Dry Lube on a Ruger 10/22?

[RG1911]

I just spent a fair amount of time (again) cleaning oily grunge out of the bolt, receiver, trigger group, etc. of my 10/22. The combination of dirty .22LR ammo and oil for the bolt actually stopped the rifle from cycling after about 200 rounds. This wouldn't be such an annoyance, except the Ruger has to be almost completely disassembled. Even though I use a torque wrench to tighten the action bolt, I don't like doing so after every match.

Does anyone successfully use a dry lube on the 10/22 (or another .22 semi-auto)? Many many years ago, I remember using a product called Dri-Slide on the close-fitting toggle of my Lugers. It seemed to work on steel-against-steel. I'm not sure how well something similar would work on the steel-against-alloy of the Ruger.

Thank you.

Richard

[GhostHawk]

First I would change ammo. Whatever you are using is making a mess.

I have run mine for up to a decade without cleaning.

I used to run a brick every week all summer long. Cleaned once once I was done shooting for the year.

I absolutely will not buy Remington ammo anymore.

CCI Mini mag's is my prefered load, or Winchester super x.

I have been working slowly though a brick of Blazer lead nose with no problems, seems to function well and no gunk problems.

Next up are 3 bricks of Armscor. Jury still out on them, we'll see what the Rugers have to say.
1 10/22 from early 70's (walnut stock) 2 Ruger Mk 3 22/45's one with target sights, one with Red Dot both 6". Target sights one is stainless and black, the other one is all black.

Pistols have been getting shot some. 10/22 has been cleaned, wiped down with oil and is waiting for grandkids to grow up.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I use Liquid Wrench Teflon lube on my 10-22, it works well for me. You are still going to get gunk in your receiver, just the nature of the beast.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I use balistol, don't run it wet like an ar15, clean it up with carb cleaner and lube the bolt with that once after cleaning and let her eat.

[Big Dangle]

I had the same issues in a Marlin 60, the Remmy bullets were real dirty and shave lead off and I was getting stoppages as early as 50 rounds. After I got it all cleaned up with gun scrubber I tried some CCI in that rifle and its much much better.
As far as lube I still use hoppes just a drop where bolt moves.
I've seen alot of people with the same issues with different .22's, people definitely over do the lube on .22s.

[tja6435]

I've had my ar15 bolt coated with the Cerakote Microslick. I intend to do the same with my 10/22 bolts so I can run them without lube. The microslick worked wonders on the ar15 bolt carrier and got it running 100%

[RG1911]

The Cerakote Microslick sounds interesting. I'll have to investigate.

I appreciate all the suggestions. Part of the problem is that it's my match rifle and it likes Lapua Midas + by a wide margin. Plated bullets probably would cut down quite a bit of the fouling, but by the time they reach 225 yards, they're not anywhere near the 6-inch target.

Cheers,
Richard

[Treeman]

I am curious. You said this is your match rifle. Does it have a match chamber? 10/22s typically run a long time without cleaning but I am imagining that you have a chamber which the bolt has to drive the bullet into the lands.....in which case it take every bit of energy available and any extra drag is a problem. Dry lube may help. I have had good results in some applications with Elmer's Slide All (Teflon in a fast evaporating carrier) On the other hand running very wet and wiping out and rewetting without disassembly may be the answer to keeping you running. I also wonder(without any experience to help with an answer) whether a polymer action buffer might actually help add the tiny bit of bolt return velocity needed to runn longer between cleanings.

[RG1911]

I am curious. You said this is your match rifle. Does it have a match chamber?

Among other improvements, it has the polymer buffer and a Kidd barrel with a match chamber. I haven't noticed any signs of bullets being pushed into the rifling, but I haven't looked specifically for that. Shall check.

I'll have to try some of the Elmer's Slide All. Thank you for the suggestion.

Cheers,
Richard

[Forrest r]

Been using this since 2008 on and in all my firearms bolts & firing pins.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/waxlube.jpg (http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/waxlube.jpg.html)

It's actually a dry lube for bike chains. It does extremely well in firearms, hot or cold weather. I actually started using it when I set the bbl back and re-cut a true match chamber for a 10-22 bbl. Did the bbl, reworked the trigger, got a lighter recoil spring and pinned the fp. Everything liked to be run wet and I ended up with allot gunk like you're describing. Tried the silicone spray that dried and left a film. It did ok, just didn't care for it much.

Bottles of the krytech chain lube can be found for around $6 a 4oz bottle. Wal-mart sells a different brand of dry chain lube for around $5 a 4oz bottle. And wd-40 started selling thier version of a dry chain lube for around $9 a 4oz bottle.

Just something different to consider.

[RG1911]

Been using this since 2008 on and in all my firearms bolts & firing pins.


Where was this when I was removing the chain and soaking it in 90-weight gear oil (in the oven) and then returning the dripping mess to my bike?

I will look for this and give it a try.

Thank you,
Richard

[30calflash]

I've been using a spray graphite on my stock 10-22 for a while. The reason being if caught in the rain for a prolong exposure the action being well oiled would start to gum up pretty badly.

Took the rifle down as you mentioned, cleaned well and sprayed 2 coats to the bolt assy and receiver areas where contact was noted. No liquids at all after the carrier in the dry lube evaporated.

The end result is the rifle functions well with minimal maintenance. It hasn't been caught in the rain so I've been letting it run as is. Some occasional functioning issues but seems to change with a change in ammo. Win HV a big culprit here. All other HV ammo and even CCI std run well.

If it were to get wet I'd probably strip it down and go thru the motions again. YMMV.