10-22 cleaning and reliability.

[K191145]

I shot a few mags of ammo through my 10-22 the other day, the cheap milk carton Federal ammo, and had several malfunctions from the first mag, then it improved with the second factory 10 round mag and 1 jam in the plastic 27 round mag. When I cleaned it I noticed gouges in the black paint inside the reciever at the top so I took some steel wool and buffed inside the reciever and all the black paint came off very easily at the top. I got the surface real smooth, the paint is still there on the sides of the inside of the reciever but a smooth surface now. I also buffed down the bolt. I haven't shot it since. Any suggestions on what more I can do? I know the ammo isn't the best but I'm going to shoot it all up, then buy better ammo in the future. Also is there a replacement spring that would be better?

[xd shooter]

Some .22 rifles are picky about ammo. I have two 10/22 rifles & all iI shoot in them is Federal bulk. They do fine for me.

BTW I shot one of them for around 10 yrs & never cleaned it.

[TripleDigitRide]

The peeling paint on the inside of the receiver is normal. Same thing happened on my daughters 10/22. I haven't gone out of my way to remove it, but do make sure to clean it well after each trip to the range. A little more comes loose with each trip.

She's only used Remington Thunderbolt and CCI, and she's never had a single issue. She also uses only the factory magazines.

There are endless aftermarket options, and RFC Home is the best place for info about 10/22's.

[gtssilver]

How new is your 10/22? Since there is still paint on the inside of the receiver im guessing fairly new or not shot a whole lot.

I don't think my 10/22 has any paint left on the inside of the receiver but then again it has something like 14K rounds through it.

I use the federal bulk pack of 550 from walmart and love them! I have only had a few jams here and there.

Another thing is how often do you clean it? I used to be one of those who cleaned a gun after every trip to the range. Now I don't really clean my .22's that much they shoot better somewhat dirty.

[Oh Shoot]

Have been shooting 10/22 quite a bit since I got first one about 3 months ago.

Yeah, the black paint will keep coming off; I've not made an effort to really get it all, just whatever comes off from spraying CLP in receiver area and wiping with rag/qtips whatever.

Half the guys over on RFC don't even seem to clean the barrel until it starts shooting wild. Although I've cleaned mine after each session.

Also, most don't even take it out of stock to clean. I only took mine out once so far, and that was when I changed to a folding stock.

I have some of the Butler Creek steel lipped mags...none have been rock solid with anything but the higher priced Mini-Mags.

My factory mags have been pretty rock solid though, with most everything I've run through them, and here's something that's the bee's knees, I love it!:

More Trail Products

[Rightwinger]

I go all the way cleaning the 10/22. It's a pain the first time to get the bolt back in as you have to compress the spring on the charging handle but there is a ton of junk that piles up in the top of the frame above the bolt. It appears you can get away without cleaning them that heavily but I don't mind. The .22 bore snakes are what really made cleaning these rifles a breeze though to me.

You gotta take it all the way down just once so you see how simple the design is and maybe give you're local gunsmith some action when you can't get that darn spring to compress and get the bolt back in there!

[K191145]

I go all the way cleaning the 10/22. It's a pain the first time to get the bolt back in as you have to compress the spring on the charging handle but there is a ton of junk that piles up in the top of the frame above the bolt. It appears you can get away without cleaning them that heavily but I don't mind. The .22 bore snakes are what really made cleaning these rifles a breeze though to me.

You gotta take it all the way down just once so you see how simple the design is and maybe give you're local gunsmith some action when you can't get that darn spring to compress and get the bolt back in there!

It's a year old and I haven't shot it much yet but that's about to change. Maybe a break in peroid is needed. I tend to take too many guns to the range so I don't concentrate on just one or two guns. I removed most of the paint with steel wool, figured it was comming off anyway. The trick I found to get the bolt to snap back on to the charging handle is to say the right cuss words after the 5th attempt.

[Rightwinger]

I wasn't going to post the secret to it for numerous reasons but yeah, you seem to have found it:D

[HillbillyMafia]

...When you knox exactly where too look for the spring when it goes zinging off

...when you can call your shot on a three corner bank shot across the kitchen

...When you have "extra" recoil springs and you keep them in the vaccum cleaner

...when you ask your kids for help finding it and they reply"that little long springy again?"

...when you have Skeeter from rimfire ttechnologies on speed dial

And before you ask, yes these are all true. Niw U clean my bore every time, and the action every 4th time at the range, or 1k, whichever comes first

[Rightwinger]

AR springs I understand....been there done that, still got one hiding under the bed somewhere...

But how do you loose that 8 inch spring on a 10-22 !??

Dude, Walmart has cheap eye exams and glasses, do you need a ride?

Really, have you had that spring get loose? Or are you talking about going into the bolt and extractor itself. I don't even go there! To scary.

[HillbillyMafia]

Rightwimger.

I see were back to blind bashing. my best corrected vision is 20/200 with lenses/ your gonna feel really sillt when the sun goes out and you have to ask me to help ya find stuff

Seriously though, brown carpet in the room I clean them in and IMPOOSSIBLE to spot those suckers.

Tip: when dissassembling the bolt, do it inside a big ziploc bag. now those little springs will give ya nightmares

[Rightwinger]

I'll concede that if you are going into the bolt then those suckers are a PITA. I thought you were talking about the charging handle spring and was trying to figure out how you launched it much less lost it.

[Guest ScottD]

I use a flat head screwdriver to compress the charging handle/spring under the awaiting bolt. Works great.

[HillbillyMafia]

Naw, I have a Rimfire Technologieres charging handle high tension spring and polished guide rod. Unfortunatly The guide rod doesnt have the little raised bump to keep the whole kit and kaboodle together, soooooo.....

Almpst got it. PA-ZING THREE RAILS AND INTO THE DOGS DISH !!!! lol