fouling in barrel of Walther p22?

[ndolson]

I got a P22 awhile back, shot it once maybe 50 rds and put it back in the safe w/o cleaning it. Maybe a month later, I take it out for it's second round of shooting, this time putting 100 rds of Thunderbolts through it. When I cleaned it this time (the first time remember) I noticed there was some sort of "buildup" in the end of the barrel by the muzzle. It was the color of metal or lead, I was worried maybe I had damaged the inside of the barrel while cleaning it and that was bare metal I was looking at. Either that, or there was lead built up (after just 150 rds?) at the end of the barrel that I could not get out with my tiny bronze brush, Hoppes #9, and cleaning patches.

Is it possible I damaged the inside or is that most l ikely lead? If I gently scrape it with something, it appears I can "chip" some of it off.

I'm worriied...

 

[evan price]

Most likely this is just excess lead from the bullet forcing itself through the barrel. Some bullets tend to not be perfectly round. The shaved off lead deposits at the throat.

 

[ndolson]

so how does one go about safely removing it?

 

[possum]

so how does one go about safely removing it?

get some good lead remover like shooters choice or other lead remover solvent.

btw my buddy had the same thing happen to him there was some serious build up on his barrel as well in the p22. the lead remover worked like it is supposed to and got it out. i would suggest that you clean it out about every 100rds though or there will be issues getting the brush through the barrel it really gets that bad.

 

[FieroCDSP]

I really wasn't impressed with the reliability of the lead-nose rounds. The copper plateds (CCI) or dusted (Remington Golden Bullets) seem to feed a lot better in mine. You might also check to make sure your barrel lug o nthe end is secured tight. If you fancy yourself a bit of a gunsmith, the P22 Bible has a lot of tips on how to improve the P22 from factory to reliable (note that there IS a difference). Little things like reducing wear on the slide, reducing the amount of force needed to cycle the slide for better feed reliability, etc.

Anyone who wants it can PM me. It's in PDF, so Dial-up be warned.

 

[Phydeaux642]

I bought a P22 earlier this year to plink with, also. The first time out I noticed how poorly it was grouping at seven yards, and after 100-200 rounds the gun wouldn't hit an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper at three yards (this was the range master shooting it after I noticed the problem). He looked at the gun and noticed a burr or something like you are describing on the end of the barrel and suggested that I sen it back to Smith and Wesson, which I did. I got it back three weeks later and they had replaced the barrel and said that I needed to switch to a different ammo to decrease lead build-up.

What really irratates me is the fact that I asked several gun shops about the P22 and they all said that you can shoot anything at all through them with no problems. Now, S&W tells me to shoot high dollar ammo to keep it working?
The whole idea for me was to have something cheap to shoot. It has left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I have only shot the gun once since I got it back. The shop where I purchased it seemed very unconcerned about the problem and told me to take care of it myself. Needless to say, I found a new shop to buy from.

____________________

"Phydeaux, bad dog....no biscuit!"

 

[atblis]

Thunderbolts

Most likely the Thunderbolts leaded up the barrel. I had a box of those make a 22 pistol unshootable within a few clips.

 

[Jim Watson]

Agreed. Cheap Remington Thunderbolts were the sorriest .22s I ever had. Leaded up my Ace to the point of keyholing.

I don't know how well the copper Choreboy mesh will work on a .22, but it is a good lead cleaner for larger calibers and is worth a try. Unravel the pad and wrap some around a bore brush and scrub, scrub, scrub.

 

[mejeepnut]

Winchester Experts leaded my p22 bad but nothing else has.I just used a regular bronze brush and some Butch's bore shine I think.As far as what to shoot in your gun try almost everything else.Federal bulk packs and Winchester dyna-point bulk packs from wally world are cheap and work well,I am not a fan of Remingtion rimfire bulk pack ammo(golden bullets) but you may like it and it is also cheap at wally world.CCI,Aguila and Wolf ammo also works very well in my gun,I get a little more accuracy and still very dependable.
One thing I did do to my P22 is rounded off and polished the top of the hammer were it rubs on the slide.I could not fire the slower ammo until I did this,it would not cycle the slide.Now it cycles everything.