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Old March 23, 2013, 03:33 PM   #1
AK71
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My gun or my mistake?

Went to the range with the wife today and was shooting her SR22, when I encountered my first trigger pull without a discharge. I treated it like a misfire but was sure the last round was successful. I released the magazine and made sure a round wasn't chambered. I had loaded 10 rounds and thought six shots were fired, which was confirmed when I counted the holes in my target and the four remaining rounds in the magazine. So it seems like it was a misfeed from the magazine into chamber. After doing some searching on the web I couldn't find this as a typical misfire/misfeed. When I put the magazine back in the gun, the next round fired DA and the rest of the magazine fired with no problems.

Since I'm new to guns and this was only the third time the gun has been to the range, I can believe I did something wrong loading the magazine or accidentally flipping the safety. I can't honestly say for sure that the safety was on when I checked the gun, but I thought I had to flip it before checking the chamber. Could I have flipped the safety at some point during the 6th round that would still allow the gun to fire but not load the next round? What happened?
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Old March 23, 2013, 05:46 PM   #2
Mike38
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I have a Baikal target pistol that does what you described, but only with one of the magazines. Every now and then, at about the 3rd or 4th shot, the slide goes into battery without picking up a fresh round. The mag drops ever so slightly and the slide will not catch the new round. This only happens on one mag, of the six that I have. I just don’t use that mag any longer. If you can narrow this misfeed to one magazine, you have solved the problem. If it happens on all your mags, something else is wrong.

I don’t know this for a fact, but I’d be willing to bet 75% + of misfeeds in semi auto pistols are due to the magazine. I’d start there if I was you.
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Old March 23, 2013, 08:48 PM   #3
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SR22

I'm not sure either but it does sound like it might be magazine related. Have you cleaned the magazine since you bought it? If not tear it apart and give it a good cleaning. It's a very easy thing to do. I'm sure someone else will help with other ideas as well. Enjoy the SR22, I know I have a great time shooting mine.
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Old March 23, 2013, 09:10 PM   #4
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Quote:
I have a Baikal target pistol that does what you described, but only with one of the magazines.
Funny how i mentioned this the other day about cleaning and lubing the clip and drew a laugh or two but they can get build up and cause it to stick and not feed.

It happened to me on a Glock 17
I Changed the clip and set it aside.

When i got home i saw a lot of buildup residue corroding the walls and the spring so i cleaned it with Hornady one shot cleaner and dry lube with the spring depressed using a clean shop rag and reloaded it.

Hand emptied it and reloaded and set aside. I ran a few hundred through it later and no more problem.
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Old March 23, 2013, 09:20 PM   #5
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AK71
Welcome to the forum!

Quote:
Wreck-n-Crew

Funny how i mentioned this the other day about cleaning and lubing the clip and drew a laugh or two but they can get build up and cause it to stick and not feed.
What he said ^

Magazines are machines too, inspection and wipe down, inside and out is the minimum that I do when I clean the pistol. More often than not, if the mag has been on the ground or dropped or tossed, etc, etc... I take them apart for a good cleaning.

Now, I'm bad about how often I get around to cleaning my pistols, but the guns and magazines get done before the next outing.

So to the O/P. I'd check the mag first. Make sure it's in good shape and clean.

Mishandling a new gun or inadvertently tripping the safety is possible. Riding the slide and causing the missed feed is also possible. Double check your technique.

Watch for the problem next time out, isolate the magazines if it occurs again. Welcome to the best part of shooting - the learning curve.
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Last edited by jglsprings; March 24, 2013 at 09:13 AM. Reason: clarity
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Old March 24, 2013, 12:54 AM   #6
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I think i might know a video where this or something similar happened on camera for Hickock45. Around 8:30 in the video is where he has a very similar happen to him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNRG7xBPPk

He talks about having a couple rounds that took a couple strikes to go off. This problem was from bad ammo more than the gun.

He hypothesizes it might be an issue with the magazine, but basically the gun just did not pick up a round in the middle of a magazine, not sure if he ever had the problem again.
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Old March 24, 2013, 01:20 AM   #7
Lost Sheep
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AK71

My gun or my mistake?
Went to the range with the wife today and was shooting her SR22, when I encountered my first trigger pull without a discharge. I treated it like a misfire but was sure the last round was successful. I released the magazine and made sure a round wasn't chambered. I had loaded 10 rounds and thought six shots were fired, which was confirmed when I counted the holes in my target and the four remaining rounds in the magazine. So it seems like it was a misfeed from the magazine into chamber. After doing some searching on the web I couldn't find this as a typical misfire/misfeed. When I put the magazine back in the gun, the next round fired DA and the rest of the magazine fired with no problems.
The only omission I see in your narrative of events was visually or mechanically checking the barrel to ensure there was no obstruction in barrel or chamber.

I other words, I think you did well.

I am not familiar with the SR22. But I know a little bit about auto-loaders.

