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Butler Creek Steel Lips feed problems

4K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  rugertoter 
#1 · (Edited)
I have four 25 round Steel Lips magazines that I bought for my 10/22 ($12 each - good deal?).

I went to the range today and I'm having problems with them, after the first one or two rounds the next round won't feed right and the bolt, after ejecting the empty brass, doesn't cycle closed. If I try to clear it by pulling the charging handle I'll often end up with a double feed.

I tried another brand of ammo, but had the same problem.

I'm currently* not having a problem with my 10 round Ruger magazines.

I thought maybe it was due to the little bit of slop the magazines have when seated and am considering seeing if putting a little scotch tape on the magazines to make them slightly larger might help.

I've also thought about changing out the spring on the charging handle to see if that might make a difference (I have a stronger and a weaker spring in my parts box - came with the oversized charging handle I bought and installed).

Any thoughts and help would be appreciated.




*The time before this when I took it to the range I was having all kinds of feeding and ejecting problems (stove piping, etc.) no matter what magazine I was using. However I replaced the extractor and a sticky extractor spring since then, and also put in 2 new receiver pins that I bought on eBay (there is a distinct possibility that I only had one pin in when I was at the range last time - see my receiver pin thread) I hoped everything would work..... but... sigh... put your hope in one hand and do 'you know what' in the other and see which fills up first.

On the plus side, I'm probably going to get to make some modifications, and I usually enjoy doing that (unless I accidentally destroy something, or shoot a part across the room, lose it, and then have to order a new one - both of which I've done). So wheee! (conditionally).
 
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#2 ·
Those Butler Creek mags suck bigtime. We can blame the slop, because it is certainly there, but if that's all that's wrong, how do you tell? I can tell this much: I bought a couple Ruger BX-25 mags awhile back (on sale), and they work fine. I have an old all plastic Ram-Line 25 round mag, and that works fine (and fits the mag well).
 
#4 ·
I'm wondering if the 'market durability' of those Butler Creek mags is the result of two things, both related to on-line shopping:

1) Folks don't take their 10/22 to the LGS that stocks the mags, and check them out for fit at least, even if the store doesn't have a range.

2) There are so many damfool posts in 'comment' sections of on-line sellers listings (both pro and con) that the prospective buyer finds them useless for guidance.
 
#5 ·
Dropkick,
Over the years I've tried them all ....the only consistently reliable magazines are Ruger made factory. The aftermarkets you can
modify them , adjust them, play with them all you want but they are not as reliable and trouble free as 10 round factory.
The more rounds they carry the worse they are . No bull here, just save your money and by factory replacements....and these will wear out with use and need to be replaced. You can learn how to disassemble , clean adjust and reassemble these to get a little more life out of them , but factory 10 round is the most reliable game in town, right now.
Gary
10/22 since 1972
 
#8 · (Edited)
Going to the range Wednesday and I'm going to try a couple things out just to see if they'll work.
With one mag I slightly altered one of the steel "lips" with a file and sandpaper to try to get it to more closely match those on my 10 round Ruger magazine - filed it down so it's slightly shorter on the edge the bolt contacts first when feeding a round, and rounded the edges.
I'm also going to take some scotch tape to see if making the magazine fit snugger might make a difference.

side note: I don't have my 10/22 with me, cleverly left the weapon at my cousins, though I brought home the mags, going to pick it up on my way to the range - so I'm going to have to see if I can actually use the scotch tape to tighten things up at the range.

2nd side note: I am considering taking my lighter and heavier charging handle springs with me also to see if they'd make a difference, but right now I'm thinking that they most likely wouldn't make a difference, and I don't really want to disassemble the weapon at the range - so probably not.
 
#9 ·
I think the problem with the BX-25 mags is the extra weight with a full mag and the shape make it sit in the mag well a little different. I can't imagine what else would cause problems since it is essentially a BX-1 mag with an extension under it. I don't think changing springs on your charging handle is going to make any difference either. I personally would ditch the aftermarket mags. I know it sucks but the reality is they are probably never going to function right in your rifle.
 
#10 ·
Ended up cutting pieces out of the box my .22s came in and taping it to the magazine to make it fit tighter. Put 10 rounds in it and tried it out - it worked perfectly! Put 10 rounds in my altered magazine (see last post) and it worked perfectly also! Was very happy!

Loaded a BX25 magazine I'd stopped off and bought on my way to the range. Bad feeding and jams. Was slightly less happy.

Tried my fully loaded altered magazines. Once again bad feeds and jams. My happy was gone.

Seems that they now work fine if I don't load them fully. Crap.

Next Wednesday (now my weekly scheduled range day) I'm taking my charging handle springs and trying the stiffer and lighter springs to see if they'll make a difference.

--at least I don't seem to be stove piping anymore - though why one problem would be solved and another not???
 
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