.22 LR problems

[Gadsden]

I recently inherited two old .22s and both have slight problems. Both were poorly kept for a long time. I gave both a good cleaning and lube and got off most of the surface rust. They cleaned up pretty good and it'll be a shame if I can't get them to shoot right.

The first one is a Marlin, Glenfield Model 25, bolt action. If I load a magazine, I can cycle all eight rounds through just fine. All eight go into the chamber and eject just like they should. When I fire a round, though, the empty cartridge will not extract. I have to pry it out with a knife blade. The next round strips off the magazine, but will not feed into the chamber. Please tell me what to do about it.

The other one is a Winchester Model 290, semi-auto. It misfires every couple of rounds. My guess is that the hammer spring is weak. The firing pin dings the primer, the round fires if fed through again. Am I right?
Thanks for any help.

 

[30-06 lover]

"When I fire a round, though, the empty cartridge will not extract. I have to pry it out with a knife blade."


I had that problem with my 308. My chamber was full of gunk and rust. It is hard to clean the chamber of a rifle cause brushes are for the bore. I would buy some wipe-out bore foam and let it sit in the chamber too. Clean it with Q-tips and see if that works...it did for my rifle.
-Mike

 

[Car Knocker]

It is hard to clean the chamber of a rifle cause brushes are for the bore.

Use a bore brush for a larger caliber. I bet a .25 bore brush would fit that .22 chamber nicely.

 

[Lon371]

I was having problems with ejecting. I had to switch brands of ammo. Some of it has way to much wax. I have an old Winchester 190 semi. It rarely gets cleaned (have 13 year boy who loves to shoot) I am using Federals now. It very seldom has problems feeding firing or ejecting. Good luck.

 

[Plink]

Try scrubbing the chamber. While you're looking at the chamber, take a close look to see if there is a firing pin dent near it. I don't remember if those have captive pins or not, but if they don't, dry firing could have made a dent. The dent can push enough metal into the chamber area to cause problems. If you see a dent, you can get a chamber ironing tool from www.brownells.com or take it to a smith to have it ironed.

Also take a close look at the edge of the extractor. It should be sharp, without any chips or wear. If you see wear or chips, it needs replaced. If all looks ok, then clean the daylights out of the extractor and it's spring if it has one. Gunk around the extractor causes a lot of those kind of problems. The feeding problem could be related to either of these also.

As for the Winchester not firing. Examine the brass. Is the firing pin indention deep or very shallow? It could be ammo related, or crud/rust around the firing pin could be slowing it or causing it not to protrude enough. Since you said both guns were poorly kept, I'd suspect hidden crud that a more thorough detailed cleaning would remove.

 

[deerslayer685]

the problem with the marlin/glenfeild is probably the chamber is rough or derty.

The winchester could just be extremly dirty inside. i had the same problem with a marlin 336 and after theraly cleaning the guts of the gun the problem went away