Solving Common Problems With .22 Rimfire Handguns

It’s a safe bet that pistolsmiths who do general repair work see .22 rimfire handguns in the shop on a regular basis, since there are probably more .22s around than any other caliber. The quality of these handguns runs the gamut from pot-metal cheapos to as fine as any handguns made. Still, the .22 rimfire handgun is typically less expensive than a centerfire handgun, and materials and workmanship are often not up to the same standards as the more expensive pistols.

That, plus the availability of cheap ammo often translates into work for the gunsmith. Before looking at the problems encountered with rimfire handguns, we should look at the cartridge. The .22 rimfire is the last survivor of the old inside-primed rimfire type. In Top 22-caliber rimfire cartridge itself can cause more problems than automatic-pistol cartridges like the .45 ACP. Bottom 22 snubby, but this little Taurus DA revolver is among the best of the breed.

It’s still subject to the problems associated with .22 rimfire ammo’especially if it’s dry fired. addition to the .22, these cartridges once included rimfire .25-, .32-, .38-, and even .44-caliber versions. The priming compound is in the soft rim of the cartridge. It doesn’t matter where on the rim the firing pin strikes; the priming compound will ignite the powder charge. The bullet is soft lead and "heel based." In other words, the bullet features a heel that is less than bullet diameter.

This heel butts into the cartridge case and hold the bulletin place. The .22 Magnum is an exception as this cartridge uses a modern jacketed bullet that is crimped in place, but the procedures described in this article also apply to the .22 Magnum. The .22 rimfire cartridge is more susceptible to damage than a centerfire cartridge.

The bullet can be pushed to an angle during the firing cycle, and contamination of the powder charge or damage to the case is more common with the .22 rimfire than with centerfire cartridges. Merely achieving feed reliability in an automatic action is something of an accomplishment with a rimmed case, though our major gunmakers have done well in this regard. When the .22 cartridge is chambered, the chamber acts to control headspace as well as to give a solid surface for the firing pin to strike the case rim.

Two things happen that are problematic with the .22 rimfire and each revolves around this chamber design. Over a period of time, the force of the firing pin damages the chamber in an automatic or chambers in the revolver. This happens more frequently with inexpensive handguns, but no make is immune. The soft metal is damaged. Sometimes a nick in the cylinder face protrudes

into the chamber and causes a problem in chambering. Dry firing often exacerbates this problem. Firing-pin protrusion is set on some of the better automatics so that the firing pin does not connect with the chamber, but almost all revolvers will nick the chamber if dry fired. Some of the aluminum slide conversion units could be ruined by dry fire. The simplest rule of thumb is: No .22 should ever be dry fired.

As you know, the firing pin of a centerfire handgun will simply strike air if there is no cartridge chambered, but it can be assumed that the .22 rimfire firing pin will strike the chamber. Even dry firing with empty or oncefired cases is not a good practice, as the cases are thin and soft and provide little protection against wear or damage to the chamber mouth.

Regardless of whether the damage is a result of dry firing or normal wear, nicks and scrapes from the firing pin on the chamber mouth are ruinous to ignition. Needle files (sometimes called jeweler’s files) can be used to remove nicks and burrs and straighten the chamber, while a smooth stone will dress up the filed section. Never enlarge the chamber; the burr is usually just at the mouth of the chamber. There is also the matter of headspace.

You can’t remove so much metal that there is insufficient bracing for the firing pin to crack the primer. You are filing or polishing exactly where the firing pin contacts. Hopefully the area is raised and you only need to dress the area down a bit. Interestingly, at least one revolver maker has adopted an advanced chamber design. The North American Arms Mini Revolvers have a cylinder that, rather than enclosing the cartridge case head completely, has one side of the cylinder open.

While a recessed cylinder is a safety feature, the topstrap is a sufficient safety feature to contain the gas of an unlikely case rupture. The minuscule North American Arms revolvers are of very high quality and, should it ever be necessary, the cylinders will be much easier to file and dress up. The slide or breechblock face of semi-automatic pistols can become deformed, sometimes by firing only a few thousands of rounds, particularly with aluminum-slide pistols and theless expensive foreign pistols.

Even revolvers are sometimes seen with such problems. Just the same the handgun usually continues to work just fine. The breechface sometimes picks up a sharp edge that simply needs to be dressed down and polished. Occasionally, the firing-pin hole will become deformed, sometimes to the point where the firing pin actually sticks. In this case, the smallest needle files can be used to clean up around the firing-pin channel without altering the channel.

The old Star and Beretta small-frame .22s are neat little guns, but the Star in particular will show this trait in hard use. Small burrs caused by a firing-pin strike can usually be cleaned up with a jeweler’s file. At the other end of the spectrum from the beating-up-the-chamber problem is the problem of light firingpin strikes. Sometimes a worn firing pin must be replaced and other times the problem is even simpler than that. Recently, I purchased an older High Standard Sentinel .22 for a song.

It functioned just fine in single-action fire but sometimes misfired in double-action fire. The firing-pin indent was very light. I wondered if someone had lightened the hammer spring. In this case, a few decades of accumulated crud had built up in the action and varnished the parts. A liberal dose of Outers Crud Cutter did most of the work, and oily gum literally ran out of the action. After a good scrubbing, the piece worked perfectly without the need for any replacement parts.

This brings us to the problem of over-lubrication. Occasionally, a centerfire handgun will be found that works just fine practically dry. This is rarely the case with a .22. Most .22 pistols and conversion units demand proper lubrication and simply will not function without it. But while they need lubrication, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Excessively thick lubrication will slow the slide down on automatics and will collect unburned powder in the revolver.

