TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing: 10/22 High Capacity Magazine Reviews

Saturday, March 19, 2016

10/22 High Capacity Magazine Reviews

The Ruger 10/22 is about as reliable a semi-auto rimfire rifle as there has ever been.
The factory supplied 10 round rotary magazines have always proven dependable.
When the first high capacity magazines hit the market that same reliability was not present.
The designs have improved over the years and are still being improved upon.

Most 10/22 owners would like to get reliability from cheap bulk ammunition, so that will be the ammo used for these tests (although I will stick to plated bullets). Luckily I was able to score a few boxes of CCI Mini-Mags at the store the other day.

I had a few 10/22 magazines that I had not used yet (I primarily use the BX25 and Butler Creek Steel Lips magazines).
When High Tower Armory released their new RM25, I decided to order one. It was then I realized that I had two new BX25x2 mags, a Butler Creek Steel Lips Mag (that I plan on dying pink for my daughter) and a Tactical Innovations TI25 that I had not used yet.....this got me to thinking about doing a review of these magazines.

A blog by the name of I Own Guns/A Gun Nerd Talks tested a bunch of 10/22 magazines in August of 2014. His results matched what I had experienced. The two most reliable high capacity 10/22 magazines in the group were the Ruger BX25 and the Butler Creek Steel Lips (see his report here).
He did not however, test the High Tower Armory (it was just released in 2016) nor did he test the BX25x2 (also not available at the time of his test).

This success and low price of these two units has not stopped the competitors from trying to re-invent the wheel.

In this review I will cover the Ruger BX25x2 and discover if it is as reliable as the standard BX25.

I will also review the HC3R magazine system. Which is unique to say the least.

I will include the Tactical Innovations TI25 polymer magazine.

I will also include the Butler Creek Steel Lips magazine, simply as a base-line. The Steel Lips mag was one of the 1st aftermarket high capacity magazines that worked. I also happened to have a brand new one sitting on my work bench....