Is there a trick to making the Butler Creek mags work?

[Dr Prepper]

You shouldn't be using any lubes inside a magazine.. And you shouldn't have to. If you feel you have to, Use a dry lube such as molybdenum powder or graphite and these will also be much less prone to migrating back onto the ammo.
I kinda doubt it matters that much for .22's but ANY lubes on tapered center fire anything is super bad juju! Increases bolt thrust etc and wears out the bolts and locking mechanisms faster. Cartridges need to be clean and dry..
Also a little moly inside the barrel never hurt anything, liquids inside the barrel can cause hydraulic fracturing or whatever or dieseling when the bullet compresses it forcing it to explode under massive pressure. Good way to wear out a bore prematurely.
My ¢.02

PS reading this thread I'm glad I always gravitated towards the steel lips, I've never had a problem with them with anything ammo type.

 

[CLT65]

Regarding lube in a magazine- I agree but did witness something a long time ago that I thought was odd.

A number of years ago I went with a group of guys on a camping/sage rat hunting trip in Eastern Oregon. Out in the fields, a lot of them were shooting 10/22's using plastic 25 round magazines. It was quite dusty out there and I was having a lot of jams with mine.

One of the other guys brought over a can of WD40, and said I needed to soak down the inside of the action and the magazine. He said all of them were doing that and it worked well. I reluctantly tried it; it was a mess but did seem to work. I cleaned my rifle when I got home and never did that again. It's something worth while to know in an emergency, but it sure made a greasy mess.

 

[Dr Prepper]

And I guess the one other caveat to keep in mind is. ALOT of .22 ammo is naturally lubed from the factory with soft wax. So like most things take my advice with a grain of salt. I know its not typical is USA made ammo but it is common in the Euro stuff like lapua/SK and others but also I think that's more the bullet than the case.

Goof info @CLT65 good to get out there in the thick of it and test your equipment to failure.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I went to the range today with my new, unfired 10/22 and some brand new Butler Creek 25 round mags. I was having serious FTF issues with the mags if I loaded them to full capacity, they would stay in the mag instead of feeding into the barrel. If I only loaded 20 they worked better. I also noticed that CCI Mini Mag ammo and Remington Cyclone seemed to work a lot better than the Reminton Golden Bullet bulk stuff. It also seemed like I had fewer issues as the shooting session progressed. I had zero issues with the factory 10 round mag, regardless of ammo used. Is there a "break in period" for 10/22's and/or the BC mags? Any tricks or tips from a 10/22 guru would be appreciated. I would love to get my hands on one of the new Ruger factory 25 round mags but good luck finding one....

I first used butler creek 10/22 mags in the 1980's.

They were garbage.

They have had 40 years to make them better and it seems to me they are still garbage. That's the sign of a bad company.

Throw them away and buy ruger brand mags that work. Life is too short to fight with magazines that turn a reliable gun into an unreliable one.

 

[rob1516]

Thread revival. Any tips to make the butler creek mags work?

What type of ammo are you using? Also...try a light shot of silicone in the mag.

 

[CLT65]

Anyone remember the Ram-Line magazines?

I had some of the 50rnd 10/22 mags, never could get them to work right.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Anyone remember the Ram-Line magazines?

I had some of the 50rnd 10/22 mags, never could get them to work right.

I remember. Back in the day I prob tried every mag there was including drums. The only non ruger one that worked ok was the teardrop one. (Cant remember the brand). Even that one wasn't 100% reliable.

 

[CLT65]

It really was a breakthrough when old Bill Ruger gave up the reigns and Ruger came out with the BX25. They really are so much better than the aftermarket magazines.

 

[DirectDrive]

Throw them away and buy ruger brand mags that work. Life is too short to fight with magazines that turn a reliable gun into an unreliable one.

Word ^^^

ETA :
This is what can happen when you go the cheap route.
"Oh, I'm gonna beat the system and buy these cheap mags. Look how smart I am."
Then weeks go by with tears, blood and repeated fail to feeds.

Find a deal on a proven product, pay the man and have a good life.

