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Simple BX-25 Feed Issue Fix

118K views 94 replies 55 participants last post by  Mark1964 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I just thought I'd try to get this simple and easy fix for the BX-25 magazines out there.

Please note that this only applies to the magazines that suffer the issue - I believe Ruger actually did improve the design after a while since only SOME of the magazines have the issue. If you have no issue...there's no reason to do this.

I've been reading around and it appears I'm not the only one with this issue. The issue is as follows:

Magazine will occasionally cause jams due to the bullets being at too little of an upward angle. This issue is more noticeable when the magazine is filled to capacity.

If you're like me...you want to know "why?" and I think I've figured it out.

While loading and unloading my magazine trying to see if the seemingly BS "oil in the magazine fix" would fix it - I realized what was actually happening. As more and more rounds are loaded, there is more and more lateral pressure being exerted on the follower. One of two things or both is happening...either the rounds are allowed to slip into the space between the follower and the side of the magazine and/or the follower is binding against the inside of the magazine which results in lack of tension. The reason this is happening is because there is an excessive amount of slop in the spindle/spool pieces. The little 'axle' on the follower is about 50% smaller than the inside diameter of the spool the spring is attached to.

Ironically enough, the fix involves using a spent .22 casing. Simply disassemble your BX-25 magazine, trim down your SPENT .22LR casing, slip it into the space pictured below, reassemble, then you're done! Life will be even easier if you have a .22 SHORT used casing laying around, but a .22LR will work, you'll just need to trim it down to make it fit.

It's not rocket science. Just make sure you trim it short enough to allow it to sit flush against the spool. It is IMPORTANT that it is flush against the spring spool, otherwise it will bind when the magazine is reassembled.

I used a set of toenail clippers to trim mine. Also, I'll add that it does help to put a little oil on the casing and in/around the spool to facilitate better function.





Hope this helps somebody out there. :)

-Buck
 
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#46 ·
Okay, caving in here. Just ran a small batch for you guys. Here's a link to the RFC trading post listing:

Sallowpad's bushings fixed my feeding issues. I purchased 4 of the bushings for my BX-25s. I also polished the metal feed lips with my Dremel and a buffing wheel with some rouge. Put some LIQUID WRENCH dry lubricant in the slots that the feeder rides in and then buttoned them up. All issues solved. They all feed properly now.
 
#44 ·
It's not rocket science. Just make sure you trim it short enough to allow it to sit flush against the spool. It is IMPORTANT that it is flush against the spring spool, otherwise it will bind when the magazine is reassembled.

Hope this helps somebody out there. :)

-Buck
Thanks for the post Buck.
I just gave this a try using 2 mags with mixed results. One mag had a case fit flush to the spool and one has a case fit a little proud of the spool.
The proud mag would not even load a accept a single round on the 1st try. A few passes on some 120 grit was all it took to get the mag loaded with 25 rounds. So far not one single FTF for 3 mags now. What a difference!
The flush cased spool still has FTF issues for now. Thinking to mike the proud case and try again with a taller case in the flush cased mag. It could be that some mags need a little more tinkering.
 
#54 ·
Just for information purposes-if you want to "kill" the primer without firing it, here's a simple way to do it.

Put fingernail polish remover in the case (after you dumped the powder!) let it sit for 5 minutes and run a toothpick inside and down around the rim of the case where the priming compound is located.

Let sit for another 5 minutes and run the toothpick again. Rinse out and NO primer material!
 
#59 ·
Sad to say that this fix did not work well for me on five BX-25s. I saw a slight improvement, but the followers still hang up and lose that first round upward tilt.

I was careful to mind the length of the bushings, deburring and polishing them inside and out. In the end, I had the best luck with lubing the bushed magazines, one with ordinary gun oil, one with Frog Lube. I'll be trying graphite and other dry lubes next.

Then it's a lot of testing to see how long the dratted things function before needing service again. If swallow pad is still making bushings, I'd be in the market...
 
#60 · (Edited)
Sad to say that this fix did not work well for me on five BX-25s. I saw a slight improvement, but the followers still hang up and lose that first round upward tilt.

