10/22 Extractor

Geezer

Geezer

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I have a new to me 10/22 that I'm tinkering with. I keep seeing many people say to change the extractor to Volquartsen, Kidd, etc. Seriously, is this something to consider or wait until the stock extractor has some wear and tear? I understand that it's an inexpensive part and easy to change, but it is necessary?
 
Geezer said:
I have a new to me 10/22 that I'm tinkering with. I keep seeing many people say to change the extractor to Volquartsen, Kidd, etc. Seriously, is this something to consider or wait until the stock extractor has some wear and tear? I understand that it's an inexpensive part and easy to change, but it is necessary?
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Do you shoot any competitions with the 10/22?
 
The geometry of the Ruger extractor almost always leaves you wanting. They just don't have enough grip to reliably snatch empties out. I generally replace them out of habit, but I also shoot my 10/22s in competition and FTEs are time sucks.

If you really want to tinker there are instructions online about how to adjust the angle and sharpen the factory extractor. If you screw it up you're only out some time and the seven or eight bucks a new extractor costs.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 
If you use the rifle for anything other than plinking its wise to replace the extractor on a 10/22, its makes a big difference.
 
OK, thanks guys. I don't do competitions. I do want a gun that works all the time. I'll go ahead and get a good extractor to have on hand for when/if this one ever gives up.
 
Geezer said:
OK, thanks guys. I don't do competitions. I do want a gun that works all the time. I'll go ahead and get a good extractor to have on hand for when/if this one ever gives up.
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I just ordered the extractor, a buffer and the spring and rod set from Kidd all for under $50 I think. Simple changes to get the most you can out of the rifle.
 
If you upgrade your extractor you should just go ahead and do the firing pin too. That way your whole bolt is upgraded. As you have noticed, the parts are very inexpensive and they do make the 10/22 run more reliably. I have a little bag of spare KIDD parts & springs.
 
I've had one for about 9 months. Everybody including me shoots it and I clean it. It's the one I take to the range when we have visitors that want to shoot. They all seem to want to! Thousands of rounds through that basic carbine. Not a single failure to do anything. Any ammo, all the time.

I understand the desire to customize something, but jeez, you could buy a new 10/22 for what some of this stuff costs. A much nicer one than the carbine. Some stuff, if you add a few pennies, you could get a M&P 15-22 Sport if you absolutely have to have a wannabe AR.

I will admit to giving serious consideration to the extended mag release, and I did put an aftermarket rail on it. A deeper slot that allows use of the irons with a scope mounted. Just last night as a matter of fact.

Added -
I decided to add that I'm not discounting the practice of having spare parts, etc. Sorry if anyone was offended. Didn't mean to. Everyone should do what they want with their toys. I had a car when I was a kid that had a stereo and speakers worth several times the value of the car.
 
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After having FTEs on many different brands of ammo, i replaced the one on my 97 model with a VQ. Runs like a champ with everything now. My buddies 60s era 10-22 was missing its extractor so I put my old one in it, and it runs fine. So....its $12. I call it upgraded
 
I started having issues with extraction after a little bit of suppressed shooting. Did the really simple extractor mod (filing a little metal away) and it took care of the issues.

I also learned that cleaning the rotary mag is a "thing" too if you shoot suppressed. Lol.

CHRIS
 
I've owned several 10/22s. Many different models. I don't shoot competition, but I have never had extraction problems, that was the fault of the extractor. As CrashTestDummy said, there are on-line instructions to alter your factory extractor, if you think it needs it..

Once you start replacing parts on a 10/22, you have just jumped onto the "slippery slope". The one thing I have done to any 10/22 that winds up in my hands, is to replace the hammer with a Volquartsen hammer. That mod is the best bang for the buck. If you like decent trigger pulls.
 
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IMO:
Depends a lot on the particular gun. I imagine out of sheer numbers you are going to get better ones. Older guns seem to have better steel in them, which seems typical for most stuff. A basic Buck knife is not the same as the Buck knives we had in the 70's, for example.

A lot of guns will be fine for a couple thousand rounds. Many people just shoot a couple hundred and go home and clean it. To some folks, this is a lot of shooting.
For somebody practicing for a rimfire match (that can be 250 rounds itself), they might shoot several thousand in a week. And, they are getting their gun hot and dirty and running it hard.

I've had three .22's that I have put many many thousands through, and they all used that same Ruger extractor (10/22 is same as Mark pistols) and they all were fine at first.
The first two guns both got to the point where they had ext issues. The third gun I replaced it before I even shot the gun, as I had learned by then.
Now, these issues are not issues for some people. They just jack another round in and its all good, as they are just shooting paper or something. But 2-3 issues in 100 rounds will destroy a match in a hurry, or let that squirrel off the hook.

It would be the first thing I replaced in a Mark2-4 or a 10/22 if I were to buy one. Because I know I will have to anyway.
 
