After reading of a gent purchasing a firearm with no rifling, I thought I’d offer the following observations.
1. I recently purchased an aftermarket barrel that had very obvious flaws in the rifling, along with scratches on the exterior. This was still factory wrapped from Green Mountain.
2. I purchased 2 Thompson Center Classics when they were first released. One had a burr during deep hole boring, a nice spiral cut from one end to the other. They rifled the bore over this which ended up with lands that had cuts through them deeper than the grooves!
The other example blew steel out of the extractor groove (cut too thin), but the unsupported cases never ruptured. They next range trip accuracy failed, and on examination I found the front sight mounting screw hole was drilled too deep, the steel failed, blowing up into this recess.
3. At the public range I was “the rimfire guy” and received several Savage/Lakefield bolt actions purchased by the club to degrease and sight in for a youth program. Every single one had the same issue- the front sight which dovetailed into the barrel from the side was cut too deep and actually squished the rifling inwards, accuracy was non-existent.
4. When Ruger first released the 77/22 series, I just had to have one. My first had the receiver recess for the barrel tenon cast/drilled at a severe angle. This was so bad, they cut the face of the receiver at an angle so there wouldn’t be a gap showing the tenon. Problem was, not only was it impossible to sight in a 1” scope due to insufficient windage, but the barrel rode up the left side of the stock inletting.
Thinking this had to be a one-off mistake, I went to a fully stocked Ruger dealer in another state. There on the shelf was a whole row of vertically standing 77/22s of various models. I had the clerk hand me several examples and showed a friend, asking did he see anything wrong. Colorful language ensued as when you saw it you couldn’t not see it on every example on the rack.
5. I’ve already charted the issue I found with my Springfield 2020 (muzzle bulged the length of the thread cover), I have noted this on 2 aftermarket 10/22 barrels, so apparently threading is not just about alignment.
6. I purchased an IntraTec Tec-22 NIB, cleaned and took to the range. During the first magazine the gun ceased to fire. I found that the bolt and firing pin were both so soft they had completely deformed and couldn’t dent the case. Ordered replacement parts and the magazine feed lips wore to non-function on the 3rd loading.
7. Purchased a Kimber of Oregon 82 Super America, receiver was polished so out of round and different front to rear, you couldn’t mount a scope the rings were so misaligned.
Took a chance on a 82 Blue Mountain Classic. While cycling the first mag, I realized they cut the bolt guide groove too long, which allowed the lugs to clear the receiver and you could easily accidentally drop the bolt handle causing cosmetic damage. Took one final chance on a Special Edition Varmint fluted Stainless (KOA, Oregon addy), this was a flawless 4 shot repeater, but the bore was very oversized its entire length. I’ve since read this was a common issue.
8. I received a ‘95 Ruger 10/22 stainless laminate as a Christmas gift, receiver was cracked at the recoil pin. Never fired.
I should also point out, if you slug every example of factory taper 10/22 barrel, an enormous percentage have reverse taper bores, the tightest part is at the chamber lead, after that the slug just rattles down the bore.
9. 2 different examples of AMT Ruger 10/22 clones (Small Game Hunter, and SGH II) with very obvious rifling chatter (still have one of the barrels).
I’ll stop here for now, but I could go on and on. Study your prospective purchases carefully!
1. I recently purchased an aftermarket barrel that had very obvious flaws in the rifling, along with scratches on the exterior. This was still factory wrapped from Green Mountain.
2. I purchased 2 Thompson Center Classics when they were first released. One had a burr during deep hole boring, a nice spiral cut from one end to the other. They rifled the bore over this which ended up with lands that had cuts through them deeper than the grooves!
The other example blew steel out of the extractor groove (cut too thin), but the unsupported cases never ruptured. They next range trip accuracy failed, and on examination I found the front sight mounting screw hole was drilled too deep, the steel failed, blowing up into this recess.
3. At the public range I was “the rimfire guy” and received several Savage/Lakefield bolt actions purchased by the club to degrease and sight in for a youth program. Every single one had the same issue- the front sight which dovetailed into the barrel from the side was cut too deep and actually squished the rifling inwards, accuracy was non-existent.
4. When Ruger first released the 77/22 series, I just had to have one. My first had the receiver recess for the barrel tenon cast/drilled at a severe angle. This was so bad, they cut the face of the receiver at an angle so there wouldn’t be a gap showing the tenon. Problem was, not only was it impossible to sight in a 1” scope due to insufficient windage, but the barrel rode up the left side of the stock inletting.
Thinking this had to be a one-off mistake, I went to a fully stocked Ruger dealer in another state. There on the shelf was a whole row of vertically standing 77/22s of various models. I had the clerk hand me several examples and showed a friend, asking did he see anything wrong. Colorful language ensued as when you saw it you couldn’t not see it on every example on the rack.
5. I’ve already charted the issue I found with my Springfield 2020 (muzzle bulged the length of the thread cover), I have noted this on 2 aftermarket 10/22 barrels, so apparently threading is not just about alignment.
6. I purchased an IntraTec Tec-22 NIB, cleaned and took to the range. During the first magazine the gun ceased to fire. I found that the bolt and firing pin were both so soft they had completely deformed and couldn’t dent the case. Ordered replacement parts and the magazine feed lips wore to non-function on the 3rd loading.
7. Purchased a Kimber of Oregon 82 Super America, receiver was polished so out of round and different front to rear, you couldn’t mount a scope the rings were so misaligned.
Took a chance on a 82 Blue Mountain Classic. While cycling the first mag, I realized they cut the bolt guide groove too long, which allowed the lugs to clear the receiver and you could easily accidentally drop the bolt handle causing cosmetic damage. Took one final chance on a Special Edition Varmint fluted Stainless (KOA, Oregon addy), this was a flawless 4 shot repeater, but the bore was very oversized its entire length. I’ve since read this was a common issue.
8. I received a ‘95 Ruger 10/22 stainless laminate as a Christmas gift, receiver was cracked at the recoil pin. Never fired.
I should also point out, if you slug every example of factory taper 10/22 barrel, an enormous percentage have reverse taper bores, the tightest part is at the chamber lead, after that the slug just rattles down the bore.
9. 2 different examples of AMT Ruger 10/22 clones (Small Game Hunter, and SGH II) with very obvious rifling chatter (still have one of the barrels).
I’ll stop here for now, but I could go on and on. Study your prospective purchases carefully!