I was careful to mind the length of the bushings, deburring and polishing them inside and out. In the end, I had the best luck with lubing the bushed magazines, one with ordinary gun oil, one with Frog Lube. I'll be trying graphite and other dry lubes next.

Then it's a lot of testing to see how long the dratted things function before needing service again. If swallow pad is still making bushings, I'd be in the market...
I would recommend you skip the graphite. It doesn't play well with aluminum- the galvanic corrosion effect is minimal, but when you consider the chaff that blows back into the receiver and then gets ground into the roof and sides by the bolt, it is conceivable that over time the result could be embedded graphite and pitting/erosion of the internal receiver surfaces.

Have you checked the feed lips for burs 1/3 of the way from the rear of the feed lips?

There are two points there that bear on the upper surface of the cartridge casing and I've deburred many that had casting flash back there. A small fine rat tail or chain saw file works best- go slow, draw gently and retest often, you're only deburring, *NOT* reshaping geometry.
Also, polishing the surfaces of the feed lips that the bolt glides on using a ragwheel and polishing compound doesn't hurt-

DrGunner
 
#63 ·
My 10/22 shoots like crap. I bought it after sandy hook and since ammo was nowhere to be found I've replaced lots of stuff, so not I can;t just send it to ruger because they will blame the bolt or whatever.

It 'sort of' shoots CCI OK, but man that's it. anything else is just a mess. But the more I mess with it, the more I'm convinced it's the BX 25's.

I have 3 and I'm a little loathe to think they all suck, but they sort of all do! Do you folks "normally" have to modify your mags to make them work?

I did the bullet trick, and that makes them 'better' but they still jam on me on the first five bullets or so almost every time.

I've had the gun take the top bullet, and the mag not advance the next.

I've had the bolt smash the bullet forward into the feed lip. And I get a LOT of the bullet in the chamber and the bolt not fully closing or smashing the hell out of the shell because of bad feed angle.

Looking at them, I don't see any burrs or anything, but do you guys file down the forward ramp?
 
#64 ·
My 10/22 shoots like crap. I bought it after sandy hook and since ammo was nowhere to be found I've replaced lots of stuff, so not I can;t just send it to ruger because they will blame the bolt or whatever.

It 'sort of' shoots CCI OK, but man that's it. anything else is just a mess. But the more I mess with it, the more I'm convinced it's the BX 25's.

I have 3 and I'm a little loathe to think they all suck, but they sort of all do! Do you folks "normally" have to modify your mags to make them work?

I did the bullet trick, and that makes them 'better' but they still jam on me on the first five bullets or so almost every time.

I've had the gun take the top bullet, and the mag not advance the next.

I've had the bolt smash the bullet forward into the feed lip. And I get a LOT of the bullet in the chamber and the bolt not fully closing or smashing the hell out of the shell because of bad feed angle.

Looking at them, I don't see any burrs or anything, but do you guys file down the forward ramp?
How does your rifle function with the factory 10 rounders? If they don't give you any issues than it would seem the BX-25s are the problem.

I have experienced issues like you describe but they're few and far between...with most ammo that is. CCI, Eley don't give me any issues. Lapua ammo like Midas+ and X-Act jam up almost every time with the follower getting stuck. I'm not sure if it's the shape of the bullet, the lube or something else? I haven't attempted any fixes, I just don't use the brands of ammo that give me issues in anything but the factory 10 rounders.
 
#69 ·
I'll have to try the casing mod on my early BX-25s. My '80 receiver would run just about any mag besides those, even before I put the Kidd 1.5# trigger assembly in. Kinda frustrating when virtually everything other than factory 25rd mags work. A call to Ruger may be in my future.
 
#70 ·
Another thing to check with the first run BX-25 magazines is the spring losing it's tension. If the spring does not coil up tight against the red plastic follower plate when unloaded you will need to do this tweak.

Put the spring into the top metal clip holder, insert the bushing modded red plastic follower into the half of the magazine tray.

If the print does not pull itself against the top metal piece and have a few pounds of tension to move it, then the sucker is loose. The follower shouldn't rattle inside when the magazine is empty.

