Ruger 10/22 break in required?

[sierra 18]

Morning troops:

I'm a new member here, and a new owner of a Ruger 10/22 All Weather model. I've found after about 150 rounds or so, I've been having some considerable stoppage problems in the ejection and feeding of rounds.

I did clean the mag in the manner approved by the Ruger manual, cleaned the rifle and still found myself getting stoppages. I'm firing Remmington 22LR Yellow Jackets as well as Remmington LR non-hollowpoint.

A few quick Google searches so far have suggested trying different ammo, but others have suggested that the 10/22 requires a break-in period, that after about 1000 rounds, the rifle will have few, if any stoppages.

Before I try taking the mag back to the dealer and trying to arrange a new mag, should I just keep putting rounds down range to put the weapon through a break-in and see if that works?

Your experience and expertise is appreciated.

Many thanks,

Chris

[kymarkh]

I don't think a 10/22 requires any break in at all. First thing I would do is try a different magazine - I have 5 or 6 and 1 of them (a 'clear' or 'see-through' magazine) fails to feed the second round fairly often. I only use the Ruger 10-rounders and I never do anything to them other than scrub the feed lips with an old toothbrush. Then I would try a different brand of ammo. Go very easy on lubrication - I only wipe the sides of the bolt and the action spring with an oily patch.

[Inspector3711]

Clean and oil the rod that the bolt slides back and forth on, that helped mine when it was new.

My 10/22 hates Remington ammo except for RP brown box. I believe your manual may tell you to stay away from hyper velocity ammo... Is the Yellow Jacket ammo hyper? If so, the action isn't timed for it and you will have bad feeding.

Mine does really well with Federal Automatch... It's around $13 for 325 rounds at my local Walmart. I haven't had a jam in three boxes and I have shot 10 shot half inch groups at 50 yards with it. Power isn't everything when it comes to accuracy. Match ammo is more accurate partly because it employs reduced loads. Match ammo is also normally pretty pricey. The Federal Automatch bulk ammo is a great compromise.

[sierra 18]

Interesting about the hyper velocity. I hadn't seen that in the manual.

I'll try some lower velocity Remm LR and see how that does.

Thanks for the info all,

Chris

[DWARREN123]

Sounds like residue from the ammo is causing the problems since you can run 150 rounds thru it. May just need some break in time. Clean after every 100 rounds and see if this helps to keep it running. Try using only copper plated/washed instead of plain lead ammo for a while.

[Harry Bonar]

Sir;
For goodness sake get some Winchester Super X or Wildcat. That will solve the problem.
After shooting a little, pull it out of the stock and tighten (don't strip) the two barrel block mounting screws.
Harry B.

[Kortik]

.22 blowback designs are generally sensative to contamination with unburned powder and residue, which is,
naturally, is blown back into the action. Make sure there is no oil/greese on moving parts - it makes things considerably worse, as it attracts and retains these particles (in addition to plain dust) inside the action.
If you want to use lube, use dry film lubricants only or no lubricants at all. Same applies to any self-loading .22 guns.

My 10/22 did not require break-in, had may be 15-20 misfeeds (mostly due to failure to extract) in 14 years, but I always lubricated it with dry film lubricants only. Ruger rotary magazine is generally SUPER reliable and does not require cleaning for the first several years of use, unless exposed to very dirty environment. Also, ammo does need to be reasonably powerful, and desirably, of good brand. I would recommend CCI, SV and hotter, it is very consistent in regard to powder charge and bullet crimp. Remington brand is not as good, in my opinion. Some ammo has wax, which covers bullet, and sometimes, the whole cartridge, like Russian Junior. Works great in bolt action, but not good at all in self loading guns, for the reason stated above.

[Dr. Strangelove]

This thing should run like a raped ape right from the box.

Maybe not my choice of words but the man is right. If this is a new gun, see if the retailer will swap magazines with you. If not, 1st thing, don't buy anything else from them, 2nd go knock on your neighbor's door, he'll likely have a 10/22 and magazine. Most anyone who shoots and has guns probably has a 10/22.

Seriously, if this is a new gun (from your post it sounds like it is), it needs warranty work. I've only had feeding problems with after-market high capacity magazines, and 99% of the ammunition problems I've ever had are failure to fire, not feed or ejection difficulties. If this is a "new to you" gun, I'd look hard at your recoil spring and make sure it hasn't been modified or replaced. The Ruger 10/22 ends up as a platform for experimentation for many "inexperienced" (we'll say, to be nice) gunsmiths and can be "jacked up" (a technical term, I know, try to stay with me here) by someone who doesn't read well.

