Bad luck continued!

[Cactus Jack Arizona]

As if having a squib on Saturday in my Bersa Thunder 380 DLX was bad enough, Sunday brought me another round of bad luck at the range. I was at the Bass Pro indoor range with my Walther (Umarex) P22. My P22 has about 200-300 rounds through and it is always kept clean and in good shape.

On my second mag full of .22LR (Winchester Supreme), I pulled the trigger, the gun went bang, the bullet went forward, and I was given a shower of what I assume was unburnt powder. I was hit in the face, just under my nose. Fortunately, it just felt like sand hitting me. The counter guy was watching as it happened and he stopped all shooting and was in there before I knew what had happened.

A few minutes later, we found the casing. It was now a hollow tube as the back end blew completely off. This is why they tell us to where eye protection kiddies. Incidently, we never found the back of the casing.

Anyway, we took my P22 back to the gunsmith at BPS and he had checked and found the head spacing was off. My question is how could this happen? Was it always off? Did it work itself out? If it was off, why did it take so long to cause the problem?

Thanks again guys.

I've never been so glad to see Monday. What a strange weekend.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

My question is how could this happen? Was it always off? Did it work itself out? If it was off, why did it take so long to cause the problem?

That would be a question that the gun smith should have answered. I would have no idea.

Sorry

 

[MutinousDoug]

Sounds to me as if it fired out of battery but, since there are no locking lugs on a .22 auto pistol, it's a little hard to determine.
I would take a fired case, put it in the breech, close the bolt gently so that it doesn't quite seat and see if you can get the firing pin to mark the case rim. Determine the greatest amount of "out of battery" where this can occur and decide if that could be your problem. Personally, I'd expect an auto pistol not to mark the primer unless the bolt face is in contact with the breech face but I am unfamiliar with the Walther P22.