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Kidd 10/22 magazines

7K views 32 replies 16 participants last post by  ammohog 
#1 · (Edited)
I just purchased a Kidd 22 Classic and want to purchase 4 more magazines. I'm new to the 10/22 world. Reading here and other forums I'm not sure what all to do. It appears they are hit and miss wheather they will preform flawlessly or not. I'm looking for thoughts, experience on this etc. Should I just buy the Ruger, see how they work? Then make adjustments as needed? I've noticed the screw end is different on some, some round, some hex. Any difference there? Are there other magazines out there to buy, non OEM Ruger? I'll take any information you can provide on this.

Edited: 7/28 Thanks for all the information so far. I'm still taking it in. I have a solution similar to the One shot for my ultrasound. So I'll be cleaning them in that. It is easy, just drop them and let it work. It cleans and lubes. I do have a question. When looking to order magazines I see two parts number for a BX-1. They are 90005 & 90451. Any one know what the differences are? They appear to be the same, but aren't or there wouldn't be different part numbers.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Stick with OEM RUGER mags... BX-1, BX-15, BX-25 .. BX-1 (10 rd.) is the best performer... FORGET AFTERMARKET Mags.. and do yourself a favor and buy this lube... use it on all metal to metal surfaces.. Bolt/rod and inside the Receiver.. hit the feed lips on the mags as well... cleans and lubes - this dry lube and a KIDD rifle = NUN BEDA ...

Mags ... https://gunmagwarehouse.com/all-magazines/rifles/magazines/10-22-magazines

 
#7 ·
I’m still using the Tactical Innovations aftermarket high cap mags. Their early ones were aluminum and then they went to the composite mags. Their mags are adjustable on the top for individual rifles. They were making the best mags long before Ruger made High Cap 10/22 mags. Like many other things, Ruger copied the basic design and TI no longer makes these mags, as far as I know. Too bad, because they were great mags.
 
#10 ·
its really common for people to say ruger magazines are always great. in my experience most of my ruger bx1 magazines needed some tinkering to run 100 percent. tony kidd will tell you to buy twice as many magazines as you need and throw away the ones that dont work. thats probably good advice. i prefer to tune them myself for several reasons but the biggest reason is to maximize reliablity and not settle for this is the way ruger made it. my first ruger magazine i owned was tightened down by a gorilla. easily 50 or more foot pounds. the bolt on the old ones bottomed out and stopped. the bolt on the new magazines just keep clamping down pinching the mag tighter. on my old magazines that are great the red center rotor has .020 inch clearance and cant ever pinch cause the magazine bolt bottoms out. the new magazines rotors that i have measured have .000 to .011 clearance before you ever put the bolt in and then pinch tighter from there. it doesnt take much grit to bind the rotor when you have nothing for clearance. the solution is to give the rotors more clearance and dont pinch them tight with the bolt. ruger and some other folks will tension the magazine spring two full turns to overcome the pinching effect of tightening the bolt. clearly thats just stupid. I should add that I dont clean my magazines very often. I dont need to all my rotors have .020 clearance.
the other thing is the feed lips are just castings and are quite rough. polishing the feed lips helps to eliminate feeding problems. the barrel chamber and bolt and how the trigger group holds the magazine all play a part in feeding but the feed lips themselves are very important.
in my experience once you sort out the magazines and fix the extractor you can easily go thousands of rounds between misfeeds and tens of thousands of rounds between stovepipes.
 
#11 ·
I have over 20 black Ruger OEM BX 10 round mags. Some I've had for many years and others were purchased more recently. I've never experienced a single mag related problem with any of them whether in one of my Kidd's or one of my many other 10/22 style rifles. And the only maintenance I've ever done to them is spray them with Hornady One Shot every once in a while. I've never even had to adjust one.

I have had issues with the BX-25 mags. They were issues that were easily fixed but still. I've also had problems with Promag.

Seeing as most my shooting is done off the bench I actually prefer the flush fitting 10 round mags anyway.
 
