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Stove pipe issue cured in my 10/22

40K views 64 replies 28 participants last post by  Topos 
#1 ·
I recently purchased a slightly used Ruger 10/22 carbine with a BX trigger. I love it for its light weight and its accuracy.
BUT I have had this nagging issue of 25% of my rounds stove piping. I have spent many hours reading here and got a ton of tips and ideas.
I have buffed, polished and basically cleaned up all the rough surfaces. I then installed an extractor and a Spartan charging handle plus the poly bolt buffer that I bought from TK.
All this brought me down to 10% of my cartridges stove piping.
Cartridges used have been CCI, CCI Mini Mags, Blazer, Winchester target black box, Federal Auto Match with the same results for them all. I even ran some Remington dirty bulk with the same results.
Now somewhere on here or maybe another site I read that the lip on the magazine was the main ejector and after observing the bolt when pulling it back it certainly is.I made sure the mag was fitting snug and secure as well. The ejector in the bolt is for when there is no mag installed.
Why do we need one on the magazine?
So what I decided to do was use one mag as a sacrificial lamb and carefully grind that lip off. I made sure I maintained the angle so as to leave material there to retain the cartridge in the magazine.
That steel casting is as hard as nails by the way.

I have put just over 300 rounds of Federal Auto Match and 100 Winchester Target through that modified magazine with NO stove piping at all even with rapid fire.
This is now a fun gun to shoot.

 
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#5 ·
For sure I agree with you.

Now today at the range one other member said he has 4 10/22s and one that even Ruger couldn't fix so they replaced it. The new one isn't perfect but better than before. His other three are all modified and have the odd stove pipe.

With six mags some have been worse than others. I tried a new one today that went through 40 rounds perfect but on the next load had two. Nothing seems consistent.

But it sure is consistent with that mod.
 
#10 ·
Might work

Can't say I've ever had a stovepipe jam, I have 3 10-22's, one that will get test fired this week, the other 2 have Kidd bolts, auto-bolt releases and I did replace the magazine latches in all 3 as the magazines seemed to be a tad loose, the Kidd magazine latch and it's slightly stronger spring seems to lock the magazine in much tighter, with less play/movement. For about $7 it may hold the magazine a bit higher, helping the ejector on the magazine sit higher. You also might try taking out the latch & stretching the spring a bit to increase the latch tension.

Phil
 
#12 ·
Can't say I've ever had a stovepipe jam, I have 3 10-22's, one that will get test fired this week, the other 2 have Kidd bolts, auto-bolt releases and I did replace the magazine latches in all 3 as the magazines seemed to be a tad loose, the Kidd magazine latch and it's slightly stronger spring seems to lock the magazine in much tighter, with less play/movement. For about $7 it may hold the magazine a bit higher, helping the ejector on the magazine sit higher. You also might try taking out the latch & stretching the spring a bit to increase the latch tension.

Phil
This is a $435.00 CDN gun and I'm not putting another $300.00 CDN into it. If I wanted or needed that I would have bought a $700.00 dollar gun. Probably wouldn't have had this problem either. :)
It seems from many threads on this site stove piping is and was an issue with them.
 
#14 ·
on that mag modification,

does it change how it handles SHORTS or LONGS?


Only time I had stove pipes was when I used shorts from the magazine without a full sized 22lr underneath to act as feed ramp.

ejecting empties was fine, but ejecting a loaded short would usually plop it between the bolt and magazine opposite the big ejection port..
 
#16 ·
on that mag modification,

does it change how it handles SHORTS or LONGS?

Only time I had stove pipes was when I used shorts from the magazine without a full sized 22lr underneath to act as feed ramp.

ejecting empties was fine, but ejecting a loaded short would usually plop it between the bolt and magazine opposite the big ejection port..
Never tried shorts in this one. But if I can get out this week I have 25 or so left and will try run them through and see what happens.

I don't understand why Ruger has a Mag ejector when the trigger group has a very good one that works fine.
 
#19 ·
This one I got from TK and is the Eagles Talon. The other was a new OEM extractor. Both worked about the same with 10% stove pipes.

Yes they both held the case tight to the bolt and pull out the case even after 300 rounds without brushing the chamber.
 
#21 ·
personally I think its a reliability issue addition, the mag ejector.

MOST people who get a 10/22 never clean it, and if they do clean it, they never clean those annoying little bolt parts. For most, IF they take the stock off, and pull the bolt, they just wipe the outside down.
The gun is clean and I have been cleaning guns after every outing for over 50 years now.

In my first post I stated it was slightly used with a BX trigger.

I do believe it is a mag ejector issue as some mags seem to have very few if any problems and others are just a PITA.
 
#22 ·
Well I haven't modded any more than the one mag yet so I'm going to see it they ship international and order it.

I doubt I will get it before next Tuesday thought to test.

I go in for rotator cuff surgery and will be out for at least six weeks.
 
