Thread: Ruger 10/22 rotary mag issues

Both my 10/22 mags - a black one and a clear one - were always really difficult to load, felt like the spring tension seemed too high or something. Then they started jamming up, caused me no end of frustration with rabbits waiting patiently to be shot while I fumbled in the dark trying to get my mag to work. Rabbit had usually given up waiting and disappeared by the time I got things sorted. Had issues in both the bolt action and the semi. On the bolt gun, the round would actually dip and jam its nose into the front of the mag rather than ride up the feed ramp. Couldn't figure it out because everybody on the web does nothing but rave about how wonderfully reliable they are.

After a bit of trial and error, I found that if I loosened up the axle assembly, the rotor became a lot more free and seemed to fix the issue, but it wasn't great to have a loose mag...
So I took them both apart and sanded a fraction off the end of the cylindrical part of each rotor, as the rotors measured exactly the same length as the inside of the mag box. The steel axle sets the inside length when tightened up.
Worked a treat. I found I could even slacken off the spring a little too and the rotor still returned with really good (and consistent) tension. Now they are easy as to load, all rounds go in nice and easy rather than wearing the end of my thumb off, and all cycle out 100% reliably.