 

[CLT65]

Word ^^^

ETA :
This is what can happen when you go the cheap route.
"Oh, I'm gonna beat the system and buy these cheap mags. Look how smart I am."
Then weeks go by with tears, blood and repeated fail to feeds.

Find a deal on a proven product, pay the man and have a good life.

I learned my lesson on this when I was young. Anyone remember USA brand magazines, back in the early 90's? A friend and I went in together and ordered a bunch (dozen or so) for our Mini-14's, right before the '94 ban. Junk, terrible junk. We sent most of them back, and they sent us more junk. We tinkered and fiddled, got most of them to work OK. Eventually I found a couple Ruger factory mags, and those worked perfectly.

I found out over time that some people hated the Mini-14 because "it's inaccurate and jams all the time". Well, mine was reasonably accurate, but a lot of them were really "hit and miss" as far as accuracy, so that is what it is, but as far as jamming, the problem was mostly junk aftermarket magazines.

It was real nice when factory Mini-14 mags became available to the general public too. Old Bill Ruger had a real problem with the "common man" having more than ten rounds, would only sell the big mags to law-enforcement. It was a real treasure to find a used honest-to-goodness factory magazine now and then. I was at a gun show some years back, and saw a pair of Mini-14 mags taped together with electrical tape. I think I paid $15 for the pair, because they really looked factory to me. Sure enough, once I got home, got the tape off and cleaned them up, they were early Ruger factory magazines.

That said, I don't buy mags like some of you all. A couple per gun is all I need, maybe three or four to have some spares, so it's no big deal to spend the money and get quality. I learned as far as pistol magazines to buy factory or Mec-Gar.

 

[Siglvr]

THESE are amazing, HCmag 10/22 magazine: https://gundynamics.com/products/hc-mags

Worst part is how fast and easy they are to load as you can go through crazy amounts of .22 ammo.

 

[Dr Prepper]

THESE are amazing, HCmag 10/22 magazine: https://gundynamics.com/products/hc-mags

Worst part is how fast and easy they are to load as you can go through crazy amounts of .22 ammo.

Oh baby! Where you been all my life? This thing looks friggin saweet!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Oh baby! Where you been all my life? This thing looks friggin saweet!

Don't you have to load the clips by hand? Plus you have to haul all that extra stuff with you. I don't get how it would save time over a mag with a thumb knob. Loading a mag with a thumb knob is super fast. Why doesn't ruger add a thumb knob to their mag it would make way more sense to me then buying into a whole new system with many more parts.

Plus being limited to only 20 rounds sucks Imo. If it were me I would probably go with the teardrop mag over this system. But I sold my 3rd and last 10/22 several years ago so I have no dog in the fight so to speak. All my semi auto 22s I own now have the thumb knob mags (the only exception is the 35 round plinker brand mags for the S&W 15-22).

 

[kmk1012]

THESE are amazing, HCmag 10/22 magazine: https://gundynamics.com/products/hc-mags

Worst part is how fast and easy they are to load as you can go through crazy amounts of .22 ammo.

I'm still practicing with mine after over a year, still can't seem to get it "just" right. It's gathering dust right now. I should prob sell it cheap as I have the BX mag now.

 

[Aero Denezol]

Butler Creek "Hot lip" plastic lip mags----junk.

Butler Creek Steel Lip mags----Not too bad.

Ruger 25 rd mags-----Better than anything Butler Creek.

100%

 

[kmk1012]

I had some old Ramline smoke colored actual 30 rounders that were more reliable than the factory 10 rounders. I wish that I still had them.

 

[Knobgoblin]

I had some old Ramline smoke colored actual 30 rounders that were more reliable than the factory 10 rounders. I wish that I still had them.

Every ramline smoke ( translucent) mag I ever had failed on the seam. I assume that exposure to sunlight accelerated this process. The ramline Ruger mk series pistol mags I've owned failed in a similar way. I think the clearer plastics just don't hold up forever. Which was too bad for the mk mags , because of superior capacity and ease of loading.