10/22 wont feed subsonics

[richardsoll]

I recently got inherited a ruger 10/22 that has a very short barrel with a silencer. it does seem to be fairly old and a little rough, but i just cant get it to feeg subsonics to optimize the silencer. any ideas?

 

[bhp9mm]

my 10-22 feeds the remington subsonic hollow points

 

[JesseL]

Is it really a feeding issue or is it a cycling issue?

Most feeding issues in a 10/22 can be fixed with a good cleaning and quality magazines.

If the subsonic ammo isn't providing enough oomph to cycle the action, a good cleaning could help here too. Otherwise, a lighter recoil spring may be needed.

 

[rangerruck]

try diff subs, try Aguila , they have two kinds, a regular type, and a 60 grain sss.

 

[rangerruck]

also , that silencer may be affecting the blowback a bit...take it off.
if this doesn't work, slop a bunch of jb bore paste, or toothpaste, all in the
receiver, and sit down and work the action about 1 million times.

 

[richardsoll]

its a cycling issue. i shoots regular ammo fine. but after a fresh cleaning, it will fire about 3 rounds then fail to cycle.

 

[nosliw]

my guess is one of two (or two of two) things

old dirty gunky charging bolt rod/spring. take it out, take off the spring (grind the flared bumps) polish the heck out of the rod, clean it up, oil it good, put it back in.

extractor. even a brand new 10/22 will stovepipe (FTE) may more than is acceptable. spend the $10 on a VQ extractor and install it yourself. best modification i've made on mine. not a single ejection problem since.

 

[richardsoll]

do you think the recoil spring could be to strong and mabie if i trimed it?

 

[zinj]

Are the rounds failing to eject or is it failing to feed a new round?

The recoil spring actually plays a suprisingly small role in resisting the energy generated by firing; most of that is due to the mass of the bolt. If the gun is failing to eject trimming or lightening the recoil spring will likely do nothing.

If it is failing to feed it is possible the spring doesn't have enough energy to chamber the new round, and a new spring would be called for.

 

[richardsoll]

that is a good point. i guess i would have an ejection problem then, because they usualy end up stovepiping. do you think that the aftermarket ejector mentioned earlier would help?

 

[Sgt.Dusk]

Now that is just a way it goes with subsonics.
Lapua subsonics have worked for me but still when the gun gets dirty
it stops working every time.

 

[rangerruck]

dont mess with the spring, then it will not provide enough power against your hi power pills. I say work the action a million times, the make sure when you put in paste, you put some back on the spring, and guide rod. this will polish the heck out of it, and really smooth it up. but I say take off the silencer first, and see if this changes things. if still no good, order an extra recoil spring, and start cutting coils, until you get it to work reliably with the subs. then use it , whenever you wanna shoot the subs.

 

[SDC]

Another, more reliable way to get the same effect as a weaker recoil spring, is to get a spare bolt and lighten it, by either drilling holes or milling slots; this lightens the bolt (reducing the amount of mass the recoil has to push to cycle the rifle), without taking anything away from the spring that you'll need to fully chamber the next round.

 

[PTK]

I have a 5.5" barrel on my silenced 10/22, and it cycles very reliably with CCI LR cartridges of all flavors.

I have a Volquartsen extractor, trigger, etc. on it, though. Also, a recoil buffer reduced the noise from airgun quiet to Hollywood quiet.

 

[st_albert]

FWIW, my 10/22 runs very well on Winchester Dynapoint, bulk box from WalMart. This is a 40gr bullet at approx 1030 ft/sec, so it is "barely" subsonic.

Maybe you just need to get a bunch of different loads, and see what it likes best.

BTW. since you have a silencer, I've read that the Aquilla SSS rounds (60gr bullet @ 950 ft/sec) should NOT be used unless your barrel is specifically designed for them (faster rifling twist). Otherwise they may tumble and strike a baffle. So be careful there.

I can't say from experience if the above is true or merely urban legend, but I have personally seen evidence of SSS tumbling when shot from a conventional .22 rifle, designed for 35 - 40 gr. bullets.

Just my 2c,
Albert

 

[PTK]

st_albert is correct, DO NOT use the Aquila SSS rounds with 60gr bullet - I've had an endcap strike due to them. Luckily it was on my homebuilt 304 stainless silencer that's built like a tank. If it were on my Tac-63, I'd have been SOL!

 

[st_albert]

st_albert is correct, DO NOT use the Aquila SSS rounds with 60gr bullet - I've had an endcap strike due to them. Luckily it was on my homebuilt 304 stainless silencer that's built like a tank. If it were on my Tac-63, I'd have been SOL!

So it's true, then. Very interesting.

And to clarify a bit on my earlier post, regarding subsonic ammo.

Most "Standard Velocity" or target grade .22lr is subsonic. This is intentional, to avoid the instability caused by crossing the sound barrier. So all those kinds of ammo are probably good for your purposes, even if the box doesn't use the term "sub-sonic." In fact, some of them are pretty quiet in a target rifle, even without a suppressor. At least, you can shoot them comfortably, outdoors, without hearing protection.

Albert

 

[DnPRK]

The bolt cocks the hammer during recoil. This causes drag that can prevent full cycle with subsonics. One method to reduce bolt drag during cocking of the hammer is to round off the lower rear of the bolt using a belt sander. Go slow with the belt sander, a little smoothing goes a long way.