Light (Primer/rimfire) Strikes

[ky-shooter]

Why would rimfire strikes vary from magazine to magazine? This in a 5 year old basic carbine. I put in a Volquartsen target hammer but kept all factory springs.

My factory 10-22 magazine fits very tight, won’t always fall out when mag release is pressed. I get very weak strikes, no matter what ammo. A magazine without a failure to fire is rare.

Change over to my butler creek 25 round magazine and I get deep strikes, very consistent and can blow through a 25 round mag without a hiccup.

What could possibly be going on?

[Nick7274]

It sounds like your magazine's may be to tight fitting or not seated correctly. The reason why this probably doesn't happen with the 25 rnd mags is because the extra weight may help the mag seat properly. Not 100% positive this is your problem but I can't think of any other reason why the 25 rnd mags would work and the 10 rnd not. It's usually the other way around. It is a very unusual problem if it was working fine before. How many 10 rnd mags have you tried?

[ky-shooter]

Originally Posted by Nick7274

It sounds like your magazine's may be to tight fitting or not seated correctly. The reason why this probably doesn't happen with the 25 rnd mags is because the extra weight may help the mag seat properly. Not 100% positive this is your problem but I can't think of any other reason why the 25 rnd mags would work and the 10 rnd not. It's usually the other way around. It is a very unusual problem if it was working fine before. How many 10 rnd mags have you tried?

Thanks for your reply! So far I’ve tried 3 factory magazines and none of them fully work as they should. All have light strikes with frequent failures to fire. Two of the three fit very tight, having to be pushed out from the top through an open action.

Very frustrating! I called Ruger and they offered me the chance to mail in my troubled magazines and explain the problem in a letter. Before I do that, I’m gonna test these magazine in my older “old faithful” 10-22. If they work in it, I’m not sending them in, but will contemplate some more. I think the problem is in the rifle, not the magazine.

[twodollarpistol]

Are you using the black or clear 10 round mags? Just a guess and trying to remember but it seems I have read here that the clear ones from time to time give problems. Maybe they are a little larger or out of spec than the originals. Just a guess. TDP

[ky-shooter]

Originally Posted by twodollarpistol

Are you using the black or clear 10 round mags? Just a guess and trying to remember but it seems I have read here that the clear ones from time to time give problems. Maybe they are a little larger or out of spec than the originals. Just a guess. TDP

Thanks for the reply, yes 1 of the 3 mags I’ve tested is clear, and it’s the worst, but 2 black ones aren’t fully functional either.

[Hawkeye57]

Is there clearance between the mag and stock on each side ?
If not sand the inside of the stock so neither side of the mag is toughing it.

[gcrank1]

Fwiw, if the rifle functions fine with the 25rd it is Not the rifle.
Clearance the stock as needed for the 10rd'ers and likely all will be good.

[ky-shooter]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye57

Is there clearance between the mag and stock on each side ?
If not sand the inside of the stock so neither side of the mag is toughing it.

There is clearance on both sides of the stock; I’m thinking the sticky part is on the other two sides, front and back of the magazine well. Nothing really visible to suggest a problem.

[ky-shooter]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye57

Is there clearance between the mag and stock on each side ?
If not sand the inside of the stock so neither side of the mag is toughing it.

Originally Posted by gcrank1

Fwiw, if the rifle functions fine with the 25rd it is Not the rifle.
Clearance the stock as needed for the 10rd'ers and likely all will be good.

Good point, I’ve been doing more testing this morning and have some improvement that I’ll write up and report on later, thanks to all.

[Nick7274]

It's really strange that you didn't have this problem before and all that you changed is putting in a VQ target hammer. If you haven't already I'd recommend pulling the barreled action from the stock. Once you have it out of the stock put a magazine in and see if it still fits really tight. If it doesn't then you know that the stock is your problem. Maybe just reinstalling it will fix it since it wasn't a problem before.

[ky-shooter]

Originally Posted by Nick7274

It's really strange that you didn't have this problem before and all that you changed is putting in a VQ target hammer. If you haven't already I'd recommend pulling the barreled action from the stock. Once you have it out of the stock put a magazine in and see if it still fits really tight. If it doesn't then you know that the stock is your problem. Maybe just reinstalling it will fix it since it wasn't a problem before.

This is a confusing situation in terms of trying to analyze the cause/effect.

Today everything shot good- some factory mags drop free with the push of the button and others require a pull. But today I got all good primer strikes. With this rifle, a little mag tightness seems to be the norm.

Here’s the only thing I did differently today. My main magazine and one spare needed some extra tension on the mag- some shells were not being fed into the chamber. I tightened the magazines, it hadn’t been that long since I had cleaned them. I tried to tighten the “8 flats” as most recommend. Thing things seem to be working good. I’ll re-test again soon.

The main confuser for me, why would a loose magazine spring cause light primer strikes? Yesterday I was getting light primer strikes, and today after re-tuning my mags I did not. It seems once a round is chambered, from a well tuned mag or not, the primer strike should be the same?

Oh well, I’m trusting things are going to shoot better now- I’ll know with another range trip or two.

[oldshot50]

It MAY be possible that the under torqued may springs aren't fully presenting the rounds properly. This MAY cause the rounds to not go into battery properly/completely. Then, the firing pin actually finishes seating the round fully as it strikes the round. This effort causes it to appear as a light strike. Hope I said that in a way it can be understood.
This may explain why winding the mag springs more fully has diminished the problem. Hopefully this information is helpful to you.

[ky-shooter]

Originally Posted by oldshot50

It MAY be possible that the under torqued may springs aren't fully presenting the rounds properly. This MAY cause the rounds to not go into battery properly/completely. Then, the firing pin actually finishes seating the round fully as it strikes the round. This effort causes it to appear as a light strike. Hope I said that in a way it can be understood.
This may explain why winding the mag springs more fully has diminished the problem. Hopefully this information is helpful to you.

Thanks, that makes sense! I think you are onto something.