What I did was pull the spring out of the assembly, pull about 3-4 inches of the spring out straight, then gave it a twist about 360-480 degree rotation while holding the spool stationary. The twist goes in the direction along the way it is supposed to wind on the spool.

Twist the extended spring strip and hold it for about 5 seconds, then slowly let the tension off. Then let the spool suck the rest of it back in slowly.

When you remount the spring and follower red plastic plate, it should stay tight up against the feed lips metal part.

I did this to both misbehaving magazines and proceeded to load, then cycle the bolt on my 10/22 for 300 rounds to unload with no feed problems.
 
#73 ·
Hey guys, I just thought I'd try to get this simple and easy fix for the BX-25 magazines out there.

Please note that this only applies to the magazines that suffer the issue - I believe Ruger actually did improve the design after a while since only SOME of the magazines have the issue. If you have no issue...there's no reason to do this.

I've been reading around and it appears I'm not the only one with this issue. The issue is as follows:

Magazine will occasionally cause jams due to the bullets being at too little of an upward angle. This issue is more noticeable when the magazine is filled to capacity.

If you're like me...you want to know "why?" and I think I've figured it out.

While loading and unloading my magazine trying to see if the seemingly BS "oil in the magazine fix" would fix it - I realized what was actually happening. As more and more rounds are loaded, there is more and more lateral pressure being exerted on the follower. One of two things or both is happening...either the rounds are allowed to slip into the space between the follower and the side of the magazine and/or the follower is binding against the inside of the magazine which results in lack of tension. The reason this is happening is because there is an excessive amount of slop in the spindle/spool pieces. The little 'axle' on the follower is about 50% smaller than the inside diameter of the spool the spring is attached to.

Ironically enough, the fix involves using a spent .22 casing. Simply disassemble your BX-25 magazine, trim down your SPENT .22LR casing, slip it into the space pictured below, reassemble, then you're done! Life will be even easier if you have a .22 SHORT used casing laying around, but a .22LR will work, you'll just need to trim it down to make it fit.

It's not rocket science. Just make sure you trim it short enough to allow it to sit flush against the spool. It is IMPORTANT that it is flush against the spring spool, otherwise it will bind when the magazine is reassembled.

I used a set of toenail clippers to trim mine. Also, I'll add that it does help to put a little oil on the casing and in/around the spool to facilitate better function.

Hope this helps somebody out there. :)

-Buck
Took me maybe 20 minutes, I was expecting a compressed spring to come flying out so I was extra careful pulling the halves apart, then it took a while for it to dawn on me that it was a coil spring Doh!, getting slow in my old age!
Anyway I used a file from my kit that has a safety flat side that doesn't cut and poked the 22 case in from the back side so it would rub against the plastic not the edge of the spring, and scored it all the way around then took it out and finished cutting thru with a 3 corner file and finished it off against a fine whet stone.
A 3 corner with a safety edge would have been faster. It works a charm, I'll have to try it in the gun next time I'm target practicing. Thanks for the tip.
Gabby
 
#75 ·
This worked on mine. Stingers had no issues, but velocitors would get stuck in the mag where the metal portion starts. I dont have any 22 shorts laying around, so I used a drinking straw. Measure the first piece of straw, cut to lenght, then put it in the uncut portion of the straw, cut to length again. Absolute perfect fit, and the spring holder still can rotate freely on the follower's mount.

Kudos to you all for discovering the additional clearance between the two pieces was causing reliability issues with this mag.
 
#76 ·
This worked on mine. Stingers had no issues, but velocitors would get stuck in the mag where the metal portion starts. I dont have any 22 shorts laying around, so I used a drinking straw. Measure the first piece of straw, cut to lenght, then put it in the uncut portion of the straw, cut to length again. Absolute perfect fit, and the spring holder still can rotate freely on the follower's mount.

Kudos to you all for discovering the additional clearance between the two pieces was causing reliability issues with this mag.
I'll bet that would work sticking the drinking straw inside the casing as well, that would shim it so it couldn't wobble around like it does with just the shell casing.
It's great how people have different ways of solving the same problem.
I was thinking it needed something to fill in the gap and here someone comes up with it. Pretty darn cool! Good going Tom! :bthumb: :cool:
Gabby
 
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