[Dilettante]

My first gun, a Browning Buckmark. I was going to pick it up Tuesday, but I hurt my wrist, so I ended up getting it Friday. Went for first shooting yesterday.

Being the naive newbie I am, I didn't give it a thorough cleaning beforehand. :rolleyes:

It misfired at least 3 times. Once it got a round stuck in the chamber and I had to borrow a cleaning rod to :eek:gently:eek: tap it out of the chamber.

There's a lot of this stuff that I haven't done before, and I don't know when to be scared and when not to be. Sometimes I'm amazed by the casual attitude of people more used to guns.

I was thinking of taking it to a smith for a thorough check and a walk-through cleaning, but this afternoon I took out the cleaning kit that I bought with the gun.
I'm wondering if I should have gone to the smith. I'm not sure I disassembled it properly, and I might need help putting it back together. I don't think the slide was supposed to come all the way off (at first it didn't). Some other parts seem to be stuck in position.

Once I got the slide open for cleaning, I put solvent on the brush and tried to get it in. It must have been filthy in there. I eventually managed to squeeze the brush in, and then I couldn't get it out. I tugged and tugged and scraped my left hand when it finally came out. Just what I need, lead and gun cleaner in the bloodstream. :)

It was so hard to get the brush in and out (even from the front) that I took some twine, lowered it through the barrel, and rubbed it around to see if I could get a start that way.
Then I put some solvent on the twine, which ate the twine pretty quickly. I tried some Q-tips, which may have helped, and then I slid the brush in slowly from the front (muzzle) side.

After brushing it through from the muzzle side, I tried the chamber side again, very slowly, and I was gradually able to get it moving in and out with less resistance. (We'd better not tell antis about the sexual connotations of gun maintenance.)

Eventually it was possible to finish cleaning as per instructions. I haven't tried putting the slide back on yet.

I hope that later cleanings will be easier. :scrutiny:

Should I still take it in to that smith on Wednesday? He offered to check it and walk me through cleaning for about $30. I suspect the sights are badly adjusted too, and it might be smart to have someone show me around it.

[hksw]

If it is a brand new brush, it will be stick to push/pull through for the initial few times. When you push or pull the brush through, go all the way for the entire length until you come through the other side. Then pull it back through. Some folks only go one way throug hthe bore but others, like myself, will run the brush through both ways.

Usually not a good idea to change directions of the brush while in the barrel. Might want to check out the Bore Snakes. For beginners, it makes work much easier and faster.

Sounds like you're doing OK. Just read the manual and keep track of what you take off and in what order. Get yourself a set of gunsmithing screwdrivers to prevent marring the slots of the screws. Keep an eye on that top sight rib for looseness when shooting.

[10-Ring]

You should be fine. Just follow the disassembly instructions in your owner's manual & you'll be okay. If you still have problems, ask one of the guys to show you how to field strip it at the shop you purchased the gun. Once you get it right, take it apart & assemble it a couple of times so you don't forget!
Good luck, contrats & have fun :D

[Justin]

A couple of things you might consider:

1) You might try a bore snake for cleaning the bore. They really do work well, and quickly, too.

2)Look into taking an NRA basic pistol course. The course will cover the basics of not only gun safety and handling, but also cleaning and maintenance.

3) Last but not least, don't forget to have a good time when you go to the range. (But of course, be safe!) :)

Usually once you've taken a pistol apart and put it back together you can run a function check to make sure that it's all back together properly. (For example, if you re-assemble a Ruger Mark 2 improperly you can't retract the slide.) The Buckmark probably has some things similar to this. Hopefully your instruction manual will cover this.

If not, feel free to post questions in here any time you're not sure about something.

[Dave Markowitz]

Excellent choice for a first gun. The Buckmark is a fine pistol, very accurate, and should last you a long time.

I ASSume that the brush you referred to was a bore brush. For future reference, there's generally no need to use a bore brush in a .22. At most, run a wet patch or two down the bore after shooting, followed by a dry patch, then oil the bore. A lot of guys don't even clean the bores on their .22s after a range session, feeling it does more harm than good with the rimfires. I vaciliate between the two postions on cleaning .22 bores. :scrutiny:

I recently picked up a couple of Hoppe's BoreSnakes, one of which is for .22 rifles but works just fine for pistols. I think that a BoreSnake may just be the way to go for cleaning a .22 rimfire. They are gentle on the bore and crown, and get enough of the gunk out.

Yesterday after I put a bunch of somewhat Winchester XPert .22s through my Winchester 9422, I cleaned the bore with a BoreSnake on which I put a few drops of Kroil towards the front. The bore was clean in just a couple passes.

[Standing Wolf]

I don't think the slide was supposed to come all the way off (at first it didn't).

A semi-automatic pistol's slide is always removable. Removing and replacing it without damage necessitates reading the manual that comes with the gun.

