Stoeger .22 Luger Jamming

[mnrivrat]

Anyone here a Stoeger Luger .22 RF guru ? This one seems to be failing to extract the empty - as in letting it sit about 1/2 to 2/3 out of the chamber with the base rim sitting on the bullet section of the next round in the magazine.
It is like it is pushing the empty off the bolt face. I have tried a stronger extractor spring - no help. Extractor looks good with sharp jaw at good angle.
Alignment of the bolt face to the chamber seems a bit off with the bolt riding a little higher. Chamber is clean - no burrs.
Anybody have any tricks to make this POS function ?

 

[rcmodel]

Stoeger apparently didn't.

Many of them didn't work when new, or after repeated trips back to get them repaired under warranty.

I just don't know what to tell you.

Have you tried a different magazine?

Any room for feed lip adjustment to keep the ammo in the mag setting a little lower & still feed?

rcmodel

 

[Jim K]

As far as I can tell, that gun was made for the sole purpose of using the Luger name (which Stoeger owns in the U.S.) to sell what MNRIVRAT accurately calls a POS.

In any blowback, the pressure pushes the case out of the chamber. Except in removing an unfired round, the extractor really has no function except to serve as a pivot point for the case when it hits the ejector.

My first thought is that the ammo you are using is too light; those guns were made for the 40 grain .22 LR, preferably High Speed.

Jim

 

[mnrivrat]

Thanks Guys - I have tried three different brands of HV ammo with no success. Your points are valid for sure, and I thank you very much - but they have failed in earlier attempts.

With the single overhead extractor, it is like the case is being pushed off the bolt face during rearward travel. There is a lower lip on the bolt face, but it is rather shallow , and has no upward pitch to hold onto the shell base.

I have about run out of tricks to try, and have nothing left that I have much faith in. I was hoping to perhaps catch an old employee of the Stoeger customer service department, or gunsmith who has seen enough of these and came up with something of great insight, regarding a method of making a silk purse out of a sows ear so to speak.

Soon it will just be rendered an expensive paperweight, or an experiment in re-design.

 

[RecoilRob]

What kind of recoil springs are we working with inside? Like the real Luger or ???

Many problems like you describe can be lessened by reducing the tension, which acts like increasing the power of the round....sort of.

I don't know if it is a coil that it would be adviseable to start trimming it...unless you could find a replacement to play with. That would be the approach I'd take if I were you. Much luck!

 

[Rex B]

Can't help either

I'd offer that I have had two of these and never had a jam. Both mine were like new, though.
I always used CCI minimags per the factory recommendation. They like a hot round to help them cycle.

Do you have access to a working example that you can compare?

Polish the chamber?

 

[Jim K]

Just for fun, have you checked out the mainspring (hammer spring)? If it is too strong, the breechblock can't recoil properly.

Recoil Bob, that gun is nothing like the original Luger inside. The toggles play no role in the operation, they just go along for the ride when the squarish breechblock recoils against a coil spring.

Jim

 

[mnrivrat]

All good idea's - I have however polished the chamber with no effect. The recoil spring is a coil but I doubt it is too strong for two reasons, when I tried to increase the extractor tension by replacing that spring, the bolt would not completely close - causing misfires. If I lightened the recoil spring that would have a tendany to worsen that aspect of the operation. The second reason being the problem does not seem to be recoil related - it is dropping the empty from the bolt face, but seems to have full recoil. I will double check that however .

This is not a well worn gun , but a very un-cooperative one. Hammer tension is stought , I will look into that as well, but my nest step is alignment. The bolt seems to set higher than the chamber. Someone at some point raised some burrs with a punch on the inside of the frame to hold the front of the mecanizism a little off the frame, putting it a little higher. Why they did that and who did that I don't know, but I am going to remove the burrs to lower the bolt travel . Thanks again to all for the suggestions - keep me thinking !

 

[arcticap]

If you continue to have problems with it, there's also some knowledgeable folks with Erma .22 Luger experience over on www.rimfirecentral.com.

 

[Jim K]

FWIW, the ERMA pistol is totally different inside from both the Stoeger Luger and the original Luger. The ERMA gun is better made than the Stoeger product and seems more reliable.

(If you like the feel of the Luger frame shape and want a .22 that works, forget the ERMA and the Stoeger and just buy a Ruger.)

Jim

 

[M1Mike]

Stoeger Luger

I had a Stoeger many moons ago. It loved to jam and it would go off by itself when chambering a round. I took it to a gunsmith and he offered to take $50 off of a Ruger Mark II ( got it for $110 OTD). I took the offer and have enjoyed at least 20 years of trouble free shooting and the comfort to know that the pistol will not fire when chambering a round. I would recommend the same unless you absolutely love your pistol. Not trying to be a smart rear end here it is just I have not heard many good things about Stoeger products and my experience their product was bad. I own 9 Rugers and love every one of them.

Good luck.