Rimire Feeding Issue: 2nd round Fails to Feed

[LoneStarWings]

Hi,

Just got a brand new S&W 22a .22lr pistol. The pistol came with two 10 round magazines from smith & wesson, and it worked great except for one recurring problem.

On about every 3rd magazine (loaded to 10 rounds) I'd get a failure to feed on the second round. The first time it was a stovepipe where the empty case got caught between the slide and the chamber, I think this was just a fluke. 5 other times the 2nd round remained in the magazine after the 1st round fired. This happened 6 times out of 150 rounds, but always on the 2nd round of the magazine. It also occured with two different magazines and two different brands of ammo (remington golden bullet hollow poins and winchester t22 super-x).

Anyway, I'v heard that this is a magazine break-in issue and have heard others suggest that I just download the mags by 1 round. Any other sugggestions? Other than this problem I'm happy with the gun and it's accuracy, hopefully I can get it resolved at which point I'll write a full review.

 

[bigfatdave]

Clean inside the magazines, something may be hanging up the elevation of the next round, I don't have a 22a, but for my other .22 autoloaders, a 9mm plastic bore brush does well in the mags.
Try different ammo (CCI and Federal make good .22) and different velocities of ammo, some .22 autoloaders are more ammo-picky in the break-in phase
Try the download option, it would be interesting to know if this is a "second round fired" issue or a "9th round from the bottom" issue.

Look on the bright side ... this should give you good "tap-rack-bang" drills, at least!

 

[DasFriek]

My .22a is extreamly reliable,so dont fret yours will get there.
Id load the mags full and let them sit a few days and then go shoot it,that conditions the springs.
So im correct on this,It ejects the first round fine and then wont pick up the second one from the mag and leave it there and then returns to battery with nothing in the chamber?
Id clean the mags also and lightly wipe some this lube in there,but im guessing the issue is the tight mag springs.

 

[LoneStarWings]

So im correct on this,It ejects the first round fine and then wont pick up the second one from the mag and leave it there and then returns to battery with nothing in the chamber?

yep, after the first round fired, the empty would eject, the slide would close, I'd pull the trigger and get a "CLICK".

So I'd pull the slide back and peer inside to see an empty chamber. The odd thing is, sometimes there was a "gap" at the top of the magazine, as if the magazine follower had not pushed stack of rounds up to the top after the first one got pulled off. Sometimes the second round was sitting at the top though.

 

[Travlin]

Two thoughts for you.

Post 4 suggests you may not be getting the cartridges loaded properly so that the round is at the top and level with the feed lips. Also make sure the rounds are not canted nose up or down anywhere in the mag. .22 rounds can be a little finicky this way.

Also be sure the magazine is fully seated in the frame. Can you lock the slide back, insert the mag, then release the slide stop to chamber the first round? If you insert the mag with the slide closed, then rack the slide to chamber, you may not be getting the mag fully inserted.

The details are a little more complex and you can nit-pick holes in what I said. But if you try these ideas it may solve your problem.

 

[LoneStarWings]

Two thoughts for you.

Post 4 suggests you may not be getting the cartridges loaded properly so that the round is at the top and level with the feed lips. Also make sure the rounds are not canted nose up or down anywhere in the mag. .22 rounds can be a little finicky this way. I'll pay even cloer attention next time.

Also be sure the magazine is fully seated in the frame. Can you lock the slide back, insert the mag, then release the slide stop to chamber the first round? If you insert the mag with the slide closed, then rack the slide to chamber, you may not be getting the mag fully inserted.

The details are a little more complex and you can nit-pick holes in what I said. But if you try these ideas it may solve your problem.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I was paying pretty close attention to the way I was putting the rounds in, especially after the first few FTF's. I've loaded a lot of .22 mags for a marlin 795 and haven't had too many problems, granted it's slightly different.

I also seated the magazines in pretty firmly, even giving them a little extra bump after the initial firm seating. The method you describe is how I was chambering the first round every time. The slide was locked back from the end of the previous mag, I inserted the mag firmly, then used the slide release to chamber the new round. The 1st round and round 3-10 always went off with no problem, only the second round ever had any problems.

 

[Travlin]

LoneStarWings

Sounds like you know what you're doing so my simple suggestions probably won't work for you. Too bad. Just for kicks, try inserting the mag with the slide closed. The ideas from the earlier posts sound good. You never know what might work and save you from smith work. Good luck.