[Dilettante]

Well, I got a couple of extra hours that I didn't think I'd have, and I managed to put it back together. The range is closed, so I haven't actually fired it yet, but there was nothing wrong with the slide and it seems to work just fine now.
The manual isn't quite as complete as I'd hoped. For example, after checking the bore and chamber 7000 times, I pulled the trigger in order to see what happens inside when you pull the trigger. :evil: What happened was that a big piece of metal came up from inside the handle. What is this part called? Anyway, it was kind of stuck there, and it made it harder to put the slide back on. (Of course it goes down once you pull the slide back. I guess that means that I could have pulled in the same direction and gotten it to go back in the handle, but I didn't feel like being that rough on my poor fingers.)

Thanks for all the help. I'm looking forward to trying this out again.

Where do you get a boresnake?

[P95Carry]

The ''big piece'' would have been the hammer .... it's energy providing the necessary impetus to drive the firing pin forward .. that in turn impacting on the cartridge rim to initiate firing. It is generally easier and best with most autos to have hammer cocked for reassembly of slide .. makes things way easier.:)

[Ky Larry]

Most gun shops carry Bore Snakes. Try the shop where you bought the gun. Shoot well and often.

[Dilettante]

Damn! Does that mean I didn't really have to take the $&%! thing apart?:banghead:

[hksw]

For the Buckmark, since the loading area is realtively open on both sides, you can get away with not taking the slide off but you'll have to either brush from the muzzle using a rod and a short brush or find a Bore Snake whose lead is short enough to feed through the port. Some folk never run a brush down the bore of .22 lr guns. You won't be able to get to all of the nooks and crannies of the receiver for thorough cleaning without removing the slide but a little dirt never hurt.

[Dilettante]

Well, neither did learning how to disassemble and reassamble! :)
OK, I'm lying. Actually it did hurt a bit. But it was worth it. :)

[Dilettante]

I took it out today for the first time since the cleaning.

One round stuck, but I think it might have been defective.

After 60 or 70 rounds, I started having a different problem. I had some misfires, and the extractor didn't always remove them, so I took them out by hand.

I also noticed that rounds right out of the magazine didn't want to go in the chamber; they were coming out at funny angles and getting stuck behind the barrel.

I think the thing in the middle of the slide should slip back as the cartridge goes into the chamber. But right now, it doesn't.

Did I screw up something by my inexperienced reassembly?

There is one thing that I *know* I did wrong, which is that I removed some of the grease from the slide. I oiled the slide to try to make up for it, but I don't have any good grease, and I don't know how much oil the slide needs.

[P95Carry]

Last thing first!

Grease/oil ...... NOT mandatory for adequate operation ..... an excess of either is BAD. Lube of slide and other moving parts should minimal .... only enough to have a slight film of lube. .22's are very dirty rounds by and large and too much lube is a great way to attract crud!!

If extractor would not remove FTF's then that suggests bolt was not closing fully .... which both prejudices the function of firing pin as case rim maybe not bedded against the breech face (acts as an anvil) ....... likewise this would mean the the extractor claw was not getting round to the front of the rim ready for extraction to succeed.

Hard to tell why ....... particularly if everything is clean. Unless the ammo was very weak stuff .... and cycling inadequate .... or is main spring too strong. You would need a full slide excursion to get good ejection, good round feed and bolt closure ... every time.

Seems also a mag issue perhaps ... is it engaging properly in mag well ... is catch holding it properly. Are mag lips showing any damage or distortion?

Ya know ... strikes me you might well benefit from letting someone with experience ... gunsmith even (good one) take a real hard look at this piece.

[JCM298]

I traded a Ruger .22 for a Buckmark because I had so much trouble getting the Ruger back together after a complete cleaning. That was in `85.

The Browning is a lot easier. Be carefull with the rubber bumper at the rear of the recoil spring guide. It tends to come out when you take the slide off.
When you decide to take the grips off, take care: springs will come out but they are easy to re-install. I know the directions say not to remove the grips BUT, trust me, you will.

Mine is ammo sensative, like most .22's. I found that CCI Mini-mags work best.

John

[hksw]

Sounds to me that the top sight rib (strap) has come loose. The top rib of my Standard came loose one time during a session and I was getting firing pin hits farther out to the rim of the cartridge causing misfires, the empties occassionally not ejecting, and the rounds occassionally misfeeding up the ramp. Didn't notice the loose top until I got it home for cleaning.

[Dilettante]

Well I finally got it in to the smith. He showed me that I hadn't tightened the back sight enough. (My hex key wasn't quite the right diameter.)
He tightened the bolt, gave me the right size hex key, and sold me some better ammo. Then I took it over and had a nice, quick shooting session with no problems at all.

[wardog]

Congrats! Nice Pistol. If you get a chance to pick up some plastic Ram-line magazines for it, DON'T!!