Making 22LR & other rimfires more reliable

[Onward Allusion]

I had a Ruger Mark II with the bull barrel and a Ruger Single Six convertible. The Ruger misfired when it was dirty or when using cheap ammo. The Single Six almost never had a misfire. The times that it did, a second strike (after removing the cartridge) would set it off. That went the same with all of my 22LR revolvers. 2nd strikes after rotating the cartridge would set it off. I think I had ONE absolute dud out of the close to 10,000 22LR cartridges in the past 2 years.

SD situations aside, I think 22LR plinking would be much more pleasurable/reliable if the firearms had a different firing pin setup. From personal experience, the expensive stuff are much more reliable, but I am not going to pay close to $10 per box of 50 for 22LR when I can get 9mm for about the same.

ArmedBear

Get a Ruger .22 pistol, and you won't think .22LR is unreliable in a handgun any more.

 

[MCgunner]

I realize that, but I've rented many guns from this particular range to try out, and have rarely had any problems. Maybe it just needed cleaning or new springs, but it's one person's experience, anyway. Some of the larger-caliber semiautomatic handguns there seem to be just as dirty, and if the reason they keep working fine is that they have more recoil to work with, then maybe .22 LR is not the most reliable caliber for that reason, too. I'm not saying that I know what happened, but it's just one anecdotal data point, for what it's worth.

What about other rimfires? Ever tried a Buckmark?

Center fire to rim fire is apples and oranges, though. I don't carry rim fires for primary self defense and I don't go squirrel hunting with a center fire, which is what the .22s do well and spring season opens in east Texas next month. I don't know if I'll find the time, though, to get up there.

Anyway, if all you're intrested in is self defense, don't even worry about .22s, not a defensive caliber. They work pretty well as an also gun in a mini revolver, though.

 

[rmfnla]

A thread after my own heart!

I love little guns; they are easy to conceal (I live in Calif#%&ed-up) and don't require too much stress to carry.

Rim-fires are not reliable enough due to their priming design and poor moisture resistance, and they do not feed reliably (in an auto-loader) due to the rims and lead bullets.

I have mentioned my .25 Beretta Jetfire numerous time in this forum.

9 shots, accurate & reliable. Not impressed? Where would you like to be shot with one?!

 

[Shawn Dodson]

It could be a simple a matter as there being no primer compound in the area where the firing pin strikes.

 

[m2steven]

keep your gun clean and use CCI quality ammo and ammo from Hornady and Winchester which is made by CCI. There is a list of CCI manufactured ammo somewhere in these forums. CCI consistently has the the nicest, smoothest ammo and it does seem to fire every time it's struck. Their super high velocity stuff appears to be made of alumninum casings, and they will bend if you more than force things into a mag. However, as most will tell you, it's really great ammo. I used some cheap winchester DynaPoint and that winchester 333 small brick and it's ok, will generally ignite, but will jam more than the cci. Out of my pistols, it was not very accurate. About 1 flyer in every 5 or 6 from both my ruger 22/45 hunter and S&W 22a. Guns as different as night and day, but both quite reliable. and fun to shoot. The price paid in difference to get the Ruger is certainly worth it, but the take down on the S&W is super easy and fairly standard. It's like pointing and aiming a 2x4(the 22a).

 

[Manco]

What about other rimfires? Ever tried a Buckmark?

No, I haven't tried many different .22 LR handguns yet, although I plan to own at least one.

Anyway, if all you're intrested in is self defense, don't even worry about .22s, not a defensive caliber.

My thought exactly, although they are relatively inexpensive to shoot and just plain fun, especially for beginners. For defensive purposes, I'll generally stick with the usual calibers for that purpose.

They work pretty well as an also gun in a mini revolver, though.

