Ruger 10/22 Reliability
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ijosef
Member
Reliability is high. Maintain it properly and it'll last as long as you want it to.
Remember, guns are machines and are thus bound to fail or malfunction at some point, but the Ruger 10/22 is one of the most, if not the most popular .22LR rifle for a reason.
Remember, guns are machines and are thus bound to fail or malfunction at some point, but the Ruger 10/22 is one of the most, if not the most popular .22LR rifle for a reason.
WTBguns10kOK
member
They're fine with most ammo, but I've found the Marlin 60 to be more reliable with more types of ammo.
I'll be the odd man out here. I never found either of mine to be particularly reliable. I also watched a buddies jam the last time we were shooting.
In fairness however, they're no worse than any other semi-auto rimfire fed from a detachable magazine. Those little rimmed cartridges suck from a feeding standpoint and the rotating 10 round mag used on 10-22's is probably about the best design of any, (other than a tube magazine that is).
My experience was that the factory magazines worked OK, but all others sucked. That was a while back though and there might be some other decent aftermarket ones out there now.
In fairness however, they're no worse than any other semi-auto rimfire fed from a detachable magazine. Those little rimmed cartridges suck from a feeding standpoint and the rotating 10 round mag used on 10-22's is probably about the best design of any, (other than a tube magazine that is).
My experience was that the factory magazines worked OK, but all others sucked. That was a while back though and there might be some other decent aftermarket ones out there now.
I ran about 7K rounds through three different 10/22s last year. There were a few failures to fire, which isn't uncommon in rimfires, just means that that one shell didn't have any priming compound where the firing pin hit. Otherwise, no problems.
Two out of those three guns have aftermarket barrels with Bentz chambers. Depending on the ammo used, those guns may not extract an unfired round from the chamber. That isn't really a malfunction, just a characteristic of the combination of a chamber that puts the bullet into the rifling, and the weak extractor on a semi auto.
In my experience, once a 10/22 is past its first few hundred rounds and well broken in, there are only two ways to get a 10/22 to malfunction. One is to use anything other than a factory magazine. The other is to use Remington ammo. It's not that their ammo is junk, it's just that there's something about the bullet lube that Remington uses that makes the magazine rotor stick. Back in the worst of the ammo drought, I tried to shoot a 550 pack box of Remington, because it was all the cheap plinking ammo I had left. By the time I gave up, I had seven factory magazines that would no longer feed anything, and had to be torn down and cleaned.
Two out of those three guns have aftermarket barrels with Bentz chambers. Depending on the ammo used, those guns may not extract an unfired round from the chamber. That isn't really a malfunction, just a characteristic of the combination of a chamber that puts the bullet into the rifling, and the weak extractor on a semi auto.
In my experience, once a 10/22 is past its first few hundred rounds and well broken in, there are only two ways to get a 10/22 to malfunction. One is to use anything other than a factory magazine. The other is to use Remington ammo. It's not that their ammo is junk, it's just that there's something about the bullet lube that Remington uses that makes the magazine rotor stick. Back in the worst of the ammo drought, I tried to shoot a 550 pack box of Remington, because it was all the cheap plinking ammo I had left. By the time I gave up, I had seven factory magazines that would no longer feed anything, and had to be torn down and cleaned.
CajunBass
Member
I'm sure mine have jammed from time to time, but not often enough for me to take much note of it.
This rifle has been on the market since the early 60's. Lots of other designs from that era or later are out of production.
The primary contributor to the Ruger 10/22 reliability is the magazine. Ruger put machined steel lips in their magazine. Magazine design an aspect to gun design that is usually sidelined by manufacturers. Manufacturers spend a lot of time on cost and styling, then shovel out systems with cheap and unreliable feed systems.
The 10/22 is a simple blowback. In time, as with all semi auto 22's, condensed wax from the ammo will gum up the action.
At my local range there is a group of fanatical rimfire bench shooter dudes. They fill up 5 gallon buckets with brass. At least one of them has a target 10/22. I doubt his gun will ever wear out.
The primary contributor to the Ruger 10/22 reliability is the magazine. Ruger put machined steel lips in their magazine. Magazine design an aspect to gun design that is usually sidelined by manufacturers. Manufacturers spend a lot of time on cost and styling, then shovel out systems with cheap and unreliable feed systems.
The 10/22 is a simple blowback. In time, as with all semi auto 22's, condensed wax from the ammo will gum up the action.
At my local range there is a group of fanatical rimfire bench shooter dudes. They fill up 5 gallon buckets with brass. At least one of them has a target 10/22. I doubt his gun will ever wear out.
dagger dog
Member
Every one that mentioned ammo and magazines are dead on for the reliability factor in the Ruger 10-22.
