Volquartsen custom 10/22 report

A

Andrew

New member
After a week of waiting for a nice day, I finally got to take my new Volquartsen 10/22 to the range today.

I was very impressed. It is the most accurate .22 I have ever shot. At 50yds, it easily put 5 shot groups into 1/2 inch, with quite a few one-holers as small as 1/4" center to center.

It was not without it's problems though, but I think the problems were all due to ammo and fouling.

I had a box of Federal Gold Medal match, a box of Eley match Xtra black box and a brick of Winchester T-22.

The Federal performed flawlessly and was quite accurate in the rifle. The Eley ammo, which was the most expensive ammo of the three, sucked. It jammed every time, probably because of the waxy lubricant glop on the bullet. The Winchester T-22 was as accurate if not more accurate than the Federal, but it started to jam occasionally after about 150 rounds.
 
Yes. I used 40 of the Federal at the beginning, alternating with the other two. After I had shot about 150-200 rounds of T-22, I fired off the 10 Federals I had left with not jams. To be fair, I only shot 50 of the Federal during the day, and I shot a half a brick of Winchester, so I don't know if it would have been different if I fired more. Next time I go I'm going to buy a brick of Federal Gold Medal target (not the same as the match, but it should perform similarly).

Be careful with the T-22 and bring a rod if you use it. I had two bad jams whre the round stuck in the chamber and would not fire. The first time it happened, I asked one of the range officers to help (bad idea). He used a crappy brass rod that obviously touched the sides of the bore making me wince like someone stuck a needle in my eye. Luckily, I don't think it damaged the bore, as the group sizes remained the same. Also, brass is softer than steel.

BTW: The last few times, I have had absolutely no trouble with putting the bolt back in during reassembly. I don't know what I was doing wrong that first time, but now all I do is put the bolt in, jiggle the bolt handle (like flushing a toilet :) ) and it seats properly every time.
 
Andrew San, You are learning the way! Remember I told you that I might not have a match chamber on my barrel. Lube build up on the ramp could cause many a problem while a clean round or so could clear it up for you.
When putting your finger on the sweet spot to jiggle the bolt handle you should not refer to toilet maintenance.
Keep us posted!
Hank
 
I don't have a match chamber either, I have a target chamber. If you didn't specify a match chamber and what ammo you want to use when you ordered your rifle, you have a target chamber too. When I ordered mine, Scott Volquartsen told me that the match chambers are cut to a specific ammo and will not function well with others. Still the target chamber is a lot tighter than a factory chamber, but that is part of why the rifle is accurate. Most custom guns sacrifice a bit of reliability for accuracy.

Guess you didn't enjoy the toilet reference. :)
 
Andrew, I was just thinking of a better paraphrase. I have used quite a variety of ammo in mine and never had to resort to using a cleaning rod to clear a jam although I have nevr tried the T-22 and after hearing of your problems probably won't. Sounds to me like you have a great rig once you figure out what she likes to be fed.
Best to you!
Hank
 
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