After Seven Years, Problems with My P22

[Cokeman]

What bullets did you use this time?

[1917-1911M]

Originally Posted by CommoMan

I inspected the weapon and saw no evidence of anything dragging on the slide. The chamber looked dirty so I sprayed it with Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber, twisted (by hand) a stiff nylon bore brush in the chamber, then applied G96 Gun Treatment, did the brush thing again, and then pushed a patch through to the muzzle.

Today, when I finally made it to the range, the symptoms almost disappeared but came back after about 30 rounds. I take that to mean that the chamber is the problem and that I should do a more aggressive cleaning job.

How about Hoppe's No. 9 with a brush chucked up in a Dremel tool or a variable speed drill motor?

No you don't need to go that far, Dremel that is. What ammo? I still think it is a magazine problem. Clean, lube and stretch the spring in it. Get Remmy golden boolitz or mini mags and test again. The chamber is not tight on a P22, check that round dropping in the chamber. If it fits in pretty easily, that isn't the problem. M1911

[Chris J]

Have you disassembled and cleaned the mags? Can you borrow a new magazine to try in your pistol? Do the magazines fit well (consistently seat all the way, don't rattle, etc.)?

As for cleaning, I doubt that you need to get real aggressive with cleaning the chamber. I guess there could be a burr in there capturing debris, but something like that should show up with careful examination.

Also, although it appears that the problem relates to the easily reachable parts, with a gun that old it probably could use a complete disassembly and cleaning if you haven't already done that. You might find some worn-out parts in there worth replacing, even if they don't fix the immediate problem.

[CommoMan]

Due to work and eye surgery, I wasn't able to get back to my P22 until a couple of days ago. I took a look in the chamber with my now cataract-less good eye and saw a blob of powder residue clinging to one spot. It's now gone. An unfired cartridge slips in and falls out freely. The original fired case slips in easily and sticks on removal very slightly from head expansion. The magazines are clean and appear undamaged and well-fitting.

I also called Smith customer service and ordered a new recoil spring and a couple of magazine springs. They didn't charge me anything.

Maybe I'll be able to get to the range this week end or shortly thereafter. My ammo supply remains limited to Winchester Super-X.

Thank you for all the suggestions!

[CommoMan]

Over the Christmas season, as was to be expected, I was kept away from the range for all sorts of reasons. During this time, the recoil spring and magazine springs from Smith arrived and were installed.

Finally, I got out to the range with my usual Winchester Super-X in the cardboard 50 round boxes and some CCI Mini-Mags, both 40 grain round nose. The temperature was about 45 deg. F. with moderate winds.

I fired four mags of the Winchester with a 40 percent failure rate. These all appeared to be short strokes with the slide closing on an empty chamber with the top round in the mag appearing to be undisturbed.

I then fired four mags of the CCI with a 0 percent failure rate. Ejection appeared to be somewhat more energetic than when I fired the Winchester.

Later, I found in my ammo stash some Winchester Super-X in 100 round plastic boxes that were loudly marked "Super Speed 1300 FPS". I'll try them next time, which may not be until the turn of spring considering the way the weather has been around here.

[Cokeman]

Also try the Remington Golden Bullets.

[CommoMan]

Originally Posted by Cokeman

Also try the Remington Golden Bullets.

I will if I can get some.

[1917-1911M]

A P22 generally requires snappy ammo and a firm grip. Softer shooting .22 ammo won't fully cycle, eject, etc. But snappy is usually 100%. M1911

[smoothjk]

BTW, Winchester Super-X is THE worst ammo for the Walther P22 based on my data. I'm not sure if there are other issues, but using this ammo is only going to make things worse for you. My P22 works 100% with CCI ammo, but jams about 15% of the time with Winchester.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums...d.php?t=428432

[tba02]

It sounds like it is back to normal. Those Winchester single shot boolits are the norm for me