#13 ·
There are other issues with 10/22 mags besides reliable feeding. I'll bet more than half of mine feed reliably, but cause bullet deformation when a round is chambered. I have tried tuning mags spring tension, polishing feed lips, Hornady one shot, mag bolt tension, cleaning mags, Tandemkross replacement parts for the mags. I just cannot get all of them to feed my Kidd rifles without having the bullet get damaged. I have 3 out of 8 that have tested 100% for no bullet deformation.

I've even tried changing the recoil spring to try and change up the timing of the feed.

A few things to note: While I find increased tension on the mag spring improves feeding reliability, increased spring tension corellates to increased bullet damage. Second, I thought the best way to test this was simply hand cycling the feed, removing the magazine (so the bullet would have no interference upon extraction), and slowly extracting the bullet. This will give directional information, but there are sometimes different results if you check them after firing a prior round. Third, some mags will deform every single bullet . Others will deform specific rounds, i.e, always the same round in the mag.
It also varies with ammo.

So while it is painstaking to figure out, and you will go though many many rounds to test all of your mags, and tune them, the groups get even tighter, and the flyers are almost non existent if you can get a mag right.

The crazy thing is I've tried some bullets that have been damaged and some seem to be quite accurate while others are the ones that go off target like a wild hare.

If I were to speculate, the guys competing with Kidd rifles have sorted out mags in this fashion. I find that at 50 yards, the difference is much smaller than at 100 ( no duh !) Most will stay within Kidd's 1/2" guarantee. But with a tuned mag and preferred ammo, I am consistently in 0.1 to 0.3" in ideal conditions at 50 yards. At 100, I am between 0.5" and an inch for 5 shot groups. The damaged bullets will open groups to 1.5" at 100.

FWIW, One guys OCD is not another's
 
#15 ·
Just my guess, if you are having problems with a BX 1 magazine, the first thing to look at is the mag well , it may just need a little sanding or you may have the screw torqued so tight you’ve distorted it.
The second thing would be the magazine release , plunger and spring, that little pin might not be in right, the plunger might be rough or misshaped, or the spring sprung.
 
#17 ·
question. When looking to order magazines I see two parts number for a BX-1. They are 90005 & 90451. Any one know what the differences are? They appear to be the same, but aren't or there wouldn't be different part numbers.
90005 is the p/n for a single BX-1 magazine, 90451 is the p/n for a 3-pack of BX-1 magazines see first link. For one of the best deals on a BX-1 10-round magazine 3-pack, $37.25 ($12.42 ea.) with free shipping. see second link

https://shopruger.com/BX-1-10-Round-Magazine-Value-3-Pack/productinfo/90451/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1245555984...rentrq:eee6e88a17a0acf0cfd11fc6fff76780|iid:1
 
#19 · (Edited)
Not all 10/22 Ruger factory magazines are created equal. Out of 12 magazines, I did have, 2 seem to be more accurate than the rest. Had another that just wouldn't do well, now I'm down to 7 magazines that actually function well, not including the accuracy factor. I got a few at a gun show, I guess they were rejects from someone else thinning the herd. I would suggest buying new and then make necessary screw adjustments for function. Keep the most accurate ones and sell or give away the others. Yes, I have used the calipers to try to help determine what the problems might be, and use a dremel to polish the feed throat, that was usually a waste of time as far as accuracy is concerned, but sometimes did seem to help function - just get some new magazines and go from there.

PS: I have learned to buy new magazines at a retail store in the package to make sure they are absolutely new, and not seconds.
 
#21 ·
I must be very lucky when it comes to OEM 10 round mags I guess......I've definitely never noticed any difference in accuracy from mag to mag (first time I've even heard it).

Not disagreeing that people may have had problems with them, but in general the BX mags are usually very reliable and considered one of the best designed rimfire mags out there. There's a reason why the design has been copied so many times.
 
#22 ·
"I must be very lucky when it comes to OEM 10 round mags I guess......I've definitely never noticed any difference in accuracy from mag to mag (first time I've even heard it). "

I echo this. :bthumb: Not a shred of evidence that a Mag can increase accuracy.. IF it feeds the round properly.. and there is more to feed issues than just the Mag.
 