#25 ·
You said that your magazines are snug.
I hope that you don't mean on the sides. :eek:
You should be able to get at least a .015 feeler between the stock, and magazine on each side of the mag. If not that is why your mod worked, because pressure one side was raising the ejector lip to high.
 
#28 ·
some thoughts

First of all I've never seen one that needed that extreme modification to the magazine to run. I know people say the magazine is the primary ejector but I'm not sure that's true. I'd have to see high speed film to convince me. I've always just rounded the ejector tip on the trigger housing because the stamping usually has a rough bur on the tip that can cause erratic ejection in my opinion. Usually taking care of the bur at the tip and beveling it slightly will take care of the stovepipes along with ammo with enough oomph to kick them out. I'm going through a lousy batch of Federal Champion right now that has a lot of jams but not just in my 10/22s, also in my buckmark which can fail to feed with some rounds leaving an empty brass in the chamber. I have one well worn 10/22 that usually is flawless but even that one chokes on that ammo. Other better ammo including cci Standard Velocity is 100% in that gun because it's consistently at or above the power level needed to cycle this gun. It sounds like you tried several different types of ammo so I agree that's not likely your problem since it happened with every one.

Now it's possible you got a bad magazine that was out of spec slightly. It sounds like you only tried 1 magazine and that would have been an easy test to see if it was causing your jams. Butler creek magazines with the plastic lips don't have an ejector on the magazine BTW. Spring tension in the magazine may play a part in reliability. Also make sure the extractor has proper tension and that it moves smoothly when you push it to the side. It should spring back smoothly on it's own. Sometimes grit gets in there and gums it up.

One of the other things you may or may not have looked at is the smoothness inside your receiver and of your guide rod. I bought a used 10/22 with rough internals and it was a jammomatic until I smooth down the internal surfaces a bit and replaced the guide rod and handle with an aftermarket product. Scotch bright or 400 grit sandpaper with elbow grease will usually buff out any problem areas on factory parts. The ones with the crappy painted receivers are more likely to have rough bubbles of paint that need to be removed inside the receiver for things to smooth out. I prefer the older anodized models made in the 90s or before if given a choice of two used guns close in price as they ran better out of the box. True walnut stock guns from before about 1980 are even better in quality with true aluminum but pads.

The 10/22 is a fantastic design but materials and quality control at the factory has varied a lot over the years. I'm not a fan of the most current plastic version.

rc
 
#29 · (Edited)
First of all I've never seen one that needed that extreme modification to the magazine to run. I know people say the magazine is the primary ejector but I'm not sure that's true. I'd have to see high speed film to convince me. I've always just rounded the ejector tip on the trigger housing because the stamping usually has a rough bur on the tip that can cause erratic ejection in my opinion. Usually taking care of the bur at the tip and beveling it slightly will take care of the stovepipes along with ammo with enough oomph to kick them out. I'm going through a lousy batch of Federal Champion right now that has a lot of jams but not just in my 10/22s, also in my buckmark which can fail to feed with some rounds leaving an empty brass in the chamber. I have one well worn 10/22 that usually is flawless but even that one chokes on that ammo. Other better ammo including cci Standard Velocity is 100% in that gun because it's consistently at or above the power level needed to cycle this gun. It sounds like you tried several different types of ammo so I agree that's not likely your problem since it happened with every one.

Now it's possible you got a bad magazine that was out of spec slightly. It sounds like you only tried 1 magazine and that would have been an easy test to see if it was causing your jams. Butler creek magazines with the plastic lips don't have an ejector on the magazine BTW. Spring tension in the magazine may play a part in reliability. Also make sure the extractor has proper tension and that it moves smoothly when you push it to the side. It should spring back smoothly on it's own. Sometimes grit gets in there and gums it up.

One of the other things you may or may not have looked at is the smoothness inside your receiver and of your guide rod. I bought a used 10/22 with rough internals and it was a jammomatic until I smooth down the internal surfaces a bit and replaced the guide rod and handle with an aftermarket product. Scotch bright or 400 grit sandpaper with elbow grease will usually buff out any problem areas on factory parts. The ones with the crappy painted receivers are more likely to have rough bubbles of paint that need to be removed inside the receiver for things to smooth out. I prefer the older anodized models made in the 90s or before if given a choice of two used guns close in price as they ran better out of the box. True walnut stock guns from before about 1980 are even better in quality with true aluminum but pads.

The 10/22 is a fantastic design but materials and quality control at the factory has varied a lot over the years. I'm not a fan of the most current plastic version.

rc
Done all that and checked all that.

Now as for the ejector, put a round in, get a bright light, pull the charging handle back slowly, you will see the rim will not go past that lip on the magazine because it is the ejector. End of story on what is and isn't the ejector.

Put 200 rounds of Federal through the modded mag today and didn't have one stove pipe.
Put 10 rounds in a unmodded mag and got one then got 10 rounds clean the last 10 rounds I had 2.