Summary: You should be able to fire thousands of rounds from a 10/22 with little to no cleaning or maintenance. Rim-fire ammo being what it is, especially bulk, you'll have 3 or 4 failures to fire out of 1000 or so rounds. Maybe a bit more. But jams after 150 rounds? Nope. Not for a stock 10/22 from Ruger. You should be able to measure reliability in months or years of continuous shooting with little or no maintenance.

[scoobydoo6906]

mine was 100% out of the box. I have only had one miss fire but the round was a dud. I picked it up off the ground and reloaded it and didn't fire again. I was just making sure it was not a light strike or something. if it would not cost so much to ship I'd give you my ten round factory mag.

[drail]

+1 for DR Strangelove. If it doesn't run properly out of the box a "break in period" probably won't make much difference. I would have to say that I have never had a box of rimfire ammo that didn't have a couple of duds mixed in. Rimfire ammo consistency sucks which is probably why all the manufacturers changed to centerfire many years ago.

[cohoskip]

I have been using Federal bulk in my Charger with good results.
I thought I would try some Winchester Super X.
I would not feed at all. I guess it is the shape of the bullet that prevents it from chambering ??

[gunn308]

This shouldn't be happening I own three 10/22s and only had fail to eject and feed with one and that was using subsonics, polished bolt return rod and put a slight radius on bolt because this is my squirrel gun and quiet is a plus have not had any problems since and that is with a few bricks through each. Follow Mr. Bonars advice he is a knowledgeable person, 25 inch/pounds of torque is all that is needed on those barrel and action screws as these are steel screws that go into aluminum.

[Sixer]

My dad recently found his old Ruger 10/22... He's not much of a "gun guy" so I took it home with me to give it a quick look over. I wanted to make sure he had a FUNCTIONING firearm in the house. The rifle was in superb condition on the outside but when I tried to cycle a full mag the rounds failed to eject.

I took it apart and found that the extractor spring was stiff as a board and covered in rust along w/ the extractor itself. I soaked the spring and extractor in Hoppes #9 for a few minutes, whiped them down, and put it back together... Problem solved! (Also added a new bolt buffer, extended mag release, auto bolt release, and polished some of the parts )

Anyhow, I'm sure this is NOT your problem, but if all else fails check the extractor. I seriously doubt you have any rust... but it wouldn't hurt to give it a look.

[radom]

Only breakin issues I have seen with a 10/22 is that nasty factory trigger. Everyone I have had ran like a top out of the box nasty triggers and all.

[Tom2]

I have had problems with the funny shaped bullets in the past, some of the HV solids had a truncated cone shaped nose and a step in the bullet at the base of this cone. They would hang up on a Ruger I once had so I have not tried them anymore. I have run all kinds of CCI thru Rugers without much trouble, including Stingers. I don't know about STingers in a custom barrel on the Ruger but the factory barrels seem chambered loose enough to eat them up. I always lubed my Rugers sparingly, despite what folks say about not lubing them. Of course some times once in a while you have to take the gun apart to clean it, good idea whether you lube or not, if you shoot it alot. Ruger mags are usually 100% but if you have trouble, it does not hurt to get some factory spares, they are not that steep and good to have anyway.

[remshooter]

If you ain't got it figured out check this site.
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/index.php

The guys there have already forgotten more about the 10/22 than most of us will ever know.

My vote it to make sure all the factory lube/grease is cleaned out of it and give it another try.
Good luck.

[hillbillyshooter]

Bullets or the mags. I have had a terrible time with my 10/22. I have a hammerforged target model. The gun hates Remington Golds and actually shaves of the bottom side of the bullet as it feeds. The gun loves the Thunderbolts. Match grade works the best, but I don't like paying for it. I have had a problem with magazine. Only the metal lipped mags work in my gun. The "hotlips" will not feed. I require only Butler Creek metal lips too. I bought two 25 rounders (advertised on Gunbroker as Butler Creeks) that were unmarked off brand mags. These would only feed for 1-5 rounds before jamming issues occurred. If it is jamming with the factory 10 rounder with superior ammo then you have a problem with the gun.

[Inspector3711]

Like I said... try the Federal Automatch.... Near match grade performance at near bulk prices.

I have had 3 10/22's.... Every one has jammed frequently in the beginning. Once broken in I clean them and lube the rod with Hoppes oil. After that I can run thousands of rounds without cleaning the action. With the automatch ammo, I haven't had a jam yet and I'm on my 4th box of 325.