rimfire failure to fires

[ak-fang]

this weekend while plinking with a .22 semi-auto handgun i began experiencing a lot of failure to fires. the first 30 or so rounds were fired without incidence. then one magazine had 1 failure to fire and things steadily progressed until 7 out of 10 were failures. the gun has never had issues except for the occasional stovepipe. it is cleaned regularly and i'm very careful not to dry fire it. the ammo was the bulk remington stuff. upon case inspection i could see the firing pin was striking too far out on the case to cause ignition. since the gun has cycled this ammo reliably before and even started the day firing it just fine i'm not about to blame the ammo. it seems to be a gun issue and i wonder if there is a way to adjust the firing pin or would it need to be replaced entirely? i appreciate any insight on the matter.

 

[.338 mag.]

I would try some other .22 ammo. I would also try cleaning it in case there is a "crud" build up that is altering the firing pin strike. My guess is it needs a good cleaning after thinking about how you described the progression of misfires.

 

[rbuck351]

My Buckmark does that if it's not cleaned every 100 rounds or so. More often with some dirty burning ammo.

 

[ADfields]

Details of the gun? Cant tell ya how to fix a gun when we don't know what gun we is fixin on!

 

[ak-fang]

Details of the gun? Cant tell ya how to fix a gun when we don't know what gun we is fixin on!

it's a buck mark that gets stripped and cleaned after each shooting trip. i wish i woulda brought some other ammo with me to try at the time. the gun hasn't had problems with this type of ammo before...

 

[Smitty of the North]

I would try some other .22 ammo. I would also try cleaning it in case there is a "crud" build up that is altering the firing pin strike. My guess is it needs a good cleaning after thinking about how you described the progression of misfires.

Like maybe, crud in the chamber is cushioning the firing pin blow. ????

Smitty of the North

 

[ADfields]

Like maybe, crud in the chamber is cushioning the firing pin blow. ????

Smitty of the North

Maybe, 22lr ammo is sure some dirty stuff. I can't see the strike in the pictures but I would think ether cruddy or the tip of the pin got damaged somehow.

 

[rbuck351]

Take a can of brake kleen and an old tooth bruch with you next time you go shootin. When the problem starts just spray the action, scrub with the tooth brush a bit and spray again and see if that fixes it. My Buckmark is the worst 22 auto I have run into for piling up crud and then not firing. The Rem thunderbolts seem to deposit more crud than most other ammo. I have four other 22 autos that don't do this no matter how many rounds are shot without cleaning. Why my Buckmark does this I can only guess and I suspect it is not fixable.

 

[ak-fang]

Maybe, 22lr ammo is sure some dirty stuff. I can't see the strike in the pictures but I would think ether cruddy or the tip of the pin got damaged somehow.

sorry about the pics...i tried taking them using the computer camera. the pin strike was barely catching any of the rim. i'll put up some pics using a real camera.

 

[ak-fang]

hopefully these pics are a little better

 

[Amigo Will]

Looks like its almost complettly missing the case head like a broken pin.

 

[Smitty of the North]

I can see it now. It sure don't look right. Whatcha tank,Awndee?

 

[ADfields]

Suspect the firing pin is damaged . . . remove and inspect. I just looked and couldn't find one in stock so it may need to be repaired rather than replaced.

 

[BTK]

Make sure the little bolts are tight on the top strap of that buckmark. That fixed one of mine.

 

[ak-fang]

spoke with browning and they didn't even venture a guess as to what the problem may be. they said to send it in; but they're 5 wks behind. so i'm gonna go through and make sure it's spotless and try some higher quality ammo this weekend before sending it in. i've never taken the firing pin out before so when i have things broken down to clean i'll look to see how straight forward it is to remove. since it's likely that i'll be sending it in i don't want to poke around in there too much and possibly damage something else. thanks for the direction so far!

 

[AK Bearcat]

Should of bought a Ruger MkII. Mine gets cleaned about twice a year and it has never failed me! Not being a gun smith, I would be looking at the firing pin, like has already been suggested. I have seen some 22 ammo at the range, that some guns just do not like, but that does not seem to be the case here.
Keep us posted on what you find the problem is.

 

[ak-fang]

well, i feel a little dumb...as i started breaking things down to deep clean it turns out the bolts on the top strap were a bit loose (thanks for the advise BTK). stripped it down, cleaned w/brake kleen, reassembled and put a quick 20 rounds down range and seemed to work fine. i still need to get out and really test things out before making a final conclusion but i think the problem has been solved. i'm glad it was a very simple fix and am a bit embarrassed it turned out to be what it was. i appreciate all the direction...and ak bearcat, as far as getting the ruger over the browning it was a tough decision and if ruger's magazine release was designed differently i would have initially purchased that. however; now that i have the experience if i were to buy another .22 handgun i would definitely overlook the magazine release design that i didn't like at first and go with the ruger.

 

[Smitty of the North]

Amazing.

BTK, is the man of the hour.

Smitty of the North

 

[BTK]

Glad it seems to be fixed without a trip to the shop.