I'm going to mod my mags as it seems for this gun it is what works.

I got 1/2" groups at 36 yards today so that is just fine for ground hogs and squirrels this summer.
 
#30 ·
Now as for the extractor, put a round in, get a bright light, pull the charging handle back slowly, you will see the rim will not go past that lip on the magazine because it is the extractor. End of story on what is and isn't the extractor.


i think your confusing extractor with ejector. the magazine is an ejector.
i just hope nobody reads this and starts chewing up their magazines.
best of luck to you
 
#34 ·
Now as for the extractor, put a round in, get a bright light, pull the charging handle back slowly, you will see the rim will not go past that lip on the magazine because it is the extractor. End of story on what is and isn't the extractor.

i think your confusing extractor with ejector. the magazine is an ejector.
i just hope nobody reads this and starts chewing up their magazines.
best of luck to you
No....I won't be chewing up any of my 52 year old magazines. I've been reading his posts in disbelief.:)
 
#32 ·
#37 ·
Such a pain in the butt to diagnose the different jams. In 01 I bought a Walmart special 22" model. And it was a jam-o-matic out of the box. Before I had gotten into replacing parts and such myself, this one went back to Ruger 3 times over the next few months. First time they replaced the magazine - uh, thanks but no thanks. 2nd time they said they replaced the bolt. Both times it jammed ever shot or two. Never ran a full mag through it clean, and all I had was the factory mag. Third time I wrote them a big note about all of the stuff that they did and how it didn't work. They replaced the barrel that time and said the extractor groove was cut too shallow in it. No more problems with it after that.
 
#45 ·
Well I gave two modified mags to a LEO at my range who has the same issue I had and he is doing the mod on his 2 year old 10/22.

It is obvious Ruger doesn't care anymore to sort this issue out by the new posts here. Sad really since the rifle is nice to shoot.

hxxp://rugerforum.net/ruger-10-22-rimfire/330657-new-10-22-jam-o-matic-after-500-rounds.html
 
#46 ·
Well I gave two modified mags to a LEO at my range who has the same issue I had and he is doing the mod on his 2 year old 10/22.

It is obvious Ruger doesn't care anymore to sort this issue out by the new posts here. Sad really since the rifle is nice to shoot.

hxxp://rugerforum.net/ruger-10-22-rimfire/330657-new-10-22-jam-o-matic-after-500-rounds.html
What made you determine that it's Ruger's fault versus the previous owner? It seemed like you had established by post #15 that you were satisfied with your solution but sounds like you changed your mind? If so, sending it back to Ruger for repair is an option if you want to validate your statement, especially since you won't be shooting for another month and a half. Either that or go back to the previous owner and ask for your money back.

But if you haven't tried either, then it seems like saying Ruger doesn't care is just blaming them for a bad purchase. Don't get me wrong, I'd be ticked too if I bought someone else's lemon :mad:

Hope everything is healing up properly :t and you'll be back to shooting on schedule :AR15firin
 
#50 ·
All I gotta say is::::::

Ruger is a great company, If your gun is not modified and weather it is new or used,
Send it in and they will TRY TO GET IT RIGHT .
Go to your dealer and have them send it or call Ruger and get a return tag to print out on your computer.
Take it to a federal express and just wait until it comes back to you.((( SOME ADULT NEEDS TO BE HOME TO SIGN FOR IT)))
Ruger has the best customer service that I have ever had to use.
Ronnie
 
#51 ·
Ruger is a great company, If your gun is not modified and weather it is new or used,
Send it in and they will TRY TO GET IT RIGHT .
Go to your dealer and have them send it or call Ruger and get a return tag to print out on your computer.
Take it to a federal express and just wait until it comes back to you.((( SOME ADULT NEEDS TO BE HOME TO SIGN FOR IT)))
Ruger has the best customer service that I have ever had to use.
Ronnie
Thanks for the info but it is shooting 100% now.
500 rounds through it this week and not one stove pipe or failure to eject.
 
#52 ·
I believe RC touched on the real problem. There could be a couple of issues with the bolt spring guide rod assembly. First the bolt spring guide rod is staked at the forward end, ahead of the bolt handle, and if the stake lumps are filed off for disassembly a new guide rod might be required. Also if it has been taken apart their is a spacer between the spring and the handle at the forward end make sure it is still in place as this could be missing since it is a used rifle and may have not been put back together correctly by the previous owner.

Secondly the guide rod could have a slight bent causing binding of the spring and keeping the bolt from going all the way back creating a timing issue by going forward to soon and catching the spent cartridge before it clears the magazine.
 
#55 ·
Instead of removing the ejector from the mag lip I just slick the edge with a file as the shell case will drag from time to time. Remember the shell is below the mag lip so where I clean it up is where the shell case contacts the mag lip edge. Just a quick lick with a file and that usually cures the problem. This is all forward of the ejector.
 
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