Project Appleseed

I took an Appleseed class in June this year, and while 10 round mags for the 10/22 were commonplace, a few people had 15 rounders. Unfortunately, I never asked those people if the mag causes the rifle to monopod. I'll be buying a Ruger 10/22 in the next few days. I want to practice shooting prone, but are the 15 round magazines too long to go prone with? Will the rifle come to rest onto the 15 round magazine and be unstable? If any of you have 15 round mags for this rifle, please let me know when you can.

Thanks!

I don't own a 15 rounder.  I see more issues with extended mags at events, so I recommend 10 rounders.  I prefer clear ones, but have many black ones.  To answer your question, they monopod with some, but not with most adults.

Quote from: Tennessee Beast on July 28, 2019, 03:33:23 PM
I don't own a 15 rounder.  I see more issues with extended mags at events, so I recommend 10 rounders.  I prefer clear ones, but have many black ones.  To answer your question, they monopod with some, but not with most adults.

So as long as you're an adult, they won't monopod? I was hoping that the 15 rounders would provide some more grasping surface to yank the magazine out of the mag well.  Being used to the model 60, it took me a bit to get used to pulling out the flush fitting 10 round magazines under timed drills at the Appleseed class. That was my first time shooting a 10/22.

It shouldn't monopod.  My 10/22 10 round mags just fall out of my rifle when I hit the mag release lever.  If it doesn't, you may need to sand the mag well or possibly the magazine itself if there is a burr on it.

Well the loaner rifle I borrowed was rather dirty, so maybe that was the problem?

Quote from: Question Mark Mike on July 28, 2019, 04:25:28 PM
Well the loaner rifle I borrowed was rather dirty, so maybe that was the problem?

Hard to say.

My ruger 25 round 10/22 mags don't "monopod."  Don't have any 15 round mags but I'd imagine they would be shorter.  But I prefer the 10 round mags.  Mine fall freely out of the rifle and they a quick and simple to insert a new mag.

Some of the Ruger extended mags will make it hard to get your elbow far enough under the rifle. The 25s have a lot of reliability problems, but I'm not sure if the 15s have the same issue. If the 10-round rotary mags don't drop free under gravity alone, file the magwell. Prussian Blue or soot on a mag can help you find interference points in the stock, generally on the sides.

Quote from: Tennessee Beast on July 28, 2019, 04:20:54 PM
It shouldn't monopod.  My 10/22 10 round mags just fall out of my rifle when I hit the mag release lever.  If it doesn't, you may need to sand the mag well or possibly the magazine itself if there is a burr on it.

If you do sand your magazine well you can introduce stovepiping if done improperly so be very very minilmalistic in that pursuit.

Bob

Monopodding with any rifle/magazine combination is possible, so long as the magazine protrudes below the rifle, and the shooter is capable of taking an extremely low prone position. 

On the other hand, monopodding can be avoided under most circumstances, by merely moving the support hand closer to the receiver, and taking a higher prone position.

To answer the question of whether a Ruger 15-round BX magazine will allow you to monopod the rifle, the answer is no, assuming that you want to hit something more than 5 feet away.
The magazine is so short that the barrel gets a significant downward tilt, even with the toe of the buttstock resting all the way on the ground.

I don't have a lot of trigger time with extended magazines, but most of the feeding issues I've read about are from one of two issues:
- The magazines used are aftermarket designs which don't use Ruger's metal castings for the feed lips.
- The shooter is inadvertently skewing the magazine out of alignment inside the magwell by applying pressure to the magazine with their arm or something else nearby.

I'll echo the sentiments regarding the 10-round magazines; they should drop free on their own. However, having something to grab on to with an extended magazine can be helpful for quick mag changes. Also, extended mags are easier to quickly orient for inserting into the magwell; the cube shape of the 10-rounders can be a little frustrating to rapidly get inserted the right way around, particularly if they accidentally get bumped out of position while resting on the mat.

I have also had issues with the 10-rounders not dropping free all the time, typically getting stuck on a timed CoFs like seated and prone. There is a finger notch in the front you can use to pull it free, but sometimes it is hard to find under time pressure (easier if you use dry fire to practice).

I use two different solutions:

First, some of my 10-rounders have Tandemkross magazine bumpers: https://www.tandemkross.com/Companion-Magazine-Bumper-for-Ruger%C2%AE-1022%C2%AE-2-PACK_p_27.html

They provide more a grip surface for sweeping the magazine out, provide a little more weight so they drop free, and will not monopod. No impact to reliable feeding either. Only problem is when people try to rip them out without using the magazine release lever, but some epoxy provides a long term solution.

Second, I use Hornady One-Shot dry lube on my mags and mag well (and 10/22 action): https://www.midwayusa.com/product/170954/hornady-one-shot-gun-cleaner-with-dyna-glide-plus-10-oz-aerosol

The mags won't be gunky with oil, but will be drop free better.

Those magazine bumpers look interesting. I've been trying to think of a way to decrease the fumbling when inserting the 10 round mags on timed stages. Has that been your experience? I will probably try this and look at a couple of BX-15's. Like Nashville Stage, I sometimes waste valuable seconds getting things situated under time pressure.

I think they help with the fumbling - more area to grasp and the little side "wings" at the bottom help indexing in your fingers (cubes are kind of hard to orient without looking).