What's Been Ruger's Malfunction Lately?

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

I bought this for an Appleseed shoot this weekend:


Click on pic...

The Tech-Sights were already installed.

I got home and went to sight it in. The front sight band was canted in relation to the receiver!

Now, I don't know much about the 10/22, but I cracked it open, found a V-block and a couple allen head screws holding the barrel on.

Cracked the screws, twisted the barrel, used a couple levels to get the sights correct - and bingo, it was done in about five minutes.

Now, that was an easy fix - which leads me to wonder, WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST DO THIS AT THE FACTORY? It would have been such a simple thing to set up a machine to make sure the barrel was squared with the receiver.

The other thing is the trigger guard and mag release. I like the old mag release.

I've not figured out whether this trigger guard is heavy plastic or some metal yet - haven't taken a magnet to it - but it's much cheaper and thicker than the 10/22's I owned when I was a teenager.

Has this expanded to the whole Ruger line? Or is there really this big of a demand for the 10/22 that they can't take their time...?

Thanks,

Josh <><

 

[millertyme]

Check out www.gunblast.com for their review of the new trigger housing, which never was magnetic as it was made from an aluminum forging but is now made of composite, which tests show to be superior to the old aluminum housings. Pretty odd to hear about the barrel being mispositioned, though. And as for demand, there's been over 5 million Ruger 10/22's sold worldwide, so it's obviously pretty popular. As for the mage release, is it the new "extended" version or the old flush one. When I first bought mine I didn't get to shoot it too often and as a result forgot how to remove the mag on a couple occasions. Pretty damn embarassing when you take a buddy and his 9 year old to the range and can't operate your own firearms!

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

No, I'm sorry, the Tech-Sights were aftermarket.

It looks like whoever installed them couldn't get the thing to work with them and traded his problem off.

I thought maybe mine was an isolated incident, so I Googled "canted 10/22 sights". It seems to be quite a popular problem.

Josh <><

 

[middy]

I don't see how you can blame Ruger if you bought it used...

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

There's still that plastic trigger housing and the fact that it was only slightly used - 99% condition.

Still the fact that you enter it into a search engine and get about a million separate hits tells me something...

Josh <><

 

[jimmyraythomason]

You bought it used. I'll bet yesterday's newspaper that a previous owner is the reason for the canted barrel.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

I thought maybe mine was an isolated incident, so I Googled "canted 10/22 sights". It seems to be quite a popular problem.

Josh <><

 

[dispatch55126]

Your 10/22 looks like mine which is the basic "carbine" model. The previous owner removed the rear sight, installed the tech sights and also installed the sling studs.

The previous owner was obviously been wrenching in the rifle so I'd blame them, not Ruger. Are the pins loose in the trigger assembly and does it fit loose in the receiver? Mine is aluminum and I've had to shim mine to get the slop out. I'd suspect injection molding would allow for tighter tolerances.

 

[auschip]

I did the same search and only came up with one other person who had the issue.

 

[Justin]

Take it to a gunsmith.

Write him a check.

Problem solved.

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

I am trained in gunsmithing and already fixed it.

I just don't think certain things should happen. I don't see these problems on older guns.

Josh <><

 

[Schofield3]

I’d like to sympathize with you more but, like others have said, It’s hard to blame Ruger on a used purchase, and by comparison it was a simple fix…

 

[ArmedBear]

The 10/22's reputation has outstripped its actual merit, while the actual merit has been diminished by sloppier manufacturing and cost savings. Meanwhile the prices rise and people keep buying the things.

Remington has managed to keep selling guns that way for years.

How much longer? Hard to say. There's new competition out there, and it's some pretty good stuff. Winchester, for example, is making good stuff again, after a long slide downhill, doing what Remington is doing and what Ruger has been doing with the 10/22, but with their whole product line.

The name "Winchester" still has a taint about it in my mind -- not rationally, but it just gives me a bad feeling when I hear it.

 

[ThomasT]

I bet someone removed the barrel to clean it before selling it and just didn't put it back on straight.

I used to do that myself until I read about drilling a hole in the back of the receiver so you can insert a cleaning rod through it. No more removing the barrel for me.

 

[ArmedBear]

You took your barrel off to clean it?

I just used a boresnake. Muzzle protectors work fine, too.

Not that a stock 10/22 barrel shoots any better clean than dirty...

 

[KBintheSLC]

You bought it used. I'll bet yesterday's newspaper that a previous owner is the reason for the canted barrel.

This was my thought as well. I am wondering if somewhere down the line, someone disassembled the barrel/receiver union and failed to put it back together correctly. The weird thing is that the v-block will usually self-correct the barrel as you tighten it.

 

[Dimis]

well heres the deal...
ruger knows that there 10/22 line is the most accessorized 22 on the market so the parts they cheaped out on will get replaced anyway (most of the tme with volquartsen parts so ruger wins again)

the barrel cant isnt an issue with assembly from the factory the issue is re-assembly after full cleaning i too googled the problem and then decided to head to my favorite forum on the subject and do a search what i found the majority of the time was that people put the barrel on with a slight cant after re-assembly

as long as the reciever stays in spec of what the old ones were they will continue to sell 10/22s because thats the only part people dont replace (and yea you can get aftermarket recievers for em too)

buying second hand rifles you should know better than blame the manufacturer

and if you are a gunsmith then im sure youve seen first hand the dumb things people have done to there firearms so putting a barrel on wrong shouldnt suprise you at all

 

[Rshooter]

My Rugers' have not malfunctioned recently. Good guns at a good price, and they still make the best .357 pistol money can buy.