If there is a magazine safety, the magazine might not have been seated fully. A partially seated magazine might enable the mag safety, thus allowing firing, but eventually, the mag works out a little more and the mag safety then detects "no magazine" and disables the gun. Thus you have a trigger pull, but no hammer/striker fall. (Did you notice while you were manipulating the gun and counting rounds whether the striker/hammer was still cocked?).

That which I just described is only one possibility.

It is possible that with the sixth round, the empty case was ejected and the next round simply failed to strip from the magazine and the slide/bolt closed on an empty chamber. This could be caused by an overly strong recoil spring or, more likely, slide movement inhibited by fouling in the recoil spring or most likely a weak cartridge (even the best factory with good quality control can let a bad one sneak through every once in a while) that was powerful enough to send the bullet to the target but without enough power to fully cycle the action.

There are probably more possibilities than I can imagine.

Clean the gun (and magazines). Check that the magazines function properly and feed cartridges reliably and go forth and shoot. Keep track of which magazine was used each time (if) it happens again. Magazine malfunctions are the most common cause of auto-loader feeding problems.

Good luck.

Lost Sheep
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Old March 24, 2013, 07:47 PM   #8
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It is possible that with the sixth round, the empty case was ejected and the next round simply failed to strip from the magazine and the slide/bolt closed on an empty chamber. This could be caused by an overly strong recoil spring or, more likely, slide movement inhibited by fouling in the recoil spring or most likely a weak cartridge (even the best factory with good quality control can let a bad one sneak through every once in a while) that was powerful enough to send the bullet to the target but without enough power to fully cycle the action.
this is where I'd put my money, its a .22, it happens no big deal you handled it properly by making sure there was no misfire and the barrel wasn't plugged
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Old March 24, 2013, 08:01 PM   #9
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Thank you for all the responses. I will switch magazines and make sure to clean them after each use.
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Old March 24, 2013, 08:06 PM   #10
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I had the same problem using light bullet, super high velocity ammo in my Walther P22. A pistol quite similar to your Ruger. In fact it will not strip a new round from the magazine at all with Aguila SuperMax 30 grain rounds. My assumption is that the light bullet does not provide enough recoil energy to fully cycle the slide. Only enough to eject the fired round, and cock the hammer.
I don't think you made any mistake in loading your magazine.
As mentioned by Lost Sheep, the bore should always be checked for an obstruction with any odd misfire. A squib load could cause a bullet to be pushed from the case, but remain lodged in the bore.
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Old March 25, 2013, 07:37 AM   #11
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I have had similar problems with my Beretta Neos and found that some .22 shells are slightly longer than others and do not slide up the magazine as well as most of them do. Next time that happens, strip off the top shell ans see if the rest feed normally. You might have a bullet that was not seated properly.
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Old March 25, 2013, 08:01 AM   #12
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I believe something similar happens to the gentleman in this video. His theory is the round fired is weak, strong enough to eject the spent casing but not strong enough to get the slide back to pull a cartridge from the magazine. I have not had that issue with my SR22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNRG7xBPPk

****Sorry, someone had already posted this video earlier in the thread and I overlooked it****

Last edited by overhead; March 25, 2013 at 10:36 AM.
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Old March 25, 2013, 10:06 AM   #13
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A weak round will cause this to happen. I have had it happen a few times with some bulk ammo. It will fire and eject but it doesn't pick up the next round, not enough recoil. Another reason a revolver is better than a semi auto.
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Old March 25, 2013, 10:41 AM   #14
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Quote:
The only omission I see in your narrative of events was visually or mechanically checking the barrel to ensure there was no obstruction in barrel or chamber.
That was my worry, too. A squib can hurt you and your pistol both. But aside from that you reacted properly, OP.
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Old March 25, 2013, 03:13 PM   #15
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I carry a dowel rod about 7" long in my shooting bag...just so I can check the barrel, in situations like this, making sure there is no obstruction in the barrel.

I just lock the slide back ...and drop the rod in the muzzle to check it...( you could use a brass rod too / or maybe a long allen wrench / but I'm not that fond of sticking a steel rod down a barrel ( brass is better if you don't like a dowel rod ).
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Old March 25, 2013, 03:45 PM   #16
AK71
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Duly noted on the barrel check

As an aside, I used to be able to quote when replying, but that option is no longer available. Any suggestions?
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Old March 28, 2013, 11:16 AM   #17
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I agree with the weak cartridge. That seems highly probable especially in the SR22 and similar 'full slide' 22 pistols that's a lot of mass to move and it would be much less tolerant of a "weak" round.

Don't sweat it. .22s are much more likely to have issues.
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Old March 29, 2013, 08:00 AM   #18
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Could be that last round that fired was a little under charged..ie. not enough umph to fully cycle the slide which would account for the failure to feed. The 2nd cause that comes to mind, is that it may just have had a dirty chamber causing the spent case from the last round fired to stick a bit.

With my .22 lr conversion units for several 1911's, I've got to clean them each 50 rounds or so to prevent FTF problems.

HTH's Rod
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