10/22 "Sticky" bolt and the BX-25

[9thchild]

When I retract the bolt handle on my 10/22 carbine (made in '67), it gets "stuck" about half way through and it takes a little more muscle to pull it the rest of the way back. While slightly annoying, it didn't seem to have any affect on the rifles performance with the standard 10-round factory magazines.

However, when I run the BX-25 mags, I get consistent failures to feed. In some instances, the cartridge is actually smashed and cannot be chambered. This happens with all different types of bulk ammo (Winchester, Remington, Federal). Sometimes I can get through the whole magazine without this happening but it is rare.

I thought that replacing the bolt handle, guide rod, and recoil spring assembly may fix the problem but it did not.

Any other suggestions?

 

[xfyrfiter]

Ninthchild; my best suggestion would be to get on rimfirecentral.com 10/22 section, propose this question and you will get more answers than you can shake a stick at

 

[9thchild]

Thanks xfyrfiter, on my way.

 

[blindhog1964]

I believe your problem is going to be the mag. The slight resistance you encounter is more than likely the hammer being cocked by the bolt, which can be smoothed by careful radiusing of the back of the bolt. Rimfire central is a great place and much information can be found there.

 

[9thchild]

How could it be the mags? Everyone here and elsewhere loves them and has no problems yet I somehow purchased two bad ones? I think it is the bolt. I have read about the bolts of older 10/22s exhibiting this problem and other problems with the firing pin.

A new polished factory bolt is $35. I think this is probably the best route.

 

[762gunr]

I had one of my BX25 mags screw up on me after only a few hundred rounds. The follower hung up down inside the mag somewhere.....haven't pulled it apart yet.
CLP is absolutely the best thing to use on a 10/22 for reliability. Using pretty much ANY normal gun oil on a 10/22 bolt will work fine for a couple hundred rounds then it will cake up and slow the bolt down enough to cause failures.
Military spec CLP is designed to keep our nasty little M4's running without making the carbon cake up.....thus it works very well in any inherently dirty direct blowback or DI gun.

 

[tahunua001]

I've never had a problem with either of my BX25s. you might take it to a gun smith to see if they can do anything to completely fix the sticky bolt before you start pointing fingers at the mags, several things can go wrong that can make a good mag fail but likewise several things can go just right to make a bad magazine work.

 

[blindhog1964]

Well if as you stated the gun operates fine with the factory mags but won't with the other mags then it would lead me to believe that the mag is the problem.

 

[MikePaiN]

I too thought the BX25 mags were pretty much bullet-proof and problem free. Until I started looking into it and found there are quite a few owners having issues with them....I saw everything from minor feeding issues to catastrophic failures...Like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1fZtUUkcGg

I'm sticking with the basic 10round rotary mags...The rifle looks sleeker with a flush mag anyway

 

[9thchild]

I will look into the CLP.

A guy on rimfirecentral had the exact same problem and it ended up being a cracked ejector. Will look into that as well.

Thanks for all the responses.