That's one example of why I'm always evaluating different calibers and types of bullets, including .22 LR even now. Premium quality .22 LR ammo seems reliable enough in revolvers, although I consider the caliber too small for self-defense. However, my mom doesn't shoot heavier calibers nearly as well as .22 LR, and she really liked the S&W 617 we rented at the range. I think it's a nice gun but large and weighty for the caliber with a heavy double-action trigger, but she thinks it's absolutely perfect for her. Go figure, I'm twice her size and probably several times as strong as she is, and I think it's too big and hard to shoot. Recoil, however, is a different story. I actually shoot my .40 S&W M&P more accurately than the 617, for various reasons, but she's a lot better with the 617, and even .38 Special seems to be too much for her (i.e. can't make quick and accurate follow-up shots). If she can't get used to .38 Special in medium-frame .357 Magnum revolvers, then what options are left besides resorting to .22 LR? I might have to find some .38 Short Colt ammo or consider trying .32 S&W Long in .327 Magnum revolvers (or maybe a Nagant M1895! ).

 

[MCgunner]

If she doesn't have the trigger finger strength of Atlas, don't even THINK about a Nagant! Even in single action, she probably won't be able to handle it. Besides, the ammo is really weird and somewhat hard to find unless you order it off the net.

Any .327 mag will fire .32 S&W long, not much more than shooting a .22.

 

[Yarddog]

It could be a simple a matter as there being no primer compound in the area where the firing pin strikes.

Shawn Dodson HIT IT ON THE HEAD The very few failures I had was no primer compound
As I hit it at all sides ; )
Y/D

 

[testosterone]

For me it's all ammo.

When I gave up on winchester and remington bulk packs and just started shooting CCI minimags, all reliability problems stopped.

In the last 2 years I've put 25K CCI mini mags though my 10/22's and 22/45 with no failures. Prior, I would have several failures in every 100-200 rounds.

 

[MCgunner]

In my experience, CCI is very good. Bulk ammo like the Federal Lightening not so good. But, I do have guns that fire Federal reliably. Yeah, I'm not real impressed with Remington Thunderbolt either. The reason I like the Federal besides the price is that it's much better than most of the other bulk stuff, or seems to be. It absolutely shoots best in my NAA mini and is reliable if I keep it fresh.

Both my M2 and 10/22 Rugers love running on CCI and occasionally, if rarely, miss a beat on Federal.

 

[wilkersk]

CCI is selling loose 500 round bulk packs of .22lr that seems to be very dirty compared to their other stuff. I had problems with it in my Mk-II after a couple hundred rounds.

Cleaned the pistol and magazines (especially inside the mag tubes, gotta take em apart), and it once again worked flawlessly with the bulk stuff, and the Minimag.

 

[PzGren]

I just looked through a 1969 Shooter's Bible and noticed that a box of Peters .22 l.r. was 90 cents. A Colt Python in blue lists for $ 160.

The .22 l.r. was deveelopped out of the Flobert round which had no powder in it but only primer. Primer is expensive and is poured into the case first.

Next time a .22 l.r. does not go off, pull the bullet and check for even primer flow inside, you will most likely notice that there isn't enough primer in the bottom. If it does not flow inside the rim evenly, it will simply not go off.

This is why turning the cartridge brings better results and more expensive rimfire ammo will give much more reliable ignition.

 

[GLOOB]

I've never had a failure with CCI mini/maxi mags or Federal Auto Match. But I've shot a whole lot more of the Auto Match, due to the price.

 

[Ky Larry]

As was stated earlier, you get what you pay for. With bulk ammo, you get a lot of bang for a little money. But you will not get the reliability and accuracy of more expensive ammo. There's a reason Ely cost more than Thunderbolts. As my 16 y.o. neice would say, "Like, DUHH." Also,keep your guns clean and you will see a marked improvement in reliability. Again,"Like, DUHH."

 

[MCgunner]

Last time I bought Eley match, it was nearly 7 dollars a box of 50. God only knows what it costs now days. RWS target actually works better in some of my guns for 1/3rd less money, 4 something a box at the time, again, haven't bought any in at least 10 years. Eley did convert one old Mossberg M152 .22 auto from a semi okay accurate plinker and gun that has killed a lot of squirrels in my youth, into a friggin' match rifle. I was totally amazed, but it's definitely specialty ammo. But, CCI, while not a target ammo except maybe the green tag stuff, is a lot more affordable and works great, always fires. I still shoot a lot of the bulk pack Federal, but do get an occasional misfire in some guns. It's just all in what you're after, i guess. I have one rifle from my youth, got for my 9th birthday, a Remington M512X bolt gun, that is exceedingly accurate, even with bulk ammo, but RWS target really turns that thing into a 50 yard minute of squirrel's eye gun. That gun has taken a lot of bushy tails over the years, too.

