Why do Ruger advise against disassembling their box magazines?

[emilianoksa]

I've just been reading the 10/22 owners handbook, and was surprised to learn this.

I don't have access to products that can be safely used to flush out a mag. The only stuff I can get here is harmful to plastic.

Would it be OK for me to use a bit of denatured alcohol as an alternative? Just pour it in and let it drip out?

I've seen videos of folks disassembling Ruger magazines, and there was no mention of having to get the tension just right. It didn't look very difficult to do, and I imagined everyone would do it after five or six hundred rounds.

Or is it just the internal rotary part of the mag that mustn't be touched?

 

[dfariswheel]

Ruger doesn't recommend it because too many people have ten thumbs and can't reassemble and tension the mag properly.
So, Ruger gets magazines back claiming they're "defective".

As I recall, years ago Ruger had disassembly instructions in the owner's manual.
Watch one of the demos or find the printed instructions online and clean your mag.
Unless of course you have 10 thumbs.

 

[W.E.G.]

Do not drown the mag.

You will just wash the crud into the places where it doesn't belong.

Disassemble correctly, clean correctly, re-assemble correctly.

 

[emilianoksa]

Thanks for filling me in.

I don't have ten thumbs, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it.

Fortunately my wife has excellent manual dexterity, so she can do it, while I give her verbal encouragement.

 

[engineerbrian]

well, i guess i have 10 thumbs!!! i tried taking one apart several years ago, and needless to say i trashed it an bought a new one.

i dont know what they cost now, but at the time they were only $10 or so, so it wasnt a major loss.

 

[Z-Michigan]

They aren't hard to reassemble. It's the best way to go. Just wait til the mag is really dirty enough to justify it.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

If its that bad, toss it in the trash and start over. Time and materials will equal more than the cost of a new mag. It may also help to shoot cleaner ammo.

 

[Z-Michigan]

If you disassemble the only materials are some small rags and maybe a q-tip or two.

Time wise, you may be right, but many of us like doing things ourselves regardless of theoretical cost tradeoffs.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Cleaning a 10/22 mag is a 10 minute job, the only technical part is getting the spring preloaded right.

 

[Dionysusigma]

It may also help to shoot cleaner ammo.

10,000 rounds and no cleaning means all ammo is dirty ammo.

 

[Hatterasguy]

I havn't cleaned a 10/22 mag since I bought mine 8k rounds ago. The tops just get a little dirty, wipe them off and call it good.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

10,000 rounds and no cleaning means all ammo is dirty ammo

The reason I mentioned this is because of the number of threads about failures using Remington bulk box ammo. I too have noticed much more residue using cheap .22lr ammo than quality ammo. Some of that residue is bound to find its way into you mag and increase the intervals at which you need to consider cleaning magazines.

 

[jpwilly]

They don't want you to poke your eye out.

 

[Maj Dad]

Visualize...

Here's a good place to start - simple, easy to follow and good diagrams & video...

http://www.heypete.com/pete/shooting/rugermag.html

 

[emilianoksa]

Excellent video.

Thanks a lot.