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10/22 auto bolt release options

Started by Question Mark Mike, August 01, 2019, 10:45:54 AM

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Question Mark Mike

August 01, 2019, 10:45:54 AM
So there's the ubiquitous Volquartsen Auto bolt release available for 10-12 bucks.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VOLQUARTSEN-Ruger-10-22-Auto-BOLT-RELEASE-VC10BR-B-10-FAST-SHIP/222612798839

However, I watched this video on Youtube yesterday and apparently you can mill out a part of the stock bolt release to make your own auto bolt release with a dremel.

Thoughts? Thanks everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qqC4A20h1Y

cwcdl79

#1
August 01, 2019, 10:57:12 AM
10 minutes with a file. Easy peasy. Has to be egg shaped, not just remove the hook.

pblanc

#2
August 01, 2019, 11:07:39 AM
I have done it with two 10/22 trigger groups.  There are quite a few video tutorials but that is one of the better ones, no need to seek out any others.  A Dremel makes it go a little faster, but you can do the same with appropriate files as shown.

FYI, if you send your trigger group in to Brimstone Gunsmithing for one of their trigger jobs, they will do this modification as part of the work (unless you tell them not to).

Some people buy the aftermarket bolt catch levers because they want to keep the stock lever in case they ever want to put it back in, or they are afraid they will some how screw it up.  Why anyone would want to go back to the stock lever is beyond me.  I think it would be pretty hard to mess this up, but if you somehow did, you just go and buy the aftermarket lever.

This modification is really worthwhile for Appleseed.  It makes magazine changes quicker and allows the bolt to be released one-handed.  Some people would also like to have a bolt lock-open on an empty magazine.  While that would be nice, I don't think it would really speed magazine changes up all that much since you would still need to go to the charging handle to release the bolt, and it takes only a tiny fraction of a second to cycle it instead.  At the end of your course of fire, there is no time pressure when it comes to locking the bolt back and inserting your ECI.

stoneknives

#3
August 01, 2019, 04:27:36 PM
"When men's rules are Honorable and Just I will follow them. When I find the laws tolerable, I will tolerate them. When I find the rules obnoxious, I will ignore them. When I find evil imposed or codified, I will War against it. My Lord has made it known and understood to me that to accept the gift of freedom I will alone bear the full responsibility everything I do, or chose not to do." I .......    "This is Appleseed. We are here to restore the Republic. Tyrants, major or petty, need not apply."  I .......

"I stand with the mission, Sir" PHenry

Charles McKinley

#4
August 04, 2019, 09:46:11 PM
In prep remove the chamber flag and drop the bolt and this becomes a moot point.

If you want the bolt to lock back buy the Tompson Center and use their magazines.

I will not do it on my loaner rifles because if they walk into WallyWorld or the LGS and buy a 10/22 they need to be able to work it as it comes out of the box.  They can't take mine home unless it comes at a premium only an idiot would offer and only an idiot would refuse. (I made the mistake of figuring out the MSRP + time invested.)

The second reason would be liability if something goes wrong even if it is unrelated to the modification.

Chuck
Last evening, it occurred to me that when a defender of Liberty is called home, their load lands upon the shoulders of the defenders left behind. Just as the Founders did their duty for Liberty, every subsequent generation must continue their work lest Liberty perish. As there is no way for the remaining adults to take on the work of those that die, we must pass the ideals and duties on to the children. -PHenery

TrapperPete

#5
August 05, 2019, 01:40:32 PM
I use a chain saw round file I place the bolt release in the vice and carefully remove the metal it works well.

it doesn't take long and I find using the round file I can cut what I want without taking it so fast that I go too far, then I remove any bur created and reinstall in the rifle.

Lomshek

#6
August 06, 2019, 01:50:48 AM
Quote from: cwcdl79 on August 01, 2019, 10:57:12 AM
10 minutes with a file. Easy peasy. Has to be egg shaped, not just remove the hook.

Yep.  I did all of mine. Took most of the meat off (carefully) with a Dremel abrasive wheel then finished up with a round file.

Guntuckian

#7
August 06, 2019, 10:46:09 AM
Quote from: Charles McKinley on August 04, 2019, 09:46:11 PM
In prep remove the chamber flag and drop the bolt and this becomes a moot point.