 

[rmfnla]

Shawn Dodson HIT IT ON THE HEAD The very few failures I had was no primer compound
As I hit it at all sides ; )
Y/D

I thought that was apparent.

The manufacturer drops a small pellet of priming mixture into the shell, which is spun to disburse the mixture throughout the rim.

Gaps do happen; it's the Quality Control inspection process that eliminates the duds, and being labor it's expensive. Cheaper ammo has looser QC, ergo more misfires.

 

[TexMexSu]

In an effort to return to affordable shooting we purchased a new Ruger MKIII and Single Six last month.
Having feed them app. 1.700 rounds of assorted ammo in the past 2 weeks I have a total of 17 "bad" ones here.

5-FTF (4 Remington bulk, 1-Federal bulk)
12-FTL (fail to load was in the MKIII. 9 Remington, 3 are Federal)

The MKIII was taken from the box and shot 800 rounds first day then stripped, cleaned and returned to service.

Every round other than the bulk stuff was perfect. No FTL or FTF.

Winchester bulk also has a perfect record to date.

I would love to shoot only the 'good stuff' but when you can get 500+ rounds for under $20.00 I can live with a dud here and there.

 

[searcher451]

I've had far more many misadventures with .22 magazines through the years than I have with bad ammo. In fact, if you use a quality ammo -- Mini-mags come to mind -- you seldom ever run into an issue. Put another way, my .22 Bearcat revolver never has a problem; the doggone thing fires every time, even when I'm using cheap bulk ammo.

 

[jhallrv4]

Interesting thread. As a bullseye shooter, reliability is serious stuff. I had tried many different brands/types of ammo. Then I watched what a top (and I mean TOP) shooter used. He used CCI Standard Velocity. Always. And he always won. So I used Standard Velocity. And I started winning. Now it's all I use. Eley can be more expensive, but I've found it's not more reliable, or more accurate than CCI. And I've also found that Green Tag isn't more relieable or accurate than Standard Velocity. Having said that, some guns require the Mini-Mags to function properly. My wife's Walther P22 did, until I cut off 3/8ths of an inch from her recoil spring, now it likes all the cheap stuff, EXCEPT Remington bulk POS stuff. That stuff is an abomination. They should be ashamed of themselves. I don't care if it's cheap, it's crap. Pure and simple. If your gun digests that stuff, good for you. It's like putting the cheapest mixed source gas in a Mercedes. Just say no.

But hey, that's just my opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it!

Jeff

 

[cubesmoothie]

No, I really don't see the need for the little .22s and .25s. One can carry a full 9x19+P now days quite easily in a pocket and the .380s are as small as the .25s used to be. I made a wallet holster for my .25 years ago and an LCP fits in it perfectly. Why settle for .25 when you can carry .380?
__________________

I may or may not carry a keltec pf-9 in a wallet holster. Depends on the legality

For 22's in a defensive role, stick with cci. Dont mess with the silly stuff, just plink squirrels with it.

 

[Cokeman]

Interesting thread. As a bullseye shooter, reliability is serious stuff. I had tried many different brands/types of ammo. Then I watched what a top (and I mean TOP) shooter used. He used CCI Standard Velocity. Always. And he always won. So I used Standard Velocity. And I started winning. Now it's all I use. Eley can be more expensive, but I've found it's not more reliable, or more accurate than CCI. And I've also found that Green Tag isn't more relieable or accurate than Standard Velocity. Having said that, some guns require the Mini-Mags to function properly. My wife's Walther P22 did, until I cut off 3/8ths of an inch from her recoil spring, now it likes all the cheap stuff, EXCEPT Remington bulk POS stuff. That stuff is an abomination. They should be ashamed of themselves. I don't care if it's cheap, it's crap. Pure and simple. If your gun digests that stuff, good for you. It's like putting the cheapest mixed source gas in a Mercedes. Just say no.

But hey, that's just my opinion, worth exactly what you paid for it!

Jeff

What made you decide to cut the spring?