10/22 Magazine Fit Problems

I have 4 magazines for my 10/22, two black and two clear, bought several years ago. I also have one brand new black magazine that came with my RAR .22lr Rimfire and fits it fine. I expected all of these magazines to be interchangeable between both rifles.

I tried the older mags in the RAR and found one of the clear fits well, the other clear is a very tight fit and the two older black ones wouldn't go in at all. Incidentally, these two black mags are a snug fit in the 10/22 and don't drop free but they do work. The two clear mags both drop free in the 10/22.

Some time spent with a caliper, measuring the widths, showed the new RAR mag measured 1.256" at the rear and 1.233" at the front. The "good" clear mag measured 1.263" at the back and 1.248" at the front. The "bad" black mags both measured 1.267" at the rear and 1.260" at the front or significantly wider than the good mags. They are wide enough to be a hard fit into the 10/22 and impossible to fit in the RAR.

Has anyone else found Ruger's 10-round rotary magazines to be this variable and to not interchange in rifles they are supposed to fit? I've had the oversize black ones for 6 or 7 years so it's a bit late to complain to Ruger but this is the first time I realize some won't fit in a Ruger gun.

The Ruger clear mags have been an issue since the American Rimfire first came out. Ruger hasn't held a very tight tolerance on 10/22 mags over the years as the 10/22 has a very generous mag well.

Ruger has exchanged the tight mags for other RAR owners, so you may want to contact their customer service folks.

9x19 said:

The Ruger clear mags have been an issue since the American Rimfire first came out. Ruger hasn't held a very tight tolerance on 10/22 mags over the years as the 10/22 has a very generous mag well.

Ruger has exchanged the tight mags for other RAR owners, so you may want to contact their customer service folks.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Funny thing is the clear mags, at least one of them, do fit the RAR. It's the black ones that are too big and are even a bit sticky in my 10/22 I'll try Ruger CS and see what they say.

You might also want to radius the edges. A few years back I got several
new Ruger mags and none of them dropped free. The older ones worked
fine, but not the new ones.

I looked closely and found that the new ones had very "sharp" edges, where,
as you would expect, the old ones were rounded off from wear. I took a
small, fine tooth, file to one of them and . . . shock and amazement . . . .
it dropped free ( ). Did the same thing to the other new ones and now
ALL of them drop free.

Just something to look at. 8)

Pat-inCO said:

You might also want to radius the edges. A few years back I got several
new Ruger mags and none of them dropped free. The older ones worked
fine, but not the new ones.

I looked closely and found that the new ones had very "sharp" edges, where,
as you would expect, the old ones were rounded off from wear. I took a
small, fine tooth, file to one of them and . . . shock and amazement . . . .
it dropped free ( ). Did the same thing to the other new ones and now
ALL of them drop free.

Just something to look at. 8)

Click to expand...

It's more than just the corners. The black and clear ones that are tight in the 10/22 and impossible in the RAR Rimfire measure 1.258" to 1.260" at the front of the body and the proper fitting ones measure 1.233" to 1.248". That is a major difference and would require grinding down the entire width.

I called Ruger's CS and they are going to send me replacements. We'll see if they work any better.

Just pull the action out of the stock and using a flat bar and sand paper, sand the sides of the mag well to open the well up. The mag should contact the action/stock at the screw at the front of the mag and the small pin at the other end.

Clearanced as above, I can stand my 10-22s straight up and the mags will release and drop in my hand.

Thought I'd follow up with this. A couple of week ago I contacted Ruger's CS and described the problem with the older 10/22 magazines that would not fit my American Rimfire at all and were tight in my 10/22. Today, two brand new magazines arrived in the mail courtesy of Ruger and at no charge. Both fit the American Rimfire perfectly and, of course. fit the 10/22.

Wonderful service from a great company to work with.