Keep in mind that the .22caliber cartridge is capable of producing only so much energy, so while the slide needs lubrication, you don’t want to slow it down with too much lubricant. In addition to the problems caused by a rimmed cartridge that we discussed earlier, this 150-year-old cartridge design suffers from another inherent problem. The .22 cartridge is "outside lubricated." A more modern revolver cartridge’m eaning anything designed since about 1899has lubricant in the lube grooves at the base of the bullet.

This base is enclosed in the cartridge case. The bullet in the .22 case is outside lubricated, meaning the whole bullet is covered in a lubricant to help prevent leading of the gun barrel. This lubricant is so efficient that .22s rarely suffer from leading, but the lubricant tends to

22-caliber revolver such as the Taurus double action. To do so will most often result in at least a partial loss of reliability. While the ammunition could be the cause, a rough breechface may have contributed to the problem. combine with oil and unburned powder to produce "gumming." I have seen a pistol go from perfectly clean and lubricated to jamming within 100 rounds. The only real cure is disassembly and a complete cleaning.

This residue tends to gum up and harden""varnishing" is the term that’s sometimes used. Gun Scrubber and Crud Cutter are fine for initial cleaning, but removing this buildup often requires some abrasion from an old toothbrush or a nylon cleaning brush. Once cleaned and reassembled, the pistol is then lightly oiled. The .22-caliber semi-automatics are often described as "finicky eaters" by some, but I don’t really find this to be true.

The Ruger and Browning automatics, the Ceiner conversions, and even my little Walther PPK/S are all very reliable as long as they’re fed high-velocity ammunition (and properly lubricated). I also don’t pay much attention to those who say that highvelocity ammunition will batter a .22 pistol. The difference between standard-velocity and high-velocity ammo is not that great’only about 130 fps’ and there isn’t much reserve of energy for these pistol to function.

If gun owners would learn to keep their .22s clean and keep them lubricated, we’d lose most of our business in rimfire handguns. With .22 automatics, when double feeds or other feeding problems occur, the problem is almost always related to the magazine. With the 1911, magazines are often replaced rather than repaired because good-quality magazines such as the Metalform are relatively inexpensive. But when it comes to .22s, the situation is different.

I will note that Metalform offers a very high-quality, durable magazine for the original Colt conversions that in my opinion performs better than the original. I usually have no problem with .22 conversion magazines or the Browning Buckmark, receiving orders from Brownells in a timely manner. Ruger magazines are, of course, widely distributed and easily available. But, at this date, an order for a Walther PPK/S .22-caliber magazine has been on backorder for nearly a month.

Almost every magazine-related problem with the .22 results from releasing the bullet too early in the feed cycle. The rule with magazines is: If it releases too late, open the magazine lips; if it releases too early, close them. When the magazine has become worn, carefully pressing the feed lips together is usually all that’s required to restore good function. I still remember the exact dimensions for High Standard .22 caliber feed lip dimensions. .236 to .238 is the proper dimension.

Naturally, a magazine that is feeding too late in the cycle and jamming bullet noses in the wrong place can be corrected by squeezing the lips together, but in my experience this problem is much rarer than a mag that feeds too late. I recently encountered a problem that can affect .22-caliber revolvers. Many shooters like to fire .22 Short cartridges or the CB Caps in their .22s. (They will not function in .22-caliber automatics.) The problem is the case is slightly shorter than the .22 Long Rifle.

Over a period of time, powder or lead will build up in the end of the chamber, thus making it impossible to chamber a standard .22 Long Rifle cartridge. I recently ran across a .22caliber Taurus with just this problem. Strangely, the problem was limited to just one chamber. The other chambers were dirty, but the offending one was very rough. No doubt, the problem eventually would have extended to all the chambers.

When it comes to reliable feeding and extraction, there are a few .22 automatics that are more troublesome than others. As I mentioned, lubrication, magazine feed lips, and the propcontinued on page 16)

er ammunition are the first experimental paths you should venture down. Fortunately, .22-caliber ammunition is inexpensive enough that it’s possible to test a wide variety. If feeding problems persist, there’s something else you might want to A Word to Our Readers About American Gunsmith’ s Mailing-List Policy Like many other publishers, we make portions of our customer list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services we believe you may enjoy.

Indeed, in all likelihood, we were able to first reach you only because another company graciously permitted us access to its customer list. If, when we make our list available, you do not want to receive those offers and/or information, please let us kno merican Gunsmith Opt-Out Program, Norwalk, CT 06854-1631. Please be rrent mailing label. look at’t he breechface or face of the bolt. The case rims of .22-caliber ammo are not perfectly consistent.

Match competitors have proven this, and there are special gauges available for measuring .22-caliber case rims. These dimensions sometimes affect reliability, and a simple polish of the breechface may cure some of these problems and make the cartridge feed more smoothly. The problem is that, as the cartridge feeds into battery, the casehead strikes the breechface.

Any rough spots, tool marks, or deep scratches can adversely affect I feeding, as these marks allow the cartridge case to develop "traction" on the breechface. And in this case, traction is not a good thing. A cleaning rod with a small patch of cloth coated with polishing or honing compound can work wonders. The Buckmark is easy to work in this manner; the Walther PPK and Bersa require more effort but the results are equally worthwhile.

It’s clear to me that shooters don’t always give their rimfire handguns the same attention they give to their centerfire guns. But while the application may be less critical, the need for reliability still exists. Since rimfire handguns are often repaired with simpler techniques’cleaning and tweaking rather than parts replacement’t hey can be especially profitable for the gunsmith familiar with their unique problems.