Gotta hold your mouth right whilst the stars are perfectly aligned with the moons of Jupiter... With the bolt pulled and held back to remove tension from the mechanism, you'll need to tilt and/or rock & roll the release plate just so to get it to sorta flop about the cross pin a bit up then rearward then have the back corner drop down a touch and out the way of and so no longer blocking the bolt. Sometimes even trying to describe the doing of the dance is every bit as difficult as actually gittin one dem dag bung miserable ol' thangs to release.

Then afterwards, tear that thing down far enough to rip out the bolt release plate and tweak yours into looking and functioning automatically, same this one, by simply pulling back on the charging handle:
http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30867

 

I had the same thing happen to me when I first brought my 10/22 home. Turned out my charging handle guide rod was dry and filthy. I was able to pull the buffer pin and work the bolt out. After applying some CLP and working the charging handle a bit (hold it from the rod side) I was able to wipe off a bunch of crud. After reassembling I have not had a repeat of the problem. Hope this helps.

 

You would need a "metric ton" of stuff in there to bind the spring, it has to travel about another 1/8" just to remove the bolt.

 

I had that happen on my new 10/22 Annivesary model on its first outing. I cleaned out the new rifle of all its shipping goop, worked the action and trigger several times in my shop, and went out to the Shootin' Hole to sight it in. Bolt wouldn't release. Take off the gloves - Nope, no way. Bang the butt against the ground - uh-uh, no go. It did release now and then, but it took me almost a half-hour to shoot off 50 rounds of ammo. When I got it home and back in the shop, it worked fine again. So..."upon further review", I came to the conclusion that shooting in 25° temperatures was detrimental to the stop's ability to depend on gravity and spring pressure to fall out of the way and let the bolt fly home.
I disassembled the trigger group and blasted brake cleaner through and over all the parts, and lubed it up with Rem-Oil instead of the CLP I originally used. I also modded the heart-shaped cutout to allow for auto bolt release, and it's worked like a champ ever since.
With the advent of warmer weather on the horizon, this shouldn't be a problem, but when cold weather comes back, it's back to some thinner lube. I'm also considering using Mobil 1 of the 5W20 flavor to slick up the trigger group.

 

TSB: Once you know how to do it, you will find it easy and never get it wrong. Here's a video I made about how to operate the bolt lock:

 

Don't send it back to Ruger until you have have had some who is familiar with 10/22's look at your gun. My guess is there is nothing wrong but your lack of familiarity of the bolt locking system.

 

That's my guess too. They are such a pain some people never lock them open. Make sure you have the mag out and pull back on the bolt while you fiddle with the release. The release is the small stamped metal projection sticking out of the bottom left front side of the trigger group. I hate to admit this but I once took a small pair of needle nose vise grips to get one loose.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. OleFreak, I danced on one foot with one eye open, held the gun sideways while snapping my fingers and going around in circles. Sadly that did not achieve a released bolt.
FiremanBob, Although this is not my first 10//22, I am always eager to learn. I watched your video, very informative and well done. I never new how it actually worked. I noticed while holding the bolt back and pressing and releasing the lock lever/blade, it was not dropping down or moving at all when I removed my finger from it. So I took a small needle nose plier and gently pulled down the rear of the lever/blade and shazaam!! The bolt released and moved forward. So I believe all it needs is a good disassembly and cleaning!
Thanks again! :bthumb:

 

Not to blow my own horn too loudly, but there is no "fiddling" required to operate the factory bolt lock, either to lock the bolt back or to release it. The vid I linked shows an easy, foolproof, unforgettable way to operate it with 100% reliability.

I just put up a blog post that although it is long, I think it provides a comprehensive explanation of how and why the OEM bolt release works: https://1022companion.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/how-the-1022-bolt-lockrelease-works/

 

"Why you can even get Stucco, boy can you get Stuck-O"

----Groucho Marx

 

solve the problem

get a auto bolt release, install it fast and NEVER have to fiddle with releasing the bolt ever again! life is too short to have to fiddle with a 10/22 bolt release!!!!!!!:bthumb: