Drilling the rear of a 10-22

FRANK1669 · November 4, 2006, 12:36 AM

I want to drill a 5/16" hole in the rear of my 10/22s so I can clean the barrel from the rear with out having to take the barrel off of the reciever. these are stock aluminum recievers. Does this cause any problems? I dont think it would weaken the reciever any. Have any of you done this ? with what results? ones a target model I feed it eley range/target ammo only the others are stock and I feed them what ever is on hand (sometimes as fast as I can

) thank you for any help

T. O'Heir · November 4, 2006, 01:31 AM

You will weaken the receiver. Void any warrantee and be wasting your time. You don't need to take the barrel off to clean it. Use a pull through.

cntryboy1289 · November 4, 2006, 01:46 PM

l get tickled at all of the so called improvements made to the 10/22. This once is a waste of time. To use the hole, you will have to drop the trigger group out and remove the bolt each time you want to use it. That wears out the holes and pins and sooner than you want it to, the trigger group fit is sloppy and needs to be tightened up.

Just simply remove the brush from a boresnake or make a weed eater string cleaner and pull it from the breech end and be done with it. Better yet, only clean the rifle when it really needs it which won't be very often. The one thing most folks can't understand is that 22's need the lube from the bullet to actually seal better and shoot to their full potential. The more you clean it, the worse it shoots and I always have to use fouling shots to get it to shoot it's best every time. I only clean mine when accuracy falls off which isn't for quite some time, usually around 8,000-10,000 rounds. Shoot it more than you clean it and you will be much better off.

Of course you can always drill the hole out and remove every thing and clean it like youare talking about, but why? It only takes me a few passes with the boresnake to be back up and shooting and by the time you drop the bolt out I will be back shooting and you won't even be started cleaning. Just my 2 cetns worth.

hivel37 · November 4, 2006, 04:29 PM

That's a good idea for a falling block action.
Think I'll mix me a --- naw, it's too early for a Martini.

cntryboy1289 · November 4, 2006, 08:10 PM

Cleaning out the inside of the receiver is more important on this gun. I do clean it eveytime I use the gun, but I use brake cleaner and a brush and I can clean it normally without having to drop the trigger group by spraying inside it and letting the spray evaporate. A lot of folks take centerfire mentality to the rimfire and it isn't necessary. The folks that make them designed them to shoot leaded bullets for a reason and most folks, that point is lost to them.

Toolman · November 4, 2006, 10:17 PM

I use a .22 boresnake on the barrel. I use gunscrubber & Q-tips in the receiver.

Ausserordeutlich · November 5, 2006, 10:40 AM

Must not be a really stupid idea; Brownell's sells a jig just for the job.

brickeyee · November 5, 2006, 12:24 PM

"To use the hole, you will have to drop the trigger group out and remove the bolt each time you want to use it. That wears out the holes and pins and sooner than you want it to, the trigger group fit is sloppy and needs to be tightened up."

Of course you need to drop the trigger and remove the bolt to clean them anyway.

cntryboy1289 · November 5, 2006, 09:28 PM

If you have to do a really good job of cleaning the receiver out, then yes you will need to drop the trigger group out and pull the bolt, but I don't have to do that very often. A good spray nozzle on a can of brake cleaner and a couple of blasts will usually clean it up pretty good and you can leave it to gether to do that.

If you don't mind the slop, go for it. The more you drive out the pins, the more slop you will develop. The hole in the back of the receiver is simply a waste of time because you don't really need to scrub the barrel out with a cleaning rod very often.

Just because Brownells sells a jig to do the job only means that they sell a jig to do the job. It certainly doesn't mean it is something that everyone should run out and spnd the money to do it. If you really want to do the job, it certainly doesn't require the use of a jig in the first place, but you can buy one from them if you want to.

You can simply use an aircraft jobber drill and your cleaning rod with some dykem or magic marker on the back of the receiver and mark the center of the barrel, make sure if you use magic marker to leave it wet and use the cleaning rod by spinning it to leave a cirlce where the center is. Then put the receiver in a vise and drill the hole out. Make sure to file the hole on the back side to cut down any burr you may have turned up.

My best advise has been given already, leave the barrel alone and shoot the heck out of it. Low velocity and lead bullets with good lube on them makes the barrel shoot better than cleaning the snot out of it and then having to refoul the barrel before it shoots better again, but go ahead and wear the barrel out because there are lots of guys waiting to sell you a new one. Do what your heart tells you to do and enjoy it no matter what.

Ausserordeutlich · November 6, 2006, 12:08 AM

My experience with MY 10-22 is that removing the pins doesn't/isn't likely to cause "slop", as the pins aren't a tight fit to begin with. Nice theory, though.

cntryboy1289 · November 6, 2006, 02:13 AM

Well, you must not have removed them very often then, because sooner or later it will cause the slop to be there and they will eventually just fall out for you. That may not bother you too much and if not go for it. Sooner or later it will happen though and a lot of folks don't like the slop and have done many different things to keep the trigger group from moving around on them and to tighten the slop out such as pinning the trigger group. This aint my first time on the ride and I am not talking about just from working on my own 10/22 either. I have worked on quite a few and I can tell you that just doing a trigger job and having to remove and replace the pins while doing the job causes enough slop most of the time for them to just fall out of the gun on you. Your one gun may not have gotten to that point yet, but keep removing the pins and it surely will.

Ausserordeutlich · November 6, 2006, 09:04 PM

Bet they won't fall out unless you drill the stock, too.

cntryboy1289 · November 6, 2006, 11:11 PM

If you recall, I said leave it alone and gave my reasons why. You can play a smart alec if you want to on someone else's dime. It is a waste of time to do the hole in the back just as it seems talking to you is as well. The slop will come the more you remove the pins and that goes for just removing the trigger group to clean it. If the slop doesn't bother you, fine, but it bothers a lot of folks. Is it a problem, not until the group can move around on you a decent amount, but the more you remove the pins, the more the slop will grow. If we were talking about a steel receiver, it wouldn't be a problem, but when you remove a steel pin from a softer aluminum receiver over and over, sooner or later the softer metal will wear. That ain't rocket science, just a fact of life.

I have seen more 22lr barrels ruined from cleaning them improperly than by not cleaning them at all for sure. Leave them alone until they really need it and then clean it how you want to, but a boresnake with the brush removed or weedeater string cleaner will do very nicely when pulled from the breech through the open bolt and you don't have to do anything to do it but open the bolt and lock it back.

I have also seen quite a few rifles with 50,000 rounds through them and they have never been cleaned and will still shoot very accurately. You just don't need to clean them like a centerfire rifle, but if that is what you want to do, go for it like I have already said.

How many guns have you worked on in your life other than your own? I have been smithing going on 9 years now. I have seen a good many come through the doors over the years and most that have problems cleaned them too much and scratched up the rifling of the barrel. Do us all a favor and leave them be and shoot them. If accuracy falls off, dramatically, clean it, otherwise keep on shooting it and enjoy it.

BTW, no need to say anything else about it unless you just have to, but you can PM me if you want too.

mjrodney · November 7, 2006, 04:45 AM

Clark Custom Guns is a gunsmith group that performs a significant amount of customizing work on the Ruger 10/22 rifle.

They produce a video entitled "Complete Ruger 10/22 Rifle Disassembly/Reassembly".

In this video, they state that the pins in the receiver are intentionally, and by design, rather loose to begin with. A snug pin is more the exception rather than the rule, and even those can be removed with little effort.

Also suggested in this video is the idea that keeping the bolt and receiver area clean and lubed is more important than cleaning the barrel.

They recommend that the bolt and receiver area be continually lubed with a light oil, as this oil will tend to work it's way out of the gun carrying much of the fouling with it. This oil also gets onto the pins and receiver holes, protecting these receiver holes from excessive wear. It should be a long, long time before things become excessively loose.

One other often neglected area is cleaning the magazines. They too should be periodically taken apart and wiped down.

The barrel should be "occasionally" cleaned with a Boresnake or just a patch and solvent. The definition of "occasionally" is up to the user.

Picher · November 7, 2006, 01:04 PM

I've drilled lots of receivers and it causes no problems. I like being able to use a real cleaning rod from the breach and push a patch out through. The crown is the most important part of a rifle and the last thing I want to do is to pull a piece of nylon or other material that has picked up grit from the entire barrel across the muzzle and crown.

Benchresters get special rods that don't extend much beyond the muzzle to minimize wear at that location. They also remove patches or brushes at the muzzle instead of pulling them back across the crown.

I like to clean the 10-22 barrel and action parts often when shooting for accuracy, but not when plinking. Lead can accumulate on the bolt and barrel faces, affecting ignition and accuracy.

My rifle is glassbedded and has a pressure point. It returns exactly to zero every time it's taken apart and cleaned.

Picher

brickeyee · November 7, 2006, 02:02 PM

"...they will eventually just fall out for you."
The vast majority of the ones i have worked on DO fall out.
The only thing holding them is the oil.
I have also made a number of pin replacments for ones that have fallen out and been lost, both trigger group and recoil pins.
For some reson every time I buy a few to have them around, I seem to get a rush of missing pins.

cntryboy1289 · November 7, 2006, 04:17 PM

Ruger does build these guns with a little slop built into them. Breaking the guns down constantly just adds to this slop. You can listen to me or not that is always up to you.

Placing an oil in the trigger group and the bolt will not only collect more fouling and dirt, but hold it right where it is causing wear and more problems like FTF or FTE. I wouldn't follow that advise, clean it and leave it clean. If you want to add a drop of oil anywhere wipe it on and then wipe it back off using CLP or something similar. Remove as much of it as you can and put the parts back together. Oil will not only collect dirt but can oxidize and harden which can cause more problems.

Now I will wipe a tad of MolyD on my sear and hammer surfaces where they mate, but I rub it in and then wipe it off after cycling it several times and I also will rub some on the hammer pin and the collars for it, but I always rub it in and then back off. I want it in the steel and not on the steel to collect grit and carbon fouling.

As to whether or not a boresnake will collect grit and ruin the crown, it might over time, but once again you have to remember that I said not to clean it often. The snake shoudn't be a problem if it is kept clean like it is supposed to be and not just thrown into a box with a bunch of other items. Also if you pull it straight out like you should, it comes out just like your rod and patch does and if you use a cleaning rod and patch, use a jag and not a brush so you are always letting the fouling fall out of the muzzle instead of dragging it back down the barrel. Never use a brush and drag it back down the barrel unless you want to take a chance of dinging the crown up and rubbing all of the fouling back into the steel. I always remove the brush and pull the rod back through when I have to use a brush to clean a centerfire rifle, but I just have never had to brush out a 22lr bore unless somehow someone cleaned it too much and allow moisture to get to the bore and cause rust in it, just another reason why you don't need to clean it so often.

For everyone that disagree with me on this, that is fine. The barrel makers love to see someone clean their rifle barrels improperly to begin with and to over clean it even more because the more you clean it, the more chances you have of messing it up.

Just so you know, I shoot a little BR 22lr myself and I don't have to clean my barrel very often to keep my shots where I want them. A lot of folks do a lot of things to keep their shots in the 10 ring, a lot of those same things don't help at all, but tell them that and they say you are crazy. This is just a situation where a lot of the things that go for centerfire just don't cross over to rimfire and most folks just don't realize it. There are a lot of folks that sell videos and will tell you something about how they do things. That doesn't make them 100% correct on it just as my telling you this doesn't make me 100% correct either. It's something you will have to find out on your own.

November 4, 2006, 12:36 AM	#1
FRANK1669 Senior Member Join Date: July 4, 2006 Posts: 124	Drilling the rear of a 10-22 I want to drill a 5/16" hole in the rear of my 10/22s so I can clean the barrel from the rear with out having to take the barrel off of the reciever. these are stock aluminum recievers. Does this cause any problems? I dont think it would weaken the reciever any. Have any of you done this ? with what results? ones a target model I feed it eley range/target ammo only the others are stock and I feed them what ever is on hand (sometimes as fast as I can ) thank you for any help __________________ It is better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6

November 4, 2006, 01:46 PM	#3
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	lol l get tickled at all of the so called improvements made to the 10/22. This once is a waste of time. To use the hole, you will have to drop the trigger group out and remove the bolt each time you want to use it. That wears out the holes and pins and sooner than you want it to, the trigger group fit is sloppy and needs to be tightened up. Just simply remove the brush from a boresnake or make a weed eater string cleaner and pull it from the breech end and be done with it. Better yet, only clean the rifle when it really needs it which won't be very often. The one thing most folks can't understand is that 22's need the lube from the bullet to actually seal better and shoot to their full potential. The more you clean it, the worse it shoots and I always have to use fouling shots to get it to shoot it's best every time. I only clean mine when accuracy falls off which isn't for quite some time, usually around 8,000-10,000 rounds. Shoot it more than you clean it and you will be much better off. Of course you can always drill the hole out and remove every thing and clean it like youare talking about, but why? It only takes me a few passes with the boresnake to be back up and shooting and by the time you drop the bolt out I will be back shooting and you won't even be started cleaning. Just my 2 cetns worth.

November 4, 2006, 08:10 PM	#5
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	more to be said Cleaning out the inside of the receiver is more important on this gun. I do clean it eveytime I use the gun, but I use brake cleaner and a brush and I can clean it normally without having to drop the trigger group by spraying inside it and letting the spray evaporate. A lot of folks take centerfire mentality to the rimfire and it isn't necessary. The folks that make them designed them to shoot leaded bullets for a reason and most folks, that point is lost to them.

November 4, 2006, 10:17 PM	#6
Toolman Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2006 Posts: 514	I use a .22 boresnake on the barrel. I use gunscrubber & Q-tips in the receiver. __________________ Crime Control. NOT Gun Control.

November 5, 2006, 09:28 PM	#9
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	just depends on how you clean them If you have to do a really good job of cleaning the receiver out, then yes you will need to drop the trigger group out and pull the bolt, but I don't have to do that very often. A good spray nozzle on a can of brake cleaner and a couple of blasts will usually clean it up pretty good and you can leave it to gether to do that. If you don't mind the slop, go for it. The more you drive out the pins, the more slop you will develop. The hole in the back of the receiver is simply a waste of time because you don't really need to scrub the barrel out with a cleaning rod very often. Just because Brownells sells a jig to do the job only means that they sell a jig to do the job. It certainly doesn't mean it is something that everyone should run out and spnd the money to do it. If you really want to do the job, it certainly doesn't require the use of a jig in the first place, but you can buy one from them if you want to. You can simply use an aircraft jobber drill and your cleaning rod with some dykem or magic marker on the back of the receiver and mark the center of the barrel, make sure if you use magic marker to leave it wet and use the cleaning rod by spinning it to leave a cirlce where the center is. Then put the receiver in a vise and drill the hole out. Make sure to file the hole on the back side to cut down any burr you may have turned up. My best advise has been given already, leave the barrel alone and shoot the heck out of it. Low velocity and lead bullets with good lube on them makes the barrel shoot better than cleaning the snot out of it and then having to refoul the barrel before it shoots better again, but go ahead and wear the barrel out because there are lots of guys waiting to sell you a new one. Do what your heart tells you to do and enjoy it no matter what.

November 4, 2006, 01:31 AM	#2
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	You will weaken the receiver. Void any warrantee and be wasting your time. You don't need to take the barrel off to clean it. Use a pull through.

November 4, 2006, 04:29 PM	#4
hivel37 Senior Member Join Date: August 24, 2004 Location: Hill Country Posts: 522	That's a good idea for a falling block action. Think I'll mix me a --- naw, it's too early for a Martini.

