I have had the gun apart and gentle polished up the edges and the flats on the bolt, though hardly at all. I have also polished the trigger sear/hammer sear mating surfaces. I find i get a stovepipe once every magazine or two, and at least one or two misfeeds every magazine. Basically the round will tip up too far and not chamber correctly, damaging the bullet and i have to cycle the action and clear it.

Do you think that moving up to a better quality bolt will help this? Maybe also a new recoil/charging handle spring (obviously with the new handle etc). It’s getting really frustrating, as I enjoy the gun, but i can’t stand having to clear a jam every 10-20 rounds (nor should i have to).

Questions will be numbered below for ease of reading...I appreciate your help and understand that this is a little longer winded, but I really need some advice. Thanks in advance!

1. Regarding the DLASK barrels – if I wanted to go to a shorter barrel, I can’t go shorter than 18 inches without going restricted, is that correct? Or did I miss something in the laws about rimfire rifles? I will say, I am finding this stock gun to be surprisingly accurate, and with the polished trigger, it isn’t nearly as bad as it was (though my remmy 700 w/ timney trigger is much nicer). Do you think I would have much to gain with a DLASK barrel, or would I be wise to shoot this one out a little more before upgrading the barrel?

2. Any advice on the jamming? It was with the only ammo I could find – Federal bulk ammo in the 525 round package. Think it’s the ammo or more likely to be that the gun isn’t running all that cleanly/smoothly?

3. I am pretty sure I’d like to upgrade the stock, as I don’t believe there is any way to free float the barrel in this one, correct? What is there out there that would be likely to be in stock in the way of a less expensive but adjustable and free floating stock? Definitely want the ability to add on a bipod, but don’t really need or want it to be all railed out and tacticool... just functional. Adjustability would be nice simply for going from prone to sitting to bench to offhand. I understand that stocks are very personal, just looked for recommendations here. Basically I want free floating, adjustability, bipod attachment point, and something that's not too heavy. Did i just price myself into the high end stuff? lol. Also would like the option of putting in a new trigger group at some point, and I've read that some of them won't allow some triggers to fit (i.e. KIDD trigger in the Archangel 597 stock)

4. Which trigger group would you suggest? Are the KIDD ones really THAT much better than the Timney (or another brand?)? I definitely want to keep the budget down on this one, but I also understand that you often get what you pay for, so i’m looking for best value for the money, not necessarily the cheapest but the best value (quality vs. Cost kind of thing).

5. Regarding a new bolt – is the DLASK bolt any lower quality than the KIDD one, or is it just the KIDD name that you’re paying for? Again, want to save some money and still have a good rifle, just not the best, unless everything else is crap lol.

I think that’s all for now... any help or suggestions would be super appreciated

Thanks!

 

[Turkinator]

Does it jam with the ruger 10 round mag that came with the rifle? I've found that my 10/22 will eat anything and I mostly shoot winchester bulk. It sounds like it's the mag that's the problem to me. I know if I don't load my HC3R mags just right I'll have plenty of FTF's. If you can stand the look of them I'd get the Ruger bx-25X2 mags. Ruger makes the best mags for their rifles.

As far as stocks go I would go with a Hogue or a Boyds and avoid the Tapco/ati junk. I like the looks of the archangel on the 10/22 but the fake selector switch will make your rifle look like a toy. You may as well paint the muzzle orange.

 

[krprice84]

No didn't seem to jam much (couple times but not nearly often enough that I was concerned) with the stock mag.

I can't get the Ruger mags locally and I don't really like ordering if I don't have to...plus I've got two of the butler creek ones and I've read that people seem to have them work rather well.... I saw something about filling a piece down so I might do that and give it another try next weekend.

Any other suggestions, or comments on the other stuff?

Oh and about stocks, I didn't realize the archangel had a ### little selector. That's the exact tacticoool crap I don't want.


Are the Boyd or Hogue ones free floated? Also how do you actually free float this thing with only one action screw and no recoil lug?? It's really odd to me

 

[little_airwolf]

First off, does the gun have any issues with the stock mag? If not, its the mag not your gun. BC mags have some issues. You can youtube them. I just bought 5 mags and two are fine but three jam. If I push forward on the mag almost all of the issues go away. This is what most of the youtube vids show.
I plain on filling down the feed lips on one and see if that helps.

 

[hurrikane18]

Are the Boyd or Hogue ones free floated? Also how do you actually free float this thing with only one action screw and no recoil lug?? It's really odd to me

Many believe that bedding the barrel and floating the receiver results in better accuracy because of the single action screw setup on these guns. If you're set on a free floating barrel, you might want to try something similar to the KIDD receiver with a rear tang. Or if the rifle is "surprisingly accurate" already, why fix a problem that doesn't exist? Three options to think about. One more tip: use a torque wrench when tightening the action screw to provide consistency after each reassembly. Cheers!

 

[krprice84]

Many believe that bedding the barrel and floating the receiver results in better accuracy because of the single action screw setup on these guns. If you're set on a free floating barrel, you might want to try something similar to the KIDD receiver with a rear tang. Or if the rifle is "surprisingly accurate" already, why fix a problem that doesn't exist? Three options to think about. One more tip: use a torque wrench when tightening the action screw to provide consistency after each reassembly. Cheers!

Do people bed the barrel and float the receiver because of the barrel droop issue that seems to be there? I don't have that issue (yet) as the barrel is stock, but i'm sure when i move up to a bigger/better one down the road that will happen... So when you float the action, how do you do that? just bed the barrel and use a washer under the action? or is there more to it than that? It must be supported at the front and back at least, no? I can't picture it having no support and just hanging off of the barrel... i would think that, if anything, fully bedding the entire thing would be best, no?

I'm not really set on anything at this point, so fire away with suggestions. i just always thought that a free floated barrel is best because it lets the barrel act the exact same way every time. If it's bedded, my understanding was anyways, that it won't quite vibrate/act the same, depending on temperature etc, but is this not so? any link to a site that talks about floating the action and bedding the barrel?

 

[terry_g]

About twenty years ago I bought a slightly used 10/22. I really liked it but it was very inaccurate.
It spent the next fifteen or so years in the back of my gun safe.
I decided a few years ago to try and fix it so I replaced the barrel with a Green Mountain sporter barrel 18 1/2" if I
remember correctly and a Wolf spring kit. The new barrel made a huge improvement in accuracy.

I bedded the receiver and 4" of the barrel ahead of the receiver with JB Weld using plastic cling wrap
to keep the JB Weld from sticking to the receiver and barrel. The rest of the barrel is free floated.

If you remove the trigger group and #### the hammer then slowly pull the trigger you will see the hammer
move back against the hammer spring. Don't let the hammer release things could go wrong.
I carefully lapped the faces of the sear and trigger where they engage to reduce the angle to reduce this movement.
This greatly reduces the trigger pull. I reduced the trigger pull from around seven pounds to less than two.

I measured the head space on the bolt at .053" it should be .0425" if I remember correctly. I carefully lapped
.010" of the face of the bolt on a fine oil stone. Excessive head space is supposed to cause fliers I read.

I tried a Butler Creek mag but gave it away because I could not stand the frequent stove pipes.

I now have a very accurate 10/22 with very little investment.

There is a lot of good info at Rimfire Central. Here is a link to some info on stove piping.

h ttp://rimfirecentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=382428&postcount=9

Hope this helped!
Terry

 

[langbanger]

I would also suggest the BC mag is your problem. When mine were new, they both had major issues. I was told to load the mags and let them sit in the safe for a few days before shooting to break in the spring. I was skeptical, but it worked like a charm. You mentioned you wanted a bipod, you could look into finding 2 more factory 10 round mags, and buy a tri-mag adaptor for about 20 bucks I think. If your not familiar, it allows you to attach 3 10 round mags together for quicker reloading. This would be a better application for shooting prone. I have a kidd bolt and it did help a lot with fte with cheaper bulk ammo, though I'm not sure it was the bolt or just the extractor making the difference. For a budget you might want to try upgrading your factory bolt first. Hogue makes a decent stock for the money. Mine needed some alterations to free float completely, but nothing major. You could find one on ee for 80 bucks or so I'm guessing. To add adjustability, hit up mystic precision for a tac-pro adjustable cheek rest. I know from experience they compliment the vogue stocks nicely. Your at about 130-140 dollars into the stock at this point, which is pretty good for what your getting I would say. If the gun is surprising you with accuracy, I would leave the barrel, the only real reason to change out would be cosmetics. If you do upgrade, and your worried about barrel droop, you can buy an adjustable v block, or a lighter option would be an aluminum barrel. Another great upgrade you mentioned is the charging handle and spring assembly. I would recommend the Kidd for the fact that you can change out springs according to velocity of ammo you choose to shoot. Pretty handy and versatile. As far as trigger group, if you are looking to save some money, the Kidd trigger kit works great for me. About 130 dollars and a nice crisp 1 3/4-2 lb pull. I have no experience with volquartsen but have heard their kits are nice as well. Hope your build goes well for you. Keep us posted.