Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Ruger 10/22 range report

( photos can be enlarged)
Despite a few technical difficulties, - failure to feed, failure to eject, general "Gah! It just won't work!" failure (we suspect the rifle needs to be completely taken apart and thoroughly cleaned and lubricated) - I was able to try out the 10/22. The scope made me very aware of arc of movement. I tried to be as motionless as possible, but the tiniest of muscle movements, a breath, or even a heartbeat set those crosshairs swinging. I loved how it made me slow down and focus - a lesson that I'm sure I can carry over to pistol shooting.







I also discovered that
a 50-round magazine
makes me very, very happy.




Oh, and here's one of my targets. It makes me giggle.
Shooty goodness!

38 comments:

Jay G said...

Happiness is a large capacity magazine.

Sadly, that 50 rounder that makes you happy would make me a felon.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate MA???

Thirdpower said...

Obviously you're compensating for not having a p$nis. :)

I love the hat. Where can I get one like that? :)

Turk Turon said...

Looks like you really enjoyed yourself!

West, By God said...

Failures might have been an ammo problem. Any semi-auto .22 is gonna have a favorite brand. Also, magazines screw up more often than the action will. unless its real obviously gunky, I'd wager that its the ammo though.

Anonymous said...

"Hi-cap" mags for the 10/22... If you were using Butler Creeks, the Hot Lips fail pretty easily. Steel Lips work pretty flawlessly though- they're all I'll use anymore. And the Butler Creek speed loader works really well...

Bob said...

Next time make a note of every failure, which magazine(s) it occurred with, and if it happened with the same magazine each time; if it did, you know that it needs to be junked. If it happened with all of the magazines (including the 10-shot Ruger mag that the rifle is sold with) you know that you might have an ammo/dirt mechanical problem.

Anonymous said...

I have had good luck with Hot Lips mags. I have 4 pre-ban mags that are beaten and battered and still work. I also have 4 new mags, one doesn’t want to stay in the gun unless it is downloaded one round. 10/22s may have individual personalities so what works for me may not work for you.

"Sadly, that 50 rounder that makes you happy would make me a felon."

Breda-
Trying to put it as delicately as I can in an open post, you may want to take a very hard look at your state law. IIRC there is a magic number of 32, and this was not affected by the preemption law that passed recently.

Robert Langham said...

Cleaning never hurts, but probably the AMMO is the culprit, next in line are the mags.

Wolf Match Target shoots well in mine.

breda said...

Mad Saint Jack - "Ohio - There is no state law restricting the sale or possession of large capacity ammunition magazines that can fire 30, 50 or even 75 rounds without reloading."

This information is from the Brady site and it makes them very very sad. *grin*

Mike W. said...

Reliability issues - Breda, it looks like maybe you were using CCI standard velocity 22lr? (the 100rd. high velocity mini-mags I have are in different packaging)

If so you might want to try the high velocity stuff and see if that makes a difference.

There aren't many .22's that choke on HV Mini-Mags.

Anonymous said...

Ok, good. I had always heard there was a ban. I tried to find the law and several codes are marked as repealed, so maybe it went away.

breda said...

Now I'm wondering if there are 100 round magazines for a 10/22.

Cry, Sarah Brady! Cry!

Anonymous said...

I've gotten very good a doing 100 rd. dumps with 4 BC Hot Lips. Do it for 16 years and you get a 10/22 with a very nice trigger pull.

ps- 10/22+reddot= Hi-cap junkie.

BobG said...

I've seen jamming problems with some autoloading 22's when using non-jacketed bullets. The only problems I've had with my 10/22 or my Mark I's has been with lead ammo getting snagged during feeding.

LawDog said...

Fun, aren't they?

The first thing that comes to mind on your FTF/FTE is the magazine.

A 50-rounder for a Ruger is going to be an after-market mag and after market magazines can be a hit-or-miss kind of thing -- please pardon the pun.

Try some different magazines from different companies -- including Ruger -- and see if you're still having the malfunctions.

If so, be aware that some -- not all, but some -- .22 autochuckers can be ammo sensitive. Try different varieties and see if your rifle likes one more than others. I've never had a self-feeder balk at running CCI Stingers, and last time I was down Metroplex way, Preacherman and JPG introduced me to Federal's bulk Auto-Match ammo which has (so far) fed flawlessly in all of my semi's -- pistols as well as rifles.

If those two steps don't solve the problem, then you may have to look at a cleaning/mechanical issue -- but that's a post for another time.

Glad to see you're having fun!

Willorith said...

Breda smiles 100,000 old farts smile with her.

doubletrouble said...

willo-

Make that 100,001.

Anonymous said...

.22LR can be somewhat dirty, but the 10/22 isn't hard to clean. However... the magazines are susceptible to buildup too, and not everybody remembers to clean them now and then.

I don't know how much work you've done with breath control shooting a pistol, but with a rifle it's much more important. Most instructors will suggest taking a deep breath, letting it partway out, then holding for the shot. Don't rush the shot, if it doesn't feel right finish the exhale and start over. Unless you're shooting a timed event don't push for a shot.

