The online examples of how to open and clean Ruger rotary 10/22 magazines I found seemed to skate over the tricky re-tensioning of the rotary spring, so I am sharing what worked for me today:
Disassembly is simply by undoing the 9/64" end bolt, but to prevent the nut at the other end flying away as the spring unfurls, one finger should press that nut into its case recess as the allen key is rotated at the other side.
I found that the mags were not too clagged and no more than a hard rub with blueroll restored sufficient cleanliness.
Re-assembly is reverse analogy to disassembly and I will just list the sequence rather than all images: place metal "post box" on top of case, insert bolt and hold in place, drop orange coloured splined drum+spring assembly onto bolt and rotate until cartridge guide abuts metal magazine mouth, offer up end-plate, place nut loosely onto protruding spring and rotate until spring arm dogs into nut recess, now bring end plate and nut together so that nut is captive.
The tricky bit...
With one hand keeping the bolt fully homed in the case, the other is now going to rotate the end-plate using it as a spanner to tension the rotary spring. But do not push the nut against the bolt during the tensioning otherwise it will start threading prematurely and will prevent completion of the 2-3 rotations that will deliver sufficient tension. [Brownells say 3-4 rotations...]
Only once you have achieved appropriate pretension, then fully home the endplate onto the case and retighten the bolt to secure.
I kept one unfettled working magazine aside to compare tensions by manual depression of the loading bar. For me, 2 rotations were sufficient. Your mileage may vary...
Disassembly is simply by undoing the 9/64" end bolt, but to prevent the nut at the other end flying away as the spring unfurls, one finger should press that nut into its case recess as the allen key is rotated at the other side.
I found that the mags were not too clagged and no more than a hard rub with blueroll restored sufficient cleanliness.Re-assembly is reverse analogy to disassembly and I will just list the sequence rather than all images: place metal "post box" on top of case, insert bolt and hold in place, drop orange coloured splined drum+spring assembly onto bolt and rotate until cartridge guide abuts metal magazine mouth, offer up end-plate, place nut loosely onto protruding spring and rotate until spring arm dogs into nut recess, now bring end plate and nut together so that nut is captive.
The tricky bit...
With one hand keeping the bolt fully homed in the case, the other is now going to rotate the end-plate using it as a spanner to tension the rotary spring. But do not push the nut against the bolt during the tensioning otherwise it will start threading prematurely and will prevent completion of the 2-3 rotations that will deliver sufficient tension. [Brownells say 3-4 rotations...]
Only once you have achieved appropriate pretension, then fully home the endplate onto the case and retighten the bolt to secure.I kept one unfettled working magazine aside to compare tensions by manual depression of the loading bar. For me, 2 rotations were sufficient. Your mileage may vary...