November 5, 2006, 10:40 AM	#7
Ausserordeutlich Junior member Join Date: May 27, 2006 Posts: 996	Must not be a really stupid idea; Brownell's sells a jig just for the job.

November 5, 2006, 12:24 PM	#8
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	"To use the hole, you will have to drop the trigger group out and remove the bolt each time you want to use it. That wears out the holes and pins and sooner than you want it to, the trigger group fit is sloppy and needs to be tightened up." Of course you need to drop the trigger and remove the bolt to clean them anyway.

November 6, 2006, 12:08 AM	#10
Ausserordeutlich Junior member Join Date: May 27, 2006 Posts: 996	My experience with MY 10-22 is that removing the pins doesn't/isn't likely to cause "slop", as the pins aren't a tight fit to begin with. Nice theory, though.

November 6, 2006, 02:13 AM	#11
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	lol Well, you must not have removed them very often then, because sooner or later it will cause the slop to be there and they will eventually just fall out for you. That may not bother you too much and if not go for it. Sooner or later it will happen though and a lot of folks don't like the slop and have done many different things to keep the trigger group from moving around on them and to tighten the slop out such as pinning the trigger group. This aint my first time on the ride and I am not talking about just from working on my own 10/22 either. I have worked on quite a few and I can tell you that just doing a trigger job and having to remove and replace the pins while doing the job causes enough slop most of the time for them to just fall out of the gun on you. Your one gun may not have gotten to that point yet, but keep removing the pins and it surely will.

November 6, 2006, 09:04 PM	#12
Ausserordeutlich Junior member Join Date: May 27, 2006 Posts: 996	Bet they won't fall out unless you drill the stock, too.

November 6, 2006, 11:11 PM	#13
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	you're too funny If you recall, I said leave it alone and gave my reasons why. You can play a smart alec if you want to on someone else's dime. It is a waste of time to do the hole in the back just as it seems talking to you is as well. The slop will come the more you remove the pins and that goes for just removing the trigger group to clean it. If the slop doesn't bother you, fine, but it bothers a lot of folks. Is it a problem, not until the group can move around on you a decent amount, but the more you remove the pins, the more the slop will grow. If we were talking about a steel receiver, it wouldn't be a problem, but when you remove a steel pin from a softer aluminum receiver over and over, sooner or later the softer metal will wear. That ain't rocket science, just a fact of life. I have seen more 22lr barrels ruined from cleaning them improperly than by not cleaning them at all for sure. Leave them alone until they really need it and then clean it how you want to, but a boresnake with the brush removed or weedeater string cleaner will do very nicely when pulled from the breech through the open bolt and you don't have to do anything to do it but open the bolt and lock it back. I have also seen quite a few rifles with 50,000 rounds through them and they have never been cleaned and will still shoot very accurately. You just don't need to clean them like a centerfire rifle, but if that is what you want to do, go for it like I have already said. How many guns have you worked on in your life other than your own? I have been smithing going on 9 years now. I have seen a good many come through the doors over the years and most that have problems cleaned them too much and scratched up the rifling of the barrel. Do us all a favor and leave them be and shoot them. If accuracy falls off, dramatically, clean it, otherwise keep on shooting it and enjoy it. BTW, no need to say anything else about it unless you just have to, but you can PM me if you want too.

November 7, 2006, 04:45 AM	#14
mjrodney Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2006 Location: SW Florida Posts: 435	Clark Custom Guns is a gunsmith group that performs a significant amount of customizing work on the Ruger 10/22 rifle. They produce a video entitled "Complete Ruger 10/22 Rifle Disassembly/Reassembly". In this video, they state that the pins in the receiver are intentionally, and by design, rather loose to begin with. A snug pin is more the exception rather than the rule, and even those can be removed with little effort. Also suggested in this video is the idea that keeping the bolt and receiver area clean and lubed is more important than cleaning the barrel. They recommend that the bolt and receiver area be continually lubed with a light oil, as this oil will tend to work it's way out of the gun carrying much of the fouling with it. This oil also gets onto the pins and receiver holes, protecting these receiver holes from excessive wear. It should be a long, long time before things become excessively loose. One other often neglected area is cleaning the magazines. They too should be periodically taken apart and wiped down. The barrel should be "occasionally" cleaned with a Boresnake or just a patch and solvent. The definition of "occasionally" is up to the user. __________________ Proud supporter of the NRA