There are lots of gun videos out there, some goofy, some fun, some very informative. I will vouch for the one here on 10/22 disassembly/reassembly:

http://gunvideo.com/index.php?tpl=search&search_val=ruger+10%2F22

Anonymous said...

Crap... didn't take...

well, if you search "Clark 10/22 disassembly" you'll find it. Well worth getting.

Anonymous said...

What range lets you holster a pistol?

I need to go there...

Anonymous said...

Mad Saint Jack & Breda,

Ohio DOES have a magazine capacity limit, but it is a strange one. It is NOT illegal to own them, just illegal to insert them in a firearm or use them.

It says "any firearm capable of firing more than 31 rounds without a reload is a machine gun. This is the second half of a definition in the ORC behind the normal definitiion of a machine gun.

Just so Breda doesn't have more kittens, I will also point out that the .22 rimfire short, long and long rifle ARE EXEMPT. It says NOTHING about the .22 Mag.,
.22 WRF or any of the .17 rimfires or the soon to return 5mm rimfire, though.

Breda, don't trust ANYTHING the Brady Bunch has to say about ANYTHING to do with shooting, they can't find certain prominent body parts with both hands!

Buckshot

Anonymous said...

Breda: I read your blog all the time. In these photos you really look like you are having fun! Also, very sexy with that pistol under your belt! More photos please!

Earl said...

The best picture is the one with the great cap, and the smile that will last all week - and look, the rifle is still pointed in the proper direction. You are rockin'!

Anonymous said...

That grin is infectious. I saw it and busted out in one of my own.

Good to see you having fun.

M

Glenn B said...

That Ruger 10-22 and the hi-cap mag seems to have brought out the kid in you because I have not seen a grin like that except when a kid is totally pleased with the way things are going!

By the way, I second, or third, or whatever, the tips about the magazine(s) being the prime culprits to check with regards to misfeeds. Now that I think of it, you said there were problems feeding and extracting (or was it ejecting). That makes me think the prime suspect is a dirty chamber, maybe lead buildup. Clean it well, clean the magazine(s) well, then try again.

All the best,
GB

red said...

Another good .22lr semi is the Remington 597. It doesn't have a catalog full of doo-dads and add-ons like the 10/22. It does come with a nice scope and a heavy barrel.

Avoid Remington Thundebolt ammo, it's nasty, filthy stuff!

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

Is that your "shootin' shirt"? Or just a coincidence that is goes to the range with you on successive occasions?

breda said...

TBolt - it's a different shirt than in the other photo. I must have too many green shirts. This one reads, "Everyone loves an Irish girl"

Ken said...

Saw the target. Nice shootin, Tex. ;-)

I'mna take my Remington 510 out to West Farmington (the ODNR range at Grand River Wildlife Area) Sunday afternoon and divest myself of a lot of that craptastic Remington Golden Bullet bulk stuff.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Buckshot, I’ve been trying to find the code, but couldn’t. It’s 2923.11(E)

I didn’t know about the .22 exemption though That is good news. I agree about not trusting the Brady Bunch. I almost wrote that yesterday but decided to let it slide.

So my 33 round Glock mags are still a no go across the river--sigh.

Anonymous said...

I did a search on the BFA site and found this.

Plain Dealer victim of bad information from Brady Campaign?

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/3678

Anonymous said...

Nice shootin' Breda. And yes, the 10/22's are picky about ammo and mags but I can't offer any advice that hasn't already been given.

On another note, and I'm not trying to gloat, but it looks like your shooting gallery was kinda patterned off a dungeon. It looks all dark and gloomy. If you can generate a smile that big in there, just think how happy you'd be if you had one of these.

http://www.arpc.info/tour/index.htm

breda said...

oh wow, kaveman - that looks awesome.

Anonymous said...

rugers come with all kinds of special features... mostly sharp edges, burs and other things that make the metal parts rub funny... they also come with a lot of gunk inside them... once you clean it, put about 5000 rounds through it... it will smooth out very nicely... also consider getting a buffer tube from midwayusa... you will love how much smoother the action feels after installing a $4 part.

that magazine in the pic looks like a 25 rounder not a 50 rounder... did i miss something?

also, consider some of the other parts for the 10/22... the extended mag release is a must as is the 1 hand bolt release...

DJK said...

YAY for .22s. I just ordered a GSG 5....Ten days....here I come.

phlegmfatale said...

You're a beautiful woman, but even more gorgeous when you're smiling like that!

Home on the Range said...

Looks like WAY too much fun. Great target!

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Nice to see more people out there using their 2nd Amendment Rights!

For jams, make sure you use good ammo. Not Cheep .22 rounds. Keep it VERY WELL cleaned. 22LR is very dirty ammo. I run a bore snake through my 22's after every 100 rounds or so just to keep it clean while shooting. I almost NEVER get FTE or FTF. I use only CCI ammo and American Eagle. ALl my .22s love it!

Keep it up! Wish I could get my wife to the range! She wants nothing to do with shooting.
Oh well, she's a great wife!