issues with a 10/22 (Fail To Eject?)

[CulpeperMM]

i bot a used 10/22 (manuf ~2001 based on serial #) not too long ago. nice looking gun. pretty accurate when it fires. The problem is every 3rd or 4th round gets jammed on the previous round's casing, leaving me with a cluster of shells stuck in the receiver. I took it apart and cleaned it, paying special attention to the recoil spring rod / bolt handle assembly.

when reassembling the rifle i had a devil of a time getting the bolt handle back to lay the bolt into the receiver. It was cleaned well and lubed. it may have been slightly bent, but that was not detectable to my imperfect eye.

it was filthy in inside the rear half of the receiver, so i thought this cleaning would do the trick. WRONG. same crushed brass in the ejection port with a follow on live round smooching it. i was unhappy that cleaning it didn't do the trick.

Here's my question, could a new bolt handle / recoil spring & rod (pretty inexpensive) do the trick to resolve the issue? or is there some way to adjust the blow back/ clean gas ports? Have you had any similar problems with 10/22?

Sorry is this is obvious to you. it is not to me, and i would appreciate any suggestions and assistance any of you kind and knowledgeable 10/22 aficionados may be willing to give. (If it is the recoil spring/rod, that's a cheap and easy fix, just have to order from Midway and wait on Brown)

Thanks in advance.

 

[IndyGunworks]

hmm... to many variables to say if that will help.... what ammo were you using? it may not have been powerfull enough to force the bolt back with enough consistancy to get consistant ejection... that said, does your ejector look right? since you just cleaned it i would try generously lubing and trying different ammo... a box of minimags as well... if it doesnt run with minimags something else is probably the issue... are you using factory mags?

Edited to add: the recoil spring guide rod and bolt handle are always a pain in the butt to reinstall until you have done it several dozen times... i dont see how it would have gotten bent.... not saying thats NOT the problem, just saying i would look elsewhere first.

 

[indykid]

Is your extractor area clean and it working properly? If there is dirt under the extractor, it might not grab the shell to pull it out.

 

[CulpeperMM]

Thank you IGW ,

I have tried

Federal Bulk Pack 36 gr (jacket hollow point)
Federal American Eagle 40gr "High Velocity" (lead round nose)
Federal Gold Medal Target 40gr "High Velocity" (lead round nose)
Federal Champion Target 40 gr "High Velocity" (lead round nose)

&

Fiocchi 36gr "high velocity" jacket hollow point

(btw, i'm not a federal ammo rep or anything, not particularly enamored with their product, just always seems to be available, and has worked fine in another 10/22 i have, the 2008 vintage "spray painted" receiver, which, other than the coating coming off the receiver, has functioned fine. I bot the problem rifle thinking i'd rather have a blued rifle than a painted one. )

I use the Ruger factory magazines. i have about 8 total (5 and 10 rounders) and used several of them in this rifle.

I haven't tried CCI ammo. i'll give the Mini-Mags a try and see if that does it.

my thought was that a previous owner may have bent the rod while cleaning, because that is a pain in the rear procedure (putting this puppy back together). It seems easy to unintentionally put diagonal force on the bolt handle trying to get it back and drop in the bolt. I starting doing this until it dawned on me to use a punch and screw driver handle as a lever to apply force straight back on the spring from the inside of the receiver. (anyone else ruin a rifle while cleaning it? lol, i'm showing my ignorance here.)

 

[CulpeperMM]

Is your extractor area clean and it working properly? If there is dirt under the extractor, it might not grab the shell to pull it out.

thanks for the suggestion IndyKid,

spic and span. took the brush to it, though it didn't look too awful dirty. i thoroughly cleaned the interior of the receiver and bolt assembly prior to shooting the second time.

(i didn't open up the trigger group because i didn't think the problem was in there)

I should have saved the brass to photo and post. i didn't have the camera with me at the range (and would not have had the time nor opportunity to take pictures, for this was occurring at an Appleseed shoot, lol). If i get an opportunity this week i'll give 'er another go at the local range and see if i can take some pics of the brass and what the receiver looks like with the empty brass and the unfired round stuck in there.

the posting on INGO could become a little side project. lol

 

[Cain71]

How old is the ammo you are using? I have had problems with shelf aged ammo sticking in the barrel,its like it swells when fired.

 

[sloughfoot]

FWIW, I watched CulpepperMM as he struggled with this rifle during this weekend Appleseed. I can verify all that he did to make this rifle shoot reliably. Factory mags, quality ammo. Heck, I even squirted some lube into it for him....

Culpepper, I would send this rifle back to Ruger for them to check it out. If the rod is bent, they are the ones to fix it. I have sent several pistols and rifles back to them over the years and have been totally satisfied with the results. Even if you are doing something wrong, they won't charge you.

Time to stop the frustration?

 

[CulpeperMM]

How old is the ammo you are using? I have had problems with shelf aged ammo sticking in the barrel,its like it swells when fired.

thanks for your reply Cain,

i have bot all the ammo from retailers with in the last couple months (except the FAE, which looked new when i bot with the rifle FTF). i have gone through a bit of 22 this past year with my other (properly functioning) 22, so what i have is fairly new. (i haven' checked the born on dates, so if they could have laid on the shelf at Midway or where ever for a while possibly)

 

[cce1302]

sounds like you need the volquartsen titanium "exact edge" extractor.
https://www.volquartsen.com/products/163-exact-edge-extractor

It's only 12 bucks. I put it on my 10/22 and never have failures to extract/eject.