November 7, 2006, 01:04 PM	#15
Picher Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Maine Posts: 3,694	I've drilled lots of receivers and it causes no problems. I like being able to use a real cleaning rod from the breach and push a patch out through. The crown is the most important part of a rifle and the last thing I want to do is to pull a piece of nylon or other material that has picked up grit from the entire barrel across the muzzle and crown. Benchresters get special rods that don't extend much beyond the muzzle to minimize wear at that location. They also remove patches or brushes at the muzzle instead of pulling them back across the crown. I like to clean the 10-22 barrel and action parts often when shooting for accuracy, but not when plinking. Lead can accumulate on the bolt and barrel faces, affecting ignition and accuracy. My rifle is glassbedded and has a pressure point. It returns exactly to zero every time it's taken apart and cleaned. Picher

November 7, 2006, 02:02 PM	#16
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	"...they will eventually just fall out for you." The vast majority of the ones i have worked on DO fall out. The only thing holding them is the oil. I have also made a number of pin replacments for ones that have fallen out and been lost, both trigger group and recoil pins. For some reson every time I buy a few to have them around, I seem to get a rush of missing pins.

November 7, 2006, 04:17 PM	#17
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	some clarification for you Ruger does build these guns with a little slop built into them. Breaking the guns down constantly just adds to this slop. You can listen to me or not that is always up to you. Placing an oil in the trigger group and the bolt will not only collect more fouling and dirt, but hold it right where it is causing wear and more problems like FTF or FTE. I wouldn't follow that advise, clean it and leave it clean. If you want to add a drop of oil anywhere wipe it on and then wipe it back off using CLP or something similar. Remove as much of it as you can and put the parts back together. Oil will not only collect dirt but can oxidize and harden which can cause more problems. Now I will wipe a tad of MolyD on my sear and hammer surfaces where they mate, but I rub it in and then wipe it off after cycling it several times and I also will rub some on the hammer pin and the collars for it, but I always rub it in and then back off. I want it in the steel and not on the steel to collect grit and carbon fouling. As to whether or not a boresnake will collect grit and ruin the crown, it might over time, but once again you have to remember that I said not to clean it often. The snake shoudn't be a problem if it is kept clean like it is supposed to be and not just thrown into a box with a bunch of other items. Also if you pull it straight out like you should, it comes out just like your rod and patch does and if you use a cleaning rod and patch, use a jag and not a brush so you are always letting the fouling fall out of the muzzle instead of dragging it back down the barrel. Never use a brush and drag it back down the barrel unless you want to take a chance of dinging the crown up and rubbing all of the fouling back into the steel. I always remove the brush and pull the rod back through when I have to use a brush to clean a centerfire rifle, but I just have never had to brush out a 22lr bore unless somehow someone cleaned it too much and allow moisture to get to the bore and cause rust in it, just another reason why you don't need to clean it so often. For everyone that disagree with me on this, that is fine. The barrel makers love to see someone clean their rifle barrels improperly to begin with and to over clean it even more because the more you clean it, the more chances you have of messing it up. Just so you know, I shoot a little BR 22lr myself and I don't have to clean my barrel very often to keep my shots where I want them. A lot of folks do a lot of things to keep their shots in the 10 ring, a lot of those same things don't help at all, but tell them that and they say you are crazy. This is just a situation where a lot of the things that go for centerfire just don't cross over to rimfire and most folks just don't realize it. There are a lot of folks that sell videos and will tell you something about how they do things. That doesn't make them 100% correct on it just as my telling you this doesn't make me 100% correct either. It's something you will have to find out on your own.