Depends on the range.  At my home range, in Palm Bay, FL, we require chamber flags to remain in while slinging up.  Only once in final position can the chamber flag be removed, and the bolt be dropped.  This is because of urban encroachment around the range such that not even a single round can ever leave the range. 

Over 3,800 club members would be very, very unhappy if their Range got shut down from even a single errant round leaving the range.

Different range rules exist for Appleseeds around the country. 

--------------------------------------------------
1st Appleseed:           04/20/2013 - Palm Bay, FL
Rifleman:                   02/01/2014 - Palm Bay, FL
Cleared 1st Redcoat:   02/02/2014 - Palm Bay, FL
1st KD:  Palm Bay 8/14
1st IBC:  Dunnellon 4/15
Palm Bay 4/17 KD Rifleman
Palm Bay 10/20 Rimfire KD Rifleman
NRA Certified (Rifle and Pistol Instructor, RSO)

O.___.                            
  )V        O.___.                    
  /%       ( V       ,____    O.___.
/  %      o/L         ,___--- V

Catch-10-22

#8
August 06, 2019, 11:23:32 AM
We have also had many students with very sticky bolt releases that took several minutes to free, even in prep and with instructor help. So I am a big fan of the auto-release.

Question Mark Mike

#9
August 06, 2019, 03:16:36 PM
Quote from: Catch-10-22 on August 06, 2019, 11:23:32 AM
We have also had many students with very sticky bolt releases that took several minutes to free, even in prep and with instructor help. So I am a big fan of the auto-release.

Are those sticky bolts due to the original bolt release, modded bolt catches with burrs, or just dirty guns?

Catch-10-22

#10
August 06, 2019, 03:33:24 PM
Original Ruger bolt releases, unmodified, and probably not lubed. And they always say "this has never happened to me before" which is just awkward for both of us...

My loaners all have auto bolt releases and I explain the function and whether it was standard or not. If they are using a loaner, they are probably an inexperienced shooter and are facing enough of a firehose of instruction. It makes my life easier as an instructor/shoot boss.

We don't force anyone to bring anything specific or to modify their guns to in a certain way. But I see nothing wrong with recommending mods if asked or if someone is struggling and frustrated.

Nashville Stage

#11
August 07, 2019, 11:25:13 AM
It doesn't help any that the Ruger bolt release levers are neither intuitive nor definitive to use. You can't really figure out how to use it by looking at it, and there's no indication while manipulating the lever that you've done it right (other than by blindly trying over and over again). It's not a great design. Even Ruger seems to have finally acquiesced to this, as their Competition 10/22 models come from the factory with a modified bolt release.

I filed down my bolt release levers, and they work much better. I highly recommend it. If you're mechanically inclined enough to disassemble & reassemble the trigger group successfully, then modifying the bolt release is well within your grasp. As mentioned, even if you really foul up the modification, you can just order a replacement pre-modified release for cheap.
"There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary, and those who don't."

pblanc

#12
August 07, 2019, 01:45:03 PM
It is so easy to do and improves the function of the 10/22 to such a degree that you really have to stretch to come up with a reason not to do it.

Question Mark Mike

#13
August 07, 2019, 02:33:46 PM
Quote from: Nashville Stage on August 07, 2019, 11:25:13 AM
It doesn't help any that the Ruger bolt release levers are neither intuitive nor definitive to use. You can't really figure out how to use it by looking at it, and there's no indication while manipulating the lever that you've done it right (other than by blindly trying over and over again). It's not a great design. Even Ruger seems to have finally acquiesced to this, as their Competition 10/22 models come from the factory with a modified bolt release.

I filed down my bolt release levers, and they work much better. I highly recommend it. If you're mechanically inclined enough to disassemble & reassemble the trigger group successfully, then modifying the bolt release is well within your grasp. As mentioned, even if you really foul up the modification, you can just order a replacement pre-modified release for cheap.

Agreed. The bolt release on my Marlin model 60 is real easy and intuitive to use.  The stock ruger bolt release is easy to use, but only after you learn how to use it. It isn't  that simple and straight forward to use initially  and I fumbled with it a couple times with my borrowed 10/22.
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