 

[Big John]

Typical "PICKY" 10/22... Run some CCI MiniMags through her and watch her run...

Mine only works well with them, if I use bulk pack I get the same thing failure to completely eject next round get caught up in the mess, you have to drop the mag to clear everything.

 

[CulpeperMM]

Culpepper, I would send this rifle back to Ruger for them to check it out. If the rod is bent, they are the ones to fix it. I have sent several pistols and rifles back to them over the years and have been totally satisfied with the results. Even if you are doing something wrong, they won't charge you.

It was great meeting you Saturday, Sloughfoot.

this isn't too much of a frustration. Takes my mind of the beating i took today at the office, back in the "Real World" of paper money and broken promises .

I'm enjoying learning about firearm stuff. May as well learn as much as i can while we still have the internet.

i bot this 10/22 second hand, WOP. will that matter? even if it doesn't, would the shipping cost more than the rod/spring/handle combo from midway?

What i don't want is a new 10/22, which is made of aluminum cans, plywood and plastic parts . At least that is what my functioning 10/22 is made of. I'm afraid that's what i'd get if i sent my "problem rifle" back to the factory. "we couldn't fix it so here's a new one", mean while some guy at the Ruger factory has himself a nice older rifle that just needs a new recoil spring rod. Ha!

 

[OneBadV8]

sounds like you need the volquartsen titanium "exact edge" extractor.
https://www.volquartsen.com/products/163-exact-edge-extractor

It's only 12 bucks. I put it on my 10/22 and never have failures to extract/eject.

I changed all my internals to titanium parts, although I went the Power Custom route. could be spring on the extractor is weak or a million other things.

Could also be a good excuse to just swap out a bunch of parts and the trigger group

 

[sloughfoot]

It was good meeting you too. You had the best sitting and prone positions of all the shooters on the line. It was your rifle that let you down, IMO

It is a lifetime warranty. They won't care if you are first owner or not. I sure can't speak for them, but the last rifle I sent to them was a Mini 14 that was utterly destroyed by a slam fire because of my reload. They sent me a brand new replacement rifle...

One other thing, my tight chambered 10-22 doesn't like lead bullets. The lead and gunk builds up quick and stops from working. Maybe you ought to try plated bullets for a while?

Also, thanks for the literature and DVD.

Dean

 

[Simon6101]

extractor

The extractor is either worn, bent or has dirt under it. Did you remove the extrctor and spring from the bolt and clen the channel it is in? Be careful when you do this the first time or you will be looking for the spring. Disassemble inside a gallon ziplock bag so it will catch the parts. Also check out RimfireCentral. They can tell you anything you need to know.

 

[Wabatuckian]

CulpeperMM,

If you can come by Wabash Tuesday evening, I will fix it for you.

I cannot accept payment, and you'll need to stick around as I do not have my FFL (all a licensed gunsmith is, is a person who can work on guns and has his FFL for transfer).

I have a feeling it will be a relatively easy fix - I've dealt with several extraction issues on several types of guns, including the 10/22.

Bring ammo and your cleaning kit.

Josh <><

 

[CulpeperMM]

The extractor is either worn, bent or has dirt under it. Did you remove the extrctor and spring from the bolt and clen the channel it is in? Be careful when you do this the first time or you will be looking for the spring. Disassemble inside a gallon ziplock bag so it will catch the parts. Also check out RimfireCentral. They can tell you anything you need to know.

this i did not do.... I've read about those springs going air-borne, and didn't chance it!

If you can come by Wabash Tuesday evening, I will fix it for you.

I have a feeling it will be a relatively easy fix - I've dealt with several extraction issues on several types of guns, including the 10/22.

very kind offer. PM on the way.

 

[rimfire_crazed]

The extractor, spring, and plunger are $6 total from Ruger. If you don't want to go the expensive custom route, you can buy two full sets + shipping for $17. It's actually like $6 in parts but they have a $10 minimum. I changed mine out with a swiss army knife in about five minutes. Haven't had an FTE since.


I believe the root of my problems was a dirty action that caused FTE's and the successive slamming damaged the edge of the extractor. I've run some pretty crappy ammo through it since without any issues.

 

[CulpeperMM]

Big Thank you to Josh Smith! I have run 100 rounds through the 10/22 in question this weekend. Josh took out the extractor and cleaned it up with a file, and also cleaned up the ejector, which apparently had been sticking. Both springs were studied (looked fine, just dirty). Importantly, Josh was careful to tell me how and what he was doing, so next time i could fix it myself. We fired 10 rounds (1 mag) that day, and it worked fine. i wanted to run a 100 more rounds before giving the final report, and just had that opportunity yesterday.

Josh is a great guy, i am glad he offered to fix it.

 

[m4_dave]

If your gonna shoot it.Stay away from those bulk packs of 22's.I have had the same problem with those like you get at walmart or other department stores.The CCI minimags work best with 10/22 or Aguilia Interceptor works good also.The high powered shells work the best it seems.Also I have used a few aftermarket mags.I had to use them for a while to get them broke before they worked really well.

 

[kwmkoester]

Typical "PICKY" 10/22... Run some CCI MiniMags through her and watch her run...

Mine only works well with them, if I use bulk pack I get the same thing failure to completely eject next round get caught up in the mess, you have to drop the mag to clear everything.

So this is common with 10/22's? I had planned on picking one up for my sons and didn't realize they were troublesome in that manner.