 

[Steve C]

New magazines often have very strong springs that provide more resistance to the first couple rounds being stripped of the mag, as rounds get used the spring pressure decreases. After time and use the magazine spring will loose some of its tightness and the problem may clear up on its own.

Next time you are at the range load 1 round less that full capacity and see if the problem occurs again or dissapears. If one less round relieves the spring force enough to get reilable feeding leave the magazine fully loaded between shooting trips to keep the spring compressed. This should help break the mag spring in quicker.

 

[LoneStarWings]

I managed to get it to somewhat duplicate the problem at home without firing....this was taken after I stripped off the first round by releasing the slide, ejected the 1st roun, then locked the slide back. You can barely see the top of the 2nd round down inside the magazine.

 

[Travlin]

Is the follower getting hung up?

 

[HammerBite]

I have the same question as Travlin.

Load a magazine and without putting it in the gun thumb out the top round. If the second round doesn't pop all the way up smartly I would suspect a constriction in the magazine. If the magazine appeared to operate correctly outside of the gun I would investigate the possibility of the follower thumb-button getting hung up inside the grip frame.

 

[LoneStarWings]

Well, I could not duplicate the problem by thumbing out the top round outside of the gun, it only seems to occur in the gun. I guess that would help explain why both magazines do it. I've inspected the mag well and don't see anything obvious it could be catching on, hmmmm.

 

[Miked7762]

I've inspected the mag well and don't see anything obvious it could be catching on, hmmmm.

Strip the gun and also disassemble one (or both) of the magazines. Insert the empty magazine body into the gun and look at the interior of the magazine where the latch cutout is. Is the magazine latch protruding through the cutout and into the interior? If so, it will cause what you are describing due to the location of the cutout and latch.

 

[DasFriek]

Thats a follower issue after seeing the pics,and ive heard of similier issues while researching known issues for the .22a
If you look at the mag about 1.5' from the top on the rounded front is a notch in the mag,it holds the mag in the gun iirc.Anyhow rounds will hang on thier nose on that notch,its said hollow points are worse than round nosed ammo.
There was an easy fix,but i don't remember it.But with Google you should be able to get an answer fast enough.In saying that its just as easy for the follower to be the issue also and it may not be riding up the mag level like it should and is getting "pinched" or "stuck" cleaning may fix that,but id also look for burrs and proper fit to the mag tube.

I do feel this is a simple issue that will be fixed with some easy work you shouldn't need a smith for.

 

[wally]

Are you shooting a HP bullet?

Mine did this and nothing I did helped. So I stopped shooting the Federal Bulk Pack hollow point for a few thousand rounds (used Federal Champion or CCI Blazer lead RN instead). Eventually went back to the Federal HP and the issue is now gone!

If I loaded 10+1 the problem happened on the third shot. If I loaded 10 it was the second shot. If I loaded 9, no problem. As far as I could tell the HP would align just right with the mag catch, hang, and prevent the rounds above from being pushed up into feeding position, buy only when exactly 9 rounds was in the mag with the slide forward.

My advice, just keep shooting it and switch to non-HP ammo for a couple of bricks.

--wally.

 

[BHay]

My 22A has the identical problem. It will fail to feed on the second round of a magazine. I can see the problem. The first round ejects but the next cartridge, the second one, will not be stripped. When I open the action I can see the second cartridge and it has not been pressed into the lips. The follower hasn't moved between the first and second round. I can't duplicate the problem outside of the gun and I've tried two magazines and at least 4 brands of popular ammunition (FMJ and HP).

I checked the indent in the magazine for the release and it doesn't seem to be the problem. Any suggestions are welcome. I need the gun to work for an event on 4/9 so I"m looking for a solution other than returning it so S&W.

 

[wally]

As I said above your post, mine did it but only with HP ammo. It went away with some shooting and hasn't happened in years shooting pretty much only the Federal bulk pack HP ammo.

My suggestion is don't fret about, it seems to go away with some usage. You and I are not the only ones with this issue. Unplated lead RN ammo never did it for me so try some CCI Blazer of Federal Champion.

When fails to feed if you lock the slide back and then turn the pistol upside down you will see the top round "fall" into position against the mag lips. Best I can tell a round below catches and the mag release and prevents the rounds above from moving up.

If you load 9 rounds in the mag it won't happen so that is one way to remove some frustration until things "wear in".

It is a strange problem.