Well I just about got my .22 kit functioning reliably

[tommygun2000]

Was at the range the other day and decided to devote my first two hours to getting my .22 kit working. I loaded 4 28 rnd mags and one 20rd mag using Remington Yellow jacket bulk pack ammo from Wally World.
I found that after inserting the mag, and giving the chamber area and mag a liberal spray with Break Free CLP, the gun functions much better than when dry. I mean I soaked it good. Seems the more I shot it, the looser it got, and the better it functioned. I do think I have an extractor problem though, as about two rounds in every mag failed to extract. The lip on the extractor looks to be very shallow also.

Think I'll call Vector next week and ask for a new one.

When it functioned, it was a blast pissing those .22s down range
but the stoppages are quite annoying. I'm going to try using the .22 spring next time to see if that does anything to improve the function. I do think there is a mag issue, in that the rounds do not maintain a correct angle and get jammed into the upper end of the barrel occasionally.

So far, grinding and polishing the bolt on the bearing surfaces loosening the tolerances a bit, beveling the barrel where the extractor rides over it eliminating drag, grinding the ejector so it doesn't interfere with the magazine and lubing the hell out of the whole mess before every mag has produced some results but not total reliability like in 9mm.

I will succeed...if its the last thing I do. No machine has ever beaten me, and an Uzi .22 kit isn't going to be the first.

[treedawg]

I only wish I could say the same, but it'd be far from the truth.

I will succeed...if its the last thing I do. No machine has ever beaten me, and an Uzi .22 kit isn't going to be the first.

You are better man than I, or strectch the truth....

TD

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by treedawg
I only wish I could say the same, but it'd be far from the truth.

I will succeed...if its the last thing I do. No machine has ever beaten me, and an Uzi .22 kit isn't going to be the first.

You are better man than I, or strectch the truth....

TD

Look at the items I listed.
1. Bolt drag...the aluminum will be scuffed where it contacts the receiver. SIDES ONLY!!!! If you do the bottom it will cause the bolt to ride lower and the extractor to bind on the barrel.
Use a file or dremel and remove a little material then polish it. This loosens the tolerance of the bolt a little allowing it to ride freely and have enough momentum to strip a round and fire it.
2. Grind the extractor per the instructions with the kit( be sure not to grind off too much.....and deburr it afterwards, but keep it square not rounded at the end.
3. Check to see that the mags are clean inside and lube them well. I used Break Free CLP because it was all I had with me.This will attract grit and powder residue but I'll blow them off with compressed air.
4. I beveled the barrel where the flat shoulder is to allow the extractor to easily ride over it with just slight clearance.
5. A new extractor in my case I think will finish the job and it should work reliably.

I'll repost when its changed.

Perseverance man! Perseverance! Your ability to think is far more infinite than the problem with that machine. Keep plugging away at it. The problems are limited, just diagnose and fix one at a time.

[salvo]

tommygun2000, I hope you have better luck than I did, I tried everything! Luckely Vector is so good to deal with, I ended up sending the kit and gun back to them and MadMike swaped out most of the parts and mags and got it running, I had them do the semi feed ramp while it was there also. Then the extractor broke and Vector was out of them, I got two new ones in the mail this week from Vector (No charge) so I'm back in .22 fun again.
Vector is a great company to deal with and very fast on the turn around. If you get fed up as I did don't hesitate to let MadMike get it running.

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by salvo
tommygun2000, I hope you have better luck than I did, I tried everything! Luckely Vector is so good to deal with, I ended up sending the kit and gun back to them and MadMike swaped out most of the parts and mags and got it running, I had them do the semi feed ramp while it was there also. Then the extractor broke and Vector was out of them, I got two new ones in the mail this week from Vector (No charge) so I'm back in .22 fun again.
Vector is a great company to deal with and very fast on the turn around. If you get fed up as I did don't hesitate to let MadMike get it running.

but I do think I need a new extractor. I'll call Monday and ask for one to be sent. Not fed up yet, although I was very disappointed in having to do so much to it to get it running.

My next project will be to get the aftermarket mags for my Mini 14 and AC556 to work like the factory mags. That ought to be fun.

[treedawg]

If you can pull that off you will be elevated to Hero status in my book. I used to try and make the after market mags function reliabily in my AC556, but at best after MUCH tinkering I could get aprox. 30% of them to function with decent results. If you give up on that project CDNN has the best prices on PMI mags that I've seen in a long time. I guess to be more accurate the have the largest supply I've seen in a long time.

TD

[tommygun2000]

Originally posted by treedawg
If you can pull that off you will be elevated to Hero status in my book. I used to try and make the after market mags function reliabily in my AC556, but at best after MUCH tinkering I could get aprox. 30% of them to function with decent results. If you give up on that project CDNN has the best prices on PMI mags that I've seen in a long time. I guess to be more accurate the have the largest supply I've seen in a long time.

TD

The springs and followers usually SUCK! They appear to tilt and bind in the mag body and are over tensioned.

I'm going to order some factory springs and followers to experiment with, and if they work I'll replace them all. the mags fit into the gun nicely enough, but seems that the rounds don't feed after firing due to the recoil upsetting the stack inside the mag body. There is also a fine balance between not enough spring tension and too much, causing the light bolt to not have enough ooomph to strip a round off and go into battery. I found that the factory mags springs were rather light compared to the aftermarket ones. I feel this is a major problem and thats where I'm going to start.
I'll keep you posted on my progress.

[treedawg]

Most of the aftermarket mags I've seen for the Ruger Mini 14 had very thing mag bodies. If you can get them to lock up and feed for a while the feed lips on the mags won't hold their shape. There's a thread on another site where they are discussing heat treating the lips on aftermarket mags. That could be a short term solution, but I'm inclined to think that if the steel was hard enough to hold it's shape the stress of shooting, loading ect would make it crack in a short time. If you can locate a good mag body you're 9/10th of the way there. The rest sould be easy........

TD