10/22 Stovepipes and Magazine Lip Polishing

[CarrollMS]

This is an interesting comment a fellow made on the upper (left) lip of the magazine being a cause for ruger 10/22 stovepipe / FTE. It is located here https://rugerforum.net/ruger-10-22-rimfire/66468-stovepipe-problem.html
Note part of the way down the string the fellow lowegan #11  suggested getting a machined extractor for 80% of the issue, and smoothing the lip of the magazine for 20%. I must give the magazine approach a try, even after buying a good machined extractor, and polishing the bolt and receiver, I still experience FTEs/ stovepipes

[Lomshek]

This is an interesting comment a fellow made on the upper (left) lip of the magazine being a cause for ruger 10/22 stovepipe / FTE. It is located here https://rugerforum.net/ruger-10-22-rimfire/66468-stovepipe-problem.html
Note part of the way down the string the fellow lowegan #11  suggested getting a machined extractor for 80% of the issue, and smoothing the lip of the magazine for 20%. I must give the magazine approach a try, even after buying a good machined extractor, and polishing the bolt and receiver, I still experience FTEs/ stovepipes

After some digging I concluded that most of failures the I saw are because the #2 or #3 round in the magazine gets hung up on the underside of the steel feed column (rotary magazines).  That means the top round isn't getting pushed up fully against the feed lips so isn't getting hit at the correct angle by the bolt for feeding or acting as an ejector/support floor for the empty case being extracted.

My fix has been to pull the feed column out of the magazine then bevel and polish the square edges of the feed tower's bottom where the rounds enter it.

If you've ever had a magazine fail to feed and pull it out of the rifle only to see a round sitting 1/4" under the feed lips that's why.  It gets hung up on the edge and the mag spring can't get it over the speed bump.  This usually only happens with older mags as the spring weakens.

[Two Wolves]

Lomshek, would it be possible for you post a picture of a magazine with an arrow  (pencil) pointing to the area you mentioned? I have been having issues off and on and have determined that they are mag. related. Thanks for the post   Two Wolves

[Lomshek]

Here you go!

We're looking at what I call the feed column (the cast steel part that includes the feed lips).

Disassemble the magazine to get this out. 

All these photos are looking at the bottom side of the feed column.  The rounds are fed into the bottom of the feed column then pushed up by successive rounds toward the feed lips.

An unmodified feed column is on the left and a modified feed column is on the right.

On all four sides of the feed column I beveled or rounded the leading edge so the rounds encounter that rounded/ramped surface instead of the square edge they normally hit.  The square edge isn't the end of the world as long as the magazine spring is strong and the magazine is clean but as things deteriorate the rotary feed mechanism can't get the rounds over that speed bump.







I did a pretty sloppy job of beveling those edges with a conical dremel abrasive bit then polished that surface smooth.  I probably also removed 10 times more than was needed but didn't want to do it twice.

The work turned what was a turd of a magazine into a rock star.

If you ever pull a malfunctioning magazine out of a rifle and see rounds rattling around down in the feed column but not moving up to the feed lips this is your problem.

[Two Wolves]

Thanks for posting the pictures. I started working on some but was only doing one side. I think I'll go back and do both sides. I wish I had a gauge that I could use for the spring pressure. Thanks again. Two Wolves.

[Captain]

Roger, you are a GOLDMINE of useful information - Thanks for posting those pictures!!

[GTEngineer]

This is great information, thank you Lomshek.  I do have a question though, if the issue is caused by the round not being able to clear the magazine due to the sharp edge, why polish all 4 sides?  I would've thought you only need to polish the side that the round has to ride "over"?

[Lomshek]

This is great information, thank you Lomshek.  I do have a question though, if the issue is caused by the round not being able to clear the magazine due to the sharp edge, why polish all 4 sides?  I would've thought you only need to polish the side that the round has to ride "over"?

You are correct.  When looking down at the magazine with the nose of the bullet facing away from you the main culprit is the left side of the feed column.

Either the bearing surface of the bullet or the case rim is what hangs up on the more prominent edge of the feed column.  I went overboard under the OCD guideline of might as well do it all instead of fix the obvious problem then re-do it when the next issue presents itself.  I've been known to get into the details a little too deep.

Ideally you only need to bevel and polish the left 50% of the feed column entrance to cover all the possibilities from nose to rim.

I made a short video showing the problem.  It was easy to create the misfeed in an unmodified magazine by loading a few rounds then manually pushing them in with an Allen wrench.
https://youtu.be/AmAQ4X-rGxI

[Gus]

Resurrecting this thread.

My wife shot in our Winterseed here in Alaska this past weekend and she had a round hang up just as talked about here.  I have been taking apart all my 10/22 mags over the past two days and cleaning them, but I never thought to be checking the undersides of the feed columns. 

I will now!

Great stuff, and thanks.

Gus

[M1bzrk]

Great information & pics.  Thank you, Roger.

[Lomshek]

Great information & pics.  Thank you, Roger.

Glad it helped!



I'm enjoying a real one so this is an appropriate emoji!  Prosit!

[Gus]

This a follow up to my 11 November post:  All 10/22 mags have been polished, and cleaned!  I learned how to take the mags apart (and even more important, how to put them back together!) and I de-burred the underside of the lips.  Between de-burring and cleaning the gunk out of the mags they work better than ever.

Even in sub-zero weather, no failures to feed.

Gus

[TrapperPete]

a little less invasive , clean , dry lube , and wind the springs a little tighter has worked for me.

I was shooting with a friend a few weeks ago the 10/22 mag was having issues , it is probably 40 years old and never been cleaned , farm gun so it always stays loaded also

it really wasn't even hardly dirty , the gun probably has only had 500 rounds in it's 40 years if that.

clean and rewind and it was back to working.

tandem cross is also making replacement springs, rotors and feed lips for ruger mags https://www.tandemkross.com/Green-Springs-Rotary-Magazine-Springs-for-Ruger%C2%AE-1022%C2%AE-3-PACK-_p_687.html

just more options to keeping it all running well.

Hornady one shot cleaner dry lube has been very good for the reliability of my 10/22s also  admittedly I may have used too much oil at times in the past and that can cause many of it's own issues

[Lomshek]

This a follow up to my 11 November post:  All 10/22 mags have been polished, and cleaned!  I learned how to take the mags apart (and even more important, how to put them back together!) and I de-burred the underside of the lips.  Between de-burring and cleaning the gunk out of the mags they work better than ever.

Even in sub-zero weather, no failures to feed.

Gus

Glad to hear it helped!

[Lomshek]

a little less invasive , clean , dry lube , and wind the springs a little tighter has worked for me.

I was shooting with a friend a few weeks ago the 10/22 mag was having issues , it is probably 40 years old and never been cleaned , farm gun so it always stays loaded also

it really wasn't even hardly dirty , the gun probably has only had 500 rounds in it's 40 years if that.

clean and rewind and it was back to working.

tandem cross is also making replacement springs, rotors and feed lips for ruger mags https://www.tandemkross.com/Green-Springs-Rotary-Magazine-Springs-for-Ruger%C2%AE-1022%C2%AE-3-PACK-_p_687.html

just more options to keeping it all running well.

Hornady one shot cleaner dry lube has been very good for the reliability of my 10/22s also  admittedly I may have used too much oil at times in the past and that can cause many of it's own issues

Sometimes all it is is a simple fix!

Those TandemKross springs are calling my name!