[John Henry]

My Ruger 10/22 .... box, stock .... holds pretty good groups .... 'bout a nickle size group at 50 yards .... EXCEPT the 1st shot out of any one of my 4 mags., if I "rack" the 1st round by hand (no, I don't "ride" the bolt forward). A "hand-racked" round will strike about an inch low and 2 inches to the left.

If I don't shoot the mag. dry and replace it with a full mag. while there is a round in the chamber the rifle maintains it's nickle sized group.

If I hand load the chamber and drop the bolt forward, that round will strike just fine and the rounds in the mag. will strike with the group.

Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.

[Grayfox]

It may be possable that a fully loaded mag adds just a touch more spring tension and as a result that first round feeds at a slightly different angle. It may be bumping somewhere and deforming the nose slightly. Take a fully loaded magazine and rack in the first round. Then eject the unfired round and carefully examine it for damage. Also try loading the mags to less than full capcity and see if the first round problem still occurs.

[TYRVR]

Ah! A Mystery! I love Mystery's, I suspect that the case crush on the rim is the culprit that's stealing Your accuracy,when You pull the bolt back and release to feed the first round, it does not have the same momentum as when fired and is not applying the same force on the rim, most match rifles have built in case crush,somewhere between .002-.004 this is very important to consistency,rim thickness varys from lot to lot, and that is why when A "match" shooter finds an accurate lot of ammo, He buys as much as available. easy check, Mic the rims of the first case from stripping by hand, and A second round that is cycled from firing but not fired ,if there is couple thousandths difference, Mystery sol-ved,
Tye Closeau, the Theorist,

[ 11-10-2001: Message edited by: TYRVR ]

[John Henry]

G.F. .... great minds! I tried the partial mag. approach .... makes no difference. First round still "flys".

Let's assume I'm having the "case crush" problem (0.001/0.004 inches deformation) how do I correct it .... or, do I always hand load the chamber when changing mags?

Anyone else living with this type of problem?

O' course this DOES help explain why I missed 3 groundhogs this summer at 100 to 150 yards.

[ 11-11-2001: Message edited by: John Henry ]

[TYRVR]

I guess You could try the old time Garand shooters method for the first round and "Bump the Bolt", that is take the heel of the hand and "bump"the bolt forward after chambering first round, funny,hadn't seen that done or heard of anyone doing it in many years,I'm OLD!
seriously, might get A slightly stronger bolt return spring and when loading first round let bolt slam forward without cushioning it.
Now, as to the missing of Ground hogs at 150yards? I suspect loose nut somewhere behind the butt plate,