#23 ·
"I must be very lucky when it comes to OEM 10 round mags I guess......I've definitely never noticed any difference in accuracy from mag to mag (first time I've even heard it). "

I echo this. :bthumb: Not a shred of evidence that a Mag can increase accuracy.. IF it feeds the round properly.. and there is more to feed issues than just the Mag.
Yes there is more than a shred of evidence . I have very few mags that will feed all 10 rounds without damaging the bullet. I have tested these mags to be more accurate than the others . It makes sense that if a bullet is shaved or has a dent in it from feeding, that it will not fly as true as an unmarred bullet.

It might depend on what level of accuracy is acceptable to you . But, my Kidd heavy barrel knows the difference between the mags that deform bullets and the ones that don't . It's pretty much good for 1/2" no matter what . But it does much much better on average with the right mags .
 
#24 ·
Did not say that.. I said IF it feeds correctly it will NOT mangle the round. ;):bthumb:
What I am saying is that a magazine does NOT have the ability to make the rifle more accurate... If magazine A is feeding correctly it is NOT more accurate than magazine B that is feeding correctly.. simple.
 
#29 ·
Don't be too focused on the magazine for bullet shaving problems. For a new build I ordered all Kidd parts with the exception of the barrel which is a Shilen. Upon test firing for the first time I noticed bullet shaving caused by the bullet cocking as it was fed out of the BX-1 mags. and scrapping the top of the chamber. Bullets were also loosening - not good! Not to get too lengthy into my troubleshooting process, but what I found, at least on my set of parts, was that the ctg. case head was being held down and not easily snapping up into the rim recess cut in the bolt face. Problem was solved by polishing a radius on the bottom 40% of the extractor, and also polishing the recess face on the bolt to eliminate the few machining marks that were there.
It looks like the Kidd extractor is wire EDM cut and not stamped. A stamped part, as is used on the OEM extractor, has a small radius on it's bottom edge caused by tooling - what is referred to as "die roll". This radius allows easier "camming" away from the cartridge rim than does the sharp corner of an EDM manufactured part. Both the recess polishing and extractor radiusing allowed the cartridge rim to more easily snap up and greatly reduce the cartridge cocking.
I did find that, in my particular case, a reduction in the mag. feed spring helped. I use a little past one full turn of the torsion feed spring on my mags.
 
#30 · (Edited)
MIMAS?

I have found out that when you need to lessen the magazine spring tension from the "Hey Pete" (sticky) magazine instructions, it may be the bolt return spring showing signs of weakness from use. I once thought along the same lines, but I was mistaken. Once I replaced the bolt return spring with an new OEM or a Kidd, the problem went away, and Hey Pete suggestions on tightening the magazine spring - really are spot on. Hope this helps...... AH
 
#31 · (Edited)
I have found out that when you need to lessen the magazine spring tension from the "Hey Pete" (sticky) magazine instructions, it may be the bolt return spring showing signs of weakness from use. I once thought along the same lines, but I was mistaken. Once I replaced the bolt return spring with an new OEM or a Kidd, the problem went away, and Hey Pete suggestions on tightening the magazine spring - really are spot on. Hope this helps...... AH
Ammohog, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I can't seem to find the Hey Pete sticky. Would you be so kind as to post a link, or tell me how to get there?

Edit:

Nevermind, I found it under Anything 10/22. Duh
 
#33 · (Edited)
Having trouble with the torque on the hex screw for function? Slightly sand the hex screw end of the rotor using a flat surface for the sandpaper and check for proper fit. The plastic may curl up on the edges a bit when sanding, easily removed with a small knife or fine grit sandpaper. When you get it right, you can snug it up without worry about function or working loose. When properly done, use a small punch to check the tension on the rotor, it should be about the same if the screw is loose or snug. Do remember, you are using a metal screw to secure plastic, just snug will be fine. Then, if you feel the need, order the heavy / standard plus spring(s) from these vendors:

https://www.kiddinnovativedesign.com/Magazine-Latch-Plunger-Spring-_p_417.html

https://www.tandemkross.com/Magazine-Release-Spring-for-Ruger®-1022™-3-Pack_p_684.html
 
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