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I've only had extraction issues with tighter chambered barrels, like Green Mountain bull barrels. They can get harder to extract when a factory barrel with a looser chamber will keep running (which is not an accident :D ). I "only" have three 10/22 rifles, so I just replaced the extractors on them all so I don't have to worry about it. Actually, I had Que work his magic on those bolts - pin, radius, and extractor replacement. I can replace an extractor and radius a bolt very easily, but I didn't want to bother with pinning at the time, so I just had him do it all done at once.
 
If your 10/22 is running properly, why not spend money on ammo instead? all of those little upgrades add up quick and do not do anything to improve the shooter/gun. And you might end up with a gun that runs worse than stock. Been there, done that and won't do it again.
 
Magdump said:
If your 10/22 is running properly, why not spend money on ammo instead? all of those little upgrades add up quick and do not do anything to improve the shooter/gun. And you might end up with a gun that runs worse than stock. Been there, done that and won't do it again.
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I tend to agree with this in general.

But if you were to poll competition/high round count 10/22 shooters around the country I bet 90% or greater change the extractor. It is a very well known issue.
So, imo, it can certainly improve the performance of the gun.
 
Five minutes with a small file and some patience, and your stock extractor will work just like the aftermarkets.
 
lowspeed said:
Five minutes with a small file and some patience, and your stock extractor will work just like the aftermarkets.
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For a little while it will. Then it will fail again.

I know this from doing several like that myself.
 
lowspeed said:
I've not had any issues with the ones that I've tuned.
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Cool glad it worked for you.
How many rounds did you fire before you had to "retune" (fix) it? If you had to do it, it means you are going to have to do it again. Because it is crap stamped metal.

If it wasn't a problem, it would not need to be fixed.

My fix is to spend 11.00$ for a Kidd and never have to worry about it again.
 
But, if you are only shooting a couple hundred or thousand rounds a year, that solution (resharpening the claw) will be fine.
Like Chilly asked right out of the gate: the use drives the required reliability.
 
Yeah as NKD has said, round count is everything. I shoot my Rimfire guns to the point that I wear out some of the parts.

Springs of all sorts, firing pins, extractors, are things that I have to replace on a regular basis. You can file things and improve the angle. You can file things like firing pins to reduce surface area and perhaps get consistent ignition. For a while. But you can't really put metal back on. Things peen or lose their ideal geometry and will need to be replaced.

My preference is a Kidd extractor when it comes to 10/22s. I've used Power Custom, Volquartsen, and others.

My perspective is probably a little different though. In a year I shoot more rimfire than most shooters do in a decade.
 
Geezer said:
OK, thanks guys. I don't do competitions. I do want a gun that works all the time. I'll go ahead and get a good extractor to have on hand for when/if this one ever gives up.
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A good call. You'll be glad you did. :)
 
Studentofthegun said:
Yeah as NKD has said, round count is everything. I shoot my Rimfire guns to the point that I wear out some of the parts.

Springs of all sorts, firing pins, extractors, are things that I have to replace on a regular basis. You can file things and improve the angle. You can file things like firing pins to reduce surface area and perhaps get consistent ignition. For a while. But you can't really put metal back on. Things peen or lose their ideal geometry and will need to be replaced.

My preference is a Kidd extractor when it comes to 10/22s. I've used Power Custom, Volquartsen, and others.

My perspective is probably a little different though. In a year I shoot more rimfire than most shooters do in a decade.
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Going to hijack this thread a bit - what's your schedule like for changing out the diff parts on your rimfire stuff? I'm coming up to a year of pretty heavy use on my limited rifle and just wondering when (and what) stuff will start breaking.
 
Geerubb said:
Going to hijack this thread a bit - what's your schedule like for changing out the diff parts on your rimfire stuff? I'm coming up to a year of pretty heavy use on my limited rifle and just wondering when (and what) stuff will start breaking.
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I typically shoot until I start getting issues. Then and only then do I change up the parts. If everything is running well, I leave it alone.

I've got some parts in particular guns that seem to get consumed. It's kinda strange. My old Open pistol used to go through extractors like crazy, but my old Limited gun did not. Right before I switched to VQ pistols, the Limited inenhad a few hiccups. I measured the firing pin and found it was a few thousandths short. And I found a burr on the extractor. So I just swapped them out and it ran great. Then I sold it.

So firing pins, especially the titanium ones, tend to peen a little bit. I finally figured that out and now I no longer dry fire any of my 22s without a dummy round.

Extractors are often an issue. I swear I think some companies are just incapable of making them to spec. This one time I bought four of them from the same place for a 22/45. Two of them were so out of spec they wouldn't even work. Others work fine, then get s little wear on them and stop working.

One of the things that caused me issues is an out of spec pistol upper. But that's a story for another time.

The firing pin return spring is one that will give you a fit too. I've broken three of them.
 
I bought my 10/22 when I was 18, in 1984. I've modified/replaced almost everything. I installed a VQ Bentz chambered barrel in '94 and only replaced the extractor a year ago.
Modification #1 on a Ruger 22- the trigger.
 
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