I would like to add: KEEP IT CLEAN !
There is a lot of controversy, on this subject especially with rimfires, but if you take care of you rifle it will take care of you
I would like to add: KEEP IT CLEAN !
There is a lot of controversy, on this subject especially with rimfires, but if you take care of you rifle it will take care of you
I keep mine very clean and also lubricated; it must be the aftermarket 25 round mag (with steel feed lips) and the cheap .22 ammo. I bring it out to the range and after a hundred rounds or so it starts failing to eject/feed every other round and i have to work the bolt manualy. I always hear how the gun is s'posed to be very reliable and I was wondering if I just got a ''Lemon." But I will keep all of your information in mind- thank y'all
i've had the same 10/22 since around 73-74'. in all those years it has failed to eject so few times that i can't remember even one. i live on a farm and carry that rifle in my pick-up daily. shoot it most days too. use good ammo and clean it a couple times a year and i suspect it will keep on shooting. i've had the most problems with the rem bulk box stuff. few with federal bulk box ammo, and none with win or cci. ymmv.
I had the same problem with one of the three 10/22s that we own. It turned out (after trying everything else) to be the factory extractor. I replaced it with a Volquartsen extractor and it's run flawlessly ever since.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=363360
I've had similar results, but have pretty good luck with Federal bulk packs.
mljdeckard
Member
I now have my dad's, which he proudly claims has fired about 50,000 rounds and even been cleaned once or twice.
It eats everything, and the only problems I have ever had with it were when I used aftermarket mags.
It eats everything, and the only problems I have ever had with it were when I used aftermarket mags.
fireman 9731
Member
As others have said, the magazine is the downfall of the Ruger 10-22.
leadaddict
Member
Mine was horrible at first. Then I found that the extractor was chipped. After replacing that it is great with the standard 10 round rotary clip. I do have some trouble with the hi-cap magazines. They tend to shift back in the magazine well and not sit quite right sometimes. I've thought about trying to increase the spring strength on the piece that holds the magazine in place.
had problems this weekend with my kid's "tactical". Tapco stock, scope, and 3 round mag. Using winchester 333's HP failed to feed all over. Switched to CCI mini mags RN and not one FTF/FTE.
Is it the HP or the round itself. Had the saem thing gon on with his Walther P-22.
Is it the HP or the round itself. Had the saem thing gon on with his Walther P-22.
My experience is that 10/22 owners have very low expectations. A few of us were chatting about that at the local indoor club, where we have various matches during the colder months. I keep hearing things like, "You have to try a few magazines, and see what ammo it likes." I also hear that 1" at 25 yards is all you can expect from an inexpensive .22 semiauto.
My reaction to that is (and was, when I sold my 10/22), "My ass! I'll buy a rifle that actually works."
You'll hear that ALL .22s are finicky, and will only feed certain ammo, and that accuracy will only be good with some. That's BS. That's not even true of Ruger's own .22 pistols.
My reaction to that is (and was, when I sold my 10/22), "My ass! I'll buy a rifle that actually works."
You'll hear that ALL .22s are finicky, and will only feed certain ammo, and that accuracy will only be good with some. That's BS. That's not even true of Ruger's own .22 pistols.
The standard, cheap 10/22 is not a target rifle. The owners are not target shooters either. Most of them are rock busters or can killers and for them the accuracy of a factory barrel shoots inside their hold.
My 10/22 shot perfectly well for a squirrel gun. It either shot 1" at 25 yards or 50 yards. I forget. I had Volquartsen install one of his barrels and that made huge difference in target accuracy.
I could stick a round in the chamber of the factory barrel, press on the rim, and I could rock the round.
If I push a round in the Volquartsen barrel, I have to shoot it out or knock it out with a cleaning rod.
I have no doubt that I could shoot the factory barrel eons between cleaning. The match barrel gets cleaned when I get back from the range.
Squirrels were just as hard to hit after the barrel change as before. Darn tree rats must have reduced their target zones.
bannockburn
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My 30+ year old 10/22 has been absolutely reliable, provided I don't run Remington ammo through it. Everything else works just fine through it. Best accuracy results are with either CCI Mini-Mags or Wolf Match Target. Factory 10 round mags work the best with no problems to report. Aftermarket 20, 25, and 30 round mags usually have some issues every so often so I pretty much just stick with the factory mags.
RSVP2RIP
Member
I had a bicentenial model that I got from a widow and it worked every time. It was never cleaned and the only thing that kept it from being 100% was that the oil hardened in the trigger plunger and you had to push the trigger forward after each shot. It now wears a new barrel, trigger group and stock but is still 100% reliable when fed ammo the match chamber will take.
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