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.22LR Chambers

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Graysteel View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Graysteel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: .22LR Chambers
    Posted: October/18/2007 at 10:29
I recently rebarreled a 10/22 for increased accuracy. In doing so I went with a slightly tighter chamber. Accuracy definitely improved but reliability (extraction) with anything hotter than standard or subsonic ammo went to pot.

At first I suspected the issue was one of chamber depth and I very slightly deepened the chamber but found that to make little difference. I then honed the chamber out a bit a time (polishing in between) trying to improve reliability. Eventually I did improve reliability but lost accuracy again.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that if I gently rolled the rounds between my fingers, before I loaded them I had  fewer extractions issues. It seems that by rolling the bullet back and forth between the fingers you swage it by about 1 or 2 thousandths and that seemed to make quite a difference.

So, I got another barrel and just polished this one to reduce extracting friction. In the end I gave up and I just stick to mild ammo and everything works fine.

However, I am still curious to find out if anyone else has found 10/22s with tighter chambers to be so picky?


Edited by Graysteel
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Dale Clifford View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dale Clifford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/18/2007 at 11:15

If the 22 barrel is a target barrel say a volquartsen or even a butler creek it will have "Bentz" chamber which means a small amount of taper. This is done on autos as a "head spacing" technique which jams the lead into the lands for increased accuracy. Usually it is assumed that standard velocity target ammunition with a soft lead tipis used and not the harder copper plated high velocity, wal-mart special stuff. If you go to the 22 web there are places that will have devices that swage the rounds to the same dimension as is done in formal target shooting. It is more than likely that you are removing some of the wax, than swaging them with your fingers. (that is why the milder ammo was more accurate).

bolt action barrels are usually made "target grade" by closer dimensioning the thickness of the rim than using the Bentz method, and also tools are available that measure this thickness so rounds can be sorted accordingly.

had atrial fibrillation when you said you honed the barrel!!!

most 22's are cleaned way to much, if fact, a good target grade will rarely if ever need except for the goo around the port and action. additionaly most 22 barrels are far softer steel than rifle barrels, (except the good stuff Anshutz,Cooper, Volquartson, Lula, Win.).

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Graysteel View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Graysteel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/18/2007 at 15:32
hehe... yeah, at the point I was reaming out the chamber I was fairly annoyed with the gun and just trying to figure out the extraction issue. At that point I had replaced the extractor twice and had adjusted it several times. I had decided that if it wasn't reliable it didn't matter if it was accurate, so it became an experiment.

I was surprised myself to find that I could change the dimensions of the .22 rounds at all just rolling it between my fingers, but the micrometer showed it did actually change it by a thou or two. Not  enough to matter (I thought) but it makes sense now that you point out in Bentz chambers the 'head spacing' is partly a matter of taper.

I am still surprised it makes *that* much difference with extraction, but live and learn. Thanks for the info. :)


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RifleDude View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/18/2007 at 19:44

Dale is 100% correct.  Part of what makes a match .22 barrel a match .22 barrel is tight chamber and/or rim headspace dimensions, not just bore uniformity.  Speaking of aftermarket "match" 10/22 barrels, Volquartsen will actually void their warranties if they know you used a cleaning rod in their barrels and they don't recommend such ammo as CCI Stingers at all because of the Bentz chamber. 

Ted


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Longhunter View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Longhunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/20/2007 at 23:34

I have a Butler Creek Ultra-Lite barrel with a Bentz chamber on my Ruger 10/22.  It shoots 1/2" groups with Eley 10X at 50 yards using a cheap 4x Bushnell.  No extraction problems with Eley 10X, Winchester Super-X, Federal Gold Medal, cheap Winchester Dynapoints, CCH Green Tag or Remington high velocity hollow points.

 

There was enough "give" in the barrel rotation that it wasn't lined up quite right the first time I installed it.  There was some pressure on the moving parts.  Accordingly, I removed and reinstalled the barrel making sure the alignment was correct (and all parts were moving freely) before I took the rifle to the range and fired it for the first time.

 

Don't know if this is relevant to your problem, but you asked what others had experienced.

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Graysteel View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Graysteel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/21/2007 at 00:06
Thanks for the info Longhunter. When I did my last barrel I sent it to a fellow in Texas who threaded the barrel and the receiver to ensure that it wasn't out of alignment. That is when it started to behave.
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